BigHornRam
Well-known member
The battle of the bighorns
By MICHAEL BABCOCK
Tribune Outdoor Editor
Wildlife officials struggle to balance populations, habitat and hunter demand
Wildlife managers in Montana this winter trapped and transplanted more than
200 bighorn sheep to try and keep the highly prized big game animals within
population objectives.
But sending Montana sheep - many of them pregnant ewes - to states like North
Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah puts the fur up on hunters and some sheep
fanciers alike.
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"That's about 400 bighorns that won't be in Montana this fall," said Kalispell
hunter Danny Moore.
Moore has unsuccessfully applied for a bighorn tag for 43 years and he says
hunters should be given an opportunity to harvest excess sheep.
But managing bighorn sheep is a delicate balancing act, according to both top
wildlife managers at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the executive director
of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep.
Too many sheep in too little habitat stresses the animals. They fall prey to
diseases such as pneumonia, which can spread quickly through a herd and result
in a massive die-off.
Such die-offs occurred in many hunting districts throughout the state in the
mid-1990s and more recently in the sheep herd in the Highland Mountains south
of Butte.
"Everybody is concerned, whether they are a trophy hunter or a meat hunter,"
said Jim Weatherly, executive director of FNAWS. "There are sheep out there
and it is a very coveted tag. People out there are waiting. There is even a
bill in the Legislature to make this a once-in-a-lifetime tag."
Quentin Kujala, head of wildlife management for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, says
bighorn populations around the state generally are above management
objectives. He calls the populations "robust" in any area where trap and
transplant operations occurred this winter.
Earlier this year, Graham Taylor, head of wildlife for Region 4 in Great
Falls, said the sheep population on the Rocky Mountain Front west of Augusta
is about 1,000 while the FWP target population is 800.
A survey last August in the Missouri Breaks found bighorn sheep numbers at or
above the target population with many of the sheep being mature rams.
Gus Wolfe, the land access manager for the Dick and Nancy Klick Ranch on the
Rocky Mountain Front near the Sun River Canyon, keeps close tabs on the
Fairview Plateau/Ford Creek sheep herd. He says he mingles with a bout 200
bighorns almost daily.
"Based on a little more experience than the average biologist, I don't see how
they can (trap and transplant) every year," Wolfe said. "The last few years,
with the (hunting) quotas they have, they pretty well have taken every big
ram. I think we have to set back and say 'Whoa.'
"They hang this disease thing over you," he said. "If we did have that, the
numbers would be way down."
Wolfe says population counts from FWP often reflect wintering herds, when
sheep are concentrated.
"You got a little bit of butter and you are trying to spread it over the whole
piece of toast," Wolfe said.
Kujala said the question is, what do you base your number evaluation on - too
many or two few?
"When we look back in time, we ask what is the consistency of our operations,"
he said. "In case of the Sun River, Castle Reef, the area back of Gibson
Reservoir and the Ford Creek country, you come to the notion that 200 observed
sheep per hunting district is about right.
"Right now, there are in excess of 300 sheep in the Castle Reef area and in
HD424, we are approaching 400 observed sheep. If you give any credence to
disease issue you are all but driven to say best information is this."
Shoot more sheep
Moore, the Kalispell hunter, said, "If we have too many sheep, please give
more tags and hunting opportunities to Montana hunters before you ship them
away to another state."
Weatherly said issuing more tags would work in districts with smaller herds
and tougher country. But in areas such as the Sun River and Thompson Falls
areas, where sheep numbers are exploding, issuing ewe tags is questionable.
"Should you issue 100 ewe tags? If I was a hunter and it took 30 years to draw
a tag, would I want to go out there with all these hunters shooting ewes? It
would really detract from the hunt. And, how many would take ewe tags?" he
said.
Weatherly points out that several years ago the Salish and Kootenai
Confederated Tribes tried to thin the bighorn population in a portion of HD
124 that it shares with the state. The tribes issued 100 ewe tags but only 18
hunters took ewes.
Great Falls hunter Bruce Auchly, who happens also to be an information officer
for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, hunted ewes two years ago on Castle Reef west of
Augusta.
"I am not a sheep hunter but I do want to hunt sheep and ewe tags are pretty
easy to get. The odds are very good. I wanted to try eating some and I did and
I loved it.
"It is rich, almost to the point of being sweet," Auchly said. "It does not
taste like mutton. I have had friends who have shot bighorn males and they
couldn't give the stuff away."
Auchly said he gave some to friends whose teen-age daughter didn't like game
meat and she asked for seconds.
"I don't know that hunting (ewes) is the answer," Weatherly said. In the case
of HD 124, that hunting pressure would drive the sheep over on to the Flathead
Indian Reservation.
"There is a whole range of solutions that have to be specific to the herds you
are trying to manage," Weatherly said. "Field biologists when they talk to
people who went out and harvested ewes, were told it is a great piece of meat
but would they do it again and the answer is no."
Ron Jenkins of Augusta, a taxidermist and bighorn fancier, grew up in the
Augusta area; his family had a cabin in HD 424. He estimates he has been on
more than 100 sheep hunts throughout North America and he loves sheep hunting
so much, he guides friends who have sheep tags.
"I am a sheep nut, which you easily can become if you like the mountains and
like to hunt," Jenkins said. "There is always somebody who draws a tag and I
go along so I get to hunt."
Jenkins says he has no problem with FWP's sheep management but he doesn't like
the idea of shooting ewes. Jenkins said the idea of offering more ewe tags is
not practical because "hunters don't have that much interest in ewes."
Kujala said in some sheep districts there are groups of hunters that would
like to hunt ewes. But in others, such as some of the Sun River hunting
districts, that interest is weak or never developed at all.
He said for some, price is an issue. They don't want to spend $125 to hunt a
ewe, although they will spend that to hunt a ram. And, if hunters do decide to
shoot a ewe, they are likely to hunt where the hunting is easiest and there
are congregations of sheep.
"In HD 424 (in the Ford Creek area west of Augusta) there is a significant
number hunters who go to the Ford Creek steps (a relatively easy area to
hunt). That means there is a disproportionate harvest carried by some subgroup
of the overall population."
That might change the migration patterns of a bighorn herd. But trapping and
transplanting offers game managers and opportunity to strategically manage
specific herds.
"Everybody wants big old rams and there are only a limited number of those in
any given herd. I think FWP is fairly proactive," Weatherly said. "In areas
where suddenly they have gotten a bunch of extra rams, they have increased the
tags just because the rams are there."
Transplanting sheep
Transplants are done in early winter - after the hunting season and before
lambs get heavy with pregnancy.
"That is out of concern for handlers and the critters," said Kujala.
Kujala said all of the trapping this year was accomplished through net gunning
rather than bait and trap. Helicopters fly low over sheep and shoot a net over
them.
He said any males that were transplanted were either lambs or rams younger
than 2 1/2 years. Older rams are difficult to deal with: they are aggressive
in the trailer and beat up the ewes and they tend to run off when they are
released.
Kujala said the cost of such an operation costs about $650 per sheep, which is
paid for by the state that receives the sheep.
Montana also benefits from the lab work that must be done on each trapped
sheep and the states receiving the sheep pay for that.
"We have other states who dearly want and have habitat for more sheep right
now and what better way to insure we have a resource for sheep in the future
if we have a die-offs," Weatherly said. "It ensures that we have sheep for
us."
Weatherly says there are avid sheep hunters and fanciers in states that don't
have sheep: There are chapters of FNAWS in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"They gave us money last year to buy habitat over by Anaconda," he said. "In
this case, they paid for the transplant into North Dakota."
Troubled areas
Kujala says there are two bighorn sheep hunting districts in the state where
bighorn populations are so troubled that hunting seasons were ended there.
They are the Highlands south of Butte and the Tendoy Mountain in the Wise
River Country.
The Highlands had a generally healthy and robust sheep herd until a die-off
there in the late 1990s or early 2000s. After a die-off in the Tendoys, sheep
numbers are rebounding but at something less than gangbuster levels.
Kujala said he often is asked why not put the 200 sheep that Montana
transplanted out to other states this year into the Highlands and the Tendoys.
"You have to ask yourself if the area is ready," he said. "Is whatever
initiated the die-off still there? Have things turned around? That doesn't
necessarily have an answer."
He said only the passage of time and clear evidence that young sheep are being
born into the remaining herds would lead to transplants back into those areas.
A sheep plan
Weatherly says FNAWS and Fish, Wildlife & Parks are in the preliminary steps
of writing a statewide sheep management plan.
"We have finished the elk plan and all these other plans and we are saying 'me
too,'" he said. "Right now we don't have any other areas that are set up and
available to put sheep. We are looking at a couple new areas. Perhaps we could
have the Pryors (far southeastern Montana) ready for next year and possibly
put more sheep back into the Highlands (south of Butte).
Kujala says FWP commissioners have discussed the bighorn issue and they may
consider issuing more ewe permits.
"Certainly that is a possibility," he said. "The Legislature is looking at
reducing ewe tag prices in the event there are not enough applicants for the
number of licenses. And, what happens when we cannot find a release sight
anywhere?
"Certainly the public will influence us," he said. "The commissioners have the
final say but the Department is not throwing out either tool whether it be
trap and transplant or hunter harvest. Both have strong suits and limitations.
Reach Tribune Outdoor Editor Michael Babcock at
[email protected], at 406-791-1487 or 800-438-6600.
By MICHAEL BABCOCK
Tribune Outdoor Editor
Wildlife officials struggle to balance populations, habitat and hunter demand
Wildlife managers in Montana this winter trapped and transplanted more than
200 bighorn sheep to try and keep the highly prized big game animals within
population objectives.
But sending Montana sheep - many of them pregnant ewes - to states like North
Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Utah puts the fur up on hunters and some sheep
fanciers alike.
ADVERTISEMENT
"That's about 400 bighorns that won't be in Montana this fall," said Kalispell
hunter Danny Moore.
Moore has unsuccessfully applied for a bighorn tag for 43 years and he says
hunters should be given an opportunity to harvest excess sheep.
But managing bighorn sheep is a delicate balancing act, according to both top
wildlife managers at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the executive director
of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep.
Too many sheep in too little habitat stresses the animals. They fall prey to
diseases such as pneumonia, which can spread quickly through a herd and result
in a massive die-off.
Such die-offs occurred in many hunting districts throughout the state in the
mid-1990s and more recently in the sheep herd in the Highland Mountains south
of Butte.
"Everybody is concerned, whether they are a trophy hunter or a meat hunter,"
said Jim Weatherly, executive director of FNAWS. "There are sheep out there
and it is a very coveted tag. People out there are waiting. There is even a
bill in the Legislature to make this a once-in-a-lifetime tag."
Quentin Kujala, head of wildlife management for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, says
bighorn populations around the state generally are above management
objectives. He calls the populations "robust" in any area where trap and
transplant operations occurred this winter.
Earlier this year, Graham Taylor, head of wildlife for Region 4 in Great
Falls, said the sheep population on the Rocky Mountain Front west of Augusta
is about 1,000 while the FWP target population is 800.
A survey last August in the Missouri Breaks found bighorn sheep numbers at or
above the target population with many of the sheep being mature rams.
Gus Wolfe, the land access manager for the Dick and Nancy Klick Ranch on the
Rocky Mountain Front near the Sun River Canyon, keeps close tabs on the
Fairview Plateau/Ford Creek sheep herd. He says he mingles with a bout 200
bighorns almost daily.
"Based on a little more experience than the average biologist, I don't see how
they can (trap and transplant) every year," Wolfe said. "The last few years,
with the (hunting) quotas they have, they pretty well have taken every big
ram. I think we have to set back and say 'Whoa.'
"They hang this disease thing over you," he said. "If we did have that, the
numbers would be way down."
Wolfe says population counts from FWP often reflect wintering herds, when
sheep are concentrated.
"You got a little bit of butter and you are trying to spread it over the whole
piece of toast," Wolfe said.
Kujala said the question is, what do you base your number evaluation on - too
many or two few?
"When we look back in time, we ask what is the consistency of our operations,"
he said. "In case of the Sun River, Castle Reef, the area back of Gibson
Reservoir and the Ford Creek country, you come to the notion that 200 observed
sheep per hunting district is about right.
"Right now, there are in excess of 300 sheep in the Castle Reef area and in
HD424, we are approaching 400 observed sheep. If you give any credence to
disease issue you are all but driven to say best information is this."
Shoot more sheep
Moore, the Kalispell hunter, said, "If we have too many sheep, please give
more tags and hunting opportunities to Montana hunters before you ship them
away to another state."
Weatherly said issuing more tags would work in districts with smaller herds
and tougher country. But in areas such as the Sun River and Thompson Falls
areas, where sheep numbers are exploding, issuing ewe tags is questionable.
"Should you issue 100 ewe tags? If I was a hunter and it took 30 years to draw
a tag, would I want to go out there with all these hunters shooting ewes? It
would really detract from the hunt. And, how many would take ewe tags?" he
said.
Weatherly points out that several years ago the Salish and Kootenai
Confederated Tribes tried to thin the bighorn population in a portion of HD
124 that it shares with the state. The tribes issued 100 ewe tags but only 18
hunters took ewes.
Great Falls hunter Bruce Auchly, who happens also to be an information officer
for Fish, Wildlife & Parks, hunted ewes two years ago on Castle Reef west of
Augusta.
"I am not a sheep hunter but I do want to hunt sheep and ewe tags are pretty
easy to get. The odds are very good. I wanted to try eating some and I did and
I loved it.
"It is rich, almost to the point of being sweet," Auchly said. "It does not
taste like mutton. I have had friends who have shot bighorn males and they
couldn't give the stuff away."
Auchly said he gave some to friends whose teen-age daughter didn't like game
meat and she asked for seconds.
"I don't know that hunting (ewes) is the answer," Weatherly said. In the case
of HD 124, that hunting pressure would drive the sheep over on to the Flathead
Indian Reservation.
"There is a whole range of solutions that have to be specific to the herds you
are trying to manage," Weatherly said. "Field biologists when they talk to
people who went out and harvested ewes, were told it is a great piece of meat
but would they do it again and the answer is no."
Ron Jenkins of Augusta, a taxidermist and bighorn fancier, grew up in the
Augusta area; his family had a cabin in HD 424. He estimates he has been on
more than 100 sheep hunts throughout North America and he loves sheep hunting
so much, he guides friends who have sheep tags.
"I am a sheep nut, which you easily can become if you like the mountains and
like to hunt," Jenkins said. "There is always somebody who draws a tag and I
go along so I get to hunt."
Jenkins says he has no problem with FWP's sheep management but he doesn't like
the idea of shooting ewes. Jenkins said the idea of offering more ewe tags is
not practical because "hunters don't have that much interest in ewes."
Kujala said in some sheep districts there are groups of hunters that would
like to hunt ewes. But in others, such as some of the Sun River hunting
districts, that interest is weak or never developed at all.
He said for some, price is an issue. They don't want to spend $125 to hunt a
ewe, although they will spend that to hunt a ram. And, if hunters do decide to
shoot a ewe, they are likely to hunt where the hunting is easiest and there
are congregations of sheep.
"In HD 424 (in the Ford Creek area west of Augusta) there is a significant
number hunters who go to the Ford Creek steps (a relatively easy area to
hunt). That means there is a disproportionate harvest carried by some subgroup
of the overall population."
That might change the migration patterns of a bighorn herd. But trapping and
transplanting offers game managers and opportunity to strategically manage
specific herds.
"Everybody wants big old rams and there are only a limited number of those in
any given herd. I think FWP is fairly proactive," Weatherly said. "In areas
where suddenly they have gotten a bunch of extra rams, they have increased the
tags just because the rams are there."
Transplanting sheep
Transplants are done in early winter - after the hunting season and before
lambs get heavy with pregnancy.
"That is out of concern for handlers and the critters," said Kujala.
Kujala said all of the trapping this year was accomplished through net gunning
rather than bait and trap. Helicopters fly low over sheep and shoot a net over
them.
He said any males that were transplanted were either lambs or rams younger
than 2 1/2 years. Older rams are difficult to deal with: they are aggressive
in the trailer and beat up the ewes and they tend to run off when they are
released.
Kujala said the cost of such an operation costs about $650 per sheep, which is
paid for by the state that receives the sheep.
Montana also benefits from the lab work that must be done on each trapped
sheep and the states receiving the sheep pay for that.
"We have other states who dearly want and have habitat for more sheep right
now and what better way to insure we have a resource for sheep in the future
if we have a die-offs," Weatherly said. "It ensures that we have sheep for
us."
Weatherly says there are avid sheep hunters and fanciers in states that don't
have sheep: There are chapters of FNAWS in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
"They gave us money last year to buy habitat over by Anaconda," he said. "In
this case, they paid for the transplant into North Dakota."
Troubled areas
Kujala says there are two bighorn sheep hunting districts in the state where
bighorn populations are so troubled that hunting seasons were ended there.
They are the Highlands south of Butte and the Tendoy Mountain in the Wise
River Country.
The Highlands had a generally healthy and robust sheep herd until a die-off
there in the late 1990s or early 2000s. After a die-off in the Tendoys, sheep
numbers are rebounding but at something less than gangbuster levels.
Kujala said he often is asked why not put the 200 sheep that Montana
transplanted out to other states this year into the Highlands and the Tendoys.
"You have to ask yourself if the area is ready," he said. "Is whatever
initiated the die-off still there? Have things turned around? That doesn't
necessarily have an answer."
He said only the passage of time and clear evidence that young sheep are being
born into the remaining herds would lead to transplants back into those areas.
A sheep plan
Weatherly says FNAWS and Fish, Wildlife & Parks are in the preliminary steps
of writing a statewide sheep management plan.
"We have finished the elk plan and all these other plans and we are saying 'me
too,'" he said. "Right now we don't have any other areas that are set up and
available to put sheep. We are looking at a couple new areas. Perhaps we could
have the Pryors (far southeastern Montana) ready for next year and possibly
put more sheep back into the Highlands (south of Butte).
Kujala says FWP commissioners have discussed the bighorn issue and they may
consider issuing more ewe permits.
"Certainly that is a possibility," he said. "The Legislature is looking at
reducing ewe tag prices in the event there are not enough applicants for the
number of licenses. And, what happens when we cannot find a release sight
anywhere?
"Certainly the public will influence us," he said. "The commissioners have the
final say but the Department is not throwing out either tool whether it be
trap and transplant or hunter harvest. Both have strong suits and limitations.
Reach Tribune Outdoor Editor Michael Babcock at
[email protected], at 406-791-1487 or 800-438-6600.
We'll see.
