You can feel when September is getting close in Wyoming.

Mornings get cooler, days become shorter and bows and rifles start coming out of cases. Conversations turn to elk, deer and pronghorn. Before long, blaze orange will once again be a familiar sight across Wyoming.

For many of us, the season is  simply part of the rhythm of living here.

Hunting and angling traditions have been passed down through Wyoming families for generations. They put food on our tables, bring families and friends together and connect us to wildlife and the landscapes that make this state home.

I understand that personally. Along with  many of you, I myself am an avid hunter and angler and, at heart, a Wyoming sportsperson.

I still think back to my first Wyoming archery season in 1993. Now more than three decades later, September never fails to bring back that feeling of anticipation for the hunt. .

Anyone who has bowhunted elk during the peak of the rut knows what I mean. You can spend months preparing, but there is no feeling like that first early-morning bugle of the season.

Your heart starts beating faster. Every sense seems to sharpen. Suddenly, your next step and every sound around you matter, and every move you make will determine how the rest of the season will go.

Sometimes it all comes together. Plenty of times it doesn't. That's elk hunting.

Those experiences are part of why September means so much to me. I am proud to see September recognized as Archery Month in Wyoming. It is an opportunity to recognize not only archery, but the preparation, patience and respect for wildlife that are such important parts of bowhunting.

As another hunting season arrives, I find myself thinking about everything it takes the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to get to this point. One thing that I have learned in my time at the Game and Fish is that there is no offseason in wildlife management.

Throughout the year, department employees are in the field monitoring wildlife populations, conducting research, improving habitat, working with landowners, maintaining access, raising and stocking fish, responding to wildlife conflicts and gathering the information used to make management decisions and set seasons.

You may recognize our personnel as the folks in the red shirts and green trucks. Behind those shirts and trucks are people who care deeply about Wyoming's wildlife. They are wardens, biologists, technicians, fish culturists, habitat specialists, educators, IT, fiscal, support services and many others who have dedicated their careers to conserving the resources that all of us value so deeply.

I am proud to work alongside them, and I thank them and their families for what they give to Wyoming.

We cannot accomplish our mission here alone. Our landowners, conservation organizations, communities and partners are essential to wildlife conservation in Wyoming. 

And at the heart of that partnership are our sportspeople.

To Wyoming's sportspeople, I want to say something very clearly: thank you, and most importantly, thank you for introducing future generations to Wyoming’s outdoors. 

I hope you have a safe and memorable season. I hope you wake up before sunrise on a cool , September morning, watch the sun come up over a place you love, or simply spend time in the field with people who matter to you.

Most of all, I hope you remember how fortunate we all are to have these opportunities — and that keeping them takes all of us. The seasons may change, but our responsibility to Wyoming's wildlife and the traditions surrounding this remain the same.

That's what Conserving Wildlife, Serving People is all about.

Eric Wiltanger is the Interim Director for Game and Fish.