Get Outside! (with Wyoming Game and Fish)

Wyoming has a number of iconic species--pronghorn, elk and rainbow trout to mention a few. But sage grouse have a seat at that table too, and our episode today is with Wyoming Game and Fish Sage Grouse/Sagebrush Biologist Nyssa Whitford, where our topics range from sage grouse numbers, the short hunting season for them, and proper viewing etiquette in the spring.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved 2025 hunt seasons and regulation changes in late April, after months of data collection, public meetings andwritten comments.  Now it’s up to hunters who are urged to look over the  Wyoming Game and Fish Department  hunting and trapping page and online hunt planner.  Today on “Get Outside” we’re talking with Wyoming Game and Fish Deputy Wildlife Chief Justin Binfet who made the hunt season proposal to the commission.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir in Southwest Wyoming is not only a beautiful place to go fishing and camping, it has outstanding fishing. Regulation changes in recent months are giving anglers outstanding fishing opportunity. Wyoming Game and Fish Green River Fisheries Biologist John Walrath joins us on today's program.

The popularity of Kokanee Salmon fishing in Wyoming has gained substantially in recent years, despite the fish being available to anglers in the state for decades. Why now? Joining us on "Get Outside!" is Wyoming Game and Fish Department Fisheries Management Coordinator Mark Smith, who also talks about how the department manages kokanee...

Summer months mean more opportunities to take photos, but what if you're armed only with a cell phone? Our guests, Elizabeth Boehm and Ron Hayes, are professional photographers who offer us their perspectives as well as a few useful tips to help capture a memorable photo.

2024 Hunt Seasons were set by the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission in April, and hunters have reason to be optimistic about success in the field this fall.  Wyoming Game and Fish Deputy Wildlife Chief Doug Brimeyer joins us to provide a brief outlook on what hunt seasons will look like for hunters this fall.

The summer boating season is soon to kick off, and in some places, watercraft users have already started thanks to the mild winter Wyoming is having. As boaters and other watercraft users prepare for warmer waters, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Aquatic Invasive Species program is already in operation. Many watercraft check stations opened, as they usually do, on March 1. What do watercraft users need to know heading into another boating season, and what happens if an aquatic invasive species like a zebra or quagga mussel is found on your watercraft? Josh Leonard is the Statewide Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and joins us on today's podcast.

Since the 1930’s disease outbreaks have caused losses up to 50-90 percent of the Jackson Hole Bighorn Sheep herd. What can be done about it? One effort to address the issue is to reduce the herd size by offering more ewe licenses for hunters.  Today on “Get Outside”  we’ll talk with two biologists—Aly Courtemanch from the Jackson region, and Daryl Lutz, wildlife biologist from the Lander region, who has similar concerns with the Ferris-Seminoe Bighorn Sheep herd…

Last year, the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission approved $17.5 million to begin research, development, and set-up for raising cool and warm water fish in Wyoming; the existing Speas Hatchery near Casper was selected for expansion. Walleye, Channel Catfish, Bluegill, White and Black Crappie, Largemouth Bass, Tiger Muskie, and Sauger will be produced there, enabling Game and Fish to produce a reliable and diverse supply of cool/warm water fish species for Wyoming's anglers and eliminating the potential of introducing an aquatic invasive species or prohibited fish pathogen into Wyoming. 

     In terms of sheer diversity for the number of places to fish in Wyoming, the Laramie region of southeast Wyoming has practically every kind of fishing one might want; from high elevation fishing in the Snowy Range Mountains, large reservoir fishing in Grayrocks reservoir, high plains lakes fishing near Laramie, and multiple rivers and lakes to fish from.  Bobby Compton is the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Laramie Region Fisheries Supervisor.  Today on “Get Outside” we’ll do a drive-around of the Laramie region’s fishing areas, talk about management strategies, and give folks an idea of the variety of fishing opportunities in this region of Wyoming.  

2023 has been a busy year for the western part of Wyoming regarding mule deer management—a brutal winter that was perhaps one of the most devastating winters on record may have been the most impactful winter to this herd since it was conceptualized in 1982. Wyoming hunters are looking to this winter with interest as a precipitation-rich spring and summer has produced improved forage conditions…while wondering what might happen if we get a repeat winter like last year. On another front, mule deer in the region will have one less hazard to contend with, and that's the crossing of Highway 189 near Big Piney.   Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Biologist Gary Fralick weighs in to discuss both topics.

Due to severe winter impacts, Wyoming Game and Fish department wildlife managers made significant adjustments to hunting season proposals in many areas of the state and proposed an overall decrease of 10,290 antelope licenses and 4,410 mule deer licenses. Seasons were finalized by the G&F commission in April.  What impacts did the winter have on big game herds in the state?  How will hunters be impacted?  Doug Brimeyer is the Deputy Wildlife Division Chief for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.  Each year he presents to the G&F Commission the status of wildlife herds in the state, what the public has weighed in on, and what regional biologists recommended for hunt seasons in their region, and is our guest on this episode of "Get Outside."

For spectacular views and outstanding fishing, few places in the U.S. compare to the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming. With literally 100’s of lakes in its roughly 100 mile-long reach, the “Winds” offer a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Each year, a crew of Wyoming Game & Fish fisheries biologists hike their gear into the Winds to survey many of those lakes. G&F Lander Region Fisheries Biologist Paul Gerrity has been sampling these lakes for years and visits with us about the work he does there, what folks can expect for their trip there and how good the fishing is.

Catch any Sand Pike in Wyoming lately?  If you did, maybe you thought it was a walleye.  If you use the more modern term for Sand Pike--Sauger--more people become familiar with this fish, but compared to walleye, many anglers are unfamiliar with sauger and how to tell the difference.  Wyoming Game and Fish Casper Region Fisheries Biologist Nick Hogberg, is currently working to reestablish sauger to its native range in the North Platte River system of Wyoming, and will explain how to tell the difference between sauger and walleye, and where to fish for them in the state.

In late July of 2022, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s Jackson Region stocked 750 Snake River cutthroat trout into Mystery Lake in the Teton Wilderness. The 5-inch fish were packed into the remote lake on horseback.   The stocking of the fish is another step in restoring the lake to its native Snake River cutthroat trout. The restoration project began in 2016 with the removal of all non-native fish, primarily rainbow trout.

Across the U.S, state wildlife officials are dealing with illegal fish introductions—it’s where people intentionally put a fish species they favor into a water where it doesn’t belong or is ill-suited to.  The results can be extremely damaging, expensive to fix, and often fail to achieve the results those who illegally stocked the fish had hoped for.

Wyoming Game & Fish Deputy Wildlife Division Chief Doug Brimeyer talks with us about 2022 hunt seasons approved by the Wyoming Game & Fish Commission in April.

A study of mule deer in the Sheridan region of Wyoming was recently concluded by Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologists to evaluate the condition of the Upper Powder River Mule Deer herd, which has been under management objectives of 18,000 for several years.  The study has provided an interesting look into the daily life and happenings of mule deer in this region.

Fisheries biologists with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department recently wrapped up a four-year project to return one of the rarest fish species in Wyoming…back to its once native range.  It's considered a "glacial relic" species.  This fish species has a lot of history….and is pretty cool to look at too.  Today on Get Outside are fisheries biologists Steve Gale from the department’s Laramie region, and Paul Gerrity from the Lander region…. 

     An interesting study is underway in Northeast Wyoming to give biologists important data on fish behavior, movement patterns, and habitat uses...