With few exceptions, nontoxic shot is not required for hunting mourning doves. Nontoxic shot is required for hunting any game birds or small game on the Springer and Table Mountain Wildlife Habitat Management areas or on a National Wildlife Refuge.

Yes, it is legal to do most of the processing in the field. However, enough evidence must be left on the carcass to identify species and sex of the bird. For pheasants this means the feathered head, feathered wing or foot must remain naturally attached to the bird. For ducks, the feathered wing or feathered head is required.

Hunter orange is required by law when hunting pheasants on Wyoming Game and Fish Department wildlife habitat areas. It is also required when hunting Glendo State Park and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation lands around Glendo Reservoir. These public hunting areas receive heavy pressure, and wearing orange makes it safer. While orange is not required pheasant hunting garb in other areas of the state, it''s still a good idea. The cover is heavy in many pheasant haunts, and hunter visibility is an important safety factor.

The law requiring plugging (reducing the magazine capacity) of shotguns is probably a throwback from the market-hunting of early last century. When commercial hunting was outlawed, laws were passed to restrict overlimit or commercial harvest of migratory game birds, hence the reduction of shotshell capacity. Federal law still requires pump and autoloading shotguns be plugged to admit no more than two shells in the magazine and one in the chamber.

Shooting hours are from daylight to 4:00 p.m. only on areas where we occasionally stock pheasants from our bird farms. This gives us a chance to stock birds during daylight hours and gives the birds a chance to settle for a night without being hunted. Shooting hours for the rest of the state are from daylight to dark with the exception that shooting hours for the Special Springer Pheasant Hunt are from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wildlife habitat management areas which have the 4:00 p.m. closure are listed in the current regulations.

Only licensed hunters are required to purchase a Wyoming conservation stamp. A 12-year old does not need a license to hunt game birds, and is therefore is exempt from the conservation stamp requirement. Daily bird and small game license holders and certain other license types are also exempt from the conservation stamp requirement. Consult the Department's regulation brochures for a complete list of exempted license types.

The Federal Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp, commonly called "Duck Stamp" is required for hunting ducks, geese and mergansers (and only required for persons 16 years of age or older) -- but is not required for doves, sandhill cranes or coots. There is some confusion, because like waterfowl, doves and sandhill cranes are migratory birds and many hunters operate under the impression that a stamp is required. But according to federal regulations, the stamp is not required.

Yes. The Wyoming season is Nov. 1 -- Feb. 28. Crows may only be taken by using firearms, archery and falconry. No license is required, and there is no bag limit. Hunters are alerted crows closely resemble ravens, which are protected. Ravens have a wedge- or "V"-shaped tail and broader wings which prompts the birds to soar more beat their wings less. Ravens are primarily found in the western half of Wyoming and rarely frequent agricultural areas like crows.

Yes and no. It all depends on where you are hunting. Nontoxic shot is required when hunting small game and upland game on the G&F's Springer and Table Mountain wildlife areas which are located in Goshen County. If you are hunting pheasants on other G&F wildlife units or on private lands, nontoxic shot is not required. Keep in mind however, that if you plan to include waterfowl in your bag, you can not have lead shot in your possession. For this reason, many hunters have opted to use nontoxic shot for all their hunting where there is opportunity for an upland/waterfowl mixed bag.

The HIP (Harvest Information Program) stamp is a free stamp but is specific to each state. You will need to obtain a stamp in whatever state you plan to hunt migratory birds.