Associated Press - September 18, 2009 7:15 AM ET

PINEDALE, Wyo. (AP) - Sage grouse hunting season opens on Saturday and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department is urging all hunters to drop off one wing for testing from every bird they harvest.

Biologists with the game department have placed marked barrels for collecting the wings along major access roads to popular hunting areas near Pinedale and Big Piney.

Dropping of a wing from each bird allows biologists to determine its age and sex. That gives the department information on sage grouse reproduction rates and population trends.

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