Crane, goose, dove hunting seasons open locally Sept. 1

Seasons for mourning dove, rail and snipe open statewide Tuesday.

Sandhill crane hunt areas in the Pacific Flyway portion of Wyoming also open Tuesday to limited quota permit holders and include Hunt Area 1, the Bear River and Ham’s Fork Drainages in Lincoln County, Hunt Area 3, Bureau of Reclamation Eden Project in Sweetwater County, and Hunt Area 5, the entirety of Uinta County.

The early Canada goose season in the Pacific Flyway also opens Sept. 1 and ends on Sept. 8.

The daily bag limit on any Canada or cackling geese is two, and the possession limit is six; except in Teton County where the daily limit is three and possession limit is nine. The Pacific Flyway means that portion of Wyoming west of the Continental Divide, including the Great Divide Basin.

In addition to a game bird licenses and conservation stamp, licensed migratory bird hunters must have a federal Harvest Information Program (HIP) permit. The Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, often referred to as a duck stamp, is not required of dove, crane, rail and snipe hunters but is required of hunters 16 years of age or older who plan to hunt geese.

Specifically, HIP permits are required of licensed hunters for doves, ducks, geese, mergansers, coots, sandhill cranes, snipe, and rails.

HIP is a federal program that improves the ability to estimate harvest for management of migratory game species. Only one HIP permit is needed to hunt all species for the entire migratory game bird season.

Additionally, the HIP permits are only valid in the state they have been issued in.