Summer 2014 Volume 35 Issue 2
Ram Tracks
Summer Newsletter 2014
Volume 35 Issue 2
Wild Sheep Foundation - Midwest Chapter Officers and Directors PRESIDENT Curt Babler (‘17) 24846 Fondant Ave Wyoming, MN 55025 (651) 490-9395 cbabler@vetteaction.com VICE PRESIDENT Scott Olson (‘16) 22743 171st Street Big Lake, MN 55309 (763) 263-0015 pullbanger@aol.com
TREASURER Andy Otte (‘16) 2630 270th Street East Randolph, MN 55065 (507) 301-8655 crisbickman.otte@gmail.com SECRETARY Brian Helm (‘15) 1910 Stowe Avenue Arden Hills, MN 55112-7826 (651) 631-9273 blhelm@visi.com DIRECTORS Mike Bouton (‘16) 675 Blue Pine Lane Boise, ID. 83709 phone: 208-949-4510 mikebouton@hotmail.com John Coulter (‘17) 201 Craig Tracy, MN 56175 (507) 829-2304 coulterj@iw.net
Rod Garland (‘16) 43433 N Trevor Road Antioch, IL 60002 (847) 612-4408 jrodgarland@gmail.com
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Presidents Message
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Better to be Lucky than Good
Al Holland (‘17) 11933 Highway 65 NE Blaine, MN 55434 (763) 755-8680 al.holland.b5b0@statefarm.com
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Auction Success
by Curt Babler
by Steve Mealman by Tyler Tomesh
8 WSF-Midwest Endowment by Oscar Carlson 10
Halfway Home
12
Youth Education
13
Lucky #7
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Greenland Success
Steve Powelson (‘15) 2607 Hulett Court Faribault, MN 55021 507-334-7413 powie_s@yahoo.com
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Her Last Hunt
16
Chapter & Affiliate Meeting
Matt Rippentrop (‘16) PO Box 74 Oelrichs, SD 57763 (307) 389-1216 mattrippentrop@hotmail.com
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Idaho Funding
18
Sioux Lookout Bear Hunt
Dave Swenson (‘15) 955 McDonald Lane Hudson, WI 54016 (715) 386-8772 david.swenson@att.net
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WSF - Wasington D.C. Update
Loren Kohnen (‘17) 22755 Winchester Trail Corcoran, MN 55340 763-498-8321 mtrowst76@aol.com Scott Olson (‘16) 22743 171st Street Big Lake, MN 55309 (763) 263-0015 pullbanger@aol.com
Ron Vollrath (‘17) 705 Northwood Drive Delano, MN 55328 (763) 972-1280
WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION - MIDWEST Office Headquarters Patti J. Murry, Executive Director 1806 Aspen Court Northfield, MN 55057 phone/fax (507) 645-8811 patti.murry@gmail.com
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In this issue
by Loren Kohnen
by Matt Rippentrop by Curt Babler by Dan Scharmer
by Scott Olson
by Curt Babler
by Jerry Walters by Jeff Strong
by Gray Thornton
MISSION STATEMENT To enhance, expand and preserve wild sheep populations; to educate the public about wild sheep and conservation efforts surrounding wildlife; to encourage lawful hunting and protecting hunters’ rights; and to encourage youth participation in hunting.
representatives, meet in Scottsdale Arizona for this year’s Chapter and Affiliate meeting. The “One Tent, One Campfire” motto that was coined in 2008 as a way to bring all the chapters and affiliates together to discuss different issues and how we all can come together for the betterment of not only the sheep of North America but also each chapter and affiliate can learn from the other groups on items like banquets, raffles, office staffing, policies and procedures, etc which your chapter has been lucky enough to benefit from.
Members, I hope this newsletter finds your hunting season in full swing, freezers filling with a bountiful harvest and health thru your family. Let me start by asking that you update the physical mailing address of our headquarters. The address has changed to 1806 Aspen Court, Northfield, MN 55057. It is with sadness I have to report we all have suffered a setback in North Dakota’s bighorn sheep recovery. After signing our original agreement in 1999 North Dakota bighorns were on their way to a success story that we all had hoped for. As of this writing all but 4 of the Alberta sheep that were brought in to supplement the Montana herd have perished due to pneumonia. The scientific name is Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, Movi for short. North Dakota biologist, Brett Weidman, has been making daily flights, hiking into sheep country on foot, all in an attempt to keep the information as fresh as possible on the losses of both the Alberta transplants and the resident bighorns, who also have succumb to pneumonia It is indeed a tough loss that will be felt for years. Chairperson of the South Dakota Bighorn Sheep working group and WSF-Midwest board member Matt Rippentrop spent the day educating some local youth about bighorn sheep and the various challenges they face in North America. Matt also discussed the proposed Bighorn sheep transplant to the Deadwood area of South Dakota this winter. All the kids enjoyed the experience and came away with a new sense of how fragile wild sheep can be. More of this can be found on page 12 of this issue.
Mark your calendars -- this year’s banquet will include our Conservation Social on Friday March 20th, 2015. Saturday March 21st, 2015 will be the day of our main banquet which we will again kick off at high noon with the pizza party! We will then roll right into our afternoon auction at approxamatly 1:00PM on March 21, 2015. The Friday night social has become a great way to hear what is happening in “our” states in regards to bighorn sheep and to socialize with friends! Dinner will again be a part of the Friday night social so I hope to see you there! Our Live Auction is taking shape and if you have a connection or would like to see something specific on the auction please let our Live Auction Chairman - Steve Powelson or his cochairs, Andy Otte, and Scott Olson know! Silent Auction – Dave and Judy Swenson are this year’s Chair and co chair. If you have an item that you would like to donate or have a suggestion please feel free to contact them. Ladies Event – Charlotte Babler is once again heading up the ladies event which this year will include a Tour of France in the wine department along with a chef discussing how to cook wild game. This event has become a must attend so make sure the ladies in your party have their tickets! Board of Director Nominations are being sought. If you have a desire to help your chapter and the wild sheep Let Patti at the office headquarters know. Our next issue is our banquet issue so please sent your photos and stories in! Doesn’t your outfitter deserve the publicity? Curt
Continuing on the wild sheep/domestic sheep discussion, please take a moment and read the information on pages 20 and 21 provided by Gray Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation as it gives a short overview of his most recent trip to Washington DC to lobby on behalf of wild sheep of North America. This past June I, along with 50 other Chapter and Affiliate Page 3
Better to be Lucky than Good by Steve Mealman, Lakeville, MN
This is really a two part segment; the story on how the hunt became a reality and the actual hunt itself. Pre-Hunt I have always been infatuated with the thought of sheep hunting, ever since seeing the iconic images of the two Bighorn Rams dueling in the introduction of Marty Stouffer’s television series, ‘Wild America’. I have been very lucky in my hunting career to travel the world and experience wing shooting at its best, at one time owning my own waterfowl lodge in South Dakota. I have also had the pleasure of Big game hunting in Africa on multiple occasions. I live and breathe hunting but never thought that hunting sheep would be an option.
with Bo Morgan of ‘Go with Bo Booking and Guide Service’. In talking with Loren and touring the show, I knew I was hooked! I was also lucky enough to meet Bo at the show, which quickly led to my desire to hunt sheep with him in the near future. While at the show, I booked a Dall Sheep Hunt for August 2014 with Mike Colpo of Lazy J Bar O. A couple days after returning home, I received an elated call from my new friend, Loren Kohnen, and he shared some exciting news that he had just won a Raffle for a Desert Sheep Hunt in Sonora. And before I knew it, he asked me if I would be interested in taking his place in the Desert Sheep Hunt with Bo during winter of 2015? I quickly responded with a ‘Yes’. After my initial conversation with Bo about what I needed to do to get ready for the trip, I received another call from him a few days later asking me if I could do the hunt this year in April instead of 2015. Again, I followed up with a quick ‘YES’! After that conversation, everything was a blur and before I knew it, I was meeting my Guide, Eldon Skrynyk in LA. By the way, Eldon is one of the best guys I have ever met. I am excited to report that we have a Stone Sheep and Moose Hunt scheduled for 2016.
Here is where my story begins. Recently, I scheduled a visit to see a customer in the Reno area and the timing happened to coincide with the WSF National Show. I figured why not becomes a WSF member and check the show out, and if it is anything like the SCI show, it will be fun. As it turned out, I met a fellow traveler on my way to Reno who was wearing a WSF life member shirt and I struck up a conversation with him. This salt of the earth gentleman was Loren Kohnen. We hit it off right away and talked about hunting and fishing on the entire trip to Reno. Loren told me about a desert sheep hunt he had scheduled for the winter of 2015
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The Hunt Eldon and I landed in Loreto, Mexico and we were met by Leon of Ejido Bonfil, where we learned we would be hunting the Ejido Bonfil de Mulege. As we drove along the coast from Loreto to Mulege, we saw a whale shark cruising slowly in a crystal clear bay. This is a rare sight not often seen while big game hunting. We met our team for this hunt. The lead guide was Francisco and his brother Eduardo was our interpreter. We also had a long list of packers and spotters. On the first night we slept on the beach in a picturesque quality bay. The next morning we spent glassing a couple mountain sides, but saw nothing but ewes. After breakfast, we drove for about 2.5 hours to a new area where our Mexican guides had spotted some nice mature rams only a few days earlier. We spent the rest of that day glassing, but again, we didn’t see anything. The following day,
the plan was to hike to the top of the mountain and spend a few days. We set out the next morning at about 5 am. The conditioning I had been doing prior to this trip served me well, but it was still arduous and grueling climb to the top of the mountain. The loose rocks and prickly cactus kept us on our toes. We finally made it to the top at around 10:30 am. As I was changing into some fresh socks and catching my breath, Eldon took a look over the ridge. He immediately ducked down and told me there was a mature ram on the other side of the canyon. I peaked over the side and we all looked him over. He was everything I wanted in a ram. He was an old ram with good mass and he flared out unusually wide. Eldon and I both agreed this was my sheep. We could spend the next 8 days looking and not find one this nice, or we could come over the ridge and pursue this 185” ram. I firmly believe in the ‘one in the hand’ methodology. It was a pretty far poke at 450 yards, but I had great confidence in my Gunwerks set-up. I got a good rest and followed the B.R.A.S.S. mantra my Father taught me from his time in the Marines. The round found its mark and the sheep took a few steps and it was over. I was planning on 10 days of rigor, struggling through the punishing heat and the high elevations in the mountains, and then it was over in the first afternoon of hunting. It was exhilarating and a little anticlimactic to accomplish my goal, my dream, in one day. We spent the rest of the day closing in on the sheep, taking photos and packing it out. We spent that night at Francisco and Eduardo’s father’s ranch and enjoyed grilled sheep over a wood fire. It was a perfect ending to an exhausting day! For the next couple of days, we took pleasure in yellowtail fishing and getting acquainted with Loreto. Although, I enjoyed the fishing much more than Eldon or Eduardo; sea legs apparently are not a necessity for a sheep guide! Like the booking of this adventure the hunt proved to be fast and furious. And like this whole adventure, I would rather be lucky than good. I lucked out and got a great ram I am proud of and the story of a lifetime. I can’t wait for my next mountain adventure. Steve Mealman WSF Life Member #2585 WSF Midwest Chapter Life Member #209
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Auction Success by Tyler Tomesh, Altoona, WI
The wheels were put in motion several years ago while sitting around the cabin campfire on a cool fall night. I asked my brother Josh, “If you could hunt anything, what would it be?” As we discussed all of the different hunts, we unanimously landed on hunting Dall sheep in Alaska. In March of 2014, we attended the WSF-Midwest banquet in Minnetonka, Minnesota and purchased the hunt on the event’s live auction. The spring and summer were spent with alternating days of running, strength and conditioning training and strapping on our packs to head to the local ski hills for several trips up and down the hill. Determined to be in the best condition we could, the training picked up, and throughout July, each day consisted of one of our training activities. August 6th was the date circled on the calendar to leave Minneapolis for Fairbanks. Finally, the day arrived for the two of us, and the uneventful flight landed us at Fairbanks International Airport where we met Maggie from Rampage Alaska. The following afternoon, we planned to go into the bush to meet Rampage Alaska’s owner and guide, Conor Halloran. After some basic supply items purchased at Fred Meyer, we managed to get out into the Alaskan Range by 4 P.M. on Friday the 7th of August. That evening we met Conor and Tom, our two guides; along with Jordan, the green horn packer; and our camp cook, Rona. The excitement in camp was contagious.
The next morning, we set out for our spike camp a few miles up creek from the landing strip. The camp was located in some difficult terrain. During the first part of the hunt, we left the horses at camp and hunt by backpack. As the hunt began, the evenings spent on the ski hill doing long tempo runs really paid off. Our legs and lungs were in pretty good shape allowing us to scale the rugged mountains of Alaska. We were reminded more than once that the best way to get Page 6
in “sheep shape” was to go sheep hunting. Over the next few days, we regularly sighted lambs, ewes, and some rams. On Monday of the hunt, we spotted several rams, a large group of lambs, and ewes that were located several miles upriver. As we watched the group that evening, having already passed on some marginal rams within range that day, we decided that the next morning’s hunt would be spent checking their position and pursuing them. It was hard to contain the excitement as we poured our tired bodies into the tent for some rest.
On Tuesday morning, we made it to our vantage point to check on the previous day’s sheep, and we had to make a difficult decision on what to do next. While spotting the rams, our decision loomed. If we chose to go down this shale slide of steep terrain, we would have to go back in the
direction of base camp which would allow us to negotiate our way down. It would also require us to go around the range rather than up and over. After some discussion with Tom, we convinced him that we could make it up river to these rams and still have the energy to make the twelve mile trip back to base camp. We were all in!!! After four hours of
hiking and climbing, we were set up. While taking a closer look at the group, we noticed a mature broomed off ram, and a second ram that was a typical Alaskan Range Dall whose ends flared out. We had one last short climb to get into position for a great shot, and when we managed to get to our vantage point, the broomed ram had fed away and now stood at 633 yards. The flared ram was now at 340 yards, and Josh decided that he wanted to take this ram. He let loose a shot from a .300 Winchester Short Mag. After a short recovery, we were standing over my brother Josh’s beautiful ram!
better look. Unfortunately, we did not see any quality rams and continued on; that afternoon, behind a rock ledge, we spotted a group of four rams. Conor was convinced there were additional rams behind the ledge, and we decided to get into position. After two hours of climbing and belly crawling across shale slides, we closed the distance to 350 yards and held our position until the rams decided to do some feeding. After what felt like days, but was really about 90 minutes, the rams began to move. The ninth, and final, ram was in position. Conor identified him as a ten year-old ram and said I should take a look. After a look through the spotting scope, he was the one! I bored down and let the .300 Ultra Mag rip. A few steps later, he was down! In six days on the mountains, we saw hundreds of sheep, many groups of rams, great caribou and so much of what Alaska has to offer. Rampage Alaska did an incredible job of working so diligently to know the terrain and to find us animals. Going on any hunt takes skill and luck; however, our incredibly hard working guides, Tom and Conor, gave us countless opportunities and the hunt of a lifetime. The Wild Sheep Foundation did a great job of picking Conor and his outfit because it made our years of dreaming and months of training pay off. In the end, two brothers put the finishing touches on a double ram hunt, fulfilling a dream of a lifetime.
Let the work begin…After lots of pictures, caping, and butchering the ram, we were ready to begin our hike back to base camp; it was 9:10 P.M. Through the river and through very technical terrain, the next 5 ½ hours were spent hiking down the river to our base camp. Over the course of 22 hours, Josh and I developed a much greater appreciation for successful sheep hunters because of the physical and mental demands we experienced during our own hunt. Back at camp, we spent the next morning putting together our game plan for the second part of the hunt, and I was now the “trigger man.” After some attention to the blisters that required moleskin and doctoring, we went glassing to prepare for Wednesday’s hunt. We sighted a couple of small groups of rams but passed on them. On Thursday morning, we left base camp to set-up spike camp on a different river system where the terrain was a bit more forgiving, but it did require the assistance of horses to venture the six miles upriver to our new base camp. That afternoon we had encounters with several rams and one very nice mature ram that kept 650 yards between us. Unfortunately, the ram was out of my comfort zone, and I elected to close the distance. The rams had a head start and continued feeding up and over the mountain range. First thing Friday morning, we found a group of rams while doing some glassing and determined the group of 11 all had some head gear, so we elected to close the distance for a Page 7
Wild Sheep Foundation - Midwest Chapter
Endowment Fund Our Mission, as a wild sheep foundation chapter is as follows: “We are dedicated to enhancing wild sheep populations, promoting professional wildlife management, educating the public and youth on sustainable use and the conservation benefits of hunting while promoting the interests of the hunter and all stakeholders.� One of the greatest ways to insure that our mission will continue is through your donations to our endowment fund. At the end of August 2014, your Endowment Fund had a total of $663,701. Your Endowment Investment Committee of Trustees is charged with the task of first protecting the base funds which we call Corpus; second they are charged with protecting the CPI or consumer price index on these funds so they will never lose value; and third they are charged with producing earnings enough to fund projects selected by your Board of Directors. As all of you know, market conditions have been good in recent years, and not only have we been able to protect the Corpus and cover the CPI index, we have made substantial funds available for needed wildlife conservation projects. We need your help to keep this Endowment Fund growing. As we get closer to year end, many of you will be considering where to make a year end donation. The WSF Midwest Foundation would appreciate if you would give us strong consideration. The easiest way is a straight cash donation, but we could also accept stocks. Stock that has appreciated is a good way donate, this way you can avoid the tax gain yet get the full value for your donation on your tax return. In closing, we need to Keep Sheep on the Mountains for future generations, so please consider a donation.
A. Oscar Carlson Endowment Trustee Chairman
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Chapter Endowment Gilcee Y L N
O
d e t i lity m bi i L ila a v A
0 5
2 $
“The Warrior� Call the WSF-Midwest Office to get yours! 507-645-8811
100% goes to the endowment fund
From the original painting of the same name the bighorn depicted in this gilcee symbolizes the sheep of South Dakota. Battered, but strong and ready for the next obstacle they come upon.100% of the funds generated from these unframed gilcees will go into the Chapters endowment fund. Joshua Spies graduated from South Dakota State University in 1996 with a degree in Fine Arts. His list of awards and recognitions is extensive, including the 2007 and 2011 Dallas Safari Club Artist of the Year award and the appearance of his paintings in two major motion pictures. This Gilcee is only available from the Midwest Chapter as 100% of the funds are directly deposited into the Chapters Endowment fund. Page 9
Half Way Home By Loren Kohnen, Corcoran, MN
At a banquet I won a Desert Bighorn sheep hunt with Amigo Outfitters based out of Hermosillo, Mexico. Going with me would be Zack Morgan, son of Bo Morgan, whom I know will be a special guide. He is a very hard working individual. I met up with Zack at the Phoenix airport and together we flew to Hermosillo. March 1st we arrived at Hermosillo and were met at the airport by Nayo and Silva of Amigo Outfitters. We drove five hours to camp near Sonayta, Mexico. Upon arriving at camp we met our five guides and camp workers plus Luz our chef and sat down to a steak dinner. Each hunter and guest had their own large tent. That night there was a nice rain shower and I woke to a perfect Mexico morning. Cristo, Silva, Zack and myself left early and try our luck at spotting some desert sheep. Within the first hour we had spotted six sheep, three of which were rams, one of which was a dandy. With the sheep only 1500 yards from us we watched them for the next three hours. We decided to make our move so I gathered my gear and Silva and I moved toward the bottom of the mountain. We had to move slowly to attempt to stay out of sight. The terrain only allowed us to position ourselves 450 yards from the ram. The sun had quickly set while we waited for the ram to position himself into a good shooting angle but darkness fell. We slid silently off the mountain with the plan of returning in the morning. The next morning the rams were still where we had last seen them but they were poised to slide over the ridge to the other side of the mountain. We hurried to get to the other side of the mountain as well. Once we reached where we anticipated the rams to be we found that they had moved down the mountain and were heading up the other side thus eliminating our chances for the day. The third day we decided to try a new area. Within an hour we spotted a nice ram on top of a rock ridge line 3/4 the way up the mountain. We continued to watch the ram for approximately 30 minutes until he fed out of sight. We started our assent and as our luck would have it the wind changed direction and the ram headed over the top. Back down we headed to grab a quick lunch and regain our thoughts. After lunch we checked out another area and after several hours of looking around we headed back to camp, spotting a nice ram on the skyline...he would have to wait until tomorrow as darkness was setting in. Day four found us up early and ready to make a move on the ram we spotted the day before. We found him and Page 10
three other rams and they only had moved across the canyon. After about two hours of hiking and climbing we found the rams had moved...again. It was now that the two guides devised a plan where two guides would move around the mountain to see if they could get the rams to move to us this time. In what seemed like an eternity, which was really only an hour here came the rams with the largest one in the lead!! I was in position for the shot but the rams had to stop for me to take a shot. As I worked on my breathing the moment came....but the large ram had stopped behind a large boulder and I could not get a shot! In the same instance the wind shifted and carried our scent right to them! All three rams took off like someone lit a fire under them! Lucky rams...unlucky me! The morning of the fifth day we returned to the same area we spotted the rams on the first day. After a few hours of glassing the guides spotted two rams, one nice older ram and a young ram near the top in the bush and rocks. After a long stalk the rams once again gave us the slip. Day six we headed back hoping to see the rams from yesterday. We found them just down the way from where they were the previous day. Off we went in pursuit! The climb was relatively short and we positioned ourselves for a shot. The ram was 439 yards away but was playing peek-a-boo in the trees and rocks. With the guides telling me to get ready as the shot will come quickly I set up. They weren’t kidding...still breathing hard from the climb the opportunity came. My first shot hit the mark! The ram was down! We all worked our way down to the ram, a beautiful 8 year old ram with dark horns! Handshakes all around! I want to thank Nayo and Silva of Amigo Outfitters for a great Mexican desert bighorn sheep hunt. Guides Cristo, Baca, Ramon and Don along with the cook Luz and my special guide Zack Morgan. Jim Borden built me a great .300 WSM sheep rifle that I have used on just about all of my sheep hunts. Amigo Outfitters run a great outfit!
2015 Banquet Sponsorships Available! We are now accepting sponsoorship for the following items for out 2015 Banquet and Fundraiser. Our Chapters mission is to “Put sheep on the mountains”. This is a chance to give back to the sheep and give our midwest sheep life-changing opportunities. Events like our fundraiser raise funds for our transplants, disease research, studies, youth, and other projects from the various state game agencies when their funds are not available. We have become an integral part of bolstering the hunting opportunities not only in the Midwest but in all sheep states. Supporting us helps us generate more funds for future projects, thus giving you and your kids additional opportunities! We would be grateful if you could support our banquet and fundraiser. We anticipate over 300 people attending this event, with many of those very state organizations present. If you support us, we will include you in all marketing materials, to our website and plan on recognizing your organization at our event. For more information please contact Curt Babler @ 651-490-9395! Some of the opportunities that are available Auction Book Ladies Function - Filled Gun Raffles Ladies Raffle
Registration Pizza Party Friday Conservation Social Saturday Evening Banquet Page 11
Youth Education by Matt Rippentrop, Oelrichs, SD
The USFS had their 7th Annual Conservation Field on October 7th, 2014 and we were invited to present to 100 - 7th & 8th graders from Hot Springs, Edgemont, and Oelrichs Schools. The young adults were broke into eight groups and presented to from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The main topic to the students was education on what domestic sheep do to wild sheep. There were a lot of questions and smiles. The National Wild Sheep Foundation provided the students with work books, the North America Big Game wheel, and Wild Sheep Foundation Stickers for everybody (Thank you Nancy and Kevin!). SD GF&P provided two bighorn sheep ram skulls to be shown (Thanks John!). This field trip was held right in the middle of the next potential bighorn sheep transplant Hot Springs/Angostura area. The studentswere told if everything went good by the time they were graduating high school bighorn sheep would be by Hot Springs.
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Lucky # 7 by Curt Babler Wyoming, MN
Breaking the wapiti jinx for me was something I didn’t think would come. When John Babler came back from New Mexico last year he said he had the place to cure the Jinx.After a scope failure, lack of weather, too much weather, and just plain back luck “The Curse” has been broken on hunt number seven with this New Mexico 7 x 7!
Greenland Success by Dan Scharmer , Houston, MN
Dan Scharmer booked this Musk Ox and Caribou hunt with Joe Jacobs and Point Blank Hunts. Pictured here Dan Cisewski, Guide Yen, Dan, and Larry Willard. Dan notes all 8 hunters in camp harvested both Musk Okx and Caribou. Page 13
Her Last Hunt by Scott Olson Big Lake, MN
Vollrath but both were unable to find time to make the trip. Calls to other friends were also unsuccessful. This gave me an idea. New Year’s Eve is my wife Lisa and my wedding anniversary. Over dinner that night, I told Lisa of the situation out in Idaho. I suggested that we make a quick trip and do some mountain lion hunting. After numerous rejections, I used my secret, last resort tactic. I told Lisa that if she didn’t have a good time on this trip, I would never ask her on another hunting trip again. Ever. Lisa enjoys hunting to an extent, but prefers to not be, shall we say, uncomfortable. She has hunted out of a tent at 10,000 feet in Colorado, snowmobiled into and jet-boated the Salmon River in Idaho, bowhunted bear and deer in MN and shot a nice oryx in New Mexico. She simply is not as enthusiastic as I am. After much consideration, Lisa agreed. The long list of stipulations would challenge the word count of War and Peace if written. ”Don’t worry, Mike and I got this” was my response to everything.
It all started with a phone call. My friend and outfitter, Mike Popp from Kamiah, Idaho, called in mid December. Mike owns Mike Popp’s Outdoor Adventures. Mike likes to tell everyone that he doesn’t just do hunts, each trip is an outdoor adventure. Mike’s hunting area around Lolo Creek near the Clearwater National Forest west of Missoula had received a good quantity of snow and the mountain lions were on the move. Mike and his wife Korina were seeing fresh lion tracks every day. Hound hunting for mountain lions is very competitive in this area and when word gets out about a big track, it is likely that someone will find the time to turn the hounds loose. Mike called to tell me he drove his snowmobile down the road in front of his house the past two days to cover a fresh tom’s track. Mike excitedly told me of all the tracks he was seeing. “Someone needs to get out here soon” became his mantra over the next few weeks. I called friends Loren Kohnen and Ron Page 14
The truck was loaded with gear, the snowmobile and atv were on the trailer and away we went a couple days later. We arrived at Mike’s house in Idaho in the afternoon of the second day of travelling. After introducing Lisa and unloading some gear into the bunkhouse, I was quickly on the snowmobile looking for tracks. Lisa and Mike drove the main logging roads in a truck. We found nothing fresh that first evening. The first full day was spent tracking as well. A total of 14 lion tracks were found, none were large enough to consider turning the dogs loose on early in the hunt. The second day was more exciting. We cut a track of a big lion and I saw it run down the logging trail in front of me as I turned a corner on the trail. We immediately turned the dogs loose on the track. After a long run, nearly all of it down in elevation, the dogs were barking their “treed” bark. (For those that haven’t hound hunted, the dogs usually run without much barking but once the quarry is treed, they start barking continuously.) A quick look on the GPS showed the dogs right on Lolo Creek. Mike and I walked in but found an empty tree. The lion had jumped out of the tree and crossed, ice filled the swollen creek. A foot of snow fell during day three, making tracking difficult but we continued to track. I put over 100 miles on the snowmobile that day and never saw a fresh track of any animal. It was as though everything except the hunters had decided to find a dry spot and wait out the storm. Despite the snow and lack of tracks, it was a beautiful day to be out. I was reminded
by Lisa that time was slipping by and tomorrow would be our last day of hunting. Work and family commitments were demanding our attention back in Minnesota. Day four was the last day we could hunt. Around mid –morning, we found the track of a large lion. After checking the area for wolf tracks and finding none, we turned loose Mike’s best dog, Jake. The lion had a fairly large head start and was in a tree plantation without much snow on the ground. After an hour, Jake sounded off that he had bumped the lion and the chase was on. The mountain lion treed a total of three times. Each time, as we neared the tree, the lion jumped and the chase began again. The trees in the plantation didn’t have large branches that the lion could rest on so when the lion regained its breath, it would jump and run some more. After wading through deep snow, crawling over and under windfalls for a couple hours chasing the lion, we were all getting tired. Too many adrenaline rushes were having a negative effect. Lisa whispered to me that she didn’t know how much longer she could go on. I offered words of encouragement but knew with sunset approaching in an hour, we needed to get the lion to stay in a tree. Jake was struggling, but still on the lion’s trail as it appeared that the lion had crossed the logging road into some dry ground. I brought Lisa back to her snowmobile. Time was running out and everyone knew it. I continued to help Mike look for tracks as the GPS dog collar had Jake in an area where we didn’t think the lion was. Mike decided to pull Jake off the trail and call it quits. As Mike looked for Jake, I went to tell Lisa the bad news. She said she had a great time and would consider doing the hunt again, in a few years, after she forgot some of the bad memories. Lisa and I stood there taking in the last moments of daylight, feeling ok with the outcome as we had tried our best. Mike called on the radio. The lion had crossed the trail in front of Mike, about 100 yards from where Lisa and I were stand-
Welcome our newest Life Members Wayne Hendersen Lodgepole, SD Roger Van Raden Fargo, ND
ing. Mike said to bring Lisa and the other dog. Mike explained there was only about 15 minutes of legal light left, but if we wanted to try one last time, he would turn both dogs loose on the track. If the lion didn’t tree quickly, we couldn’t continue the chase after dark. In the famous words of my friend and hunting buddy Dave Rogowski, I told Mike” we didn’t come here to knit, let’s go for it”. The dogs were turned loose and the lion treed immediately, about 30 yards into the timber from the trail. We slipped in quickly and tied off the dogs. The lion was an adult male of good size, lying on a branch about 20 feet up. He was looking down on us with the disdain that only mountain lions have when treed by mere dogs and humans. Mike explained to Lisa where to aim and she dry fired once to clear her nerves. I stood on Lisa’s right holding back some branches so she had a clear shot up at the lion. At the shot, the lion leaped out of the tree, landed at Lisa’s feet and ran into the left leg as it passed her. Lisa fell into me but remained standing. The lion took a hard right when it landed and Mike shot it with his revolver as it ran past him. The cat dropped at the second shot. We celebrated as the last moments of daylight faded. The lion was a large male, but thin. His hip bones and ribs were prominent. He had a few porcupine quills in his mouth and lips. He appeared healthy in all other respects. Mike suspects that the lion had been repeatedly chased off his kills by wolves to be in that condition. We found many more porcupine quills under the hide while skinning the lion out the next day. A .22 rimfire bullet was also found under the hide on one of the rear legs. The lion had some close calls over the years. It was a great hunt. I suspect I can use the secret, last resort tactic again in the future, just not anytime soon. Contact Mike Popp at 208-935-2296 for a lion, bobcat or bear hunt you won’t forget.
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Photo by: Jim Hamberlin
Chapter & Affiliate Summit VII we salute our summit sponsors
Summit Host
Summit Sponsors
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CALIFORNIA CHAPTER Wild Sheep Foundation
Members from your Board of Directors met for two days with over 50 Chapter and Affiliate delegates including WSF Directors and President/CEO Gray Thornton in Scottsdale Arizona to discuss sheep and wildlife issues. The Chapters spent a day with Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society and Arizona Game and Fish board members to hear about current health and disease issues, current and planned transplants and population goals along with an indepth presentation from WSF regarding the state of the wild sheep in North America, proposed plans for the thin horns (Dall and Stone) sheep and their current year funding of Grant In Aid projects along with current industry support. Thank you Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society for being this year’s hosts!
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Idaho Funding by Jerry Walters, IDFG
Lost River Range Guzzler Project Central Idaho 2014
The Idaho Chapter would like to thank the following donors for their financial support of this project: Iowa FNAWS Safari Club International (Idaho Chapter) Eastern Chapter Wild Sheep Foundation Midwest Chapter Wild Sheep Foundation Ovis/Grand Slam Club The Elmer Huston Memorial Guzzler Fund The Salmon-Challis National Forest, Lost River Ranger District
Lost River Range History Once robust population crashed in the early 1990’s In 2000, only 55 bighorns remained on the range Range contained 5 domestic sheep allotments Hunting permits dropped to only 2 tags in 2003 Future looked bleak for range’s wild sheep Once conservation groups, interested in wild sheep, got involved… 17 Water guzzlers installed in 1993 Domestic sheep allotments converted to cattle in 2003 Herd supplemented with 62 bighorns from Sun River, Montana in 2005 Guzzlers updated, repaired and maintained 2005, 2007 and 2014 Herd now estimated to be near 400 animals Hunting tags increased from 2 to 6
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Sioux Lookout Bear Hunt by Jeff Strong Coon Rapids, MN
I
can’t remember when I have looked forward to a hunt so much, the anticipation had started a number of months back with a call to an outfitter in Glenrock WY, to book an archery antelope hunt; per the usual trying to get everyone’s schedules to align, we had called the outfitter after the draw, and would be subject to getting left over tags, however the outfitter assured us that he had never had an issue previously, and that tags should be no problem. After what seemed like the eternal summer, we received a call from the outfitter indicating that tags had been drastically reduced and that only 12 remained. To make a long story short one of us (ME) got lucky, or unlucky depending on how one looks at it; and got an antelope tag, the others didn’t. To say I was disappointed was an understatement, realizing quite quickly, it didn’t have near as much to do with getting the tag as it did not being able to spend a week hunting with my best friends and uncle. With little thought about the whole thing I decided to eat the tag, and start looking for another hunt. Antelope was out, everyone was either full, or didn’t have room for the group, I quickly thought back to an outfitter I had chatted with at a sports show a number of years back that was bragging about how big the bears had gotten in Ontario since the spring season had been closed. After a little digging I found the crumpled brochure and gave him a ring....Sorry we’re Full.. For those that know me I tend to be quite persistent once I get something in my head. iIt has been both a blessing and downfall over the years, however in this instance my tenacity seemed to have paid off. After spending most of the day chatting with outfitters about dates and openings, an outfitter I had called the previous day (Tony George, owner and operator of George’s Tikingan Camp) called back, and said that he had room for the whole group. Great news! Before I knew it a month had passed and we were on our way to Sioux Lookout Ontario, and after 10 hours of driving, and a not so brief discussion with the Canadian Border Patrol we were there. Page 18
When we arrived in camp it was dark and close to 10 pm, but Tony and Carol had been up waiting for us, and welcomed us to camp. First off to say that Tony and his wife Carol are great people would be the understatement of the century. This was supposed to be “a bring your own food camp”. During the time we were there we had fresh blueberry pie, smoked bear loin and probably one of the best moose roasts I have had in my entire life. Tony and his family do everything they can to make your stay very comfortable, and the accommodations are excellent!!- Did I mention the fishing?? – The camp is located on Abram’s Lake on the English River chain. As you might expect the walleye fishing is a great way to pass time after you have taken your bear or in the mornings before your bear hunt.
Morning came quickly, I unpacked my bow and made sure things were on target as I always do after traveling. After getting our licenses and chatting with Tony and his wife, along with a quick look at some bears taken the previous week, we were off to the gravel pit to verify the rifles for the rest of the group. A couple of shots a piece and we were on our way to the baits. The first night was fairly uneventful; it was one of those evenings that even the birds weren’t moving which was fine with me, as I was just glad to be in the stand. I find more and more as I get older that hunting is less about taking an animal, and more about the time spent appreciating the area I am in, and this was no exception: beautiful endless miles of rock, woods, swamp, lakes, and blueberry’s, for the first
evening; I had about as much as I could ask for without seeing a bear. When Tony picked us up at dark he looked less then pleased that none of us had seen a bear, Even as I told him it was a nice night to sit in the stand, I could see that he was already thinking about the game plan for the next day. The next morning I shot my bow for a bit after breakfast while Tony looked on approvingly: “You practice a lot” he said, “Yeah I do”. We both smiled and he went on about getting the bait buckets ready for the afternoon. Again about 2:00 we headed for the stands. This time I noticed that Tony had strapped a stand to the back of the truck and mentioned he was putting me in a new spot. We had dropped two of the guys off and drove to the end of a logging road by a huge clear cut. As we got out of the truck Tony mentioned he had two huge bears on this bait, and that the first had a big white patch on his chest, and that I would certainly know him if I saw him. He also mentioned he liked to come out early. When he hung the stand I noticed it was quite a long way to the bait, but that it was about the only tree that would work. I had my range finder, but asked him how far it was to the bait anyway, he figured about 30-35 yards. I must have had a skeptical look on my face, because he just looked at me smiled and said, “You can make the shot”. I will be quite honest, I never thought that all the practice shooting at 70 yards for my anticipated antelope hunt during the summer would come that much into play on a bear hunt. I could not have been more wrong. After tony had left, and I was in the stand, I pulled out my range finder to check the distance to the bait, 45.0 yards. hen I ranged the distance to where the truck had been parked 43.2 yards. I knew the shot would be farther then what I would have liked, however. I also was pretty confident I could make the shot, so I settled in. At about 6:30 it happened! About 150 yards to my east the bear with the white patch appeared; he was in a large clearing headed toward where the truck had been parked when they dropped me off. It seemed like an eternity for him to get within range. I kept hitting him with my range finder to check distance: 64, 58 and then suddenly he went behind a bush. I couldn’t tell which way he was going to come out, or whether he had went back in the woods. Then before I had time to think about it; the bear was standing directly broadside in exactly the spot the truck had been parked earlier. Without thinking about it, I settled my 40 yard pin a touch high behind the front shoulder and the arrow was gone. I heard the crack of the arrow hit bone and saw my lighted nock glowing like a torch behind the front shoulder, the shot was perfect! The bear took off slightly angling to me, and my excitement turned to pure dread. The arrow had penetrated, but at least 6 inches of arrow was still sticking out of the bear, or was it 10 or 15? I wasn’t sure! I waited about 30 minutes and got down from the stand and went over to the spot I hit the bear! No Blood, No Hair, Nothing…. That sick feeling came over me like a wave. Had I hit the
shoulder, and not gotten any penetration? I called Tony on the walky, a staticy voice sounded and said he was on his way. When he arrived he loaded his gun and we went and had a look. About 20 yards in we found about 6 inches of arrow then just a touch of blood every 15 to 20 yards again that feeling washed over me We had went about 40 yards and I was on my knees looking under pine trees to see if I could see anything out ahead of us, then I heard the words that I had been waiting for: “he opened up” the blood trail was now unmistakable and I thought I caught a glimpse of a bear piled up under a big pine. I was right, there he was!! The arrow had been perfect, right through both lungs. I was extactic, what a gorgeous bear!! Tony and I immediately went to get help, only to find that one of my buddies had also shot a huge bear we spent a good 3 hrs getting those bears loaded up. What a great night and what a great hunt! In closing I can only say that this may be the best hunt I have ever been on, great friends, great animals and a great camp!! Special thanks to Tony, Carol, Bj and Tony’s daughters who treated us like family during our stay. For more info on Tikinagan Oufitters contact: Tony George at 1- 807-737-1909.
Or check out the web site at http://tikinagancamp.com Jeff’s bear weighed 430#lbs and is still out for official scoring
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Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) Briefing - September 2014 WSF is working with domestic sheep producers, industry associations, state wildlife agencies and agriculture departments, federal land-management agencies, and conservation partners to address the problem of disease transmission from domestic to wild sheep on public lands. To deal with this problem, public land grazing and wildlife policies are being reinterpreted through guidance by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Land and wildlife policies have both long been under siege by anti-grazing litigators. The USFS has issued several memoranda/letters of direction as its policy evolves. BLM has issued Instruction Memoranda in the past, but has yet to release agency-wide, manual-level guidance. In the absence of clear, active policy guidance, divisive conflicts have broken out: a decision on the Payette National Forest in Idaho and a pending decision on the San Juan National Forest in Colorado are both examples. In these cases, the key parties – wild sheep advocates, the domestic sheep industry, and state wildlife managers – do not have an effective opportunity to work together and with the federal land-management agencies. As a result, each party is doing its best to protect its interests, and the federal agencies are subject to criticism from all sides. Wild Sheep Foundation is trying to work out multiple-use solutions for bighorn sheep and rural jobs, using a model that has worked in Wyoming and elsewhere, and that can work west-wide. WSF supports a west-wide Risk of Contact Assessment, by both USFS and BLM. Viability analyses must include state wildlife agency input, as well. WSF is seeking: a way to keep the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) open under a revised mission that addresses wild-domestic sheep conflicts and serves the domestic industry in other ways, including protecting jobs in Dubois, Idaho, provided the ARS and USFS mountain allotments grazed by the USSES are vacated or closed to protect bighorn sheep. policies for the Forest Service and BLM that include sportsmen, sheep industry, state wildlife managers, and the public in separating wild and domestic sheep on public lands to minimize disease. Specifically, WSF seeks: an open, transparent process for analyzing the risk that wild and domestic sheep will mingle. a formal cooperative agreement between federal and state agencies (through AFWA or WAFWA) for analysis of wild sheep population viability. a thorough and rigorous search for, and use of, alternative grazing options that move domestic sheep permittees out of high-risk range, with the least possible interruption in their business. a similarly thorough and rigorous attempt to retire domestic sheep grazing permits in willingpartner contractual agreements. 720 Allen Ave., Cody, WY 82414 | tel: 1.307.527.6261 | fax: 1.307.527.7117 | email: info@wildsheepfoundation.org | website: www.wildsheepfoundation.org Page 20
On September 9th 2014 WSF President and CEO, Gray N. Thornton travelled to Washington, DC for two days of Hill and agency meetings alongside our Lobbyist, Greg Schildwachter and industry partners. After an evening planning dinner we had two full days of productive meetings with Senators, Representatives and their staff as well as USDA, USFS and BLM meetings focusing primarily on the disease transmission issue and our ongoing efforts to prevent contact between domestic and wild sheep. Agency work included discussing our concerns with current agency memoranda preventing incentive based conversions of livestock use and willing seller/willing buyer transfers of allotments and suggestions for an effective rollout of the results of the current Region 4 USFS risk of contact analysis. The following is a summary of the meetings conducted and the purpose of each. The Wild Sheep Foundation Board of Directors will be discussing the formation of a new standing committee – the WSF Legislative Affairs Committee during their October 24, 2014 meeting in Reno, Nevada. Plans are also in development for the first ever Wild Sheep Foundation Chapter and Affiliate Fly-In Lobbying Day planned for early April, 2015.
Wednesday, Sept. 10th Breakfast with Carl Roundtree, BLM Assistant Director for National Landscape Conservation System and Community Programs. Purpose: Build BLM relationships in Washington Office and discuss BLM plans to create a BLM Foundation. Meeting with Senator Barrasso (R-WY) and his Legislative Director, Travis McNiven. Purpose: Further build his interest in including us, working with us, on the direction the Hill Republicans take the sheep issue by bringing him up to date on our efforts working with domestic industry. Meeting with Ed Hild, Chief of Staff, Senator Lisa Murkowski (AK-R) Purpose: Open a working relationship with Senator Murkowski and staff, which will build on our work with Senator Barrasso, as she is the highest Republican on the Energy and Natural Resource Committee, and he is the highest Republic on the subcommittee for public lands. Meeting with Robert Bonnie, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment. Tom France, of National Wildlife Federation, joining. Purpose: Work with Forest Service to develop policies toward our vision of an inclusive, work group approach to the bighorn/domestic contact conflict Meeting with Representative Cynthia Lummis (R-WY). Purpose: Build her interest in including us, working with us, on the direction the Hill Republicans take the sheep issue by bringing her up to date on our work working with domestic industry. Meeting with Melissa Simpson, Governmental Affairs Director of Safari Club International. Discuss WSF plans for a Chapter and Affiliate “Fly-In” Lobbying Day for early April, 2015 and partnership with SCI to help facilitate the events. Attend event for Rep Rob Bishop (R-UT) Purpose: Open a relationship with a possible next chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, who is also from a sheep state. Meet with Collin O’Mara, new CEO for National Wildlife Federation. Tom France, NWF, joining and Simon Roosevelt joining. Purpose: Look “around the corner” of current relationship with NWF by getting to know the new CEO. New CEO has set a course of returning NWF to its roots issues in sporting conservation. Attend Congressional Sportsman’s Foundation Dinner Purpose: Networking with Congressional reps and their staff and support CSF as our key avenue to relationships with Members of Congress.
Thursday, Sept. 11th Meeting with Rep Mike Simpson (R-ID) Purpose: Build confidence in him that we are working on a solution that will get him out of the wedge between wild sheep advocates and his domestic constituency. Meeting with Doug Crandall, Director of Legislative Affairs and Dan Dallas of US Forrest Service. Discuss recent “moratorium” by Forrest Service on incentive buyouts, our support and suggestions for implementation strategies at the conclusion of the Region 4 BHS/DS Risk of Contact Analysis and discuss how we can work better with USFS to enhance wild sheep restoration.
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Please join us at the 36th Annual Spring Banquet and Fundraiser Friday, March 20, 2015 Saturday, March 21, 2015 Minneapolis Marriott SW – Minnetonka, MN
Two fabulous Live Auctions * Great Food * Huge Silent Auction Seminars * Raffles * Special Ladies Event Many Outfitters and Exhibitors * Awesome Taxidermist Display
Tentative Schedule of Events
Friday, March 20, 2015 Conservation Social Hour 6:00 pm – 11:00 pm Saturday, March 21, 2015 Taxidermy Display, Outfitter and Exhibitor Booths Open 10:00AM Pizza Party 12:00PM Ladies Wine Tasting 12:00PM Afternoon Auction 1:00PM Many fun events, seminars and raffle drawings throughout afternoon Gala Saturday Night Banquet and Auction 5:30PM – 8:30PM Visit with Outfitters and Donors 8:30PM – 11:00PM To register, fill out the enclosed Registration Form and mail to: Patti Murry, Wild Sheep Foundation-Midwest Chapter 1806 Aspen Court, Northfield, MN 55057 or register online at www.fnawsmnwi.org
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Make your hotel reservation by calling the Marriott at 952-935-5500 or make your reservations by following the link on our website: fnawsmnwi.org. For the $89/night room rate, make sure you mention you are with the Wild Sheep Foundation.
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