Wild Sheep Summer Issue

the journal of the mountain hunter and committed conservationist

WINDPROOF WHERE YOU NEED IT, BREATHABILITY WHERE YOU DON’T SO YOU NEVER TAKE IT OFF

NEW MOUNTAIN EVO JACKET

Built for high-exertion backcountry pursuits, the Mountain Evo Jacket uses strategically body-mapped fabrics to provide windproof protection where you need it most while also allowing exceptional breathability and stretch, so you stay dry and comfortable throughout your hunts.

WINDSTOPPER® by Gore-Tex Labs product technology stops heat-sapping gusts in their tracks, while 4-way stretch panels dump heat and allow unrestricted movement. The result is a jacket you can put on in the morning and not have to think about for the rest of the day.

A WEATHERBY ® LIKE NEVER BEFORE

RANGETM XP

Lightweight vertical grip stock, adjustable cheekpiece and LOP

ALPINETM MDT

26oz vertical grip Chassis system with adjustable cheekpiece and LOP, foldable buttstock and integrated ARCA rail

ALL NEW TOOL-LESS BOLT TAKEDOWN

Showcasing an all-new 3 piece bolt design, featuring a completely tool-less takedown

TRIGGERTECH TRIGGER

Provides true zero-creep break, extremely short over-travel, and is externally adjustable

BOLT RELEASE BUTTON

All-new bolt release button above the reciever makes for a stronger, safer and quicker bolt removal

BUILT ON WEATHERBY’S NEWEST ACTION IN 50 YEARS: MODEL 307

Meant to complement the historic Mark V® and Vanguard lineups, the Model 307 is a 2-Lug, fully cylindrical action compatible with many aftermarket accessories. Proudly built in Sheridan, Wyoming, the Model 307 will be available in a wide range of Weatherby and non-Weatherby calibers. Nothing shoots flatter, hits harder or is more accurate than a Weatherby. Learn more at Weatherby.com

Learn more at Weatherby.com

28

28

God Winks by Steven Austin

Bighorn blessings bestowed by earthly and divine friends.

48

Defying the Odds by Karl Blanchard

Two brothers brave Brooks Range on a first-ever bighorn hunt.

60

The Miracle by Blair Backen

Overcoming daunting physical challenges for a FNAWS.

66

The Governor’s Tag Game by Craig Boddington

Good for sheep...and sheep hunting?

66

Special Sections:

On the Cover:

Photo by Ryan Baskerville. Spending time photographing bighorn sheep has become one of my biggest passions. One of the very first images taken with a camera when I began my journey in wildlife photography is of a bighorn ram, and you can say I was hooked from there. I probably spend more time chasing sheep with my camera than any other species. This past fall, I was fortunate to be able to spend a lot of time with this ram, and on this particular evening was treated to a beautiful sunset that lit up the sky. The ram was feeding and suddenly decided to walk right at me, which gave me the opportunity to capture this image of him with the sunset glow on the horizon. I could not have asked for a better opportunity and hopefully, I will get many more like it!

76

76

Atmospheric Rivers by Wayne Van Zwoll

There invisible, inexorable. They’re the only thing between you and a killing hit. Well, almost.

84

84

Wild Sheep

On

The Fringe by Chester Moore

Sheep borders may be shrinking, but WSF continues to expand its efforts to help.

the journal of the mountain hunter and committed conservationist

Official publication of The Wild Sheep Foundation

WSF World Headquarters: 412 Pronghorn Trail • Bozeman, MT 59718

Cody Office: 1285 Sheridan Avenue, Suites 260/275

OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS

Cody, WY 82414 USA

CHAIRMAN: Glen Landrus • ramslamvideo@gmail.com

VICE CHAIR: Kyle Stelter • kylestelter@gmail.com ..................

SECRETARY: Larry Jacobs • lljacobs4@aol.com

TREASURER: Charlie Kelly • azsheepguy@gmail.com ...............

Tony Caligiuri • tcal@boytharness.com

Jann Demaske • demaskes@msn.com ......................................

Julie Chapman • jhelmchapman@yahoo.com

Larry McGovern • ltmcgovern67@gmail.com .............................

Emilio Rangel W. • emiliorw@me.com

Peregrine L. Wolff, DVM • falcolupus@gmail.com .....................

Logan Richard Young • loganyoung270@gmail.com

Term Expires 2025

Term Expires 2024

Term Expires 2024

Term Expires 2026

Term Expires 2024

Term Expires 2026

Term Expires 2025

Term Expires 2025

Term Expires 2024

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Term Expires 2026

PRESIDENT & CEO Gray N. Thornton • gthornton@wildsheepfoundation.org

HEADQUARTERS STAFF

PRESIDENT & CEO - EDITOR IN CHIEF, WILD SHEEP ® MAGAZINE: Gray N. Thornton • gthornton@wildsheepfoundation.org

Kim Nieters, Vice President of Operations –Auction & Awards Director knieters@wildsheepfoundation.org

Kevin Hurley, Vice President of Conservation –Thinhorn Programs Lead khurley@WildSheepFoundation.org

Terry Ziehl, Finance Director tziehl@WildSheepFoundation.org

Keith Balfourd, Director of Marketing & Communications keith@WildSheepFoundation.org

Paige Culver, Development Manager pculver@WildSheepFoundation.org

Maddie Richards, Membership Manager/<1 Clubs Manager mrichards@WildSheepFoundation.org

Megan Costanza, Banquets & Events Manager mcostanza@WildSheepFoundation.org

Mike Aiazzi, Expo & Exhibits Manager maiazzi@wildsheepfoundation.org

Jaime Teigen, Administrative Assistant jteigen@wildsheepfoundation.org

Janessa Kluth, Membership Assistant jkluth@wildsheepfoundation.org

CONTRACT

Dr. Ryan Brock, Youth Education Coordinator rbrock@wildsheepfoundation.org Reno, NV

Greg Schildwachter, Lobbyist greg@watershedresults.com Washington, DC

PRODUCTION STAFF

Gray N. Thornton, Editor in Chief

Scott Morrison, Editor/Art Director

Ashley McEnroe, Field Editor/Staff Writer

Craig Boddington, Contributor

Andrew McKean, Contributor

Ken Nowicki, Field Editor

Greg Schildwachter, Columnist

Legislative Watch

Wayne van Zwoll, Contributor

CONTACT THE PUBLICATION

Contributing photos, articles, stories, and research pertaining to wild sheep or the interests of the members of WSF are always welcome. Contributed material will be published at the editor’s discretion. Please include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you wish materials to be returned.

Kurt Alt, Conservation Director –International Programs altwildlife@yahoo.com Brussels, Belgium

Marina Meyer, MadebyMimi, LLC, Social Media Consultant mjsams09@yahoo.com San Antonio, TX

Ashley McEnroe, Staff Writer aoliverio@gmail.com Big Sky, MT

CONSULTANTS

Shane Mahoney, Special Conservation Consultant shane@conservationvisions.com St. John’s, Newfoundland

Morrison Creative Company, Inc. Magazine Design/Production Yellowstone Graphics Graphics/Design

Advertising & Editorial Submissions

Wild Sheep Foundation Headquarters

412 Pronghorn Trail, Bozeman, MT 59718

ATTN: Editor

For more information on submission guidelines, meetings and convention information, and service, conservation and hunting award criteria, please visit our website at www.wildsheepfoundation.org. All membership dues include $28/year for a subscription to Wild Sheep® magazine.

BY

The Wild Sheep Foundation’s mission is to enhance wild sheep populations, promote scientific wildlife management, and educate the public and youth on sustainable use and the conservation benefits of hunting while promoting the interests of the hunter. The tradition began on a November weekend at Mt. Horeb, Wisconsin, in 1974. Thirteen wild sheep enthusiasts passed the time by sharing stories about their encounters with the majestic mountain creatures. After realizing how fortunate they were to have all shared such incredible experiences, they decided it was time to give something back. They forged FNAWS so men and women everywhere could get more involved in the positive management of wild sheep. It was incorporated as a non-profit corporation in Iowa on September 14, 1977, and began accepting paid memberships in 1978 as more people joined the cause. The commitment and noble spirit of FNAWS quickly helped the foundation become the fastest-growing wildlife conservation organization of its kind.

DISCLAIMER While Wild Sheep Foundation strives to attract quality advertisers and donors, it cannot be responsible for the ultimate quality of the products which they may present to our members and buyers. Neither the Wild Sheep Foundation nor its Officers or Directors is a guarantor of your satisfaction with the products it makes available to you. Our dedication is to the wild sheep of the world and not to policing our advertisers or donors. We cannot, under the law, reject an advertiser or donation simply because of a prior complaint from a dissatisfied consumer. We will strive to make available quality merchandise and hunts, but without warranty or guarantee.

WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION®, WSF®, FOUNDATION FOR NORTH AMERICAN WILD SHEEP®, FNAWS®, WILD SHEEP® MAGAZINE, PUTTING AND KEEPING WILD SHEEP ON THE MOUNTAIN®, PUTTING AND KEEPING SHEEP ON THE MOUNTAIN®, THE SHEEP SHOW®, SHEEP WEEK®, MARCO POLO SOCIETY®, <1 CLUB®, <1iCLUB®, MOUNTAIN HUNTER HALL OF FAME®, and the CHADWICK RAM SOCIETY® and their respective logos are registered trademarks and cannot be used, commissioned, or otherwise represented without permission of the Wild Sheep Foundation. WOMEN HUNT PROGRAM®, WOMEN HUNT®, WH®, WOMEN IN HUNTING INITIATIVE®, WIHI®, and WOMEN HUNT®, are registered trademarks of the Wild Sheep Foundation. TAKE ONE PUT ONE BACK™ is a trademark of the Wild Sheep Foundation.

GRAND SLAM® is a registered trademark of Grand Slam Club/Ovis. Used with permission.

Wild Sheep® (USPS# 009-460) is published quarterly by Wild Sheep Foundation, 412 Pronghorn Trail, Bozeman, MT 59718 Periodical Postage Rate is paid at Bozeman, MT 59718 and additional mailing offices.

Subscription Price $28.00 All membership dues include $28/ year for a subscription to Wild Sheep® Magazine

Postmaster: Send address correction to: Wild Sheep Foundation, 412 Pronghorn Trail, Bozeman, MT, 59718

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

THE WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION OF BOZEMAN, MONTANA, IN CONJUNCTION WITH MORRISON CREATIVE COMPANY, INC. OF LIVINGSTON, MT.

Leica

Geovid Pro Family Master the distance.

No matter where you go hunting – forest, mountains, or field – an ethical shot is what counts in the end. Now you can choose more safety, higher precision, and greater ease of use. Powerful all-rounders, these compact rangefinder binoculars offer superlative optical performance. The advanced Applied Ballistics® software delivers the exact ballistics solution at the touch of a button, and the superior Class 1 laser ensures precise measurements in just 0.3 seconds.

Models:

MISSION STATEMENT

VISION

Our desired future state

To be the best managed, most respected, influential and relevant conservation organization benefitting wild sheep worldwide.

PURPOSE Why we exist

To Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain®

MISSION What we

do

We enhance wild sheep populations, promote scientific wildlife management, and educate the public and youth on sustainable use and the conservation benefits of hunting while promoting the interests of the hunter.

VALUES The principles that guide us

Honesty

Integrity

Respect for Others

Hunting Ethics

Teamwork

Accountability

Positive Attitude Stewardship

Respect for Wildlife Loyalty

Putting & Keeping Wild Sheep on the Mountain Since 1977

STABILITY EQUALS CLARITY

10x30mm

ZULU 6

IMAGE STABILIZING BINOCULARS

The new ZULU6 binoculars feature SIG SAUER OIS™ Optical Image Stabilization, a proprietary technology that electronically cancels out shaking and vibration. Buffeting wind, rough water, a racing heart, shivers from cold weather or buck fever all cause resolution-robbing shaking and vibration. The ZULU6 with OIS allows rock-steady full resolution glassing that exceeds even the best tripodmounted spotting scopes. Available in 10x or 16x magnification, the ZULU6 with electronic image stabilization is a paradigm shift in optical clarity and resolution. See more game and more detail with the ZULU6.

16x42mm

Image

by Gray N. Thornton President & CEO

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE RECORDS SHATTERED!

June 30th marks the close of our 2022-2023 fiscal year, and with this summer issue of Wild Sheep®, the start of a new one. And what a year it has been.

As reported in our summer and fall 2022 issues, we kicked off the year last July with a re-envisioned and

revised Grant-In-Aid (GIA) process which fully engages our chapter and affiliates in the process as participating stakeholders. We also changed our focus with WSF targeting larger, bolder, and multi-year legacy projects from $50,000 to $250,000+ while

encouraging our chapter and affiliate partners to fund the smaller ones and/ or support the larger projects that WSF funding acts as a catalyst.

During the past twelve months we have funded and executed on the following:

1. Prescribed Burns for Wild Sheep Enhancement in NE British Columbia C&A Partners: Wild Sheep Society of B.C.

Approved Grant: $250, 087

2. Oregon/Idaho/Washington Test & Remove Bighorn Sheep Program C&A Partners: Idaho WSF, Oregon WSF, and Washington WSF (Tri-State)

Approved Grant: $177,000

3. California Bighorn Sheep Population Analysis, Test & Remove, Health and Disease Surveillance in Idaho, Oregon & Nevada (ION Initiative) C&A Partners: Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, Idaho WSF, Oregon WSF

Approved Grant:.......................................................................................................................................................................................... $152,450

4. Socorro (New Mexico) BLM Field Office – Landscape-Scale Water Projects C&A Partners: New Mexico WSF

Approved Grant: $106,000

5. Fraser River (British Columbia) Year Five Surveillance, Recovery, & Management C&A Partners: Wild Sheep Society of B.C.

Approved Grant: $100,000

6. Hart Mountain (Oregon) Bighorn Sheep Recovery C&A Partners: Oregon WSF Approved Grant: $100,000

7. Bighorn Sheep Restoration to Nebraska Panhandle C&A Partners: Iowa FNAWS, Alaska WSF, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, California WSF, Idaho WSF, Midwest Chapter WSF, Montana WSF, New Mexico WSF, Oregon WSF, Texas Bighorn Society, Utah WSF, Washington WSF & Wild Sheep Society of BC

8. Field Testing and Management Application of Canine Disease Detection West Wide C&A Partners: Montana WSF

9. Harcuvar Mountains (Arizona) Desert Bighorn Sheep Restoration C&A Partners: Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society

10. Wind River Reservation (Wyoming) Feral Horse Gathering C&A Partners: Wyoming WSF Approved Grant:

11. Trap,Test,Transplant Desert Bighorns from Al Campo to Sierra El Alamo (Sonora, Mexico) C&A Partners:Texas Bighorn Society

12. Water Distribution & Delivery System – Sierra El Alamo (Mexico) C&A Partners: Texas Bighorn Society

Chronic Carriers & Bighorn Sheep Population Density: Evaluation/Implementation of Management Tools (Wyoming) C&A Partners: Wyoming WSF

Desert Bighorn Sheep Collaring on Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR) for Improved Population Management (NV)

Partners: Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn

Approved Grant:............................................................................................................................................................................................ $19,500

15. Edit Transmission Film for Legislator Education & Advocacy C&A Partners: Wild Sheep Society of British Columbia Approved Grant:.............................................................................................................................................................................................. $7,600

16. Ungulate Enhancement in Yukon Territory

C&A Partners:Yukon Outfitters Association and Yukon WSF Approved Grant:............................................................................................................................................................................................ $25,000

17. Ungulate Enhancement in British Columbia – Peace Region C&A Partners: Northern Guides Association Approved Grant:.......................................................................................................................................................................................... $100,000

With this $1.347 Million in conservation GIA, added to the $1.44 Million in advocacy, research, education, and industry support GIA funding, plus the $4.47 Million that was directed to our state, provincial and tribal/First Nation partners through 2023 conservation permit sales, WSF is on track to direct more than $7 Million to mission programs benefitting and conserving wild sheep —a new record in FNAWS’/WSF’s 46-year history! This also represents the fifth year in a row that WSF has directed more than $6 Million annually in GIA and other Mission Program Funding. Incredible for an organization our size!

Our FY 2023-24 GIA funding window opens July 1st and closes July 31st with a similar $1.25 to $1.5 Million budget likely. I’m anxious to see what programs and projects are proposed and funded by WSF to Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain® .

Our 2023 convention was also another record, shattering the prior 2020 net high mark by more than $700,000! These results will enable WSF to fund even more wild sheep conservation this fiscal year. Aiding this new convention record were record live auction sales, record permit sales, record sponsorships, record attendance, and record appeals support. Our Take One Put One Back™ (TOPOB) donor-directed conservation appeals program turned ten in 2023 and with the new record $317,500 contributed this year we have raised and directed more $1,645,000 in a decade. We celebrate TOPOB’s tenth birthday with a special feature on this and other important donor-directed appeals programs on

pages 96-97 of this issue.

Our success is due to a fine and dedicated team of staff and volunteers. During our spring board of directors meeting in Boise, Idaho, held prior to Idaho WSF’s record shattering banquet, WSF recognized several stellar volunteers whose board service terms have expired. WSF Director Glen Pyne was recognized for his three years of service and now moves to the Wild Sheep Legacy Foundation Board where he was recently elected a trustee. Wayne Henderson has bylawsmandated termed out with nine years of service as a WSF Director. However, he remains involved in numerous committees and in his honorary role as board ombudsman. WSF Professional Resource Advisory Board (PRAB) member Tricia Hosch-Hebdon, current Assistant Wildlife Chief of the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, was recognized for her decade of service, and Anna Fontana of British Columbia and Karen Gordan of Alaska were also recognized for their decades of service to the wild sheep resource and WSF as PRAB members.

WSF takes pride in being an innovator and strives to bring new programs and offerings to our membership. Our One More for Four, Marco Polo® and Chadwick Ram® Societies, <1 Club®, Floor Credit Drawings, Ride for the Brand Tattoo Parlor, and Take One Put One Back™ program are just a few examples. This year in Reno we introduced our Camp Chef Culinary Corner featuring WSF and Women Hunt® Executive Chef in Residence Joshua Schwencke. Chef Josh conducted micro and macro demonstrations and provided numerous chef hacks and pro tips to

enthusiastic crowds daily during the three days of Sheep Show®. We are pleased to bring Chef Josh to you quarterly starting in this issue with a regular Culinary Corner column. We will also feature him monthly with tips and video content through our social media and online mediums. However, this Wild Sheep® column and our video vignettes will not be just another recipe book or field-tofork sidebar. Chef Josh will bring you the how, the what, as well as the why of cooking—from gourmet to wild game. We are confident you will enjoy these new offerings and are honored to welcome this talented chef and outdoorsman to our team! Check out WSF’s & Women Hunt® Executive Chef in Residence Josh Schwencke’s inaugural column starting on page 114 of this issue.

It has been a banner year and exciting past twelve months. With the onset of summer, and our July 1 fiscal year start, I look forward to an even more productive new year for WSF, our membership, and our mission.

Enjoy this summer issue of Wild Sheep® and good luck in the mountains this sheep season! WS

Gray N. Thornton President & CEO, Wild Sheep Foundation

Editor-in-Chief, Wild Sheep® magazine

Summit Life Member Chadwick Ram Society® Member Legacy Society Member

Pair with MYSTERY RANCH GAMEBAG

CHAIR’S CORNER

by Glen Landrus Chair

ONE TENT, ONE RIPPIN’ BIG CAMPFIRE!

By the time this edition of Wild Sheep® arrives in your mailbox, about all of the state and provincial special hunt application processes will be behind us. So far, no luck for me in any of the western states where I apply. With the disappointment of each “Not Successful” that is received it serves as a reminder exactly how precious and coveted wild sheep hunting permits are everywhere. I speak on behalf of all of your board of directors and our staff that we are 100% committed to doing whatever it takes to “grow the pie” so we simply have more permits to be drawn. The cooperative relationship between WSF and the chapters and affiliates has always been an important one; but it became more intentional fifteen years ago at our first Chapter & Affiliate Summit which was held in Cody, WY. Our CEO/President Gray Thornton coined the phrase, “One Tent, One Campfire” and what has followed has truly helped wild sheep everywhere.

Obviously, increasing the number of permits is easier said than done. We had remarkable response to our changes in Grant-In-Aid last year and we look forward to updates from those respective agencies so we can share the outcomes of the projects. With another record-breaking convention, we hope to receive even more requests so we can once again increase our mission funding. Thank you to everyone

that attended Sheep Week®, bought raffle tickets, exhibited, donated, or purchased items through our silent and live auctions. We are putting your money to work now!

We held our spring transition meeting in Boise, Idaho immediately preceding the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation Banquet on April 1. First, thank you to the Idaho WSF chapter and their leadership team for hosting us. I’ve been attending the Idaho

TEAMWORK

Idaho is but one of many of our chapters and affiliates that are upping their fundraising and conservation game. I made the trek across the Bitterroot Mountains in February to attend the record-breaking Montana WSF banquet in February and I had the privilege to attend my first Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society banquet in March. Once again, both events were outstanding in terms of net gain for wild sheep conservation funding and as a service to their valued membership. Well done Montana and Arizona and thank you for all you do for wild sheep.

—Henry Ford

banquet off and on for well over 20 years beginning when it was held in Nampa. The growth the Idaho WSF chapter has experienced in membership, banquet attendance and income, as well as what they are doing on the ground is astounding. Well done, Idaho! We look forward to many more cooperative projects in the future!

In closing, at our spring meeting in Boise, your board of directors held the annual election of officers to represent the board and our membership for the upcoming year. I am humbled and honored to serve as the chair of the board once again for the upcoming year. I am committed to serving you the membership of WSF and the amazing wild sheep that depend on us. Let’s make it One Tent, One Rippin’ Big Campfire! WS

Yours in Conservation,

Glen A. Landrus

Coming together is a beginning Keeping together is progress Working together is success.

YOU CAN HELP WSF PUT AND KEEP WILD SHEEP ON THE MOUNTAIN BY JOINING THE CHADWICK RAM SOCIETY!

In 2013 the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) launched a legacy campaign, Ensuring the Future of Wild Sheep, that includes tax and estate planning opportunities, counsel and advice, major gifts, and giving societies to raise the funds required to ensure the future of the wild sheep resource by directing even more dollars to wild sheep restoration, repatriation and conservation. Our vision is to build a series of funds from which a targeted annual offtake of 4% will allow WSF to direct 100% of our convention fundraising to mission programs. Our goal is $5 to $6 million annually in mission focused Grant-In-Aid and other funding to “Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain.” With your help we can achieve this vision and goal.

The Marco Polo Society was established in 2008 as WSF’s premier giving society. To compliment the Marco Polo Society and expand this giving concept to ALL WSF members and wild sheep advocates, WSF created a new giving society in the fall of 2013 – the Chadwick Ram Society with five

benefactor levels enabling tax-deductible, donor directed gifts from $250 to $5,000 per year to mission areas of the donor’s desire. Donations can be made to the WSLF Endowment Fund, WSF Conservation Fund, our annual Convention and/or Area of Greatest Need to fund specific programs and initiatives. Chadwick Ram Society members are recognized with an embroidered badge displaying their Copper, Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum benefactor level. Members may also “upgrade” their benefactor levels within the Chadwick Ram Society as well as to the Marco Polo Society.

For more information on the Chadwick Ram Society, the Marco Polo Society or the Ensuring the Future of Wild Sheep campaign, contact WSF President & CEO, Gray N. Thornton, Development Manager, Paige Culver, or visit our website.

We cordially invite you to join the Chadwick Ram Society and help Ensure the Future of Wild Sheep!

THE 2023 NEW/UPGRADE CHADWICK RAM SOCIETY ® MEMBERS

CRS MEMBERS ARE LISTED IN ALPHA ORDER BY BENEFACTOR LEVEL

Sheep Family Snapshots

“Having grown up in Alaska I had the opportunity to experience countless adventures. Especially when I was young, I would look up to the mountains and wonder what adventures they held.

Fast forward many adventures and years ahead and today the mountains have grown on me even more. The more I have learned about wild sheep in Alaska the more I want to be able to help.

By joining the Chadwick Ram society this has allowed me to help in way I could never imagine. This is about wild sheep across the globe and help these wonderful animals is truly a blessing. I look forward to many more adventures and cresting the mountain tops to see what lies in wait looking for wild sheep atop the mountains”

Chadwick Ram Society member, Will Lee (AK)

PLATINUM - $50,000

Anonymous

Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey (OH)

Steve Letcher (AZ)

Steve & Sue Skold (IA)

GOLD - $25,000

Ryan Andrews (PA)

Joanna Lyons-Antley (OR)

Shad Hulse (UT)

Craig & Laureen Nakamoto (IA)

Donald Priest (AZ)

SILVER - $10,000

Derek Blake (AK)

Joseph Ciavarra (CA)

Alan Day (OR)

Paul Greene (CO)

Patrick Hagens (AK)

Stacey & Dorcey Hunt (WA)

Robert Martin, Jr (VA)

Mike Schmillen (MN)

JT Tubbs (MT)

Zachary Walton (CA)

BRONZE - $5,000

Louis M. Balenko (CO)

Don Colter (ID)

Brian Fienhold (TX)

Charles Hartford (CA)

Paul & Kathy Havey (PA)

Samuel Hays (TX)

Nick Negrini (MN)

Carl Nelson (AK)

Pat O’Neill & Kay Giannola (MN)

“I became a member of the Chadwick Ram Society so I could do more to help sheep than what my Lifetime Membership could accomplish alone.  I have been fortunate to take a few rams in my life, so putting more sheep back on the mountain than I have taken is a real goal of mine.  Being a Chadwick Ram Society member is a start to that pledge that I made to not only myself but the Wild Sheep Foundation family and anyone who loves Wild Sheep…”

-Jason Matzinger

Paul Spyhalski (MN)

COPPER - $2,500

Bryan & Tammy Bailey (WA)

Matt Burke (CA)

Christopher Denton (FL)

Kaleb DesJarlais (AK)

Marcus Gores (OR)

Garrett Grant (WA)

David & Natalie Hartwig (CA)

Stan Henderer (OR)

Michael McComas (TX)

Brian Nelson (WI)

Jake Nightingale (ID)

Nate Peckinpaugh & Marci Yamasaki (MT)

Brian Pelczar (MT)

Dan Powell (IL)

Jonah & Skylar Stewart (AK)

BIOLOGIST’S CORNER

by Kevin Hurley Vice President of Conservation

ALASKA/YUKON DALL’S SHEEP UPDATE

During the January 2023 Sheep Show® in Reno, information was shared and discussed about recent above-normal snowpacks in both Alaska (AK) and the Yukon Territory (YT), and how current (and past) winter conditions have impacted Dall’s sheep populations. Of particular note was the “missing” ram cohorts in Alaska presumably as a result of poor survival of 2012, 2013, and 2014 lamb crops.

For the summer 2023 issue of Wild Sheep® magazine, on May 30, 2023, I interviewed AK-WSF President Kevin Kehoe, YK-WSF President

Spencer Wallace, YK-WSF Treasurer Joe Humphries, and WSF Board Member Logan Young, to get their sense of recent status, developments, and activity on behalf of Dall’s sheep in AK and YT. By no means does this article try to capture all the conversations, issues, topics, and concerns; rather, this is an effort to keep the WSF members (and other interested parties) up-to-speed on Dall’s sheep, up North.

AK: It is well known that Alaska experienced another hard winter, and ram numbers are certainly down in many places. While no formal

Dall’s sheep surveys have yet been flown this summer by ADF&G, it is expected that June/July survey flights will occur, and funding is available to cover those flights. Conversations continue between AK-WSF and ADF&G, as well as Alaska Professional Hunter’s Association (APHA), to identify and implement tangible actions to benefit Dall’s sheep. The AK Board of Game (BOG) recently closed Unit 19C to Dall’s sheep hunting by non-residents; the need for, and importance of, a comprehensive Dall’s sheep management plan for

Photo: Tim Shinabarger

19C has been discussed, at length. The next BOG hunting season proposal cycle will no doubt generate many suggested strategies.

During the 2023 Sheep Show® AK meeting in Reno in January 2023, a number of suggested management options/strategies (e.g., Intensive Management designation for Dall’s sheep) were identified, but no implementation of any of those has occurred to date. Ongoing Dall’s sheep research projects continue, with over $2.3M committed, thus far. WSF, AK-WSF, and other WSF chapters and affiliates have offered to assist the State of Alaska with Dall’s sheep projects, if and when ADF&G is ready for that assistance. WSF and AK-WSF submitted a detailed letter to Governor Mike Dunleavy, and conversations continue with the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, (Interim) Wildlife Director Ryan Scott, and other highranking officials, advising them of our willingness to assist when called upon.

YT: Another tough winter was experienced during 2022-2023, and while there is no crisis, there has been a slight decline in the availability of mature rams, not across-the-board, but rather, spotty across YT. It appears that many Yukon Outfitters Association (YOA) members are voluntarily cutting back

slightly on the number of sheephunting clients they normally book out of an abundance of caution. With the recent reduction/closure of Dall’s sheep hunting on Kluane First Nation (KFN) lands, there may be a domino effect with some pressure to close or reduce Dall ram hunting in adjacent units.

In late spring 2023, WSF provided another $25,000 Grant-In-Aid (GIA) to assist YOA and the Yukon Trappers Association (YTA) with their ongoing wolf control efforts, to assist with Dall’s sheep, moose, and caribou herd resilience. Lamb crops appear strong, and expectations are high that Dall’s sheep numbers will increase over the next several years if weather conditions allow. Conversations continue on how to incentivize YT resident sheep hunters to assist with wolf control in/near occupied Dall’s sheep range. Discussion continues about which large or mid-sized carnivores (e.g., wolverine) have the most impact on Dall’s sheep in YT.

Based on continuing conversations between Yukon WSF and Yukon government, it is anticipated that a cross-border Dall’s sheep project will be initiated to collect additional information on Dall’s sheep seasonal movements, survival, and habitat use along the shared Yukon/British Columbia border.

Based on recent discussions among the WSF Canadian Conservation Committee chaired by former WSF Board member and current Wild Sheep Society of BC Vice-Chair Chris Barker, WSF anticipates a GIA funding request for this crossborder Dall’s sheep project will be submitted during WSF’s July 2023 GIA application window. We stand ready to help.

Closing Comments

While no one individual, agency, or organization can “fix” the effects of changing climates on Dall’s sheep and their habitats, it is clear that it will take time and patience on the part of hunters to help Dall’s sheep populations recover.

Let’s do the best we can to protect and enhance habitats, minimize or eliminate any chance of contact with domestic sheep or goats resulting in potential pathogen transfer, manage large predators where/when we can, and all stay vigilant and focused on Dall’s sheep management and hoped-for rebound of Dall’s sheep numbers in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. One good way to help is to get actively engaged with our WSF chapters in both jurisdictions; the wild sheep need all the help and funding we can muster. Together, we can do so much more. Stay tuned!

WS

The Marco Polo Society® (MPS) is the Wild Sheep Foundation’s premier major giving “society” whose members have given and/or pledged a minimum of $100,000 to the Foundation. Gifts are donor-directed, tax-deductible and can be made to the WSLF Endowment Fund, WSF Conservation Fund, or Area of Greatest Need. Additionally, funds may be allocated to specific grant-inaid, education or advocacy initiatives and programs. The $100,000

pledge can be contributed in annual installments up to a maximum of 10 years.

Since its inception in 2008, more than $9.1 million in MPS gifts/ pledges have been directed to WSF and mission programs. WSF’s objective is 100 Marco Polo Society members resulting in a $10 million major gift campaign.

WSF SALUTES OUR MARCO POLO SOCIETY® MEMBERS TO DATE - Alphabetical Order

Alain Smith (WA)

Mike Snider (MI)

Jeff Sorg (MT)

Daryll & Shauna Southwick (CO)

Brandon & Kristi Stokes (OR)

Jelindo & Sandee Tiberti (NV)

Matt Tomseth (OR)

Mark Watkins (MN)

Tim & Ruth Van Der Weide (IA)

Ken & Anna Vorisek (AK)

Mark Watkins (MN)

Jay & Martha Webster (TX)

Craig West (NC)

Steven & Ardyce Whisler (MT)

Clayton & Modesta Williams (TX)

Lyle & Jennifer Wood (AB)

Russ & Debi Young (TX)

Gary & Penny Young (WV) Alan Young (YT)

RACE TO THE SUMMIT

In 2008 the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) set out to bring $10,000,000 in Mission and Program funding through a single giving society. That year, the Marco Polo Society was born. This premier giving society, comprised of donors who have generously pledged a cash gift of $100,000, just welcomed member #91. To date this incredible group has committed $9.1 Million to our Purpose of Putting and Keeping Wild Sheep on The Mountain. We are on the final countdown to our 100-member goal! Wild sheep need your help today as the WSF board along with the Professional Resource Advisory Board and knowledgeable WSF Conservation Directors have carefully reviewed and approved a record $1.358 Million dollars in Grant in Aid projects for the 2022-2023 Fiscal Year.

Come and join this special group of conservation heroes and help ensure the future of wild sheep and wild places with your pledge. I promise you will be in good company.

Paige

Tony & Virginia Caligiuri (IA)

Lyle and Jennifer Wood (AB)

G. Thomas & Patricia Lang (FL)

Wayne & Denise Lennington (TN)

Tom Foss (AB)

Anonymous Anonymous

Sam & Tracy Cunningham (TX)

Robert M. Hall & Jane Link (FL)

Louis & Patti Breland (AL)

Kevin Gilbert (MT)

Mark Watkins (MN)

Jay & Martha Webster (TX)

Joe & Christine Michaletz (MN)

Jeff Sorg (MT)

Roger Kenner (SD)

Sheep Show Auction Item!!

by Paige Culver WSF Development Manager

THE TRANSFORMATIVE POWER OF GIVING

Each of us has heard a story or two in our lifetime which detail a moment of generosity that changes the life trajectory of the recipient. More often, the giver is also positively impacted by their own act of giving. And I’m not just talking dollars and cents, folks. Giving comes in many forms; compassion, advice, time, teaching, encouragement, volunteering, and (yes, of course) financial gifts. I am very proud to know the people of the Wild Sheep Foundation as a community of people who are keyed in on these philanthropic values. Each of you are the hands and heart of this impactful organization. We all rally around our purpose to Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain®, but your generosity of spirit toward one another in addition to our purpose is powerful, it’s real, and creates a future of new possibilities.

In the coming year we are thrilled to be working on some big goals that will benefit wild sheep “today, tomorrow, and forever”. The Wild Sheep Foundation’s newly

formed Endowment Development Subcommittee will do just that. I want to give a big “thank you” shout out to the talented and dedicated WSF members who have accepted the challenge of helping us build the Wild Sheep Legacy Foundation’s Endowment Fund to a total of $30 Million by the year 2027. Reaching this goal will allow WSF to distribute $1.2 Million each year to mission and program funding… FOREVER. Be on the lookout for ways that you can help us get there in the coming months.

The Marco Polo Society saw a giant leap in membership as we have welcomed 14 NEW $100,000 donors this fiscal year! We are racing to the finish line and will soon reach our 100-member goal. We are looking for those leaders in our membership to help us make the leap to the top! Who will make the commitment for wild sheep TODAY? Who will be MPS member #92?

Not to be forgotten are our eversteady Chadwick Ram Society (CRS) members. This year the

CRS membership grew by 11%, and it must be mentioned that the same percentage of existing members upgraded their pledges to the next level of giving. (Did I mention our membership is steeped in philanthropic values?) The CRS continues to grow and become an even greater force for wild sheep conservation every year.

Your gifts make an impact. Each minute spent volunteering, serving, or encouraging and every dollar donated and pledged to wild sheep conservation creates a future that otherwise would not exist. I invite each of you to engage a little deeper…to go one step further into the world of wild sheep. That step looks different for everyone, but all are equally critical as “the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.”

We hope to see many of you passing through Bozeman this summer. If you plan to be in our area, please reach out and make a plan to stop in to WSF headquarters to say hello. WS

The Conklin Foundation would like to gratefully acknowledge and thank the following businesses and individuals for their generous donations. The support of donors makes it possible for the Conklin Foundation to continue its efforts to educate youth about hunting.

by Greg Schildwachter WSF Lobbyist

THE BLM CONSERVATION RULE

BLM has proposed changing its most fundamental and widely influential regulations. The proposed rule for “Conservation and Landscape Health” (88 Fed. Reg. 19583, April 3, 2023) would change how BLM carries out its most basic legal responsibility: the Federal Land Management and Planning Act of 1976.

By changing the FLPMA rules, this changes everything BLM does. This is not about grazing only, nor about grazing permits directly. It may help or hinder WSF’s mission in several ways.

Fast and loud praise and condemnation followed the announcement. People with permits and approvals for uses of BLM generally oppose it. Those who use BLM lands as “casual use” such as hiking and biking generally support it. As a hunting organization, WSF has not yet taken a position because its effect on hunting, habitat and population management, and water developments is unclear.

The uncertainties stem from the meaning given to “conservation.”

The straightforward meaning of using nature without using it up or wearing it out seems lost. Now it seems to mean protection and restoration where no uses occur. A debate in which the key term means different things makes for the worst argument.

BLM says the purpose of the rule is to change course on providing multiple uses sustainably. BLM sees lands in bad shape, so the mission hasn’t worked. To put BLM lands back in shape, BLM proposes to restore and protect more and bigger areas.

To those opposing the rule, this means less of their favorite uses. To those in favor, more. At the heart of the disagreement is the same inner

conflict any conservationist feels when imposing limits on oneself and extending oneself to give back. There’s always a temptation to take more and take a break in giving back. Conservation is both limits and actions to sustain use.

The odd thing about the BLM Conservation Rule is the idea that “conservation is a use on par with other uses under FLPMA”. Other uses are not part of conservation? Is conservation not the discipline applied to all uses that ensures they can continue? The rule calls itself conservation “in a broader sense” while limiting conservation to “protection and restoration actions”. Original conservation is the broader term and is the only way to BLM’s goal “to ensure that the nation’s public lands continue to provide minerals, energy, forage, timber, and recreational opportunities, as well as habitat, protected water supplies, and landscapes that resist and recover from drought, wildfire, and other disturbances.”

Even stranger, this oddity is the main reason BLM has proposed the rule. BLM says existing policy for conservation and ecosystem management does not apply conservation to all resources. This is strange because an ecosystem comprises all resources and uses –how is anything left out?

Toward the BLM’s meaning of conservation, the rule proposes three ways the agency will proceed.

First, for places BLM considers “intact”, it intends to designate more Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). These are places designated in Resource Management Plans “where special management attention is needed to protect important historical, cultural, and

scenic values, or fish and wildlife or other natural resources.” ACEC’s already exist in both rule and policy and BLM proposes to consolidate existing policy in the regulations. As we vigilantly examine Wilderness and National Monuments for access for hunting and management, we will do so with ACECs.

For degraded places, BLM intends to offer “conservation leases” to bidders who will “restore public lands or provide mitigation for a particular action.” It’s unclear whether such leases would preclude uses such as hunting, water developments, or even grazing that helps in restoration. Each lease would start with a 10year term, extended if necessary to meet its objectives. The boundaries of a conservation lease could be anywhere. This is not an alternative for grazing allotments.

For all permitted uses of BLM lands, BLM will require land health assessments as currently required for grazing permits. These assessments will be required for every use of BLM lands. The obvious question here is, as Land Health Assessments have proven unaffordable for grazing leases, how will BLM afford these assessments for anything else? And will assessments for other uses further delay assessments for grazing leases?

The meaning of conservation and the meaning of rule changes will require more time to consider. There’s not likely much WSF can do about the evolving meaning of conservation, but we should try. There may not be much openness at BLM to consider (or even clarify) what the new rules mean for hunting, management, and water development —but we will certainly try to understand and influence that. WS

AWARDS

by Tony Caligiuri Chair, Ram Awards Committee

MORE CHANGES IN STORE FOR 2024 RAM AWARDS

Bolstered by the tremendous success of the 2023 Ram Awards, even more exciting plans are in the works for the 2024 awards. The 2024 Ram Awards will again be held in the Mt. Rose Ballroom, near the front entrance of the convention center, allowing for more convenient access by attendees and exhibitors who are already on the show floor. Expanded participation for hunters who are receiving awards along with their guides and outfitters is on tap for this year and will include signage for outfitter’s booths and taxidermy displays on stage during the awards ceremony that will feature some of the winning rams.

The ballroom will be set up with expanded audio and video capability and a streamlined presentation floor layout that will move the actual

ram awards and FNAWS with more seamless presentations while also allowing for more time for both individual and group photos.

The food serving areas will be moved to the side walls, providing better visibility, less congestion and better access to the stage. This year’s lunch will again be provided at no charge, compliments of the Wild Sheep Foundation.

On the North American side, Rocky Mountain goats will be moved from an international classification back to the North American side and the international categories will see several changes including new separate classifications for Markhor and Marco Polo sheep.

The actual awards will feature a much improved plaque design along with the ever popular, trophy belt

buckles for the top contenders in each division.

Taking into consideration the shipping constraints and time delays that were intensified during the pandemic, the entry timeframe for international awards has been expanded to include those trophies taken between August 30th, 2019, through August 30th, 2023.

The entry guidelines for North American sheep will remain the same with rams taken between August 30th, 2021, through August 30th, 2023, eligible for entry in the 2024 awards. Entry forms and score sheets for both international and North American sheep is November 1st. More information and entry forms can be found on the Wild Sheep Foundation web site at www. wildsheepfoundation.org WS

d S START SMART

GOD WINKS

BY STEVEN AUSTIN

“God winks.” Yes, God winks, are those moments in life that are bestowed upon you to show you an open door, an opportunity, a blessing. They are a moment where you’re given a blessing by earthly parties and those divine. It was truly a blessing

to be given this chance at a lifetime event and the pressure to succeed was on.

God Wink. Being awarded a Wyoming bighorn sheep tag is one of the most sought-after tags and one that drives envy from any party. I was blessed with this chance and I didn’t

want to spoil it.

I hid it from friends and family. I wanted to remain humble and appreciative but my anxieties of fulfilling this lifelong dream were imminent. I’ve wanted this hunt pretty much my whole life. I was always intrigued by the American

antelope and the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep—both iconic big game animals.

In the summer of June 1988, I arrived at Fort Sill, Oklahoma for Army Basic Training two days after graduating high school. It was here that I was introduced to who would

become my “combat buddy.” Larry was from Idaho and grew up chasing elk. We were close. We befriended one another and became pretty much inseparable. After basic training, we attended Airborne School together at Fort Benning, Georgia, followed one another into the Ranger

Indoctrination Program, and then were assigned to the same Artillery Regiment at Fort Bragg, North Carolina with the 82nd Airborne Division.

God Wink. It was at Fort Bragg that both Larry and I found that we were among a group of paratroopers

known as the “breakfast club.” This led to becoming very close friends with two fellow troopers named Paul and Giff. Both Paul and Giff enjoyed hunting as a youthful passion too. Giff was from Virginia, and like me, grew up hunting turkey and whitetail deer. Paul was from Michigan and grew up trapping, hunting deer, and ice fishing.

The four of us quickly established a pastime routine of hunting and fishing during our off times, when training and deployments allowed. I was first introduced to Western big game when the three of us joined Larry on a trip back home to Idaho. There, crossing the Montana state line into Idaho, I saw my first live Rocky Mountain bighorn. Nothing took my breath away such as an animal like this.

The four of us pretty much came up with big game animals we longed to hunt. They ranged from moose, to brown bear, to caribou, to sheep.

We made those youthful pacts to help each other achieve our dreams in chasing and harvesting our dream animals.

During my twenty-one-year military career, we each found ourselves being called to do our country’s duty. Assignments found us going separate ways and coming back together. Giff committed suicide in 1992 shortly after returning home from Desert Storm. Larry was killed in 1996 while home on leave, ironically by an elk on his way to go elk hunting when one came through his windshield on a blinding stretch of mountain road. Paul and I were the last of the four.

Paul and I continued to hunt and fish while we both tried to raise young families. Those moments were enjoyable but never the same. We would entertain our conversations with the “pacts” we had made years before. Then September 11, 2001 happened.

Paul was killed when a rocket hit the vehicle he was traveling in while in Iraq in 2004. After being injured myself in a vehicle explosion in 2004, I retired from the Army’s Wounded Transition Barracks in 2009 after serving twenty-one years of active duty service.

I struggle with depression, anxiety due to combat related PTSDs, physical ailments, and just fitting in with society. My family felt the brunt of these issues and I felt the burden. I became disconnected and alone. I became extremely apathetic to life. I hit rock bottom, mentally and physically. I finally agreed to seek therapy in 2019.

God Wink. My wife, Amanda, suggested that I rekindle my love for hunting. I once again began to feel its healing powers and spent time alone afield. I then began to hunt big game again. Casual conversations had me once again speaking of Larry, Paul, and Giff. I felt that guilt, the

sadness, of not being able to fulfill the dreams we once made. I’d thought about Larry and the others for years and always wondered if I’d have the opportunity at a ram, not necessarily for myself, but also for my friends. I settled for watching YouTube shows and living vicariously through the victors of the shows.

God Wink. In July 2022, I received a call that I was the recipient of a Wyoming Resident Disabled Veteran Tag for a bighorn sheep. As I came out of the shock of such a gesture, I began researching and doing my “e-scouting,” and inquiring with local biologists, and game wardens. I was trying to figure out how to make the best of this opportunity. I personally could not afford a hunt of such; I was going to have to do this on my own.

Amanda saw that I was beginning to feel the pressures and stress of feeling hopeless to the opportunity. She reached out to veteran organizations through the Veterans

Affairs and I felt that my opportunity began to slip away. It wasn’t that she didn’t think I could do a hunt of such caliber on my own, but it was the environment I was looking at putting myself into that worried her. I’m the guy who doesn’t seek help—I have a “do-or-die” attitude—and what are a few hungry bears going to do to me?

I begged her not to tell anyone. Then a close friend of mine one night, Craig Cowley, sat at my dinner table. I had been prodding him for information on how he hunted his ram when Amanda told him of my opportunity. Craig immediately called a friend of his he knew from years previous: Bjoe Coy.

God Wink. Turns out, Bjoe Coy is a living legend in these parts of eastern Wyoming. Craig explained to him my situation and wondered if there was anything he would know to try—or where to go to find my ram. With a somewhat secret encrypted text the following morning, I was

instructed to call a number in the text. The message said, Have your guy call this number and talk to the guy who answers the phone.”

God Wink. It was a Sunday when I made the call to the random phone number I was given. A voice answered on the second ring and I introduced myself. Jimmy Owens, owner, and operator of Lost Creek Outfitters located in Cody, Wyoming, replied, “I was expecting your call.” We chatted briefly about how I came about a bighorn sheep tag and all I remember Jimmy saying was, “How cool is this?”

I explained to Jimmy my situation and thanked him for taking my call. I told him of Larry, Giff, and Paul and why this hunt meant so much to me. I asked Jimmy about his terms and without hesitation, Jimmy said that that wasn’t important as much as tagging my ram was and to not worry. He explained that he was off to British Columbia to work

on some Stone’s sheep and would be back within a few weeks, but in the meantime, to send him my contact information. I did with both overwhelming disbelief and guilt. This man supports his family with hunts, but I was extremely excited for the opportunity. I was introduced to Jozie, his lovely wife, and business partner. Jozie’s communication with me until my arrival was phenomenal and attention to detail was impeccable. Based on the required information she needed, I wondered if I was up for the challenge! So…

I prepared for this hunt. I visited

a rifle range darn near daily, placing rounds on target, getting to know my rifle better than ever before. I began picking out its intricacies, how it felt in my hand, how it sounded when I chambered a round, whether it was jammed up or inserted smoothly. I became one with my rifle just as I had done years before in the military. I fired it so much that I asked a friend to build me the best ammo to really bring out what I wanted from this rifle—no, what I needed this rifle to do. I had my wife walking up to 13 miles per day and I carried a fortyfive pound bag of chicken scratch

in my rucksack. This is a once-in-alifetime event. I’ll never have such an opportunity again. Ever.

God Wink. Lost Creek Outfitters was providing me an opportunity to harvest a ram in the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming—knee-deep in grizzly bear country—and all that I knew, was what Jimmy said, “It takes however long it takes.”

My family was as eager as I was. For the first time in many years, my family felt an excitement in me that had been so absent for years before. I hugged my wife and son. Amanda took a picture of me as I climbed in my truck and pointed my nose northwest from Cheyenne. I called my older boys, one who is in the Navy, and the other in the Army, to tell them that I loved them, and I would call sometime soon to deliver any positive or negative news.

I drove northward to Cody in such a manner I thought something was wrong. I was taking my time. I normally drive much faster, but I wanted this time to reflect on a plethora of thoughts racing through my mind. I recalled memories of deer hunting in the North Carolina woods with Larry, moments in the military comparable to attending a college fraternity party, or at least it seemed. I asked myself what I could have done to help Giff and how long he had been gone. I remembered the last few words shared with Paul. I watched the clouds drift by, and the miles got shorter. The emotions got stronger.

God Wink. Sunday, I arrived at the driveway of Lost Creek Outfitters in Cody, Wyoming. Jimmy personally met me as I got out of my truck. He immediately made me feel welcomed and at home. That’s hard to do

when you meet someone for the first time—and especially for me. I was introduced to a lovely family and invited into their home and lodge. Amazed by the animal mounts that adorn the living space, I was shown my room for the night. I was told to make myself at home. It felt surreal. I called Amanda and told her that Lost Creek Outfitters is truly an A+ outfitter. I really had no idea.

Monday, we started our horseback hunt. I found myself in the front of Jimmy’s pickup truck bouncing up a Forest Service Road into a beautiful drainage. We found a group of ewes up high and separately saw two sows and their two cubs galloping up the side of a draw. We returned to the lodge for the night.

Tuesday, I was greeted at the breakfast table by Cameron, a guide who was born and raised in Cody. He works for Jimmy and you could tell from the start the two of them feed off one another’s motivation. They knew each other as well as many of the groups I dealt with in the military. They were good. Each had their own responsibility, and both were as committed to me as they were the business. I was their business.

We rode our way up into a high

BLANFORD URIAL HIMALAYAN IBEX SINDH IBEX PUNJAB URIAL

plateau that overlooked another drainage. There we sat and glassed like so many of you have done looking at elusive animals such as bighorn sheep. It was warm enough that a small nap was in order, but eagerness couldn’t keep me from checking the binoculars or spotting scope. To the accolades of both Jimmy and Cameron, I found the first rams of the hunt in my binoculars. Jimmy confirmed their identity with his 95mm spotting scope and offered it up to me to watch. I wondered why we weren’t ready for the chase, but neither of these rams would be potential targets. These young guys needed some more gym time. We saw another sow and her two cubs, multiple elk, and some mule deer. On my first night under those stars in

years, I slept like a baby.

Wednesday, we rose early and gathered the ponies up from within the corral. Our destination this day was over in another area. We glassed high up into the mountains and I looked at little dots against a grayish green backdrop. We made our push from the trailhead heading into the high country. We split at camp to better our efforts in finding the ram I was after. Just like we had the previous two days, we sat, we watched, waiting, knowing that my prey would soon show itself.

After a couple of hours, Jimmy smiled at me and said, “We have the banger.” There, among a group of twelve “rambos,” sat the rambo that I would consider mine. We would “put our ram to sleep” and be back by

morning to move into position.

On our way out, we ran into our next three sets of sows with two cubs each, a sow with one cub, and a boar grizzly. Each set was attempting to enjoy a portion of the elk kill meal that lay on the ground. The boar appeared to be as big as a modern-day truck!

Know that every time we ran into bears, both Jimmy and Cameron were instrumental in ensuring the safety of the party and each other. Bears are just a part of the adventure and seeing them in their natural habitat was icing on the cake! We slept on the ground under stars with no tents less than a mile from our hairy friends. My wife says I am nuts, but I slept like a baby again that night.

Thursday, I slumbered out of my

sleeping bag ready for the ram’s wakeup call. Today was my day. A day that I have dreamt about for decades, yes, decades. We saddled up and filled the panniers, ready to ride back high into the basins of the Absaroka. We once again paid a visit to our grizzly friends as they continued to eat on the elk carcass and eased our way higher into the steep rock outcroppings of the mountains. My two guides and

I climbed our way to 10,900 feet to spot our group of rams and to make the decision on which one would be my quarry. Cameron stayed behind to provide herd updates while Jimmy led me across the treacherous and steep drop-offs along the ridge to conceal our every movement.

Finally, in place at the summit of the ridge, I was seeing something I’d never thought I’d have a real chance to see. I was being instructed to place the biggest ram in my sights. I finally had a bighorn sheep in my rifle crosshairs! In all this excitement, my buddies were there. It was a vision as vivid as the reality of the moment. They were there. Right there. With me.

Jimmy asked if I had a good rest...to take my time...and placed his hand on my shoulder while he looked through his binoculars. His calm demeanor was that of experience; he’d been

in this very position with tons of clients I am sure. I’ve looked through crosshairs plenty of times and many of the visions I relive on a day to day basis isn’t one I care to remember, but in this moment, I had the weight of three men and my dreams on the line. Jimmy instructed me to wait until the ram turned broadside, and within seconds, my fatal shot hit the ram. The ram was dead on his feet, but we placed another round in him to seal the deal. I laid my firearm down, and to the accolades of both Jimmy and Cameron coming through on the radio, I celebrated, and then the emotions rose. I thought about the hours of physical and mental preparation, the events it took just getting here on this ridgeline, and most of all, the love of strangers and family. I thought about this very moment. My combat buddies.

My ram fell at 237 yards and it was the longest descent I believe I have ever made. I cried tears of joy and thanked God for the God Wink. I was prepared to handle, for the first time, a bighorn sheep. My guides and I shared hugs, smiles, and laughter. They too knew why I was there.

As always, we took pictures. Tons of pictures. I held a picture of Larry, Giff, and Paul next to my ram. They too were there. I tried to withhold my emotions. I tried. I wanted to do my part to prepare my sheep for the haul out, but Jimmy insisted I take in the moment. I sat, watching Jimmy and Cameron cape a sheep with the efficiency of a pack of wolves, and I sat looking down the basin back to where we had departed just a couple of hours before and thought: Larry may not have harvested his moose, Giff his caribou, or Paul his brown

bear, but they were there with me when I took out my ram.

I sent an inReach message of my news to my wife back in Carpenter, Wyoming while she was teaching school. She simply responded that she was so happy for me and that the boys are cheering. She told me that God is good and said that without Jimmy, Jozie, Cameron of Lost Creek Outfitters, my God Wink would have never been fulfilled. There are no words to describe my appreciation for the kindness and gesture bestowed upon me by Lost Creek Outfitters.

We rode out of the mountains in pure darkness, talking the whole way so that our grizzly friends would know we had decided to depart the party. Under the blanket of the Milky Way, I wondered if my successes of the day were being measured with a number, a ratio, by my guides?

I think not. It was measured by their hearts during those four days of hunting.

God Winks. Despite all the negatives I have witnessed in my life, and despite all the dark days and trying times getting through life, I have learned to look once again at the positives in life. I have learned to enjoy the moments God gives you... the people He brings into and out of your life. He winks all the time—you just need to know when that wink is bestowed upon you. He’s great, He’s good, He winks at you. It’s time to wink back and say, “thank you.”

If you are looking for the perfect outfitter dedicated to putting you on game, look no further than Lost Creek Outfitters. It may seem like it’s just a way of life for them and their guides, but it is their mission to make every second of that adventure a memorable and lasting one. WS

What separates posers from the real deal?

This badge.

BY KARL BLANCHARD

he legendary adventurer/ author Jack O’Connor once wrote, “The wild ram embodies the mystery and magic of the mountains, the rocky canyons, the snowy peaks, the fragrant alpine meadows, the gray slide rock, the icy, dancing rills fed by snowbank and glacier, the sweet, clean air of the high places, and the sense of being alone on the top of the world with the eagles, the marmots, and the wild sheep themselves.”

When setting out on our first sheep hunt, my brother Michael and I never could have imagined how accurate a statement that would be. We landed in Bettles, Alaska on a rainy Saturday morning with stars

in our eyes and white sheep on our minds. We hastily made our way to the air taxi office to check in and find out the odds of departing to the hunt location we had selected after months of meticulous research. Our greeting came in the form of a swift kick to the gut with news that an outfitter had set up shop on the exact lake we had picked after e-scouting all year.

The Brooks Range is vast, and throwing a metaphorical dart at a map is not how we envisioned starting our trip. But indecisiveness has no place in Alaska mountain hunting, so we chose a new lake as we dashed to the hangar to get ready.

The Cessna 185 was skipping down the lake by 3:00 PM, and a short flight later, we were touching down. We had a five-mile hike from the lake to where we wanted to cache our extra food and gear and make our base camp. We trimmed our packs down, ate dinner, and hit the sack.

Light shining through the tent welcomed us to our first day of hunting. Delicate fog blanketed the tundra, but we were optimistic. We ate breakfast, pitched the bear fence, and set off. Just as we entered an adjoining drainage, the sun burned through, and we could see for miles. We sat down to glass and almost immediately spotted four rams. They

were three miles away, so we grabbed packs and beat feet farther up the drainage to get a better look. At one mile away we set up again to see if we could make out horns better—and could we ever!

There were two banana rams, a three-quarter curl ram, and one older ram with a long driver side and a broomed off passenger side. They were still too far away to determine legality and we were out of cover. When a big fog bank rolled in, we used the opportunity to cut distance. With the drifting fog as concealment, we slipped to within 500-yards of the rams. Off and on the fog would blow out enough to catch glimpses of them, but never enough to pull an accurate range for a precise shot. The stakes were too high for Kentucky-

windage. As we sat in the fog, awaiting a clear view of the mountain and our ram, the rain set in. We pitched our tarp for some muchneeded shelter just as the rain turned to blinding snow.

Thirty minutes later, the snow stopped, and the fog broke long enough to get eyes back on the ram and we determined he was in fact legal, but once again with mist and fog we couldn’t get an accurate range. A bit past 9:00 PM, we decided we weren’t going to get our break and returned to our tent at the base of the drainage—a four-mile slog through boggy muskeg that pulled at our legs with every step.

The morning of day four was a welcome sight, with broken skies and sunshine as we made our way back to

our rams. They had moved far back into a high green basin and were comfortably bedded. Working up and out of their line of sight, we gained our needed elevation and closed the distance. When heavy fog moved in, we used it to get across from them. We were now inside 600-yards and had a perfect ambush spot set up. All day we sat under the tarp in the driving rain, mist, and dense fog. Around 6:00 PM we finally got our break, but, to our disappointment, there were no sheep to be seen. With no clue which direction they went we just started picking our way up through the rocky canyon.

About a mile in, Michael hissed, “There they are, up on the rock wall!” They were 915-yards away— too far. We backed out and picked

our way up another 700 vertical feet and moved up to within rifle range. Michael got on the spotter, and I got down on the rifle. They knew something was up, so there was no time to waste. I got a range, dialed my scope, and settled in. With nothing to read wind off except for the icy breeze on my own face, I made my call and held accordingly, checked level, and sent a round, hitting the ram squarely in the shoulders.

He hobbled behind a large boulder with only the top of his horns giving away his position. Those horns began to sway, and, in an instant, he tumbled a short distance to his final resting place at the top of a waterfall high in the canyon. It was a nail-biting ascent up to him. Lichen covered cliff faces, scree slides, and boulder fields lay in our path. It took us over an hour to find a safe path to reach him.

When we got to him, he was lying in the water. The cliffs that once offered him sanctuary now stood above what would be his tomb. Never in my life had I seen such a regal beast with my own two eyes.

We sat without speaking for some time, admiring before us on that flat slab of God’s rugged earth, our ram! Not the ram of someone from a video or magazine, but ours! We had flown over 2,000 miles on three planes. We had planned and dreamed for years. We prepared physically and mentally for the grueling terrain and weather. All that work brought us to this moment and oh, how sweet it was! The odds said it was to be an impossible task, but fate had other plans and deemed us worthy. We were now—sheep hunters!

With pictures taken, and careful

knife work complete, we shouldered our packs a bit after 10:30 PM as it began to rain, and the autumn Alaskan sun started to fade. The same obstacles that we had to traverse to reach the ram we now had to navigate down, but this time, it was more wet. It was downhill for hours in the rock, rain, and now-soupy fog. Our progress was painstakingly slow. When we reached the valley floor the same fog we had fought through for hours entirely surrounded us.

The mental and physical strain were taking their toll and by 2:00 AM, I couldn’t take another step without unshouldering my pack and eating something. As our freeze-dried dinners rehydrated, we erected our now beloved tarp. We inhaled our food and tried to sleep, but it was no use. We were soaked through and cold. This was no place to succumb to hypothermia. The impenetrable fog cut visibility down to mere yards, but the river to our left and cliffs to our right meant we were moving in the right direction toward our camp.

We finished our 8.5-mile ordeal of cliff, rock, and bog a few minutes before 7:00 AM. Meat, cape, and horns fell every which way as we dove into our sleeping bags and sank into glorious warmth. The hardest physical event of our lives was now over, and sleep swept over us in an instant.

We slept hard until driving rain beat us out of our slumber. With sore legs and backs we reorganized gear, laid out meat and cape to dry and did our best to rehydrate and catch up on calories.

Dense fog and drizzle made resting easy. We did glass up a small group of two rams, three ewes, and three

We inhaled our food and tried to sleep, but it was no use. We were soaked through and cold. This was no place to succumb to hypothermia.

lambs from the tent, but thankfully for our sore legs, neither of the rams were legal. Back in our sleeping bags with the remainder of our wet gear we drank coffee, looked at pictures of our ram, and retold each other the story of the hunt a million and one times. We were on cloud nine with no plans of getting off.

The following day was chore day. We needed to get the head skinned off and cape fleshed. It was the first time fleshing a hide for either of us, so we went slow, and it took a long time. Mid-afternoon we concluded that we needed to get some stuff back to the lake to be a one-and-done trip if we got another ram. So, we loaded up bear fence, the ram, and a few other non-essentials and made the 8.2-mile round trip across the muskeg.

Back at the lake we needed to devise a plan to keep the meat and cape good. We did an initial salting of the hide then went to work building a raised rack out of caribou shed antlers to keep the meat bags off the ground and allow air underneath them. With several more sheds we made additional space above the meat. Shaking the cape free of the wet salt, we then applied a second, generous coat, folded it skin on skin, and placed it on the rack with the meat. We covered it all with a blue tarp making sure to build up openings on either end to allow air flow and piled the ram head and many more shed antlers on top of the tarp to pin it down. We surrounded all this bounty with our bear fence and bid it farewell. It was agonizing to leave such precious treasure unattended, but we had one more ram to find and we were hell-bent on achieving the impossible a second time.

We woke early the next day, but thick fog and rain pinned us down. We finally got a window mid-day, so we packed camp and forded the river to make our ascent up a new valley. A bit before 9:00 PM, we spotted two rams through the fog. We found a flat spot and set our tent for the night. Leaving this area wasn’t an option until we got a good look at these rams and any friends they might have.

As light pulled us from our slumber, a layer of fog laid across the mountains like a white ribbon. We nicknamed this elevation “ram line.” The fog was always right where the sheep wanted to be or maybe the sheep always wanted to be concealed in the fog, but either way it always hung at “ram line.” As the fog rolled over the ridges, two rams appeared straight across the valley. We recognized them from the night before and quickly determined neither was legal. We glassed everything we could and then moved up valley a few miles to keep looking. Of course, the fog returned with a vengeance, and we spent the day hunkered under the tarp staring at nothing once again. Finally, we called it and hiked back to our tent.

Frigid rain and fog forced us into the security of our sleeping bags a bit before 9:00 PM. A stiff northern wind, misting fog, and frozen tundra greeted us as we awoke to zero visibility once again. After hours of staring at nothing we decided to make a move. We hiked down valley to the last bit of food we cached just as the rain started again. We hurriedly set up the tent and eventually gave up on going anywhere as the rain pounded away.

Day 10 greeted us with blue skies! We packed camp and started

our ascent up and over into the neighboring valley. Six miles in, Michael spotted a lone ram high up in the rocky cliffs at the top of a peak. We worked our way closer and closer. We edged as close as we were going to get without being on slope with him, but we still couldn’t determine legality. Knowing he was a loner and looking like he was probably full curl, we decided to make the stalk in on him to determine if he was indeed the ram we needed him to be.

The stalk was intensely physical: 1,600 feet of vertical in a bit more than half a mile up shale, boulders, and cliff bands. After hours of climbing, we just couldn’t get an angle on his little slice of heaven. With nothing to gain from more elevation, we dropped 100 feet and scaled up and over a medium-sized rock wall that was blocking our path. Once back out of sight, we pushed forward. Another 200-yards put us up against another rock wall that made the south wall of the ram’s avalanche chute. As Michael slowly crested the top, he immediately retreated with a look on his face I will never forget.

On the other side, at a mere 60-yards stood our ram. Head down and feeding, he had no idea we were there. Michael eased his rifle over the top of the wall. Through his scope he could easily count nine annuli. At 60-yards, Michael squeezed the trigger and put one wellplaced bullet behind the crease

of the big ram’s shoulder. His final moments passed quickly and with a wild thrash of his head, he toppled over backwards, crashing into a large boulder which, luckily, hung him up from preventing a great fall. My brother has wanted to hunt sheep since he was a little boy. Watching him reach down and touch the horn of this ram brought me to tears. Here stood a man whom I admire and love more than anyone on this earth. I was moved to see him accomplishing what might be his oldest lifelong goal. I choked back my emotions as to not ruin the excitement. We hugged, we highfived, and we counted annuli another ten times just to be safe.

It was a nasty, steep spot, so after many pictures, we carefully and methodically skinned and deboned his ram. With heavy packs we started our descent. Down, down, down we climbed until we were safely on the valley floor. Before we set off after Michael’s ram, we had pitched our tent and offloaded extras, so we had a two-mile hike back to camp.

With camp already set I began caping out the head, while Michael made dinner and refilled water. Smiles never left our faces as we tended to our chores knowing we had just tagged out on Dall’s sheep in the Brooks Range on the worst year to be hunting sheep in Alaska! It was an intense but amazing day—one I will think back on forever.

Day 11 sent us through 10.6 miles of swamp with heavy packs to get back to the lake. We awoke early, ate, and packed camp, meat, and head. Six hours later we had made it to the lake to find everything as we left it. My ram’s meat was still good, and the cape was intact. I have never been so relieved. The unknown condition of my ram had kept us in a constant state of concern, but we could rest easy knowing all our prep work had paid off.

We set camp, unpacked Michael’s ram, and kicked back for a leisurely evening. We roasted backstrap over a sad fire made from twigs scavenged around the lake. Though it was labor-intensive, it was a

delicious meal and worth the effort. With fresh meat in our bellies, we called it a night.

The following day we ate, drank copious amounts of coffee, and stared at our rams. Around noon the air taxi messaged and said, “We can fly, plane will be there by 1:30, so be ready!” We packed everything up and hauled it over to the beach.

We drank in the grand scale of this wild country one last time as the Cessna 185 floated to a stop in front of us. Loading gear, meat, and horns, we bid farewell to our wild home of two weeks, thankful it allowed us to visit and take from her our bounty of meat and yellow horn.

The flight home was hair-raising. The furious wind blew our little plane to and fro, up, and down. For over an hour our pilot Brendan kept us pointed as straight as he could. We overcame terror and nausea to land safely at the float dock. I’ve never been so happy to be out of the sky!

Back in Bettles, we paid our tab, grabbed four diet Pepsi’s and a bag of chips, and headed back to the hangar to unscramble our world and get meat cut up and frozen.

A group of five rafters from New York and Massachusetts were very interested in these two guys that

could fit their entire world in two backpacks. The following night I pan-seared to medium rare a large piece of backstrap, which we sliced thin and shared with everyone in the hangar. It was gone in mere seconds as our non-hunting friends tasted their first wild game. It was rewarding to unwind with some good company on our final days away from the “civilized” world and to help be ambassadors for our way of life.

Friday morning, we flew to Fairbanks, rented a car, and raced off to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game to get our rams checked. They aged Michael’s ram at nine years and mine at twelve, with both passing the full curl mark. They took tissue samples, measurements, and finally plugged our horns, signifying that both rams were legal. With a handshake and a congratulations from the biologists we bid them farewell.

Saturday morning, we went to breakfast for sourdough pancakes to honor the post-hunt breakfast tradition we started in Kodiak after our first Alaska hunt years ago. It was no King’s Diner, but it was plenty good for a couple of brothers who now call themselves sheep hunters. WS

THE MIRACLE

In 2004 Bert Brundige was running grader on a logging road in the rugged Oregon coast range. That is what Bert has always done for a living. He carves roads out of some of the steepest, thickest, roughest country they make so that log trucks weighing as much as 90,000 pounds can bring their payload out of those mountains. He was in a spot that

had service when My brother David Backen called him.

“Want some good news Brundige?” Bert needed some good news. His wife had only a short time left to live, and we all knew it.

“Sure,” Bert said, not expecting anything like he was about to hear.

“You drew a desert sheep tag in Nevada.” Having all but given up on

ever hunting sheep, Bert had drawn one of the most sought after and difficult tags in the country. With only six points he had drawn unit 263 in southern Nevada. Miracle number one.

Bert booked with outfitter and friend Ron Biggs of Wild West Taxidermy and Guide Service of Fallon Nevada. Accompanied by

friends David Backen, Darren Paschke, Mike Jackson and Darrel Mitchell, Bert headed south of Las Vegas in December of 2004 for his first attempt at a wild sheep. Nobody could ask for a better crew. They are all close friends and all very skilled hunters. Bert took a beautiful 167-inch Nelson desert bighorn. He was hooked. That special spell that only wild sheep can cast had taken hold. Having what is arguably the most difficult sheep of the four under his belt, thoughts of completing a FNAWS began to germinate.

In 2006, Bert booked a hunt with Terry Overly of Pioneer Outfitters in the St. Elias Mountains in Alaska. In 2007, with son Blair and good friend Andy Kahn, Bert rode horseback deep into the Alaskan mountains. His Dall’s sheep required an elevenhour hike both ways.

According to the tape measure this Dall’s would not have broken any records, but there is something about

what a sheep puts you through and where he takes you that makes every sheep a true trophy. This was a hunt that holds a special place for Bert.

In 2014, Bert booked a hunt for Stone’s sheep with the Collingwood Brothers of British Columbia. In 2016, he made a solo trip with guide Reg Collingwood into Bug Lake and rode horseback into Ice Breaker Camp. On the third day, Bert took a beautiful 12½-year-old Stone’s ram. This FNAWS thing was starting to come together.

As is often the case, about the time a man thinks he has the world by the tail, the world will challenge him and do its best to defeat him. The entire list of challenges is too long to list, but to give you the gist, after losing his wife to cancer, Bert fell victim to ruptured disks in his lower back, ever worsening arthritis, intestinal issues and above all, an unstoppable degeneration of his eyesight. Many times, Bert was close

to giving up on hunting altogether, let alone sheep hunting. But his lifelong love of the hunt and wild places was too strong. With help and encouragement from friends and family and a solid faith in God, Bert kept finding ways to make it work.

By 2018, Bert’s right eye had become so dim that he had to learn to shoot left-handed. If there was to be any hope of this FNAWS working out, it would have to be sooner rather than later.

So, in 2019, alongside his son Blair and nephew Brandon Stokes, he bid on and won a Rocky Mountain bighorn hunt with Chad Lentz of Savage Encounters of Alberta, Canada. Well, you probably know where this is going. Good old Covid-19 came and the Canadian border was closed for nearly two years. Meanwhile, Bert’s physical challenges continued to get worse.

A ruptured disk meant that horses, and therefore Alberta, were out of

the question.

As I mentioned, Bert has a strong group of family and friends that encouraged him to stay with it and provided the help necessary. During these years, Bert had done some hunting and fishing trips with friend and outfitter Jerrod Farr of White Cloud Outfitting in Challis, Idaho.

Jerrod’s father Scott Farr of Farr Better Gunworks builds very excellent, very accurate rifles. Bert purchased a 6.5 PRC with a muzzle break. Even though it meant giving up his beloved 300 Win Mag, this light-recoiling, precision rifle made

it much easier for Bert to execute shots from the left shoulder. Jerrod and Bert talked a few times about how special it would be if Bert could finish his FNAWS with the rifle built by Jerrod’s father. Jerrod and Bert had become close friends and Jerrod assured him that if he could get a tag in his part of Idaho, he would get Bert an opportunity at a ram despite the physical challenges.

So one last time, Bert applied for Rocky Mountain sheep in Oregon, Nevada, and Idaho. In June of 2022 Bert was blessed with miracle number two. His son Blair called to tell him

Meanwhile, Bert’s physical challenges continued to get worse.

he himself had not drawn, “but by the way Dad, you did.” The news struck Bert with an overwhelming mix of emotions. Truly unsure if he still had what it would take, he was in tears.

Sheep hunts have a way of bringing out your friends. Not the kind you never knew you had, but the kind you always knew you could count on. They show up and prove it. Despite the pain and poor eyesight, Bert and his son Blair worked out a system that required the two of them working together to make a rifle shot. I watched this process. It required a tremendous amount of focus and patience on both of their parts. At first, I had my doubts but as the hunt grew closer, I began to see that there was a chance. If given the time, Bert was scoring consistent hits out to 400 yards.

A week before the hunt, Bert’s back was becoming more and more of a problem. Trying to walk it out, a quarter mile from his house he had to call his wife to come pick him

up. The pain was simply too bad to make it back. If you have ever had a disc blow out and mash your nerves against the bones in your spine, then I need to say no more. If you have never been treated to that special experience, just know, there are no words in the English language that do it justice. Nearly blind and immobilized by pain, this last sheep did not seem possible.

At some point, out of desperation Bert took a couple of Advil. A significant portion of the pain disappeared. Now Advil might be a fine product, but Bert will be the first to tell you that it was a much higher power than anything contained in those little pills that took that pain from him. Miracle number three.

The drive to Idaho would surely be too much to ask of Bert’s back, so

Bert, Blair and David boarded good friend Blake Kennerly’s Cessna 414A and flew to Salmon, Idaho. They were met there by nephew Brandon Stokes and his wife Kristi. Everyone was ready and anxious to help Bert fulfill this dream. Remember what I said about friends you can count on.

Jerrod Farr had advised Bert to apply for an area in Idaho which had some roads that made the sheep more accessible. A few days before the hunt a huge wildfire caused the Forest Service to close most of the roads to vehicle traffic. Jerrod knew where there was a group of 13 rams that a few days prior would have been an easy drive. Now they would have to walk. A ten-mile hike resulted in a failed stalk. When you cannot see well and your legs don’t respond due to pinched nerves, it is hard to be

stealthy on rough ground.

Fortunately, Jerrod had been seeing another ram in another accessible piece of country.

They all hiked back out to try an evening attempt on this ram. David and Blake went in above the area where the ram had been seen. It wasn’t long before they had him spotted. They signaled the others to come in from below. In an outstanding bit of luck, Bert was able to work his way to a spot below the ram where he was only visible through one narrow gap in the brush and rocks.

Bert was able to get the rifle set up and with Blair’s help he was confident that what he could see was the crosshairs on the sheep. Shooting form your non-dominant side can feel incredibly awkward. Bert focused and

squeezed the trigger. The ram fell on the edge of a ledge 200 yards above. One last kick sent the ram rolling down through the rockslide, nearly stopping at Bert’s feet. Jerrod simply said, “This just doesn’t happen. Somebody really loves you.” A wonderful 11-½ year old ram scoring 169 inches was testament to that. Miracle number four.

Nearly everything that could go wrong in this quest did. However, everything that had to go right, also did. It was a lesson in perseverance, a lesson in suffering and a lesson in blessings. It all Happened the way it did for a reason. Maybe someday we will know the reason. For now, we simply accept it for the miracle it was. Hopefully we can all draw some inspiration from Bert’s miracle. WS

Nearly everything that could go wrong in this quest did. However, everything that had to go right, also did.

recent

Young Rocky Mountain bighorn ram with ewes. Although desert bighorns have flourished in

years, various bighorn bands are in decline from various factors, causing four states to decrease permits.

the governor’s tag game

Good for sheep...and sheep hunting?

BY CRAIG BODDINGTON

Sheep tags don’t come easy. Winning the draw takes luck…and persistence. In 1978, I hunted mule deer with Nevada’s great sheep outfitter Jerry Hughes. He convinced me to start applying in Nevada saying, “It’s a tough draw, but I’ve never had anyone apply more than six years

without drawing.”

As I could afford to, I added other states. Good timing; I got in on the ground floor with several preference or bonus point systems. So it was that I drew in Montana in 1994. In 1998 it was a certainty that I would draw a Wyoming sheep tag, and I did. The wild card was an

Arizona desert sheep tag in 2008, statistically a tougher draw than Nevada. Jerry Hughes passed away in 1988. 35 years later, 44 unsuccessful applications, I still haven’t drawn in Nevada.

You could say that I’ve drawn my share. However, pathological optimist that I am, I believe I will

draw at least one more sheep tag. For sure, I will keep applying. The only thing certain about applying for tags: If you don’t apply, you will never draw. I’m a true believer in permit draws, one of the greatest examples of “the democracy of hunting,” one of the seven lynchpin tenets of our amazing North American Model of Wildlife Conservation.

Yeah, but what about auction tags?

I’ll be honest: My thoughts on auction tags have been less sanguine. On the one hand, pure sour grapes. I’m not bidding on auction tags. Doesn’t seem fair that a person can cut to the head of the line simply because he can afford to.

On the other hand, another tenet of the North American Model is “no market for wildlife.” Does an auction tag represent “selling a game animal”

to the highest bidder?

The first concern should be easily dismissed. Them’s of us who can’t cannot avoid pangs of jealousy when we see auction tags bring amazing prices. It’s not fair, but neither is life. Some people have more money than others. Doesn’t make them better or worse, but some folks are able to drive faster cars, shoot fancier guns… and bid on auction tags.

The second concern requires more thought. Or does it? An auction tag is, after all, just a hunting license sold, offering an opportunity to harvest game. Philosophically, it’s no different than any other hunting license. An auction tag is sort of an “over-the-counter” tag…if you can afford it. There are no guarantees. Not all auction tags result in game harvested. Some bidders do it for pure altruism; others don’t find an animal that meets their standards.

That said, hunter success on auction tags is still high. So is trophy quality. Some permits carry special opportunity, such as extended seasons. Always, the deck is somewhat stacked. Issuing agencies have major vested interest in an auction tag holder’s success, as do the hired outfitters if used. Lots of folks out looking, plenty of help on the ground. We can circle right back to the premise that life isn’t always fair. Some folks will always relish their sour grapes. Most of us are laissez faire, accepting almost anything that doesn’t impact us personally. Especially if the bigger picture is benefical.

Over time, special permits have raised vast sums. The real question: Has our wildlife been the beneficiary? If you prefer to keep it personal, every permit taken out of the public drawing is one less tag you and I can

The only thing certain about applying for tags: If you don’t apply, you will never draw.

Boddington’s son-in-law Brad Jannenga arrowed this fine desert bighorn on Carmen Island in 2021. Although management is largely privatized, Mexico has done a fine job with her desert sheep, now probably the most available of the North American wild sheep.

apply for. So, let’s make it personal: Over time, has all this money from “head of the line” privilege increased the number of permits we can apply for? That’s a tough question. First, let’s understand how the special permit system works. When I started researching for this article, I lacked that understanding. I suspect this is common to many of us who are not able to bid on auction tags, and are not deeply embedded in the wildlife agencies and conservation groups we support. Absent knowledge, I was savoring my sour grapes more than I should have.

Auction and Raffle Tags

Technically, these are special permits taken from the public pool, typically authorized by legislature (or tribal councils) and assigned to wildlife agencies for sale, preferably for the highest possible return. Loosely, we call them “governor’s tags,” an old term that goes back

to the beginning. The Governor of Wyoming long had a small pool of set-aside permits that, as a perk of office, he or she could dispense. Edgar Herschler (1918-1990) was Wyoming’s only three-term governor. In the political world, one could theorize what these permits might have been used for, but it was Governor Ed Herschler who started the auction ball rolling. In 1979, he gave a Wyoming governor’s sheep permit to a then-fledgling Foundation for North American Wild Sheep (now WSF).

This was the first auction tag, and Governor Herschler set the rules: Funds would be used to benefit wildlife in Wyoming. WSF and its chapters remain important marketing organizations for special sheep permits. However, the issuing agency ultimately decides where special permits are marketed, and there are options. The Alaska Chapter of SCI markets Alaska’s Chugach Dall’s

sheep governor’s permit. Today, there are special tags for elk, mule deer, and more. These often go to Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, and so forth.

Almost universally, the funds are used within the state that issues the permit. Usually, to benefit the permitted species. If the permit is given to an organization to market, that group receives only a small commission against the cost of putting on the sale. In WSF’s case, maximum 7 to 8 percent; the bulk of the funds go straight to the issuing entity. As WSF’s Gray Thornton pointed out, “We can’t tell them how to use the funds.” Most agencies are forthcoming in how the largesse is spent. In the main, water projects, relocations, veterinary work, habitat improvement, and sometimes predator control.

That first Wyoming sheep tag, auctioned in 1980, brought $23,000. We all know about the high prices

Thanks to being in on the ground floor with Wyoming’s preference point system, in 1998 it was a near-certainty he would draw.

paid at auctions for various sheep tags. Today, it isn’t just the sheep. This year, Utah’s Antelope Island State Park mule deer tag brought $500,000; an Arizona statewide mule deer tag brought $725,000. Pennsylvania’s auction elk tag just went for $326,000. Since 1980, special permits have brought in some $85 million for wildlife conservation.

The high-dollar auction tags are the most famous (or infamous, as we chew our sour grapes). However, raffle tags are increasingly important. Gambling isn’t my thing, so I’ve been slow to appreciate the significance of raffle tags. Once again, Wyoming led the way. In 2013, then-Governor Matt Mead signed into law Wyoming’s popular and successful “Super Tag” raffle, allocating permits for Wyoming’s ten species of big game, plus the “Trifecta” raffle whereby a winner can choose permits for any three of the ten.

Witness the huge funds raised by state lotteries, we Americans love our raffles. Not exactly the same as public drawing permits, but still democracy

of hunting: For the small price of a raffle ticket, everyone has an equal chance to win, that chance increased by purchasing additional tickets. And, exactly like applying for public drawings, only one thing is certain: If you don’t buy at least one ticket, you cannot win.

In 2023, 14 North American sheep tags were raffled. This is because, selectively, it is proven that raffles can bring in more money than is certain at auction. Either way, despite the pandemic and uncertain economy, auction and raffle tags continue to set revenue records.

“Sheep Don’t Pay Their Way…”

management.”

No matter how high the license fees, we can’t make enough sheep for them to pay their way, let alone increase and prosper. Yet, thanks to the millions of dollars from a small number of permits taken from the public pool, wild sheep have not only increased, but have been restored to historic ranges.

In 1850, wild sheep ranged from the Great Plains to the Pacific. Numbers aren’t certain, but an educated estimate is 1.5 to two million. The low point is believed to have been about 1960, with an estimated 16,000 wild sheep in our Western states. Add in Canada and Mexico, and there might have been 25,000 bighorns.

.

. . said Kevin Hurley, WSF Vice President of Conservation and 40-year bighorn sheep biologist. More plentiful and widespread species such as deer and elk, and wild turkeys pay their own way through license revenues. Hurley made it brutally simple: “South Dakota started with two resident sheep permits at $275. That’s $550, and that’s your budget for wild sheep restoration and

Today there are 85,000 to 90,000. Much of this amazing growth must be attributed to funding from “governor’s tags.” This is not entirely a numbers game. Since 1980, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Texas have gone from virtually no sheep to viable herds…with available sheep permits. Texas now has 16 desert sheep permits. Arizona, Nevada, and Utah, once strictly desert bighorn states, now also have California and/ or Rocky Mountain bighorn herds… with permits. Colorado, always a Rocky Mountain bighorn state, now has a nice desert bighorn herd, with 14 permits (2020). I never thought California would reopen sheep hunting, but in 2020 (the most recent year with complete data), California offered 29 desert sheep tags. From just two desert sheep permits in 2010, New Mexico offered 29 permits in 2020.

This has taken a lot of work… and a lot of money. As much as 75 percent of all funding for wild sheep

Boddington beat the odds in 2008, drawing an Arizona desert sheep tag in the Virgin River Canyon. Desert sheep are now hunted in seven US and four Mexican states. Permits have steadily increased, but chances of drawing aren’t getting better.

management comes from auction or raffle tags. Gray Thornton called it a “critical infusion of funds” that has paid dividends to our wild sheep. Also from Gray: Absent that funding, “lots of projects wouldn’t happen,” adding, ”there’s so much more we could do.” True enough. Wildlife work is never done. That’s another way of saying there’s no such thing as enough. Let alone, too much.

The long string of record-breaking special tag revenues leads to a note of caution: Will it continue? Can it be relied upon? And what happens if the picture changes? Then where would the money come from? There still aren’t enough sheep permits to fund their management…and never will be. It used to be accepted that the stock market was the best indicator. The last few record-breaking years suggest that doesn’t hold water, yet special tag revenues keep going up.

In general, “sheep state agencies” have used the money well, but they’ve also gotten used to having it. There are no alternatives in place. Thanks to burgeoning firearms and

ammunition sales in recent years, there are huge Pittman-Robertson federal funds available. As with so many things, it takes money to make money. P-R funds are generally doled out to the states as matching funds, sometimes on a two-to-one, even three-to-one basis. So, an auction tag selling into the six figures could bring as much as a million dollars to put more sheep on the mountain. Without the sale of that tag, it’s back to square one.

People buy auction tags for various reasons. In some cases, pure generosity: They do it because they can, and believe it’s for a good cause. As with any public auction, some raise their hands to show off, or to beat out another bidder. Realistically, some do it because it gives them an opportunity for a better hunt (or a crack at a bigger sheep) than they can possibly buy. This last is the dark side, against the grain of our North American Model. However, an underlying principle to the Model, as envisioned by Theodore Roosevelt: Hunters and anglers pay for wildlife

and fishery management. So, while we’re screwing up our faces because our grapes are sour, maybe we should be grateful to the generous other hunters who bid on auction tags… and not read too much into their motives. Especially if, as an end result, we have more tags to apply for.

More Sheep on the Mountain?

After a full generation of effort, and an infusion of 85 million dollars into sheep management, are there more sheep? And do we have more tags to apply for?

The first part starts easy: During my lifetime, we have seen more than a threefold increase in bighorn sheep in our Western states. More tags, and more states to apply in. Because of resident over-the-counter tags, Canada is left out of the discussion. Mexico doesn’t follow our Model, but thanks to their UMA system of privatized management units, Mexico is producing desert bighorns at a cyclic rate. A desert sheep in Mexico is now our most available

North American wild sheep. Still more costly than a Dall’s sheep hunt. Far more costly than a drawn tag in the States. However, because of availability, prices have dropped, and desert bighorns are now hunted in Baja Sur, Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Sonora. Desert bighorn hunts in Mexico are now less expensive than “guaranteed permit” bighorn hunts, and less than Stone’s sheep hunts.

This last reflects big changes up north. I am neither a “gloom and doom” guy, nor a “global warming” guy. However, climate change is real. While Lower 48 sheep populations have increased threefold, Dall’s sheep in Alaska have decreased by at least a third. Instead of winter winds blowing off the snow, for several years, these sheep have faced a “freeze-thaw-freeze” cycle, reducing their ability to paw through the ice for feed. Alaska still has a huge number of sheep, likewise Yukon and the MacKenzies, but northern sheep are down, opportunity is down, and today a guided Dall’s sheep hunt commands a figure I never expected to see.

This story is not about guided sheep hunts, which I’ve surely indulged in, to the detriment of my kids. The crux of this is about permits that you and I can apply for. I love the bonus and preference point systems. Regrettably, it’s too late to get in on the ground floor like I did. Still, somebody will draw…and somebody will win a raffle. Why not you? Or me?

After all this money spent, what is the score? Well, it depends. On desert subspecies, we have a clear win! In 2010, there were 385 desert bighorn permits in Western states. In 2020 there were 581, a significant 66

percent increase. All states that offer desert sheep increased their permits. Nevada, with by far the most permits, increased from 216 to 315 desert sheep permits. I like that number, makes me believe I’ll still draw a Nevada tag! The increase in desert bighorns—and permits—reflects a lot of boots-on-the-ground water projects!

The bighorn picture isn’t so rosy. In 2010 there were 1001 ram permits in the Western states. In 2020 there were 953, a decrease of 48 permits. Does that mean all that money was wasted? Uh, no, it’s not that simple. Of the 13 Western states that offer bighorns, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah increased their permits; North Dakota was static at six ram tags. The decreases came in Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.

The obvious question is “why?” Wild sheep are surprisingly fragile. In all four states, some herds are stable and increasing…and some are struggling. For wild sheep, disease is a usual culprit, but far from the only threat. Oregon’s Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is a classic case. Bighorn sheep were gone from Oregon by 1912, first reintroduced on Hart Mountain in 1954. The herd did well enough that sheep were translocated to start other bands.

Sadly, since 2017 the Hart Mountain herd has declined from 150 sheep to fewer than 50. In this case, disease was not the issue. Rather, increase in mountain lion predation. A bighorn sheep “cougar management zone” was created. USF&W contracted with USDA for cougar removal. WSF was among

the organizations that stepped up, committing $100,000 grant-in-aid to the project.

It’s too early to judge success on Hart Mountain. Every sheep herd in decline has a story, with wildlife managers and non-government organizations (NGOs) working hard—and spending money—to save them. Thanks to hard work and available funds, permits are up in almost two-thirds of states offering bighorn permits.

It’s obviously very bad that we have lost sheep and sheep tags in four states. We must accept that disease, predation, drought, and bad winters are periodic factors in sheep management. There will be ups and downs. When there are downs, we’re going to lose permits, as is should be. But if we hadn’t raised and spent the money—and done the work—would the picture be brighter? Unlikely.

How about we continue to do the work, and keep raising the money? Like many of us, I’ve long had reservations about the “governor’s tag game.” Research for this article convinced me to spit out my sour grapes, and wish I’d done it years ago. I’m going to buy more raffle tickets. I still won’t be bidding on auction tags, but every chance I get, I’m going to thank the generous hunters who do…whatever their motives.

If Mother Nature smiles and gives us some mild winters and good rains, and if we raise the money and spend it wisely, I’m convinced we’ll have more sheep, and more permits to apply for. Odds being what they are, I may never draw that Nevada tag, but somebody will. WS

Research for this article convinced me to spit out my sour grapes, and wish I’d done it years ago.

ATMOSPHERIC RIVERS

THEY’RE INVISIBLE, INEXORABLE. THEY’RE THE ONLY THING BETWEEN YOU AND A KILLING HIT. WELL, ALMOST.

BY WAYNE VAN ZWOLL

The canyon squeezed air like the roiling Snake funneled water through its chutes. Turbulence was here on the mountain too, in the bobs and flares of chokecherry leaves across the gulf. The buck read the currents. In short steps he descended the opposite slope: winks of eye, leg and antler in shadowed brush. He slipped into aspens on a bench. I was 350 yards away, prone, sling taut.

The river of wind between us was visibly stronger in the chokecherries than on my side. But there was nothing to signal air flow in the great middle, above canyon’s floor.

Leaf-shudder in the ‘cherries pulled my eye to the scope. The shoulder

crease came clear. Sliding the reticle at back level, I paused it over the brisket, six inches to windward. At the Weatherby’s snap, the deer fell from sight. A stiff breeze barreling from the peaks hit me on the crosscanyon hike, so it was no shock to find the bullet had drifted twice as far as expected. Sent at 3,300 fps, the .257 Barnes had barely caught both lungs. A less capable cartridge, or another 100 steps for wind to work its mischief, and my hit would have been too far back.

Mountain landscapes suggest long shots. Looking across a drainage, you’ll spot game that would be hidden by brush or the earth’s curves, were it on your side. The most open shot,

and the least urgent, is also commonly from one rise to the next. The stone in this pudding is distance. It magnifies error in range estimation and shot execution. And wind drift.

The effect of gravity on a bullet can be predicted. But wind is neither constant nor knowable. The influence of a given windor let-off, or reversal— is distance specific, because the bullet is decelerating. It spends more time aloft for any span the farther it gets from the muzzle.

The argument over where wind affects bullets the most has two correct answers. Drift, like drop, begins at exit, and its deviation from bore-line is irreversible. Distance increases the deviation. A bullet that

Wind from 1, 5, 7 and 11 o’clock has negligible effect on bullets. Low firing positions defy its nudge.

meets a gust at 250 yards after cleaving still air has lost some speed to drag, so any wind has greater effect between, say, 250 and 300 yards than it would over the first 50 yards of flight. But a gust near the muzzle alters the flight path over its entirety. That bullet won’t “straighten up” or correct to fly parallel with bore-line, any more than a bullet deflected by a twig will then resume its original course.

The effect of wind on a bullet’s path is like that of gravity, applied laterally. A constant wind, like the tug of gravity, puts the bullet on a parabolic track. Unlike gravity, of course, wind is not constant, so that arc is unknowable. The best we can do is try to read the angle and intensity of wind at the time of the shot across the bullet’s path. Clouds, dust, smoke, rain, snow, grass, leaves, limbs—all that’s unanchored or supple—obeys wind. The most ballistically capable bullets are slave to it. Updrafts and downdrafts can add a vertical component, as does the bullet’s spin. My match rifle with right-twist rifling gives bullets a lift to 10-o’clock in a 3-o’clock breeze. Wind from the left sends those bullets to 4 o’clock.

Full-value wind, perpendicular to a bullet’s path, has greater effect than does oblique wind. Wind angling toward you from 10 or 2 o’clock, or flanking you from 4 or 8, must be reckoned with if the target is far away —say, beyond 250 yards—and wind speed over 15 mph. Unless the animal is very far, you can ignore all but gales from 11 to 1 o’clock, and 5 to 7. The cross-flight-path component of steeply oblique wind amounts to only about a third of full-value force.

Wind from behind you (6 o’clock) or in your face (12 o’clock) has negligible effect on the bullet over

ordinary shot distances. It adds or subtracts insignificant pressure. A bullet exiting at Mach 3 meets terrific wind resistance regardless of wind conditions. It generates its own 2,000-mph head-wind, so even a 25-mph blow along the same path hardly registers. Only at extreme range will a stiff head-wind or tailwind demonstrably affect bullet flight. Unlike head-weighted arrows, bullets oriented to hit distant targets travel slightly nose-up until they lose stability. A descending bullet is like a football thrown long—though because more of the bullet’s weight lies in its tail than in its nose, it is less likely to “porpoise.” A head-wind gives slightly more push to the bullet’s belly than to its top; a tail-wind favors the top.

Once, having hit a mountain goat hard with an ‘06 bullet at about 270 yards, I watched in dismay as he put his big billy pants on and scrambled away and up dark rock toward glowering clouds. Second and third shots seemed on course, but didn’t faze him. Wind and the reports bouncing off the mountain nixed any sound of impact; the rock showed none. Prone,

but now struggling with uphill aim, I began to doubt my range and wind estimates. The temptation to shift my hold was strong. Instead, I fed two more cartridges to the follower, shading high but hewing to center, laterally, into a facing wind. The billy fell.

Correcting for errant shots makes sense when you can see strikes. Not so much when you can’t. Time for new wind reads expires quickly after a hit!

Afield, this claptrap on head- and tail-winds is useless. But it confirms what wind is: a transient difference in air pressure. Fore and aft, you can ignore it. From the side, it causes drift.

I first met drift in smallbore rifle matches. Moving from indoor to outdoor ranges, I felt as if I’d been plucked from a hot-tub and dropped into the ocean. Flags and “windicators” (light weathercocks on ball bearings, with nose fans to show speed) pivoted to air currents at the firing line. But often the 50and 100-yard flags told another tale. The fan might hum lazily, tail to 2 o’clock, while flags hung limp at 50 and lifted to 9 o’clock at 100! That invisible gauntlet of air took bullets on

This billy took hard hits, fell to a long shot as Wayne reconsidered his wind call. He stuck with it, a good plan if you can’t see strikes.

a ziz-zag course. Firing during mixed signals was perilous. The patter of shots would die as savvy marksmen awaited decipherable signs. The clock, however, didn’t pause. Tricky conditions would bring a desperate fusilade as time ran out.

Light, capricious breeze was devilish. Barely detectable as a wiggle of mirage in a 20x scope, it could shove .22 bullets from the X-ring. A let-off was as deadly as a shift in direction or a gust. On “still” mornings, thermal currents would appear as mirage as air near the ground warmed. Shooters watched for a dominant condition, perhaps adjusting sights for center hits on “sighter” targets in a modest 3 o’clock flow. Woe to the poor sod who missed or ignored a left-running mirage that braked to a boil. Absent the wind’s nudge from 3 o’clock, his

next bullet would hop right…. Land form directs air. It’s a lot like liquid. Canyons typically accelerate it—the “venturi effect” tapped in carburetor design. Air can be twisted in direction by hills and blocks of timber. Tall trees rake strong wind from the sky, so it splashes to the forest floor. One range on which I often competed is on a river-bank. Wind typically angles across the line from 7 or 8 o’clock, bounces off the bank, then hits the 100-yard targets from 4 o’clock. Shooters who minded only wind at the line would be ready to sell their rifles by the end of the match. Hunting, you won’t have a chance to learn the effect of local features on wind. But before a hunt, you can fire under different wind conditions in places where wind from various directions must negotiate

various obstacles. Use paper targets, to show exact points of impact.

Zeroing in still conditions, holding the rifle as you expect to on a hunt, is a pious idea. That way, you have a point of reference from which to peg any shading or “hold-off” to windward. I prefer not to use the windage dial afield. I can shade 6 inches as accurately as I can estimate 6 inches of drift. Because wind is so changeable, running a dial to chase it can easily get you lost.

Hunting bullets drive through most wind without significant deflection at normal hunting ranges. Even a flatnose 170-grain .30-30 bullet drifts less than 2 inches in a 10-mph full-value wind at 100 yards. A 25-mph wind, strong enough to set the tree-tops wagging, shoves it only 4 inches. Pointed bullets from the likes of the

Rain doesn’t move bullets but can help you judge wind that does. Water has the greatest effect on lenses!

.270 and .30-06 fare better. Even gusts that lift small raccoons and trash can lids are best ignored for shots inside 150 yards or when the angle is acute. As with compensating for bullet drop, you can over-think the effect of wind. But as its arc becomes steeper the farther a bullet travels, so deflection increases at long range.

A 130-grain .270 bullet at 3,000 fps drifts only about 3/4 inch at 100 yards in 10-mph wind. But at 200 yards, it yields 3 inches to that wind—four times as much! At 300 yards it’s out 7 inches. At 400 it drifts 12 ½. Why? This bullet reaches 100 yards very fast, in about 1/10 second. (It doesn’t drop much at 100 either!) Between 100 and 200 yards it slows considerably, multiplying drift. Deceleration rate falls as range increases. The relationship of drift to distance is remarkably constant to 400 yards for loads popular with sheep hunters. This rule of thumb is easy to remember:

Given a 10-mph crosswind, allow for an inch of drift at 100 yards and thrice that at 200. Assume double the 200 drift at 300, double the 300 drift at 400.

Here’s how that rule works for a sleek 180-grain bullet sent at 2,960 fps from any of the popular .300 magnums:

Sheep country? Winds strafe Africa’s Drakensburg Range, where vaal rhebok keep their distance.

The rule is darned near spot on! But won’t drift be greater if you’re using, say, a .30-06? Here’s how that same pointed 180-grain bullet measures up when sent at 2,700 fps from an ’06:

The rule still brings you within an inch of actual drift. It works for most pointed mid-diameter big game bullets hurled at 2,600 to 3,100 fps. For traditional lever-action loads for “deer cartridges” like the .30-30, allow 2 inches at 100; triple that at 200. Drift at 300 is about 2 ½ times the 200-yard drift.

Drift much beyond 400 yards is hard to pattern and more specific to the load. Drift for our .270 bullet (BC .460) at 500 yards is about 21 inches, or 65 percent greater than at 400. It drifts 31 inches at 600, about 33 percent more than at 500.

Vulnerability to wind depends on bullet velocity and ballistic coefficient. Bullets of similar BC show about the same drift. Nosler’s 130-grain .270 Partition has roughly the same profile as its 140-grain 7mm, 165-grain .308 and 210-grain .338. BCs range from .390 to .440. Launched at 3,000 fps, all drift about 6 inches at 200 yards in a 20-mph crosswind. Drop BC to .300, and you get half again as much drift with the same starting speed. Increase BC to .600 with a 140-grain Berger Hybrid OTM in a 6.5 PRC, and 200yard drift is only about 4 inches.

While a sharp nose contributes to a high BC and helps a bullet battle wind, it’s only one element of shape. The bullet’s shank and ogive—the section between tip and shank—matter a great deal. A short, lightweight bullet sent fast decelerates at a high rate despite a pointed nose because its sectional density (SD, the

Pointed bullets heavy for their diameter retain speed best, drift least: here Bergers for the 6.8 Western.

Judging wind gets harder with distance, which markedly increases drift. Get closer for the shot!

ratio of its weight in pounds to the square of its diameter in inches) is low. Such a bullet works as hard piercing air as does a longer (heavier) blunt bullet. A bullet that effectively resists drag also resists drift. That is, a bullet that best retains speed keeps the truest course through wind. In this example, speed quickly loses its 700-fps velocity edge, and its fight with drag. The slower 30-caliber bullet never drifts more, and after 300 yards, drifts less. Its greater weight and SD offset its relatively slow start.

30-mph blow that shoves the flat-base 7mm bullet 17 inches at 350 moves the boat-tail 15 ½ inches. A halfminute difference in 30-mph wind is hard to hold!

Truisms to keep in mind: Wind speed and drift are directly and forever linked. Double the wind speed and you double the drift. Halve wind speed, and you halve the drift. Changing wind angle changes drift proportionately. Change shot distance, and the math gets more complicated

DRIFT IN A 10-MPH, RIGHT-ANGLE WIND

READING THE WIND

Whatever your load, hitting at distance hinges on your ability to read wind, then predict its effect. Alpine slopes often deny you a look at moving leaves and grass. Drifting snow is a sometime thing. Ditto dust. A pinch of talcum powder from a squeezebulb can help you sneak close to a ram; but the feathery currents that might carry your scent to nearby game have no effect on bullets sent out yonder.

Boat-tail or tapered-heel bullets offer little advantage in wind at normal hunting ranges: Started at 2,700 fps, flat-base 140-grain 7mm bullets cover 100 yards as fast as boat-tail 140s. At 200, the flat-base clocks 2,305 fps, the boat-tail bullet 2,320. At 350 yards, the boat-tail bullet leads by 35 fps. Difference in drop is only half an inch. Ditto for drift in a 10-mph wind. A

because the bullet’s form and speed enter as variables.

Calculating drift can leave you scrambling, mentally, when a ram is making its way into oblivion over yon ridge. Better to immerse yourself in atmospheric rivers early. After zeroing in calm air, leave the bench and humble yourself on windy days, watching bullets bend to the blow. WS

Mirage is your friend. Visible as heat waves rising from the earth, mirage reveals the speed and direction of moving air. It’s essentially absent on cold, dark days, and not easily seen through low-power optics. Slow, bumpy mirage indicates a light breeze. Flat, fast mirage is chased by brisk wind. Mirage that vanishes with no change in light conditions often belies a strong blow. Mirage that boils vertically signals a still condition. A lull in strong wind can be your chance to fire; but beware. A boil in mirage commonly precedes a pick-up, or a reversal in wind direction.

Mirage shows up best at the distance an optic is focused. Moving your binocular or rifle-scope to see different backgrounds, you may well find one shows mirage better than the rest.

Deviously, mirage can show you what isn’t there, “floating” an image from its true position in the direction air currents are moving. WS

A bipod steadies a rifle against high-country gusts. Practice so you can deploy it quickly on any terrain.

WILD SHEEP ON THE FRINGE

BY CHESTER MOORE

Faint impressions of bighorn tracks paralleled the rocky trail I was climbing.

A few made in slightly softer soil had better definition but for the most part, it would take a trained eye to notice them.

It was 8:30 a.m. and already 84 degrees so there wasn’t much wildlife activity. I did see a flock of Merriam’s turkeys early on but they were on a creek bottom near the base of the mesa, where big live oaks provided sanctuary from the oppressive heat.

My goal was to make it to the top and see if I could find bighorns and photograph a very hopeful sign in the world of wild sheep.

This mesa wasn’t in the high deserts of Arizona or the southern tier of Colorado where desert bighorns dwell. It was in the Panhandle of Oklahoma and I was searching for Rocky Mountain bighorns.

Yes, in Oklahoma.

According to an article in The Southwestern Naturalist, natural history was made in the Sooner State in 2012.

“On 21 September 2012, a dried carcass of a bighorn sheep was found

near Black Mesa in the Oklahoma Panhandle. A complete skeleton was salvaged and represents the first specimen record of the species in the state of Oklahoma.”

Driving back to Texas from a Colorado fly fishing trip, I decided to make a wide swing out to Black Mesa. I unfortunately never saw sheep there but did find plenty of tracks and scat, signs a herd had been there recently.

This began a quest to learn more about sheep on the outer limits of their range and ended up becoming a deep dive into how sheep are being pushed to the fringes in many areas by a variety of factors both positive and negative.

Sooner State Sheep

Black Mesa State Park and Nature Preserve is located in Oklahoma’s panhandle along the border with Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas and is operated by the Nature Conservancy.

According to Nature Conservancy officials, Black Mesa takes its name from the layer of black lava rock that coated the

mesa about 30 million years ago.

“Visitors to the preserve can hike to the top of the plateau, Oklahoma’s highest point at 4,973 feet above sea level. The Black Mesa area supports 31 state rare species; 23 plants and eight animals. Here, the Rocky Mountains meet the shortgrass prairie, a unique area where many species are at the easternmost or westernmost portions of their range.”

“It’s pretty amazing to have bighorns showing up in Oklahoma. Our state has rich biodiversity ranging from whitetails to pronghorns and these bighorns have certainly become something we’re quite proud of,” said Todd Craighead, of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.

For 20 years, Craighead has hosted the state’s Outdoor Oklahoma television show and been a staff writer for the magazine of the same name and said following the bighorn story has been exciting.

“These sheep are trading in and out of the state from Colorado. They spend a lot of time around Black Mesa, where they are pretty isolated and have by Oklahoma standards at least, some great sheep habitat.”

While Oklahoma is at least in modern times a new part of the bighorn equation, another state on the fringe of their range may even be more surprising.

Nebraska’s Bighorns

While many Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) members will be familiar with the herd of bighorns in Nebraska’s northwestern region, very few others would make the connection between the state and sheep.

Known more for growing corn, college football, and pheasant hunting, Nebraska is on the eastern edge of historical bighorn habitat where WSF has funded research and translocations.

After being extirpated from the state due to disease issues, initial restoration efforts began in 1981 and

despite lingering disease problems, the herd has held on.

In September 2022, the Nebraska Game & Parks Commission (NGPC) successfully captured, tested, collared, and released 28 bighorn sheep in the Wildcat Hills as part of a two-phase project to enhance the state’s bighorn sheep population. The project was funded by WSF and its chapters and affiliates.

“Phase One was to identify, via helicopter capture, disease-free individuals for a relocation trap and transfer scheduled for February 2023,” said Kevin Hurley, WSF’s VP for Conservation.

“NGPC also collected biological samples to compare three different disease testing methods against each other, to improve the overall speed and reliability of testing, something all WSF’s agency partners can use going forward.”

Current population estimates are at around 275 sheep with efforts to monitor disease and predation as well as learn more about their use of habitat crucial to long-term survival.

Sheep Don’t Read Maps

Wildlife managers concerned with creating range and distribution maps of animals are meticulous. Species management hinges on their decisions and in the case of endangered animals, citing their range can carry heavy legal consequences.

With that said wild sheep don’t read maps.

Take, for example, a recent report of a few Rocky Mountain bighorns that wandered into Texas from neighboring New Mexico. The herd had been seen a pretty good way from their normal range along the New Mexico side of the border and decided to cross over near Clayton, TX.

Arizona Fish & Game Department officials published some impressive movements of bighorns in their state at Tuscon.com.

“For example, in the late 1980s,

when wild sheep still occupied the Santa Catalina Mountains near Tucson, a collared ram released in the Galiuro Mountains across the San Pedro River showed up with the other sheep on Pusch Ridge. The ram had traveled about 80 miles through dense forest, riparian habitat, and desert—areas incompatible with sheep. Another ram from the Superstition Mountains near Mesa, Arizona, made a 100-mile trek to the Catalinas.”

Another interesting story from Texas shows how determined bighorns can be to inhabit a certain area and move long distances to get there.

In the early 2000s, a herd of bighorns was captured at Elephant Mountain and translocated to Black Gap WMA which is about 50 miles away as a crow flies.

Many of those bighorns ended up back at Elephant Mountain.

“They seemed to want to be back on Elephant Mountain pretty badly. If a sheep wants to go somewhere, it will do its best to get there,” said Froylan Hernandez, Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, desert bighorn sheep program leader.

“Most of the time they stay in a much smaller range but from time to time sheep will make big moves.”

In 1800 bighorn range was from the Pacific Coast to the edge of the Great Plains.

That’s still technically their range, but development, the presence of domestic herds, and other factors have relegated sheep to range within the historic range. That means the fringes of habitat are not just interstate travel but moving out of ideal habitat into dangerous areas.

A journey like those sheep made from Black Gap to Elephant Mountain included dangers that did not exist 200 years ago.

Weather Pressure

Sheep, like most wildlife, have always moved in and out of the edges of their most widely used habitat.

In recent years, however, intense weather conditions are changing the landscape considerably.

In 2010, the National Park Service (NPS) began to study the link between population declines of desert bighorn sheep and the effects of increased temperatures and drought.

“Climatic variables such as rising temperatures and decreased precipitation affect the availability of vegetation and dependable sources of spring water for the desert bighorn sheep. Water is critical to desert bighorn sheep survival. Lactating ewes need to drink almost every day. Animals like desert bighorn sheep also need large areas of land in which to mix herds.”

WSF and its affiliates have funded and constructed hundreds of guzzlers in the Southwest to help during times of drought, which have been intense in recent years.

Bighorns outside of Las Vegas, NV regularly visit suburban parks and neighborhoods but this is greatly exacerbated by extended drought periods. Such forays into suburbia expose them to roadkill, domestic dogs, and interactions with domestic sheep and goats.

Weather-related issues are also causing major issues with Alaska’s Dall sheep population.

Populations are down, and it varies by range, but populations are down 50-70 percent statewide. While many previous declines are believed to be the result of a single event, as many as six adverse winter weather events have occurred over the last decade, coupled with some dry summers.

This has caused some changes in habitat usage and while still under study, it seems to be a challenge that is facing sheep throughout the world, even at the very top.

A study conducted by researchers with the Safari Club International (SCI) Foundation shows some shocking problems in Tajikistan in the heart of Marco Polo sheep habitat.

“The study area for the Marco Polo

Sheep Survey in eastern Tajikistan ranges from 14,700 to 24,000 feet in elevation, an altitude known as the “death zone” among mountaineers. Winter temperatures hover between -15 and -20°C in January, making the high altitude and cold temperatures a perfect study area for high-alpine habitats.”

“However, in this area known as the “Roof of the World,” the massive glaciers and permafrost responsible for maintaining a healthy hydrological cycle are changing rapidly. As a result of lower seasonal snow packs, fresh water and soil moisture are in decline and it is affecting the wildlife and their habitat.”

Lower areas are rendered essentially barren by environmental changes. This is causing wildlife ranging from Marco Polo sheep to Siberian ibex, brown bears, and snow leopards to climb higher into the “death zone” of super-high altitudes at 22,000 feet and higher to exist.

In ideal areas of massive, habitable areas, wild sheep have plenty of options for food, water, and minerals. Now as they and other species compete for limited resources scientists are documenting some interesting scenarios.

In Glacier National Park, researchers captured a mountain goat running bighorns off of a mineral lick. Researchers from Colorado State University have shown goats win in as much as 95 percent of these conflicts.

Aoudad have been observed running bighorns off of guzzlers in drought-stricken areas of Texas. These large, strong invasive exotics are a potential threat to the bighorns in Oklahoma as there are established populations along the Texas/ Oklahoma border.

In Nevada, California, and Utah similar competition and habitat degradation comes from feral horses and burros that far outnumber and outmuscle native bighorns.

Lessons Learned

What started as a desire to photograph bighorns in Oklahoma, opened me up to the delicate nature of bighorn habitat and how the fringes of their range are impacted by many factors.

As I headed down from Black Mesa, I remembered something learned on an expedition to New Mexico the previous year.

New Mexico’s Las Conchas fire which consumed more than 150,000 acres created treeless habitat in the mountains that is perfect for bighorns. That area had no bighorns for years.

Controlled fire is a practice that benefits sheep along with other wildlife and although that fire was the result of poor range management and weather conditions, it did offer an opportunity.

According to Nicole Tatman with the New Mexico Game & Fish Department, they released Rocky Mountain bighorns near Bandelier National Monument after the fire altered the landscape and it has been successful.

“Our Rocky Mountain bighorn herds are expanding into suitable habitat from areas we have released them over the last decade,” she said.

This was a great reminder that even the aftermath of tragedy can bring hope when conservationminded people take action.

On a global level, wild sheep are facing more challenges than ever. As we have documented, weatherrelated issues are causing habitat and behavior change from desert bighorns to argalis.

But it is at the local level where positive action can be taken and that’s where WSF and its affiliates excel.

Caring enough about small herds in Nebraska to raise funds to help expand them into other suitable habitats is what will help sheep, even on the very fringe of their range, continue to live on the mountains and inspire generations to come. WS

BASECAMP DISPATCHES

WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION ENGAGES PARTNERS FOR WILD SHEEP CONSERVATION AND SCIENCE BASED SUSTAINABLE USE HUNTING ACROSS THE OCEAN!

In April, Conservation Director for International Programs, Kurt Alt, represented Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) at both the International Council for Game and Wildlife Conservation (CIC) General Assembly in Paris, France, and the European Federation for Hunting and Conservation (FACE) Annual

Membership Meeting and European Hunters Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria.

CIC is an International non-profit organization first formed in 1930, that unites and advises countries and organizations on the conservation of wildlife and their habitats. The CIC is committed to promoting

sustainable hunting practices and the conservation of wildlife worldwide. During the General Assembly, CIC and Shane Mahoney agreed to develop a Memorandum of Understanding for expanding Shane’s Wild Harvest Initiative developed in North America, for Europe. CIC headquarters are in Budapest, Hungary.

Left to Right: FACE Secretary General David Scallan, WSF Conservation Director Kurt Alt, SCI Govt Affairs Ben Cassidy (another NA Associate Member), FACE President Torbjörn Larsson. Kurt and Ben are presenting on behalf of WSF and SCI/SCIF copies of the “Predator Id Manual, Predator Kill and Scavenging Characteristics”, coathured by Kurt Alt and Mathew Eckert and funded by the SCI Foundation.

FACE, established in 1977, (the same year WSF officially incorporated!) is an international non-profit organization that represents the interests of hunters and conservationists representing national hunting organizations from 37 European countries representing over 7 million hunters. This is an evidence-based organization that aims to promote sustainable use hunting, wildlife conservation and sound natural resource policy development. During the membership meeting, WSF was officially accepted as an Associate Member. FACE headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.

These two organizations are Europe’s largest hunter-based conservation organizations. Our membership and participation with CIC and FACE is providing WSF with access to a vast network of hunter conservationists, researchers and policy makers. It enhances our advocacy effort worldwide, including science-based, sustainable use hunting, species and habitat conservation, and educational outreach.

Europe’s issues mirror those in our back yard. Romania has 8,000 brown bears, yet with a stroke of a pen hunting management was removed several years ago. There are about 2,500 wolves in Germany, human/wildlife conflicts are increasing and yet wolf numbers are not allowed to be managed. Chamois may be feeling the impact from loss of glaciers and permafrost in the Alps. There is potential to expand Alpine ibex into suitable yet unoccupied historic habitat.

The European farm bill caries many of the important incentive programs and issues with wildlife conservation as our farm bill does. Our common and shared experiences could lead to more effective approaches when communicating with the public regarding the importance of sciencebased sustainable use management in conservation and in supporting local communities and cultures.

These relationships are already proving relevant both in North

America, Europe and Central Asia as we work within the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and Global Biodiversity policy frameworks. In our letter to the US Department of Interior, CIC joined our North American-based

hunting conservation organizations’ efforts to seek clarification for why the US Fish and Wildlife Service has denied import permits for Marco Polo sheep from Tajikistan. In addition, both organizations are prepared to lobby European countries in support of a future Mexico led delisting effort for desert bighorn sheep in Mexico. Using CITES as an example of European influence, the USA, Canada, and Mexico are treaty signatories to CITES, each getting one vote. However, if the European Union votes as a block of 27 countries as individual signatories, they have 27 votes. In May, we sent out an appeal to our membership to add their names to a (signforhunting. com) campaign drive led by FACE to obtain over 300,000 signatures to be delivered to the EU parliament in support of the importance of hunting and its value for biodiversity and uniting cultures across Europe. We may need their support on our side of the ocean in the future. Our membership and involvement with CIC and FACE opens up a range of opportunities for WSF in the future including increased membership and funding opportunities. In addition, there is the potential for conservation permit offerings for European based conservation efforts for alpine ibex and chamois.

As WSF continues to grow and expand, our reputation and dedication to wild sheep and their habitat in North America, and now Europe, serves as an inspiration for conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts worldwide. WS

BASECAMP DISPATCHES

WSF DIRECTORS & PRAB MEMBERS RECOGNIZED

During the March 31st – April 1st spring Board of Directors meeting held in Boise, Idaho, outgoing WSF Directors and Professional Resource Advisory Board (PRAB) members were recognized for their exceptional service to WSF and our purpose to Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain® .

WSF Director Glen Pyne was recognized by WSF Board Chair Glen Landrus for his three years of service. Glen moves to the Wild Sheep Legacy Foundation Board where he was recently elected a trustee.

Wayne Henderson was bylaws mandated termed out with nine years of service as a WSF Director. Wayne was recognized by Chair Glen Landrus as well as PRAB chair Tim Schommer for his service. Wayne remains involved in numerous WSF committees and in his honorary role as Board Ombudsman.

WSF PRAB member Tricia Hosch-Hebdon and newly appointed

Assistant Wildlife Chief of the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, was recognized for her decade of service by WSF Chair Glen Landrus and PRAB Chair Tim Schommer

Although not in attendance, Anna Fontana of British Columbia and Karen Gordan of Alaska were also recognized for their multi-decades of service to the wild sheep resource and WSF as PRAB members. WS

YOURS NOW!

CHALLENGE COINS

WSF’s Legacy Society recognizes individuals, families and foundations making testamentary bequests or contributions of major gifts, gift annuities or other charitable-giving instruments. Since inception of the Ensuring the Future of Wild Sheep (ETFOWS) campaign, 45 Legacy Society members have been recognized through WSF’s Legacy Society for contributions or pledges of future gifts.

Anonymous Anonymous

Lee & Penny Anderson

Jack, Jr. & Cindy Atcheson

Derek W.O. Berry

Mike Borel

Cabela’s Outdoor Fund

David W. Campbell

Rick & Heather Carosone

Dr. Robert W. & Cynthia Cassell

David & Sona Combs

Monty & Becky Davis

Howard & Mary Deters

Doug & Patty Dreeszen

Buddy DuVall

Tom Grimes

Eric & Sue Hansen

Robert & Arlene Hanson

Bequests made through the New Beginnings Campaign* or other bequests may be recognized through the Legacy Society by contacting WSF. For more information on the Legacy Society or Estate Planning resources available through WSF, please contact Paige Culver at 406.404.8758 or PCulver@WildSheepFoundation.org.

Dr. Paul F. & Kathy J. Havey

John R. & Mary Ann Justus

Blair A. & Victoria M. Kenewell

Robert M. Martin, Jr.

Robert and Lisa Mays

Roger McCosker

Kyle & Joanne Meintzer

Chuck Middleton

David Mode

Brad R. Plaga

Robert L. & J.P. Puette

Kevin & Janine Rinke

Lanny Rominger

Louis & Pauline Rupp

SCI Foundation - Hunter Legacy Fund (HLF-100)

Roger Segebrecht

Kasie and Jason Sheridan

Tim & Roxane Shinabarger

Steve & Sue Skold

Curt & Marcia Thompson

Gray & Renée Thornton

Jim Travis

Tim & Ruth Van Der Weide

The Estate of Robert B. Johnson

Zachary Walton

Wayne W. Webber

The William H. Donner Foundation, Inc

BASECAMP DISPATCHES

MEET YOUR NEW WSF BOARD MEMBERS

Elected in the fall 2022 board elections, new directors Jann Demaske of Colorado and Logan Young of Colorado and Yukon Territory begin their three-year terms May 1, 2023.

support. Logan has also worked in the auctions for over a decade and is a very proud voice and ambassador for raising money to help Put and Keep Sheep on the Mountain®.We all know in our hunting community that hunting, guide outfitting, and conservation efforts go hand-in-hand. Without one, you will not have the other. With everything in the culture of the current world, the time to act is now and Logan is proud to be a director to represent outfitters, Canadians, and all hunters for the betterment of wild sheep! WS

Logan was born and raised in the Northern Rockies and went on his first sheep hunt at the young age of six years old. He won the North American Youth Hunter of the Year Award at age seven and has attended the Sheep Show® every year since he was born. He has been blessed to live a life engulfed with wild sheep and is a passionate conservationist having spent every summer and fall of his life in the mountains. Logan has a degree in Agricultural Business with three minors in International, Applied and Agricultural Economics

from the University of Wyoming. He is now the co-owner and operator of Midnight Sun Outfitting, located in the Peel River Watershed of the Northern Yukon.

The Young family’s hunting heritage runs deep and they are proud to have been an important part of donating the first four sheep hunts to start the <1 Club®, the first ever sheep hunt at the Ladies Luncheon, several sheep hunts to help start the Membership Drive, the Endowment Fund, and over 40 years of exhibiting and additional

My favorite hat is from 2016, embroidered on it is “WSF Conservationist.” That’s me!

Don’t get me wrong, I have a beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep to my credit, but the behind-the-scenes conservation really fuels my fire. I have been passionate about God’s creatures, all of us, since I was a kid. I was born in Wyoming into a hunting family

and have lived in Colorado since 1978. I have a Bachelor of Science and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Northern Colorado. Out of college I worked in occupational health for a large corporate brewery. A few months after getting married in 1993, while still having full time jobs, my husband and I started the first of several successful businesses in Northern Colorado. I worked on everything from apartment maintenance to bookkeeping to selling the homes we built. My focus shifted when the businesses got too big and our two girls needed my full attention. Now that they are grown, my days are filled with old school homemaking and what I refer to my friends and family as “sheep stuff”.

For the Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), I chair the Ladies Luncheon and Artemis Award Committees; I’m chair of the One Campfire Initiative Committee; and I am a member of the Auction Solicitation, Development, and Marco Polo Society Committees. Further, I am a life member and a member of the Marco Polo Society. I was appointed to the WSF board in 2020 and served for two years and re-elected in the Fall of 2022 to serve a new three-year term.

Locally, I served six years on the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society (RMBS) board of directors, four of those as secretary and I continue as RMBS banquet chair. I am a life member of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society, Wild Sheep Society of BC, Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance, and the Texas Bighorn Society, as well as, Grand Slam Club Ovis and Dallas Safari Club. I am also an active member and volunteer for Timberline Windsor Church.WS

BASECAMP DISPATCHES

DOLLARS DIRECTED TO SHEEP

Since detailed recordkeeping began in 1983, FNAWS/WSF has assisted state, provincial, territorial, tribal/First Nations, guide/outfitter associations and other diverse wild sheep partners via Grant-in-Aid (GIA) funding, for wild sheep conservation projects. In addition, in many jurisdictions, FNAWS/WSF has had the privilege of auctioning special permits (mainly for wild sheep, but also for mountain goat, bison, elk, mule deer, pronghorn, brown bear, and other wildlife species). Each year, WSF updates jurisdictional spreadsheets which track Conservation GIA dollars and Permit Proceed dollars directed back to each jurisdiction. This map portrays WSF’s aggregate conservation funding directed to wild sheep conservation in each jurisdiction; each and every WSF member should take pride in helping raise and direct these criticallyimportant dollars! WS

by Gray N. Thornton President & CEO

TAKE ONE – PUT ONE BACK A Decade of Donor-Directed Funding for Wild Sheep

As with many bold and new ideas, it started with a question.

In April 2013, while returning from the spring WSF Board of Directors meeting in Columbia, Missouri graciously hosted by Larry and Brenda Potterfield of MidwayUSA, incoming director Doug Sayer of Idaho asked me during a layover in the DFW Airport “how much does it cost to put a sheep on the mountain?” and added “I think Shelly and I would consider starting a new or enhancing an existing herd and I’m confident many of our members would contribute as well...”

Doug and I then discussed the concept of soliciting our membership specifically for putting one or more wild sheep back on the mountain. As Doug boarded his flight to Idaho and I back to Wyoming, I told him I’d get with then WSF Senior Conservation Director and now Vice President of Conservation Kevin Hurley to determine how much it costs to trap and translocate a wild sheep, and with others, we would strategize on a marketing program.

Kevin did the math on the 2013 costs of a helicopter net-gun capture, diagnostic laboratory analyses, a GPS collar, and subsequent transportation to a new location; Kevin’s figures came out to be ~$4,700 per wild sheep.

An Ad Hoc Committee was formed including Doug Sayer (Chair), Ryan Foutz, Travis Howell, Darryl Williams, Jim Wilson and Gray Thornton and we then worked on a title for the program

and a roll-out strategy. We landed on the title Take One – Put One Back (TOPOB) as a campaign to provide WSF members who have taken a wild sheep the opportunity to “put one back” on the mountain. Donors make a $5,000 (or more) tax-deductible donation (USA taxpayers) to WSF to “put one back” anytime they choose, but especially when they buy a special permit or a sheep hunt, draw a special sheep permit, or just want to “put a wild sheep back on the mountain.” The program’s key was then, and is still now, that 100% of the dollars donated is directed to conservation projects and programs to Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain®

During summer 2013, we ordered domestic stock plastic ear tags and later gold-plated lapel pins which included the WSF logo and “I Put 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, etc. Back” copy. The number of tag and pin equals the number of sheep individuals “Put Back” on the Mountain.

We launched the TOPOB program from the stage Thursday night in Reno during the 2014 Sheep Show®and joked that while the $5,000 plastic ear tag might be the most expensive piece of plastic you ever bought, it would be the most cherished plastic you could earn and own.

In 2014 and with a challenge from Doug & Shelly Sayer, and appeal calls from the stage Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 14 donors gave $85,000 which later funded $115,000 in conservation programs with their TOPOB dollars.

In 2015, 27 donors gave $185,000, and we funded $204,000 in TOPOB programs.

In 2016, 37 donors gave $267,500, and we funded $282,500 in TOPOB programs.

“NET ZERO FNAWS”

During 2016, Alan Higham completed his FNAWS and conceived the concept of a “Net Zero FNAWS” – he took four sheep off the mountain, and with a very generous $20,000 2016 gift from his Weathered Stone Good Works Fund, he helped WSF put four sheep back.

By 2016 we had several generous “NET Zero FNAWS” TOPOB donors including:

• Albert Seeno $50,000

• Doug & Shelly Sayer $30,000

• Monty & Becky Davis $25,000

• Roger Segebrecht $25,000

• Kevin Hurley $25,000

• Walt & Joan Coram $20,000

• Alan Higham $20,000

Today, there are many more “Net Zero FNAWS” and “Multi Net Zero FNAWS” members including the aforementioned who continued to give as well as Grizzly Outdoors Corps, Anonymous, Richard Pierce, Mesara Family Foundation, Kevin & Tuesdy Small, Terry Rathert, Stanford & Pamela Atwood, Norbert Bremer, Brian Benyo, Steve & Jackie Bruggeman, Mike Carpinito, Sr., Guinn & Betsy Crousen, Nicholas Saner, and Kyle Small.

10 Years - $1,682,000 Raised and Directed to Wild Sheep Conservation

During our 2017 through 2023 conventions and even through the pandemic-caused Virtual Sheep Show® in 2021, WSF member donors continued generously donating to the TOPOB program and are being recognized Friday and Saturday night during our banquet programs. Incredibly, during the past decade of WSF’s Take One – Put One Back donor-directed conservation program, an amazing $1,682,000 has been raised with 100% of those funds having been or will be directed to programs and projects enhancing and conserving wild sheep as well as their habitat. TOPOB aims to not only put wild sheep back on the mountain, but to keep them there!

2023 TOPOB donors set a new record with $317,500 raised before and during the Sheep Show®

Anonymous $100,000

Grizzly Outdoor Corps $95,000

Albert Seeno $50,000

Richard Pierce $20,000

Mesara Family Foundation $10,000

Mike and Michael Carpinito $10,000

Roger McCosker $5,000

Terry Rathert $5,000

Kevin Small $5,000

Kyle Small $5,000

Bob & Pam Keagy $5,000

Rob & Lucy Cinclair $5,000

Gary Young $2,500

Total $317,500

One hundred percent of these funds will help fund the $1.247 Million in FY 2022-23 Grant-In-Aid projects consistent with the Take One – Put One Back conservation project mandate.

WSF wishes to recognize thank all

of our TOPOB donors from 2014 to today:

While our Take One – Put One Back program conceived in 2013 was novel then and remains so today, donor-directed dollars to programs they support are in no way unique. Bernie Fiedeldey, the founder of WSF’s One More for Four program as well as its pre-lawsuit predecessor has been soliciting challenge dollars to fund his exceptional program for more than 20 years and continues to do so today.

Capitalizing on the success of both the Bernie Fiedeldey One More for Four Challenge and our Take One Put One Back program, we expanded our appeals in January 2022 to include our very successful and growing Women Hunt® program. In January 2023, we offered a full menu of appeals and opportunities for members to give to programs with 100% of their dollars supporting the programs of their desire.

In addition to our 2023 TOPOB donors, the following donors gave to these fine programs listed below.

One More for Four Challenge

Bernie Fiedeldey $25,000

David & Sona Coombs $5,000

Renee Snider $2,500

Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey $2,500

Charles & Denise Swanson $2,000

Kris Kohlhoff $1,000

WSF Midwest Chapter $1,000

Washington WSF $1,000

Ed Pabst $1,000

Kevin Gilbert $1,000

Total $42,000

Ram Lay-A-Way

J. Alain Smith $15,000

Tony & Ginny Caligiuri $5,000

Arlene Hanson $5,000

Steve Skold $2,500

Julie Chapman $1,000

Ian Keinath $1,000

Joe Brescia $1,000

Tom & Denise Hoffman $1,000

Total $31,500

Women Hunt®

Anonymous $5,000

Denise Swanson $1,000

Renée & Gray Thornton $1,000

Rebecca & Colin Peters $1,000

Kevin Hurley $1,000

Sue Skold $1,000

Total $10,000

Working Dogs 4 Conservation

Kevin Hurley $1,000

Youth Programs

Amanda Brock $500

General Full Curl Spirits $3,000

WSF thanks and salutes all of our donors who responded generously to our 2023 Sheep Show® Appeals!

On this 10-year anniversary of the Take One – Put One Back program, we are especially grateful for the enormous and unwavering generosity of WSF members and the wild sheep family towards our donor-directed Appeals. We are also very grateful for the exceptional generosity of our industry partners, chapters, affiliates, members, and others who support and/or sponsor our annual convention and WSF’s Mission Programs. This year, total 2023 Sheep Show® convention sponsorship and appeals support neared $1 Million dollars!

Happy Tenth Birthday Take OnePut One Back!

On behalf of our Board of Directors, Board of Trustees, our staff, and very heartfelt personally, thank you! WS

BASECAMP DISPATCHES

WE GIVE CAMPAIGN UPDATE

At the request of WSF supporters and consistent with the 2% for Conservation program of which WSF is a Founding Partner, we have launched the WSF Conservation Revolving Fund “We Give” campaign. Watch for WSF “We Give” partners who proudly include the “We Give” logo in their advertisements and/or promotions as those advertisers, exhibitors and businesses give a percentage or portion of their sales to the WSF Conservation Revolving Fund. 100% of WSF Conservation Revolving Fund contributions are directed to initiatives benefiting wild sheep and the habitat they call home.

Proceeds are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law and are directed to Grant In Aid and other specific conservation projects to Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain®.

Eric Ahlgren

Ron Aker

Cody Allen

David Alvarez Jr.

Jessie Baguley

Drew Bardenwerper

Travis Bauer

Dustin Bergen

Ken Bergestad

James Brawdy

Josh Carroll

Bryce A. Denton

Chris Eikelberger

David Elsom

Rick Esposito

Frank Fackovec

Nicholas Fantanarosa

Matthew Fowler

Trent Gahl

Kyle Gemas

Steve Gentry

Andrew Gibson

Chris Gonfiantini

Steve Hanson

Participants to date include:

1. Jack Atcheson & Sons

2. The Journal of Mountain Hunting

3. The Wildlife Gallery

4. Backcountry BC and Beyond, Ltd.

5. Stone Glacier

6. RPS Bancard, LLC

7. YETI

8. SITKA Gear

9. Benchmade Knives

10. Kenetrek

11. Full Curl Spirits

12. RMP Rifles

13. 5.11 Tactical

14. Best of the West/Huskemaw Optics

15. Clarke – “1% For Tomorrow”

16. Brown Precision

17. Diamond Outfitters of Arizona

18. Black Rifle Coffee

19. Eventgroove

20. iHunt Apparel

NEW LIFE MEMBERS

Adam Hawthorne

Jonathan Horton II

Jaxon Hurley

Remington Hurley

Cody Johnson

Terry Jones

Doug Lanham

Max Leiseth

Charles Lobrano

Adam Long

Robert Lowe

Jeffrey Lusk

Leanne Lusk

John MacDonald

Deacon Maloney

Chasen Marler

Hal Martin

Mitch McFarland

Jake McGovern

Taylor McGuire

Jerrod Meyer

John Miles

Craig Mitton

Tristan Niesen

NEW SUMMIT LIFE MEMBERS

Dylan Bransom

George Davis

Louis DiGiovanni

Samuel Hays

Joseph Hyrkas

Cory Johnson

For more information and to become a part of the “We Give” team, please contact Gray N. Thornton at 406-404-8750 or gthornton@ wildsheepfoundation.org.

David Patterson

Harrison B Piazza

Steve Rajnus

Joe Roodell

Tim Rygg

Christopher Seely

Brian Rush Simpson

Robert Smutny

Edward (Rob) Stephens

Greg Stone

Joel Tavera

Michael Tilley

Bob Tonkin

Thomas Truncellito

Garret Uehara

Brandon Valerio

Kent Weckwerth

Marcus Wilson

William Wood

Warren Woodcock

Chase Zubillaga

Pamela

Christopher Seely

Bob Tonkin

Graham

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

NOTE: bold/italics font denotes a joint WSF membership Chapter/Affiliate. Membership in these chapters and affiliates include membership in Wild Sheep Foundation.

CHAPTERS:

ALASKA WSF

Kevin Kehoe, President 907-441-6323 kevin.kehoe@kantishnainc.com

WSF ALBERTA

Matt Mellon, President (403) 872-7033 matt@wsfab.org www.wsfab.org

WSF ALBERTA Chapter Office

Deena Arychuk, Chapter Staff info@wsfab.org 403-845-5544

CALIFORNIA WSF

Donald C. Martin, President 310-766-3921 Don-martin@earthlink.net

CALIFORNIA WSF Chapter Office

Beverly Valdez, Chapter Staff 650-472-3889 forthesheep@gmail.com www.cawsf.org

EASTERN CHAPTER WSF

Robert Rogan, President robert.rogan@gmail.com 203-885-2194

EASTERN CHAPTER WSF

Chapter Office

Tina Everhart, Office Manager 717-588-4190 info@ecfnaws.org www.ecfnaws.org

IDAHO WSF

Josh Miller, President Joshmiller65mm@gmail.com 575-749-8859

Tracy Rowley, Chapter Staff P.O. Box 8224, Boise, ID 83707 208-345-6171 info@amsidaho.com www.idahowildsheep.org

IOWA FNAWS

Craig Nakamoto, President 402-650-1383 nakamoto01@sbcglobal.net iowafnaws@gmail.com www.iowafnaws.org

WSF—MIDWEST CHAPTER

Gregg Boeke, President rockprogb@gmail.com 507-491-4429 www.midwestwildsheep.com

WSF—MIDWEST CHAPTER

Mike Bouton, Executive Director 612-940-1979 mikwbouton@hotmail.com www.midwestwildsheep.com

MONTANA WSF

D.J. Berg, President 406-366-1849 dj@montanawsf.org

Brian Solan, Volunteer Executive Director 406-461-7432 brian@montanawsf.org www.montanawsf.org

MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY

STUDENT CHAPTER OF WSF

Janessa Kluth, Chapter contact 208-420-4240 montanastatewsf@gmail.com facebook.com/MSUWSF

NEW MEXICO WSF

Bryan Bartlett, President (575) 635-3499 BartleBC@yahoo.com newmexicowildsheep@gmail.com

OREGON WSF

Walter Chuck, Jr., President (541) 574-9078 The4chucks@aol.com www.oregonfnaws.org

UTAH FNAWS

Travis Jenson 801-641-5453 tjenson@xmission.com www.utahfnaws.org

WASHINGTON WSF Garrett Grant grant16garrett@hotmail.com www.washingtonwsf.org

WYOMING WSF

Zach McDermott, President 307-752-1212 zach@wyomingwildsheep.org

Wyoming WSF Chapter Office Katie Cheesbrough, Executive Director 307-399-4383 katie@wyomingwildsheep.org www.wyomingwildsheep.org

YUKON WSF

Spencer Wallace, President 867-689-2074 yukonws@gmail.com www.yukonwsf.com

AFFILIATES:

2% For Conservation

Jared Frasier, Executive Director 406-221-3102 contact@fishandwildlife.org www.fishandwildlife.org

Alaska Professional Hunters Association

Angie Bloomquist, Executive Director 907-929-0619 office@alaskaprohunter.org www.alaskaprohunter.org

Alberta Outfitters Association Kevin Stanton, President 403-762-5454 aoa@albertaoutfitters.com www.albertaoutfitters.com

Alberta Professional Outfitters Society

Jeana Schuurmaan, Executive Director 780-414-0588 jeana@@apos.ab.ca www.apos.ab.ca

Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, Inc.

Richard Schuette, President 602-790-7572 camelbackfloors@msn.com www.adbss.org

Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society Office

Tracey Martin 480-854-8950 admin@adbss.org

Association of Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters

Harold Grinde, President 403-357-8414 ganariver@pentnet.net www.huntnwt.com

Bear Trust International

Logan Young, Executive Director 406-595-6583 logan@beartrust.org www.beartrust.org

Cody Country Outfitters and Guides Association

Lee Livingston 307-527-7416 Livingston@tctwest.net

Colorado Outfitters Association Kelly Nottingham, Office Manager 970-824-2468 office@coloradooutfitters.com www.coloradooutffiters.org

Custodians of Professional Hunting & Conservation—South Africa Coira Goss +27 0 81 036 1151 admin@cphc-sa.co.za www.cphc-sa.co.za

Dude Ranchers Association

Colleen Hodson 307-587-2339 colleen@duderanch.org www.duderanch.org

Elko Bighorns Unlimited

Cory Mahan, Vice President 775-397-4465 cmahan@ram-enterprise.com

Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn Clint Bentley, President 702-499-7501 sheepspotr@aol.com www.desertbighorn.com

Fundacion De Vida Silvestre En Sonora, A.C

Jacobo Artee, President 011-52-662-212-5510, 011-52-662-217-4119 jacoboartee@prodigy.net.mx

Grand Slam Club/Ovis Mark Hampton, Executive Director 205674-0101 gsco@wildsheep.org www.wildsheep.org

Guide Outfitter Association of BC Scott Ellis, CEO 604-541-6332 ellis@goabc.org www.goabc.org

International Caribou Foundation Cheryl Lind, Executive Director 406-404-1297 cheryl@internationalcariboufoundation.org www.internationalcariboufoundation.org

Kazakhstan Wildlife Foundation

Orynbassar Shaimukhanbetov, President acbkarlan@mail.ru

Lubbock Sportsmans Club, Inc.

Tim Gafford, President 806-771-1717 Ph 806-789-2441 Cell gaffordpest@gmail.com lubbocksafariclub@hotmail.com

Montana Outfitter & Guides Association

Mac Minard, Executive Director 406-449-3578 moga@mt.net www.montanaoutfitters.org

National Bighorn Sheep Center

Sara Bridge, Executive Director 307-455-3429 info@bighorn.org www.bighorn.org

Navajo Nation Department of Fish & Wildlife

Jeff Cole, Wildlife Manager jcole@nndfw.org 928-871-6595

Nebraska Big Game Society

Jim King (402) 430-6566 jim@glsbinc.com www.nebiggame.org

Nevada Bighorns Unlimited

Tom Fennel, President 775-250-6600 tfennell@dicksoncg.com www.nevadabighornsunlimited.org

Nevada Bighorns Unlimited, Fallon Jay Lingenfelter, President jay.lingenfelter@cccomm.co 775-427-1254

Northern BC Guides Association

Craig Kiselbach, President terminusmtn@gmail.com 250-442-7103

Northern Nevada SCI Chapter Brandon Weise bweise@nnsci.com 775-721-4700 www.nnsci.com

Northwest Guides & Outfitters Assoc.

Colin Niemeyer, President 250-306-8624 hunting@kawdyoutfitters.com

Northwest Sportsman’s Club

Nate Perrenoud 509-994-6795 www.northwestsportsmansclub.com

Purkersdorfer Jagdklub

Gunther Tschabuschnig, Vice President 011-43-676-496-6691 info@jagdklub.eu www.jagdklub.eu

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society John Hayter, President 970-389-3010 jnhayter@gmail.com www.bighornsheep.org

Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance Jason Peak, President Jpeak71@hotmail.com www.goatalliance.org

Contact: Lee MacDonald, Membership Coordinator lee@goatalliance.org

Safari Club International 520-620-1220 info@safariclub.org www.safariclub.org

Sheep Hunters of the World (SHOW) Billi Carey, Administrator 480-292-1674 www.sheephunters.com

Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep Steve Marschke, President 310-339-4677 info@sheepsociety.com www.desertbighorn.org

Tahltan Guide Outfitters Association Rudy Day, President 250-235-3395 Dayrudy84@gmail.com

Spanish Professional Hunters Association Diego Satrustegui, President +34 618 621 690 Direccion.aptce@gmail.com www.spanishprofessionalhunters.com

Taos Pueblo Michael Martinez, Hunt Manager 575-758-7410 hunting@taospueblo.com

Texas Bighorn Society Dr. Sam Cunningham, President 806-262-6889 scunningham@quailcreekent.com www.texasbighornsociety.org

Wildlife Stewardship Council

John Henderson, President sirjohn55@gmail.com wildlifestewarship@gmail.com www.wildlifestewardshipcouncil.com

Wild Sheep Society of British Columbia Korey Green, President 250 793-2037 kgreen@wildsheepsociety.com

Wild Sheep Society of British Columbia Office & Staff

Kyle Stelter, CEO/Executive Director 250-619-8415 kylestelter@gmail.com www.wildsheepsociety.com

Michael Surbey, Executive Assistant 604-690-9555 exec@wildsheepsociety.com

Wyoming Outfitters & Guides Association Jeff Smith, President 307-265-2376 wyoga@wyoga.org www.wyoga.org

Yukon Outfitters Association Mac Watson, President 867-668-4118 (Office) info@yukonoutfitters.net www.yukonoutfitters.net

Yukon Outfitters Association Staff Shawn Wasel, Executive Director 780-213-4301 (Cell) swasel@mcsnet.ca

Brenda Stehelin, Office Manager info@yukonoutfitters.net

TECHNICAL/ ADVISORY AFFILIATES:

Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council

Kevin Hurley, Executive Director 307-899-9375 info@nwsgc.org www.nwsgc.org

Desert Bighorn Council Patrick Cummings, Chair Nevada Department of Wildlife (Retired) (702) 486-5127 patrickcummings1002@gmail.com www.desertbighorncouncil.com

FOR COMPLETE CONTACT INFORMATION GO TO: www.wildsheepfoundation.org/memberships/chapters-and-affiliates

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

2023-2024 BANQUET DATES

NOTE: Dates noted are as of press time. Please check C&A websites for updates.

WSF CHAPTERS:

WSF AFFILIATES:

2023 Spring/Summer Event Series

CHAPTER & AFFILIATE XV SPONSORS

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA

BIGHORN SPONSORS - $2,000

STONE’S SPONSOR - $1,500

DESERT SPONSOR - $1,000 x2

supporter - $500

MARCUS GORES

BEVERLY VALDEZ

FRIEND - $250

GRAY & RENEE THORNTON MIKE & KAREN BOUTON

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

WSF & C&A’S RAISE $274,000 FOR BRITISH COLUMBIA & YUKON DALL’S SHEEP!

Rapid City, SD. June 21, 2023.

The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF) and its Chapters and Affiliates flash-raised $274,000 to fund a multi-jurisdictional Dall’s sheep project as part of the Carcross Cross-Border Sheep Project initiative. The appeal came during the final evening of a two-day WSF Chapter & Affiliate (C&A) Summit held in Rapid City, South Dakota, hosted by the Midwest Chapter of WSF.

“Regulated hunting has proven its worth in driving the funding necessary to ensure a sustainable harvest that enhances and never threatens the game being hunted,” said Gray N. Thornton, President and CEO of the Wild Sheep Foundation. “In this case, our chapters and affiliates united to fund a critical project that will provide decision makers the data they need to make informed management and harvest decisions.”

The Carcross area is home to a cross-border population of Dall’s sheep, with management responsibilities shared between British Columbia (BC) and the Yukon Territory (YT). This population also overlaps the Carcross-Tagish First Nation’s (CTFN’s) territory, for whom wild sheep resources have played an important traditional and cultural role.

“Proactive reductions in harvest opportunities were implemented in BC after severe winters in 2010-2014 and 2018-2020,” explained Kevin

Hurley, WSF’s VP of Conservation and Thinhorn Program Lead. “Recent information provided by the Nation suggests an apparent increase in the non-licensed harvest may be occurring. Bottom-line, as stewards of this resource, all stakeholders need to know more about this population.

Because of these collective interests, generating a better understanding of the range use of Dall’s sheep in the area southwest of Carcross will help wild sheep managers from all three governments

from each animal. Years 2 and 3 will require an additional $130,000 to maintain surveillance. The goal of the project is to collect vital information on current seasonal habitat use, range delineation, health, and factors that can affect population trends in this cross-border herd is of high importance and will help inform sound management.

“What an honor it was for our Midwest Chapter to host the annual Wild Sheep Foundation Chapters & Affiliates Summit,” added Mike Bouton, Midwest Chapter Executive Director.

(YT, BC, CTFN) have meaningful conversations concerning the future management and harvest allocations of these cross-border sheep.”

“Carcross is a three-year project beginning this fall and winter with getting GPS tracking collars on thirty sheep,” Thornton added. “WSF got the ball rolling with a commitment of $50,000 seed money, and in ten minutes, our chapters, affiliates, and individuals in the room collectively and amazingly pledged another $224,000.”

$120,000 is needed in Year 1 to purchase GPS collars, fund helicopter netgun capturing of the sheep, and collect and process health samples

“Wild Sheep Foundation delegates throughout North America with the same dedication, passion, and goals convening under one roof is powerful. All the incredible pledges truly demonstrated that during this year’s Summit. WSF and its members continue to step up to the daunting challenges of wild sheep conservation. The Midwest Chapter couldn’t be prouder to be part of this great organization’s team that continues to Put and Keep Wild Sheep on the Mountain®.”

Representatives from 19 C&As attended from across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Prompted by WSF’s $50,000 seed grant and an appeal by WSF Chairman of the Board, Glen Landrus, the pledges started rolling in:

$50,000 – Wild Sheep Society of BC

$25,000 – Midwest Chapter of WSF, Alaska WSF

$15,000 – Iowa FNAWS

$10,000 – Idaho WSF, Texas Bighorn Society, Washington WSF, Alberta WSF, Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn

$5,000 – Montana WSF, Utah WSF, Oregon WSF, Wyoming WSF, California WSF, Eastern Chapter WSF, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Society

$1,000 – National Bighorn Sheep Center (WY), Eventgroove, Gray

& Renée Thornton, Kevin Hurley, Clint Bentley & Cindy Alexander, Jeff and Jann Demaske & Family, Drs. Glen & Carolyn Pyne, Kyle & Melanie Stelter, Jim & Shaina Warner & Family, Jacobo Artee, Julie Chapman, Cory Jackson Family, Midnight Sun Outfitting, & Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance.

“Raising nearly a third of a million dollars of dedicated conservation funding in minutes was a magical

thing to witness—but that is what the WSF family and our mantra of One Tent – One Campfire is all about,” Thornton concluded.

“Without the passion for wild sheep from sheep hunters, this Yukon/ British Columbia cross-border sheep project, and other projects like it, would simply not happen. Throwing darts at a dartboard is not how WSF does things. That’s not management by science.” WS

TODAY, TOMMORROW, FOREVER...

by Charlie Kelly WSF Treasurer

Recently, the WSF Board of Directors have embraced a new mantra; Wild Sheep Foundation, today, tomorrow, forever…. This mindset governs how our planning, decision making, and focus benefit both the wild sheep resource and our membership in the most effective way possible. What exactly does that mean?

TODAY: Our current FY funding is adequate to cover GIA funded conservation projects, public outreach programs, youth recruitment and education, Women Hunt® program, C&A engagement, and so forth. Our staff includes the best talent in the industry, and we put on an

industry leading convention that generates the resources we need to fulfill our mission.

TOMORROW: Our new 23/24 FY budget includes expanded funding to cover existing operations as well as growing programs like Women Hunt®, increased youth education through our YWCE and S.H.E.E.P. programs, <1 Club®, Central Asian initiatives, etc., as well as new programs like the 1000 Club, and the Ram-Lay-Away™ program. Our convention refresh efforts result in an even more exciting, better attended and more profitable event. Our staff is better trained, highly motivated, and key new staffing positions are filled with exceptional new hires. Our C&A network is expanding and engaged.

FOREVER…. Our giving societies,

programs and endowment fund encourage the growth of the Wild Sheep Foundation as well as the Wild Sheep Legacy Foundation funds that ensure that the WSF can operate in perpetuity in fulfilling its mission.

In an effort to boost contributions to our endowment fund managed by the Wild Sheep Legacy Foundation and help fund our FOREVER…. efforts, a flash fundraiser appeal was conducted at Saturday night’s Sylvan Lake event. A total of $37,000. was raised in a matter of minutes thanks to a handful of dedicated Wild Sheep supporters that understand the importance of our endowment fund campaign. Thanks to their generosity, we are one step closer to ensuring the longevity of WSF conservation efforts!

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

by Beverly Valdez California Chapter, WSF

THE BEST CONSERVATION PARTY IN CALIFORNIA

The 2023 Annual Fundraiser was the BEST CONSERVATION PARTY in the state of California! It was one of our biggest and most successful events ever, thanks to our members, friends, and partners such as the Wild Sheep Foundation. Attendance was at a near-record high with 270 people in attendance. We were able to raise close to $155,000 for California’s desert bighorns and wildlife. Over $39,000 of those funds go directly to “Give a Lamb a Drink” (GALAD) for new water projects for wildlife and $25,000 in funds were raised for the life member long-term account to safeguard the future of CA WSF and provide additional benefits and hunting opportunities for our Chapter’s Life, Youth Life, and Distinguished Life Members. That leaves over $90,000 for additional non-GALAD water projects, habitat enhancement, legislative efforts, and conservation efforts such as supporting the recovery and protection of our threatened Sierra Nevada Bighorns.

Craig Boddington provided a look at the long term perspective on mountain hunting in North America which was quite amazing in scope. Showing the decline of bighorn sheep from the 1800’s through the midtwentieth century, yet realizing that we are coming a long way towards building back herds through the work of organizations such as WSF, SCI, and chapters such as CA WSF, Craig provided a picture of the future that is, if not rosy, at least not doomsday! Through projects such as GALAD, we may all look forward to a time when sheep hunting in California is not just for the few.

We also hosted our 32nd bi-annual

California Sheep Summit. This meeting, which provides a laser-sharp focus on bighorn sheep, includes attendees from CDFW, USFS, US BLM, US NPS, CA WSF, SCBS, Twentynine Palms Marine Base, China Lake Naval Base, Fort Irwin Base, WSF, CA mining interests, key independents, and others who

have an interest in ensuring the persistence and restoration of healthy and sustainable metapopulations of bighorn sheep throughout their historical distribution in California.

Put April 27, 2024 on your calendar and join us for another great night for bighorn sheep conservation. We look forward to seeing you there! WS

Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation Super Sponsor!

Photo Credit: David Wetzel

Monarch Membership

We invite you to join the ranks of our Monarchs. Our members do amazing things for wild sheep in BC

Wild Sheep Society of BC

Wild Sheep Society of BC Monarch Membership

Have you ever hunted sheep in British Columbia?

Have you ever hunted sheep in British Columbia?

We invite you to join the ranks of our Monarchs. Our members do amazing things for wild sheep in BC

Join a very exclusive club of dedicated individuals that are changing the face of conservation for wild Sheep in BC.

Join a very exclusive club of dedicated individuals that are changing the face of conservation for wild Sheep in BC.

Wild Sheep Society of BC

Have you ever hunted sheep in British Columbia? Join a very exclusive club of dedicated individuals that are changing the face of conservation for wild Sheep in BC.

We invite you to join the ranks of our Monarchs. Our members do amazing things for wild sheep in BC www. wildsheepsociety.com/membership

For more information or to join visit: www. wildsheepsociety.com/membership

For more information or to join visit: www. wildsheepsociety.com/membership

by April Elwell Alumna, Women Hunt® Class of 2021

TEACHING THE TEACHER

Is it always easy learning something new? Of course not. As I communicate to my students, rather than having a fixed mindset, we need to have a growth mindset and accept challenges faced along the way. This makes learning even more satisfying. As a hunter, conservationist, and teacher; I am a lifelong learner. A major life changing experience which enabled me to continue to learn and grow was being selected to be a part of the first group of women in Wild Sheep Foundation’s Women Hunt® sponsored New Hunter Course, delivered by FTW/SAAM. When my husband Teddy learned about this opportunity, we both knew

I needed to apply. I was a limited experienced hunter and wanted to learn among other inexperienced or limited experienced women.

By being selected for the New Hunter Course, I gained more skills and confidence in the field than I ever thought possible. While at the FTW Ranch in October 2021, I reminded myself to maintain a growth mindset and accept the challenges I was facing. I am righthanded and discovered I was left-eye dominant when I took a Hunter Safety Course. When I went shooting with my family, I always shot righthanded and felt I had a decent shot. Our first day on the range, I realized

shooting right-handed I could not apply a good focus through my scope. I reached a frustration level I had never experienced before and questioned for a moment if this was really for me. After a few moments, I decided to move my rifle to my left shoulder. This was a complete game changer. One of my awesome instructors, Fredo, corrected my reloading challenges prior to the next morning. While we were in class that evening, he switched me over to a left-handed Women Hunt® logoed Weatherby Mark V set-up, and the next day he also ensured I was sighted-in and prepared to become a true left-handed shooter.

This past year brought success personally in both hunting and perseverance. My first successful hunt was in some of the coldest elements I have experienced. It was a late season cow elk hunt in December 2022, and I could not be more proud of the way the hunt progressed. I took my time finding a cow that was on its own to ensure a clear shot. This was the moment of truth to apply what I learned at the FTW Ranch. I was not nervous; I was calm and focused. I breathed and squeezed; just as we were taught at the ranch: “Because You Only Have One First Shot™!” That was all I needed. When I reloaded, my elk was already on the ground. I was emotional afterward, but proud to know this animal did not suffer and was thankful for the meals it would provide for my family and friends. I also had the opportunity to participate in my good friend Michelle’s desert bighorn hunt. This hunt took place in the most rugged terrain in which I have hiked. Prior to her hunt, we went shooting which allowed me to share tips and techniques learned at the ranch for her to apply to her shooting. She still talks about how this helped with her confidence in shooting and preparing for her hunt.

During the Sheep Show® in January 2023, I was able to catch up with instructors from the FTW ranch and share my first hunting experience since I was there. I was proud to share my story, because without the New Hunter Course, I would not be the hunter I am becoming. I was also able to visit with my mentor, Fritz Richards, and share with him my excitement regarding my first elk hunt. An important component of

the Women Hunt® program is finding and matching the alumna with a mentor in partnership with the WSF Chapters and Affiliates. Women Hunt® worked with NBU Fallon to match me with Fritz. He checked in with me regularly and made sure I felt confident going into my first hunt.

This year I was also able to experience the Sheep Show® in a new way. My school took both of

our fifth-grade classes to the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience (YWCE). I teach at a (high-risk) Title I school where many of our students are not often exposed to the outdoors or conservation. This was one of my main goals for my Giving Back to Women Hunt® and the Wild Sheep Foundation; to give my students the opportunity to gain knowledge and experience about the outdoors and conservation. Our students enjoyed this field trip more than I could have imagined! They did and tried everything they could from rock climbing, archery, and duck calling—along with attending seminars on Cooking in the Outdoors and The Art of Being a Falconer (which were some of their favorites). Dr. Ryan Brock does an amazing job at making it possible for students to experience this side of Sheep Show® . He has also provided my classes with the Wild Sheep Kit for the past four years, where students can learn in depth about our state animal, the desert bighorn sheep.

Along with taking my students to the YWCE, I was also able to volunteer for the Sheep Show® this year. I helped set up the silent auction tables for Ladies Luncheon

Meet the Wild Sheep Foundation’s Women Hunt® Committee

Bios and photos at: www.wildsheepfoundation.org/about/ women-hunt-committee

and sold raffle tickets, although this did not feel like work to me. Saturday of the Sheep Show®, I was very excited for my volunteer shift because I would be working with Chef Joshua Schwencke in the new Camp Chef Culinary Corner. Chef Joshua has such a contagiously vibrant personality; he makes you want to get in the kitchen to try new ways to cook game just as I did when I returned from the ranch.

Giving back is such an important aspect of the Women Hunt® program. This is how we reach fellow women hunters, both new and inexperienced. The past two years I have also participated in guzzler builds hosted by the Nevada Department of Wildlife and Nevada Bighorns Unlimited. My first experience was last summer in Soldier Meadows. In April, I went on my second guzzler build east of Fallon. With the second build, I understood more of the guzzler building process and where I could help. There were over one hundred people who came out to help build the highest water-capacity guzzler in Northern Nevada, which was amazing to view!

My learning experience is not complete. I look forward to what I

Connect with us:

can learn next about hunting and conservation or where I can instill in my students a relationship with hunting and conservation. At my school, other teachers are now approaching me about my hunting experiences, and sharing their experiences, or a family members’ experiences with me. Some of my good friends have seen the change in me since participating in the New Hunter Course and are applying for the next round; or at least taking their first steps in hunting and signing up for a Hunter Safety Course. No matter who is selected, I cannot wait to hear about the experience these women will have. Women Hunt® has opened a new world to me and to those around me. I continue to be humbled at this new part of my journey. WS

Rachel Ahtila

Julie Chapman

Linda Demmer

Sara Domek

Brandi Love

Rebecca Peters

Sue Skold

https://www.wildsheepfoundation.org/womenhunt

womenhunt@wildsheepfoundation.org

@womenhunt @women_hunt @womenhunt

Renée Thornton, Chair

CULINARY CORNER

by Joshua Schwencke WSF & Women Hunt® Executive Chef in Residence

FOUNDATIONS

The steel was scrubbed to a worn finish leaving very little of the factory produced lure it once had. What plastic it did have on either side was cracked due to its constant

use, from mistreatment or maybe a little of both. I remember it being used frequently to feed our family and maybe once or twice as the threat of a weapon. It remained a primary tool

of my mother’s love and a utility of my father’s stewardship of his family.

This 6-quart stockpot, my mother’s “spaghetti pot”, had handles still with their original rivets and the faint words Montgomery Ward pressed into its copper-lined bottom. It was the centerpiece of my family’s gastronomic history. The lid had long been lost to the dump, mistakenly donated, or vanished wherever such things disappear to, never to be seen from again. Its task, however, was chartered to whatever else fit its diameter.

It fed hundreds by my modest count and was used by my kid sister and I countless times as the centerpiece of our makeshift drum set during our youth. It was put into action when my father nearly burned the kitchen to the ground due to an ill-planned business phone call and the cooking of chicken fried steak. Likewise, it was the vessel I used to cook, some would say attempt to cook, for friends in my teens. This simple pot, most likely a wedding present to my parents outdating even myself, would be one of the bedrocks of my culinary career.

So why would I start this relationship with you in a publication such as this speaking about the nostalgia a stock pot would give me? Why would I be almost romantic about such a memory when tasked with the objective to discuss the culinary side of hunting. One word: Foundation.

I was asked recently by an alumna of the Women Hunt® family where I started my journey in wanting to

teach cooking. “Where does this passion come from?” she asked responding to an Instagram post. This question is one I’ve been asked multiple times and the answer remains constant. My family.

You see my mother is, in every context of the meaning, the life of the party. Having a full house of people to feed was the norm. She held close her love for her family and her faith, so much so that it led her to become a youth pastor. Her passion for being a light for others, to this very day, shines in those she meets. My late father was her support, acting as a sergeant at arms when our modest home was filled multiple times with nearly a hundred high schoolers attending a youth night every Thursday. Our neighbors who still live next to my childhood home in San Antonio can begrudgingly attest to this.

That pot was simply a tool that fed so many. A utility that anyone would pass up in a thrift store without a second thought weighing no more than four pounds, was heavy with memories. It was a symbol for the mission my mother and her family were to later find out was our commission to serve others.

It’s not hard to find food in our modern lives. What is hard is to find food that means something. If the soul of eating was an ingredient, it fell from the recipe card of our modern American diets long ago. Multiple apps exist to take the guess work out of providing for ourselves the necessary task of eating, thus surviving. It’s become extremely simple to obtain sodium, fat, and sugars at a constant, seemingly without end. Where man seeks convenience, business will always

oblige. This is the foundation of capitalism and I applaud it, but what is lost in this transaction?

The answer for myself and countless others is that foundation. The equity we needed to reclaim something that was lost and is slipping further and further from our grasps. The ability to source and cook for ourselves. That same ability to cook for others and to provide sustenance to the ones we love.

That spaghetti pot was an avatar for that movement within my past. It symbolized the feeding of countless young souls that made their way into my home. A home that rarely had a locked door and would be a soft place to land for so many wayward youths. It was not just those hungry for a home cooked meal that would find their way over.

Currently, the need for convenience has altered our sense of living. Less families cook then ever before ushering in its fair share of horrible byproducts. The current state of nutrition for children can be summed up in the need for Type 2 diabetes protocols for eight-yearolds. For adults, the leading cause of death in Americans, heart disease, remains the number one killer. This is the same condition that took my father, making this mission of mine a personal one.

A foundation can only be as strong as its fortification. The rebar, concrete and framing it took to get me to be a wild game chef came a little further back on a German dairy farm not too far from Shiner, Texas in the town of Yoakum. The very same family farm where my father passed was where I also adapted my vocation to the outdoors.

My weekends and time off from

school during my youth were spent in this soil. Milking cows, fixing fences, feeding, and I’m sure so much more that I exiled from my memory. It was country in every sense of the word and its caretakers matched the description.

We ate a lot from the land and this meant the offerings from a large garden, whitetail, foraging from around the farm, and hogs. So many hogs. Produce was fermented, grapes turned to wine and anything that benefited from preservation was preserved. Mason jars of all shapes and sizes sat in the cupboard, my aunts handwriting in cursive embossed across their faces. It was all the habitual practices of their upbringing and served us well.

My mother tells a story of my beloved uncle Ray, who’s actually my third cousin, killing squirrels for a dinner to welcome my mother’s first trip to the farm during my parent’s courtship. This crucible was not without its motive of teasing the “city girl” my father brought. The rodents sat on the table, roasted to perfection, most likely over salted if I know my family and starring back at my mother. “Beware the shot,” Ray warned my mother as she hesitantly picked her squirrel from the platter at the center of the table.

This didn’t scare her off, obviously. Stories like this one fill the memories, deer camps and farms of our nation and beyond. People from far and wide breaking bread over the food they harvested themselves. Currently this idea seems more of a fad for social media posts than the nomenclature of “survival” our ancestors once deemed it as.

Fortifying a foundation with core memories, life lessons and even

Currently, the need for convenience has altered our sense of living.

mistakes made brings me to this crossroads. Every animal I have fabricated, whether commercially during my twenty-plus years running professional kitchens or those hanging from a gambrel on a deer lease have taught me a lesson. That honoring the death of an animal needs to be done in the best and most humane way possible.

The next step in this process is where the fun comes in. Where I ultimately long to take you, the reader, while writing such articles...a look at not just the importance of the sacrifice but also the joy it can bring to you and your family. The breaking of bread, the slicing of perfectly cooked protein and the drinking of wine over a meal of your design, smiles all around.

I have not taken this task to simply write to you in order to give you recipes, my favorite cutting boards or to sell you on what hunting caliber is preferred by chefs. No. Rather this is also meant to be a soulful conversation to the core of why we hunt as humans. Why we put in the equity into our world to later withdraw what we need to feed ourselves and why we apply heat to protein to make something magical.

One step further from that point is to enjoy the process of such a task. To help take the guesswork out of, what anyone who cooks wild game will tell you is a high stakes endeavor. To implement antique and modern food

practices to achieve the best result possible.

This is going to be fun and it is my hope that you are along for the ride in a way that we all can learn from each other. Each contribution I submit will be that of me unpacking the wild world around us. First and second-hand accounts of the “what happens” after the animal succumbs to your efforts—what tools have served me well—and the partners who make them. Whimsical and heartfelt stories that I hope are familiar and inspiring. More importantly, I want to act as a resource to enjoy your time in the kitchen, over the fire or on the mountainside.

Most of all, I want for you to uncover the reason you bring your harvest to the kitchen. What methods exists just beyond your grasp or research that can best utilize your kill? What techniques can be employed to make game cooking enjoyable for those who have reservations about eating such protein? What tools can bring cooking from a chore to a joy?

That simple wedding present still sits in the cabinet at my mother’s home, acting as a beacon to my culinary past. Its usage not as frequent due to the implementation of newer and sturdier cooking vessels. I frequently look into its empty void and think of the long conversations, laughter, tears and lives changed that

this simple tool facilitated by a family and a humble spaghetti pot. This is our craft. It is survival paired with the knowledge and know how to make it enjoyable...and at the same time, bringing joy to others in a way that honors and nourishes. This is ours to steward and do so with vigor. Let’s get cooking. WS

Most of all, I want for you to uncover the reason you bring your harvest to the kitchen.

CONSERVATION EDUCATION

by Ryan Brock, Ph.D. WSF Youth Education Coordinator

LIFE MEMBERSHIP FUND SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

The Life Membership Fund Scholarship is awarded to students in a field related to the Wild Sheep Foundation’s endeavors. Specifically, degrees in wildlife management, wildlife biology, and wildlife pathology. An area of focus on wild sheep is preferred but not necessary. This year, four scholarships were awarded. Two went to graduate students and two went to undergraduates.

The top recipients in each category were awarded a $5000 scholarship for schooling. Additionally, travel to the Wild Sheep Foundation’s

national convention, the Sheep Show® in Reno, Nevada will occur to gain valuable knowledge on the economic side of wildlife conservation, networking in their field, and assist with running the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience (YWCE), including being a keynote speaker during the youth event. The runner up in each category received $2,500 to help with schooling.

This year, the top undergraduate was Julien Gullo. Julien is in the process of finishing up a Bachelors of Natural Resources Science degree at Thompson Rivers University in

Kamloops, BC, Canada. He is also planning on starting a Master of Science degree in biology at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, AB, Canada next fall where he will focus a thesis on nutritional and migration ecology of Stone’s sheep in British Columbia.

Along with volunteering with fisheries research in his early career, Julien has also conducted nocturnal owl surveys for Birds Canada since 2018. He has taken on significant volunteer roles as a board member of the Kamloops District Fish and Game Association, and volunteer

Jeff Nishima-Miller, top scholarship recipient for the graduate scholarship, out on a caribou hunt in northern BC.

The top undergraduate scholarship went to Julien Gullo, pictured here while working as a fisheries technician and counting Kokanee eggs.

NEED ONE MORE SHEEP TO COMPLETE YOUR F.N.A.W.S.?

Bernie Fiedeldey has once again generously offered to match donations (up to $25,000) to the “1 MORE FOR 4” drawing for a FREE sheep hunt of qualified individuals needing one more ram to complete their Four North American Wild Sheep (F.N.A.W.S.)

2023 1MF4 SPONSORS

Kris Kohlhoff

Renee Snider

Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey

Charles & Denise Swanson

Midwest Chapter

Ed Pabst

Kevin Gilbert

Jeff Haynie

Washington WSF

Darin & Tonya Fiedeldey

Darla Fiedeldey

Richard Pierce

You can help keep the tradition going for the 2024 Convention “1 MORE FOR 4” Drawing and have your contribution matched by Bernie (up to $25,000.)

Our sincere appreciation to Bernie Fiedeldey and the “1 MORE FOR 4” participants for making this drawing and hunt of a lifetime possible!

For more Information Contact: Paige Culver: 406.404.8758 • PCulver@wildsheepfoundation.org

Rob Kopecky onstage shortly after winning the 2023 One More for Four Drawing

David & Sona Combs

Charles & Denise Swanson

coordinator for a regional mule deer research program (SIMDeer project). Julien recently secured grant funding to put on a free public screening of the Wild Sheep Society sponsored documentary “Transmission” for students and public, which was presented in February of 2023. Julien is invested in a path focused on ecological research and community engagement.

The top graduate scholarship was awarded to Jeff Nishima-Miller, who is working towards a PhD in wildlife management and conservation planning at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. He is concurrently working as a contractor for BC Fish and Wildlife, and the Okanagan Indian Band on developing an invasive species and species at risk management plan for a local Wildlife Management Area.

Jeff has spent four seasons working on a unit crew (BC version of a ‘hotshot’) for the BC Wildfire Service. He has served on the leadership team of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers (BHA) on their first collegiate club in Canada at UBCO. He is part of the Okanagan Regional Wildlife Advisory Committee on behalf of the BC chapter of BHA. Jeff helped establish the UBCO BHA student club “sky to skillet” initiative, which is a duck hunting mentorship program and is an active member of the ‘BC All Breed Pointer Club’ promoting the hunting and training of pointing dogs.

Jeff has a master’s degree focused on natural resource management and planning for large-scale development projects. His PhD research is applied, supporting Xeni Gwet’in (a remote First Nation’s community) in the

development and implementation of a regional wildlife management strategy for keystone species, including bighorn sheep, mountain goats, mule deer, and moose. In this research, they work to implement key management actions, such as a predator management plan for ungulate recovery, wild (feral) horse stabilization for ungulate habitat revitalization, prescribed burning in key winter ranges, road restoration, and a prospective reintroduction of elk into the region. In addition to these management actions, they are building a dedicated funding system for wildlife management, which will integrate funding mechanisms generated (in-part) by guide outfitting and other wildlife tourism throughout the region. When finished with his PhD, he plans to transition into full time work in the wildlife management and conservation sector in either the public or private sector.

Joseph Espinosa was awarded the $2,500 undergraduate scholarship. Growing up in Nevada, he was exposed to the outdoors at a young age and those experiences put him on a path working towards a degree in Conservation and Natural Resources with a minor in criminal justice at the University of Nevada, Reno. An active hunter and involved with lacrosse, Joseph has been involved with multiple different charities such as Nevada’s Children’s Cancer Foundation and volunteering at the Youth Wildlife Conservation Experience. He has also assisted with a wild sheep capture in Nevada. After graduation, his plan is to become a game warden and work in a state or federal wildlife agency somewhere in the western states.

Nicole Ballard was awarded the $2,500 graduate scholarship. She received her B.S. in Wildlife Biology with a minor in nonprofit administration and a certificate in global leadership in 2021 from the University of Montana. After graduating in 2021 and working a year and a half at the Teller Wildlife Refuge, Nicole realized that the largest way she could make an impact in the realm of wildlife conservation was through education, driving her to pursue her Master’s degree at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point where she is currently working towards a Master of Natural Resource degree and graduate certificate in Environmental Education/ Interpretation.

Nicole worked as an educator, guide, and animal handler at Reptile Gardens in South Dakota. She worked at the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation located in Missoula, MT from 20182020 as an educator/visitor center staff working with kids and interning with the Lands and Conservation department at RMEF. In 2020 she also interned as a zookeeper with the Dakota Zoo located in Bismarck, ND. While at the University of Montana, she was both the Vice President and the President of Student Recreation Association, and was involved with the UM Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as the Treasurer. In the next five years Nicole wants to finish her master’s degree, continue to grow the Teller Wildlife Refuge conservation education program, and form further partnerships with conservation education programs to strengthen both the refuge’s programs and the conservation groups she works with. WS

SHEEP SHOP

A1 3 1/2-DAY AOUDAD HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN WEST TEXAS HIGH WEST OUTFITTERS

Jim Breck Bean & Jamie Cowan

P: 915.526.3001

E: highwestoutfitter@yahoo.com

W: highwestoutfitter.com

A2

SIG SAUER P365 - 380 ROBINS EGG BLUE SIG SAUER

P: 603.418.8102

E: andy.york@sigsauer.com

W: www.sigsauer.com

A3

3 - DAY FREE RANGE BALKAN CHAMOIS OR EUROPEAN GRAY WOLF HUNT IN MACEDONA FOR 1 HUNTER (Trophy fee for Balkan chamois or European gray wolf included, hunters choice)

THE HUNTING CONSORTIUM LTD.

Robert Kern

P: 540.955.0090

E: hunt@huntcon.com

W: www.huntingconsortium.com

A4 8th ANNUAL WILD SHEEP JURASSIC CLASSIC STURGEON FISHING

TOURNAMENT • 2 - DAY TRIP FOR 2 ANGLERS

JURASSIC CLASSIC COMMITTEEWSSBC AND GOABC

Trevor Carruthers

P: 250.919.5386

E: trevor.carruthers@shaw.ca

A5 PRIVATE ROCKY MOUNTAIN SHEEP FLIP FLOP BACK YARD BBQ FOR 25 PEOPLE (CONTINENTIAL USA)

(100% FULLY DONATED) THE FLIP FLOP GUY

Andy Moeckel

P: 415.578.8235

E: andrewjamesmoeckel@gmail.com

W: www.theflipflopguy.com

A6 BROWNING X-BOLT MTN PRO TUNGSTEN 7 PRC (100% FULLY DONATED)

BROWNING

P: 801.876.2711

E: shaundi.campbell@browning.com

W: www.browning.com

A3

A4

A5

A6

B1 7 - DAY WINTER PREDATOR HUNT IN ALASKA FOR 1 HUNTER

MIDNIGHT SUN SAFARIS

Coke Wallace

P: 907.978.0929

E: info@midnightsunsafaris.com

W: www.midnightsunsafaris.com

B2

5 - DAY BLACK BEAR HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER ON KUIU ISLAND, ALASKA

ADAMS ALASKAN SAFARIS

Dale and Lori Adams

P: 907.738.3040

E: daleadams458@gmail.com

W: www.adamsalaskansafaris.com

B3 12 - DAY SPRING KODIAK ISLAND BROWN BEAR HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER

ROHRER BEAR CAMP

Sam Rohrer

P: 907.486.4074

C: 907.539.1828

E: sam@kodiakbearcamp.com

W: kodiakbearcamp.com

B4

COLLAPSIBLE DOG CRATE & BOYT HARNESS PACKAGE (100% FULLY DONATED)

SUMMIT LIFE MEMBER & WSF BOD GLEN PYNE

P: 714.323.1092

E: pawsnclaws@sbcglobal.net

B5

TROPHY ROOM CLEANING (100% FULLY DONATED)

HEADHUNTER TROPHY CARE LLC

Wade West

P: 817.988.2312

E: trophycare@rocketmail.com

B6 5 - DAY TROPHY WOLF HUNT IN ONTARIO FOR 1 HUNTER

(100% FULLY DONATED)

KAP RIVER OUTFITTERS

Peter & Terry Martin

P: 705.335.3163

E: kroceo47@gmail.com

B4 B5

B6

B7

LIFE-SIZE NORTH AMERICAN SHEEP MOUNT

(100% FULLY DONATED)

THE WILDLIFE GALLERY

Dan & Charlotte Catlin

P: 989.561.5369

E: dan@thewildlifegallery.com

W: www.thewildlifegallery.com

B8

5 - DAY HUNT FOR NYALA, BLUE WILDEBEEST, ZEBRA, BLESBUCK, WARTHOG & IMPALA FOR 3 HUNTERS

(Trophy fees for 6 mentioned species to be split between 3 hunters)

SUPERIOR AFRICAN HUNTING SAFARIS

Eli Van Der Walt/Jeffrey Austin

P: 830.313.8724

E: rancho1024@yahoo.com

W: www.superiorsafaris.com

B9

7 - DAY CAPE BUFFALO HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER

($5,000 credit towards trophy fees)

(100% FULLY DONATED)

IBAMBA SAFARIS

Johan & Zelda Pretorius

P: +27832261690

E: johan@ibambasafaris.com

W: www.ibambasafaris.com

B10

5 - DAY BLACK BEAR HUNT IN ONTARIO FOR 1 HUNTER

(100% FULLY DONATED)

KAP RIVER OUTFITTERS

Peter & Terry Martin

P: 705.335.3163

E: kroceo47@gmail.com

B11

7 - DAY LATE SEASON

MOUNTAIN GOAT HUNT IN ALASKA FOR 1 HUNTERSHEEP SHOW 2024!

(100% FULLY DONATED)

ULTIMA THULE OUTFITTERS

Paul & Donna Claus

E: uto@starband.net

W: www.ultimathulelodge.com

B12

LIFE-SIZE WILD SHEEP MOUNT WITH HABITAT AND BASE

DEWEY WILDLIFE STUDIO

Dawayne Dewey

P: 307.587.4863

E: info@deweywildlife.com

W: www.deweywildlife.com

B7

B8

B9

B10

B12

B11

C1

2 - DAY HUNT FOR HYBRID EUROPEAN MOUFLON/ HAWAIIAN SHEEP FOR 1 HUNTER AND 1 DAY DEEP SEA FISHING FOR UP TO 3 PEOPLE

(100% FULLY DONATED)

MAUNA LOA OUTFITTERS

Colin Onaka - WSF Life Member

Steven Onaka

P: 808.960.7373

E: MaunaLoaOutfitters@gmail.com

C2

8 - DAY BULL ELK HUNT IN WYOMING FOR 1 HUNTER (100% FULLY DONATED)

HIDDEN CREEK OUTFITTERS, LLC

Cayla Norris

P: 307.899.5159

E: cayla@hiddencreekoutfitters.com

W: www.hiddencreekoutfitters.com

C3

ONE WEEK STAY IN A MOUNTAIN CABIN IN THE BEAUTIFUL BIGHORN MOUNTAINS OF WYOMING

(100% FULLY DONATED)

Jeff Geiger

P: 614.668.8222

E: jeffrey_geiger@ml.com

C4 WSF - UPGRADED VIP TABLE - 2025 SHEEP SHOW

C5 (1 for Auction, 1 for Raffle)

8 - DAY CENTRAL BARREN GROUND MUSKOX HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER

CANADA NORTH OUTFITTING

Shane Black

P: 250.961.7100

E: sblack@canadanorthoutfitting.com

W: www.canadanorthoutfitting.com

C6 (2 available)

WINE TASTING FOR 50 PEOPLE ANYWHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL USA

AFRICAN TRADITION

Clive Botha

P: 561.379.8243

E: blksem7@aol.com

W: www.sabestwine.com

C1

C2

C4

C6

C3

C5

C7

C7 14 - DAY SPANISH IBEX GRAND SLAM HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER

(Trophy fees included for 1 Bronze Medal Gredos Ibex, 1 Bronze Medal Beceite Ibex, 1 Bronze Medal Southeastern Ibex, and Bronze Medal Ronda Ibex and 21% VAT Fee!)

IBERHUNTING SPAIN

Antonio Teruel Farrugello

P: +34 664.283.512

E: iberhunting@iberhunting.com

W: www.iberhunting.com

C8 7 - DAY WALRUS ARCTIC ADVENTURE HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER

(Tag and license are included)

CANADA NORTH OUTFITTING

Shane Black

P: 250.961.7100

E: sblack@canadanorthoutfitting.com

W: www.canadanorthoutfitting.com THE CONKLIN FOUNDATION

Bradford Black

P: 330.802.2711

C9 APHA LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP (100% FULLY DONATED)

ALASKA PROFESSIONAL HUNTERS’ ASSOCIATION

Deb Moore

P: 907.394.3435

E: deb@alaskaprohunter.org

W: www.alaskaprohunter.org

C10

LIFE-SIZE WILD SHEEP MOUNT WITH BASE

ZIMMERMAN WILDLIFE

Marcus & Ken Zimmerman

P: 814.793.2821

E: marcus@zimmermanwildlife.net

E: ken@zimmermanwildlife.net

W: www.zimmermanwildlife.net

C11 5 - DAY AOUDAD SHEEP HUNT ON THE WILLIAMS RANCH IN TEXAS FOR 1 HUNTER

ROWDY MCBRIDE HUNTING SERVICES

Rowdy McBride

P: 432.837.2047

C: 432.553.4724

E: rowdymcbride@sbcglobal.net

C8

C9

C10

C11

D1 10 - DAY DALL’S SHEEP/ ARCTIC GRIZZLY/BARREN GROUND/CARIBOU HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN ALASKA’S ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE OR (HUNTER’S CHOICE)

10 - DAY DALL’S SHEEP/ BROWN BEAR/BLACK BEAR IN THE LEGENDARY SOUTH WRANGELLS (WRANGELL ST. ELIAS PRESERVE)

ALASKA OUTFITTERS UNLIMITED

Aaron Bloomquist

P: 907.982.2471

E: bloomya@hotmail.com

W: www.alaskaoutfittersunlimited.com

W: www.huntalaska.net

D2

WSF - VIP TABLE FOR 2025

LADIES LUNCHEON IN RENO - ROCK’N THE 70’s!

D3

THE BEARTOOTH PRO-SKINNING BLADE (100% FULLY DONATED)

MONTANA KNIFE COMPANY

Josh Smith & Sloan Brown

P: 352.212.9564

E: info@montanaknifecompany.com

W: www.montanaknifecompany.com

D4

12 - DAY DALL’S SHEEP/ WOLF/WOLVERINE HUNT IN THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES FOR 1 HUNTER & 1 NON-HUNTER

GANA RIVER OUTFITTERS LTD.

Harold Grinde

P: 403.357.8414

E: ganariver@pentnet.net

W: www.ganariver.com

D5 10 - DAY LA PALMOSA DESERT SHEEP HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER AND 2 NON-HUNTERS (100% FULLY DONATED) LA PALMOSA - HUNTING OUTFITTER

Emilio Espino

P: +521.811.916.4668

E: info@lapalmosa.com

D1

D2

D3

D5

D4

D6 BEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL - NAPA VALLEY WINE EXPERIENCE –

2 Trips Available for 2025!

Hosted by Marc & Janice Mondavi CHARLES KRUG WINERY

W: www.charleskrug.com

BEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL

Logan Young

P: 406.595.6583

E: logan@beartrust.org

W: www.beartrust.org

D7

12 - DAY STONES’ SHEEP HUNT IN NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA

(100% PROCEEDS TO SUPPORT NW BC STONE’S SHEEP INITIATIVES)

SPATSIZI RIVER OUTFITTERS

P: 250.847.9692

E: mike_gilson@bcsafaris.com

E: admin@spatsizi.com

W: www.spatsizi.com

D8

5 - DAY MULE DEER

HUNT IN NEW MEXICO FOR 1 HUNTER

(100% FULLY DONATED)

FRONTIER OUTFITTING

GT Nunn

P: 505.350.9775

E: gtnunn@aol.com

W: www.frontieroutfitting.com

D9

TWO HORN GOBLETSORIGINAL ART

ANTLERED ART

Todd Strupp

P: 715.642.3937

E: toddstrupp@gmail.com

W: www.antleredmugworks.com

D10

10 - DAY MOUNTAIN CARIBOU HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN NWT CANADA

(100% FULLY DONATED)

RAVEN’S THROAT OUTFITTERS

Griz & Ginger Turner

P: 867.332.7286

E: hunts@ravensthroat.com

W: www.ravensthroat.com

D7

D8

D9

D10

Sample of Work

E1 10 - DAY CHIHUAHUA DESERT BIGHORN SHEEP FOR 1 HUNTER AND 1 NON-HUNTER

RANCHO LA GUARIDA

Jose Antonio Vallina Laguera

P: 011.52.1614.427.0840

E: jav@laguaridaranch.com

W: www.laguaridaranch.com

E2

SIG SAUER - ROCK GLASSES (SET OF 4)

SIG SAUER

P: 603.418.8102

E: andy.york@sigsauer.com

W: www.sigsauer.com

E3

SHOOTING STICKS (100% FULLY DONATED)

RICK YOUNG OUTDOORS LLC

Rick Young

P: 503.702.5960

E: rick@rickyoungoutdoors.com

W: www.rickyoungoutdoors.com

E4

KLYMALOFT

SLEEPING PAD XL (100% FULLY DONATED)

KLYMIT

P: 888.655.3632

E: marketing@klymit.com

W: www.klymit.com

E5

PEAK REFUEL

BASECAMP BUCKET 3.0 (100% FULLY DONATED)

PEAK REFUEL

P: 801.361.5751

E: madyson@peakrefuel.com

W: www.peakrefuel.com

E6

SIG SAUER - SIERRA 3000BDX - 10X42 BINOCULARS

SIG SAUER

P: 603.418.8102

E: andy.york@sigsauer.com

W: www.sigsauer.com

E7

SPEEDGOAT FIXED BLADE (100% FULLY DONATED)

MONTANA KNIFE COMPANY

Josh Smith & Sloan Brown

P: 352.212.9564

E: info@montanaknifecompany.com

W: www.montanaknifecompany.com

E2

E3

E4

E5

E6

E7

E8 10 - DAY ALASKA-YUKON MOOSE HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN NORTHWEST ALASKA

FREELANCE OUDOOR ADVENTURES

Lance Kronberger

P: 907.854.2822

E: freelanceOA@mac.com

W: www.freelanceoutdooradventures.com

E9

2 - PERSON/2 - DAY EASTERN WILD TURKEY HUNT

BELL WILDLIFE SPECIALTIES

- DIRT NAP OUTDOORS, LLC

Paul Davis

P: 870.243.9491

E: dirtnapoutdoorsllc@gmail.com

W: www.dirtnapoutdoorsllc.com

Dan Bell

P: 785.589.2321

E: bellwildlife@earthlink.net

W: www.huntingkansaswhitetails.com

E10

SIG SAUER - KILO 3K

6X22MM RANGEFINDER

SIG SAUER

P: 603.418.8102

E: andy.york@sigsauer.com

W: www.sigsauer.com

E11 BEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL HAND-CRAFTED WHISKEY GLASS BOX

BEAR TRUST INTERNATIONAL

Logan Young

P: 406.595.6583

E: loganyung270@gmail.com

W: www.beartrust.org

E12

ULTIMATE FLORIDA EXPERIENCE FOR TWO

PEOPLE (2 alligators, peacock bass, snook, redfish, tarpon, sea trout

cobia & much more!)

SHEEP SHOW RAFFLE 2024! (100% FULLY DONATED)

BIENVENUE OUTDOORS

Camille Bienvenue

P: 941.806.8062

E: bienvenueoutdoors@outlook.com

W: www.bienvenueoutdoors.com

E9

E10

E11

E12

F1

HOWA M1500 CARBON FIBER

6.5 PRC THREADED 5/8X24

W/BIPOD & NIKKO STIRLING

4-16X44 OPTICS

(100% FULLY DONATED)

LEGACY SPORTS INTERNATIONAL

Chad J. Peters

P: 775.221.7363

E: cpeters@legacysports.com

W: www.legacysports.com

F2

MKC CULLINARY SET - BLACK

(100% FULLY DONATED)

MONTANA KNIFE COMPANY

Josh Smith & Sloan Brown

P: 352.212.9564

E: info@montanaknifecompany.com

W: www.montanaknifecompany.com

F3

TROPHY CLEANING FOR HOME OR OFFICE

(100% FULLY DONATED)

OLD WOLF TAXIDERMY CLEANING & REPAIR

Fritz Richards

P: 775.303.2969

E: oldwolfcleaning@att.net

W: www.oldwolftaxidermycleaning.com

F4

3 - DAY WATERFOWL & SAND HILL CRANE HUNT IN ALBERTA CANADA FOR 1 HUNTER

(100% FULLY DONATED)

AMERI-CANA EXPEDITIONS INC.

Nick, Dan, & Pat Frederick

P: 780.469.0579

E: ameri.cana@shaw.ca

W: www.ameri-cana.com

F5

4 - DAY MOUFLON & FALLON DEER FOR 2 HUNTERS

(Trophy fee included for each species to be shared by both hunters) (100% FULLY DONATED)

HUNT IN SPAIN & ALFONSO FABRES

Alfonso Fabres

P: +34.923.380001

E: info@huntinspain.com

W: www.huntinspain.com

F1

F3

F4

F5

F2

F6

5 - DAY ARIZONA MOUNTAIN LION HUNT WITH HOUNDS FOR 1 HUNTER

DIAMOND OUTFITTERS

Dan and Terri Adler

P: 520.730.8147

E: Dan@DiamondOutfitters.com

W: www.DiamondOutfitters.com

F7

5 - DAY COUES DEER HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN ARIZONA

LET’ER RIP OUTFITTER & GUIDE SERVICE

Bill Babiash

P: 520.370.5457

E: badbullz@aol.com

W: www.leterripoutfitters.com

F8

4 - DAY DUCK, PERIZ & DOVE HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN ARGENTINA

(100% FULLY DONATED)

ROD & GUN RESOURCES, INC.

J.W. Smith

P: 800.211.4753

E: venture@rodgunresources.com

W: www.rodgunresources.com

F9

5 - DAY COLUMBIA BLACK TAIL DEER & COASTAL BLACK BEAR HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER (100% FULLY DONATED)

SPOON CREEK OUTFITTERS

Ken Wilson

P: 541.396.2726

E: spooncreek13@gmail.com

F10

THE TACTICAL - T-4-16-HD CUSTOM SERIES

TACTICAL HEARING

Tim Sparks

P: 801.822.6888

E: tim@tacticalhearing.com

W: www.tacticalhearing.com

F11

7 - DAYS OF HUNTING IN LIMPOPO PROVICE FOR 2 HUNTERS (1,000 credit towards trophy fees per hunter) (100% FULLY DONATED)

IBAMBA SAFARIS

Johan & Zelda Pretorius

P: +27832261690

E: johan@ibambasafaris.com

W: www.ibambasafaris.com

F8

F9

F10

F11

G1 7 - DAYS HUNTING FOR SABLE OR ROAN ANTELOPE FOR 1 HUNTER IN SOUTH AFRICA (3,000 credit towards a Sable Bull or Roan Antelope)

(100% FULLY DONATED)

IBAMBA SAFARIS

Johan & Zelda Pretorius

P: +27832261690

E: johan@ibambasafaris.com

W: www.ibambasafaris.com

G2

4 - DAY RIO GRANDE WILD TURKEY HUNT FOR 2 HUNTERS - (CROSSBOW/ BOW HUNT ONLY)

(Trophy fees for 2 turkeys are included)

LAS HAYAS

Luis H. Salinas V

P: 844.419.2832

E: luishsalinasv@hotmail.com

W: www.puertalashayas.com

G3

3 - DAY SINDH IBEX (up to 39”) HUNT IN PAKISTAN FOR 1 HUNTER - (Trophy Fee up to 39” is Included -$1,000 per inch over 39)

CAPRINAE SAFARIS OF TURKEY

Mehmet Alkan & Riza Gozluk

P: +90.532.583.9108

E: info@caprinae.com

W: www.caprinae.com

G4 5 - DAY WATERFOWL (DUCK AND GROUSE COMBO)

HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN ONTARIO

(100% FULLY DONATED)

KAP RIVER OUTFITTERS

Peter & Terry Martin

P: 705.335.3163

E: kroceo47@gmail.com

G5

WYO BACKCOUNTRY

CUSTOM REPLICA OF YOUR NA WILD SHEEP

WYO BACKCOUNTRY DECOR

(100% FULLY DONATED)

Josh & Jenny Taylor

P: 307.899.4553 or 4645

E: wyobackcountrydecor@gmail.com

W: www.wyobackcountrydecor.com

G6

FNAWS HORN MUGSORIGINAL ART

ANTLERED ART

Todd Strupp

P: 715.642.3937

E: toddstrupp@gmail.com

W: www.antleredmugworks.com

G1

G2

G4

G6

G3

G5 Samples of Work

G7 10 - DAY MOUNTAIN GOAT

HUNT FOR 1 HUNTER IN BC

TUCHODI RIVER OUTFITTERS

Nathan Digby

P: 403.809.1246

E: info@tuchodiriveroutfitters.com

W: www.tuchodiriveroutfitters.com

W: www.tuchodiriveroutfitters.com

G8

7 - DAY LADIES SOUTH AFRICA HUNT, FOR 4 HUNTERS ($500 credit per hunter toward trophy fees)

(100% FULLY DONATED)

NUMZAAN SAFARIS

Jaco Swanepoel

P:+27.82.498.7061

E: lenette@numzaan.com

W: www.numzaan.com

G9

3 - DAY CARPATHIAN CHAMOIS HUNT FOR 1

HUNTER - <1iCLUB HUNT 2024

CAPRINAE SAFARIS OF TURKEY

Mehmet Alkan & Riza Gozluk

P: +90.532.583.9108

E: info@caprinae.com

W: www.caprinae.com

G10

“CRITTER OF THE CRAGS”

AN ORIGINAL BRONZE #6/36

FRANK ENTSMINGER

WILDLIFE BRONZE ARTIST

Frank Entsminger

P: 907.883.2833

E: bronzeart@aptalaska.net

W: www.frankentsminger.com

G11

8 - DAY SOUTH AFRICA HUNT FOR 2 HUNTERS

(100% FULLY DONATED)

NUMZAAN SAFARIS

Jaco Swanepoel

P:+27.82.498.7061

E: lenette@numzaan.com

W: www.numzaan.com

G12

DALL SHEEP HORN

VASE ON A ROCK BASE

WYO BACKCOUNTRY DECOR

Josh & Jenny Taylor

P: 307.899.4553 or 4645

E: wyobackcountrydecor@gmail.com

W: www.wyobackcountrydecor.com

G7

G8

G9

G10

G11

G12

H1

7 - DAY ARCHERY MULE DEER HUNT IN ARIZONA FOR 1 HUNTER (August Velvet Hunt or December Rut Hunt - Hunters Choice) BIG CHINO OUTFITTERS

JP Vicente

P: 928.925.9395

E: bigchinooutfitters@gmail.com

W: www.bigchinooutfitters.com

H2

7 - DAY FISHING TRIP ON THE AMAZON RIVER BASIN IN BRAZIL FOR 1 ANGLER (peacock, araprima, catfish & many others) (100% FULLY DONATED) ROD & GUN RESOURCES, INC.

J.W. Smith

P: 800.211.4753

E: venture@rodgunresources.com

W: rodgunresources.com

H3

SIG SAUER P229 PRO 9MM

SIG SAUER

P: 603.418.8102

E: andy.york@sigsauer.com

W: www.sigsauer.com

H4

5 - DAY TROPHY WHITETAIL DEER HUNT IN KANSAS FOR 2 HUNTERS

BELL WILDLIFE SPECIALTIES

DIRT NAP OUTDOORS, LLC

Paul Davis

P: 870.243.9491

E: dirtnapoutdoorsllc@gmail.com

W: www.dirtmapoutdoorsllc.com

Daniel Bell

P: 789.589.2321

E: bellwildlife@earthlink.net

H5 2 - DAY / 2 - NIGHT FISHING TRIP FOR 2 ANGLERS AND 1 NON-FISHING COMPANION ON THE BRAZOS RIVER, TX (100% FULLY DONATED) FINSTINCTS

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SHEEP SHORTS

by Jon Barker

11½-YEAR-OLDS

As I sit on the East bank of the Columbia glassing several big rams across the river, a kid walks up to me and asks if I would like to hear about his ideal ram. This type of intro can strike fear in the heart of a sheep guide, but I say, “sure Jake, what are you thinking?” Jake Murphy, age 11½, tells me he would prefer hunting the oldest ram we can find, one that has the fewest years to contribute to the genetics and health of the overall herd. He goes on to say

that he really likes beat-up rams with plenty of chips and notches in their horns. It would also make him happy if the ram had something in addition to his age that indicated he did not have as long to live as other rams, maybe a limp or some other injury that was holding him back.

While whipping my head around in disbelief to study the young man who was telling me this, nearly knocking my spotting scope and tripod to the ground in the process, I mention

that we happen to be watching a ram that exactly fits his description. He is the oldest ram we’ve seen in the past 7 months, heavy and with a massive chip down to the core on one horn. I explain that while he is very big, the damage to his horns means that he is probably only the fourth or fifth-best scoring rams in the area. It is probable that we’ll see several rams who score better than him both that day and the next. Jake responds, “Oh scoring doesn’t matter.

Photo: Duncan Gilcrest

I cannot remember the last time my dad scored something. I would like to go after that old chipped-up ram who doesn’t score as well.“

This is going to be a really different experience I tell myself. I’ve been outfitting and guiding bighorn sheep hunts in the western states for 30 years and have never had the first 10 minutes in the field unfold quite like this. Jake’s stature in my eyes suddenly jumps far above his 11½-year-old frame. That evening, I discuss the option of going after the beat-up old ram with Jake’s father, Seth Murphy. After Seth makes it clear that he shares his son’s mindset, we decide to pursue the old ram in the morning.

Did I mention that this was the Washington state auction tag hunt, a huge undertaking, and that after seven months of scouting, filming, and studying, we have chosen not to go after the best-scoring ram? Or the second-best scoring ram, or even the third-best scoring ram?

This old, chipped ram is smart. He hides away from 95% of the other rams and when spooked, he sprints along, down cliffs, over five-foot boulders, through burned deadfalls, at a speed that leaves younger, healthy rams in the dust, all the while limping on or even dragging one useless rear leg.

We put on two long stalks that day and the next, moving higher up the mountain through steep approaches. Jake is a champ at putting his head

down and climbing relentlessly. We lose the ram once and then find him again on the second day. Once in position, Jake must wait three hours for the ram to rise out of his bed and into a better position for taking a shot. Once he does, Jake is ready, and the old ram goes down. While caping and quartering the ram to pack him out, we find a huge abscess on his rear hip. It’s an old injury that has left his hip socket somewhat deformed. His teeth are nearly gone, and one eye even looks odd. Clearly, he has very little time left to live. We age the ram at 11½ years. I watch the pride in our 11½-year-old hunter’s eye and listen to his comments about how much like an old warrior the 11 ½-year-

old ram looks. I listen to his remarks about how the ram’s existing injuries would likely have taken him down that winter anyway. From a biological perspective, I point out that he was the best ram to harvest.

The very next ram hunt I would guide was for a long-time friend and client. We hunted in Oregon and would end up taking the new California bighorn world record with a score of 191. You might think that this experience could not be topped and would serve as the pinnacle of a hunting guide’s career. I am a close friend of that hunter, and greatly respect the opportunity to guide him on that amazing hunt. It was a huge accomplishment for both of us to be together at that special time.

To be honest, though, the hunt that carries just as much meaning for me is the Washington state hunt in which the 11½-year-old hunterconservationist, Jake Murphy, shot the old, chipped 11½-year-old ram. Thank you, Jake, for sharing your perspective on sheep hunting with me. Your attitude will benefit the future of wildlife management and conservation. If more people in the next generation share this point of view, we can be assured that wild sheep herds will expand and thrive for many years to come. WS

ADVENTURE PROFILES

Ammon Ammon

SPECIES: Bukharan Markhor

OUTFITTER: Shohin M

GUIDE: Muhammed Mirzoaliev

LOCATION: Tajikistan

It was my third Bukharan markhor hunt in Tajikistan. The first five days we were not lucky because the weather was not on our side. Lots of fog made the spotting nearly impossible. The really incredible hunting lodge in the middle of nowhere made the waiting very comfortable. On day six, after a three-hour stalk and only 30-minutes of observing the area, we spotted a big markhor. Distance was 720 meters and my Gunwerks with 300 Norma Mag did a perfect job. First field measurement was already fantastic. After a 60-day drying period, I got the result confirmed. It is the pending new Bukharan markhor world record.

Ammon Ammon

SPECIES: Bukhara Urial

OUTFITTER: Shohin M

GUIDE: Muhammed Mirzoaliev

LOCATION: Tajikistan

In the afternoon of the first day of my hunt, we were spotting a group of urial with record ram. When we came closer we saw that one of the two younger urial was seriously injured with a broken leg. In that same moment it was clear that I would not go for the record ram. A clear 294-meter shot with my Gunworks 300 Norma Mag put the urial in the salt. Ethical hunting means not always taking the biggest trophy.

Wayne Henderson

SPECIES: Stone’s Sheep

OUTFITTER: Full Curl Stone Outfitters

GUIDE: Chad Fantham

LOCATION: BC, Canada

After four tries over the last 30 years, I finally got a Stone’s ram in August of 2022! I hunted with Luke Vince who owns Full Curl Stone Outfitters in northern British Columbia. I got my nine-year-old ram on the first day after seeing several other rams that were not quite old enough. I also shot a mountain goat towards the end of the trip. I would certainly recommend them if you want a Stone’s or goat, as we saw a lot of younger rams. He has nice dark classic Stone’s in that area.

Jon Roth

SPECIES: Desert

OUTFITTER: HR Big Game Outfitters

GUIDE: Hugo Loera

LOCATION: Sonora Mexico

“My FNAWS Ram with a great outfitter!”

He runs a great camp with nice, gentle horses, good food, and a canvas sleeping tent. I rode IGOR most of the time, a gentle, small, buckskincolored fiord. I didn’t have to eat one dehydrated meal, which was fine with me. I had a terrific guide by the name of Chad and a great wrangler, Callum, who incidentally spotted the ram I ended up shooting.

A huge thank you goes out to everyone involved, Luke, Chad, Callum, Shelby, Byron, Josh, and pilot Darwin Cary.

Charles Byrd

SPECIES: Aoudad

OUTFITTER: Andrew McWilliams

GUIDE: Andrew McWilliams

LOCATION: New Mexico

My free-range aoudad was taken on public land. I was treated to good lodging, good food, and excellent guiding as well as professional service and great access to public hunting area. Andrew aslo had great knowledge of the terrain and hunting area.

John Bottomly

SPECIES: Desert Bighorn

OUTFITTER: Alcampo Hunting Adventures

GUIDE: Javier, Jose Artee, B.Joe Coy, Carlos & Abraham

LOCATION: Sonora Mexico

This hunt was on Sierra El Alamo with Alcampo Hunting Adventures. I got this ram on the second day of the hunt. I have been to Mexico before but not to Sonora and not to this type of landscape, flora and fauna. I loved everything about this hunt. First class logistics, hospitality, service, and hunting area. I came home a few pounds heavier than when I arrived. Fantastic crew and the trip-of-a-lifetime.

Matthew Chverchko

SPECIES: Rocky Mountain Bighorn

OUTFITTER: Big Lost River Outfitters

GUIDE: Justin Gillish

LOCATION: Idaho

This ram completed my FNAWS quest, all four of which were taken on the first day of the hunt. I am very proud of my accomplishment and consider myself extremely fortunate to be able to pursue what I love. But, I admit that there is a part of me that is a little disappointed that I don’t have a better story to tell of days socked in a tent, ass kicking climbs, and a brutal pack out. It all seemed too easy. I will continue to hunt mountain game as long as I am physically able, and probably one or two more times after that before they put me in the ground.

Bill Tittle

SPECIES: Beceite Ibex

OUTFITTER: Giuseppe Carrizosa

GUIDE: Giuseppe Carrizosa

LOCATION: Villar Luengo, Spain

I arrived in Spain the morning of December 6th. We were lucky to find a trophy ibex the afternoon of my arrival to Spain. Unfortunately, due to the numerous other ibex above my target animal, we had to approach from below—the least favorable stalk when hunting with a bow. The ibex saw us, winded us, and took off into the brush. The next morning we found another trophy ibex in an approachable position. My local guide and I stalked to 17 yards above the ibex. The ibex never knew what hit him.

Mark Wells

SPECIES: Desert Sheep

OUTFITTER: La Palmosa

GUIDES: Garret Jones

LOCATION: Mexico

I never would have dreamed that when I harvested my first ram in 2017 that I would have gone on to achieve my FNAWS! Many thanks to my family and friends for their continued support in pursuing my dream! I am so honored and blessed to join such an elite group of hunters and conservationists! Happy Hunting!

Henry Crosby

SPECIES: Desert Ram

OUTFITTER: Guro Outfitter

GUIDE: Ricardo

LOCATION: Sonora Mexico

After seven challenging days of glassing, we located the ram I killed with not enough light to stalk and returned the next morning where things lined up. We made a perfect stalk and accounted for the ram at 246 yards.

Photo: Tim Shinabarger

OFFICIALLY KICKED OUT!

The following <1 Club® or <1iClub® members have LOST their membership status by taking their first wild sheep rams! Congratulations!

$25entry

Desert bighorn/Nevada

Mike Aiazzi, our very own Exhibits Manager of WSF, managed to draw a coveted Nevada desert sheep tag in 2022. After several days of hunting and looking over a number of sheep, he managed to take a beautiful ram with his family and friends, Jake Reed (WSF Life Member) and Larry Johnson (WSF Life Member), at his side.

Way to go Mike, you are Kicked Out!

LAST SHEEP CAMP

Rubye Blake

It is with great sadness we pay tribute to Summit Life Member Rubye Mayflower Blake. Rubye could make anyone laugh; not just a casual laugh, but a bent over, hold your stomach, from the depths of your soul laugh. She was one of a kind. Rubye was born in Alaska and had an unshakable passion for the outdoors. She and her twin sister were well known athletes in Alaska. Rubye found her soulmate in Derek Blake who introduced her to the Wild Sheep Foundation. She loved her WSF family and became a huge advocate for women hunters. Rubye truly blossomed

Craig West

Myron Craig West passed away on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at the age of 71. Craig was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, to Floyd and Mary West on May 27, 1951. He graduated from Broughton High School in 1969 before attending Louisburg College and East Carolina University. He was an NC State Wolfpack fan all his life and a member of the Wolfpack Club for 37 years, but he grew to love the Demon Deacons in the last decade of his life, as both of his kids

when she was hunting. Rubye and Derek worked together on their beloved boat, the Enchantress, managing successful fishing and hunting businesses. Rubye was the best and funniest first mate. Just when they thought life couldn’t get any better, they welcomed a sweet baby girl, Harbor Moonflower in February of this year. Harbor was truly the joy of Rubye’s life. Rubye will be missed beyond belief, but will live on in the hearts and souls of all of the people she touched. She will be with us in every sunset, she will be the warmth of the sun on our face, and always in our hearts. WS

were accepted to and graduated from Wake Forest University.

He is survived by his wife Leslee G. West, his son Matthew Craig West, his daughter Mary Glenn West, and his beloved black lab Jack. He is also survived by his siblings (and their spouses) – Charlotte Sutton, Woody West, Tommy (Holly) West, Anne (Johnson) Bissette, Buddy (Lisa) West, Kathy West, Joan West (Randy Adams), and Barbara Hearne – and a

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host of nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews.

In his wake, he leaves a legacy of generosity and intentionality. From being the board chair for Hospice of Wake County for two years to being on the chain gang at North Raleigh Christian Academy’s varsity football team, he made time for the things he cared about most and always put his family at the top of that list. No matter how busy his schedule was, he always made it home for dinner and could make you laugh so hard your stomach hurt.

On any given weekend, you could find him and his family on the farm tackling some new project, enjoying a lunch of canned sardines and pork and beans on the tailgate of his blue 1986 Ford pickup truck (the “Blue Mule”), playing pool with the Walk the Line soundtrack playing on loop, and watching an old movie in front of the fire. And on Sunday nights, he made barbeque chicken.

Craig will always be the least retired “retired” person any of us have ever known. He pursued his goals, both personal and professional, with fervor. He was never one for idle hands, and he took great care to instill that same work ethic in his kids. He had held himself and everyone around him to a higher standard, a pillar of which was “do it right the first time.”

Craig and his brother Tommy purchased West Brothers Transfer from their parents in 1974. They grew West Brothers from a small family business into one of Business of North Carolina’s Top 100 Private Companies and Inbound Logistics’ Top 100 Motor Carriers. By the time they sold the business in 2010, they had received awards for their business practices and were considered the safest truckline in North Carolina. Their partnership continued after the sale with short- and long-term storage containers (Containers4Less)

and trailers (West Brothers Trailer Rental). Craig took pride in their commitment to offering quality products for a fair price and their speedy, often same day, deliveries.

Craig was an avid hunter all his life. What started with a love for duck hunting in his youth grew into a pursuit of big game in his retirement. He traveled around the world hunting and fishing, but the trips he cherished the most were the ones he shared with Leslee, the love of his life. In 2019, they spent their 25th anniversary hunting together in Mexico, where he got his recordwinning desert sheep. That same year, he was inducted into Boone and Crockett Club’s Wilderness Warrior Society, which recognizes and honors members’ commitment to wildlife conservation. He was steadfast in his dedication to wildlife conservation and management, and he contributed to organizations that actively prioritized their dedication to the same, chief among which were the National Wild Turkey Federation, Ducks Unlimited, the Wild Sheep Foundation, and Safari Club International.

One of his greatest joys in life was sharing his love and appreciation of the outdoors with the next generation. He always looked forward to youth hunts at Douglas Hill Farm, even after his own kids had aged out. He grounded every hunt and mentorship opportunity in prayer, fellowship, and safety. He was a true sportsman, who loved the Lord and considered it a blessing every time he was outside, surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation. Being a part of so many young hunters’ journeys was a treasure for which he was eternally grateful. WS

Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters Stan Stevens

Jim Bailey

Prof. James Allen Bailey of Belgrade, MT, finally let go the mortal coil on May 30, 2023. He had just finished mowing the lawn and sat down to rest on the back porch to gaze at his “shining mountains,” fell asleep and did not wake up. He died knowing the Cubs had won that day. He was aged 89 years and 16 days. He met his bride, Natalie Ann Jewett, in Syracuse while busing tables at the Savoy Restaurant. He told her his name was George G. George said she believed him for weeks. Jim and Nan

enjoyed travelling the wide-open road in several different motor homes throughout the years and particularly enjoyed the Southwest. He often sang “You Are My Sunshine” to her and she always made sure he had cookies in the cookie jar.

Jim served as a researcher in the Army Chemical Corps when he was drafted in 1960. He began his long career as an instructor of Wildlife Management at the University of Montana in 1964. He then joined the faculty in Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University in Fort Collins where he remained from 1969 until 1991. Upon retiring, he took a position as Assistant Director of Conservation Services at the New Mexico Game and Fish in Santa Fe, serving from 1991 through 1994. He also consulted for several tribes and reservations seeking input on managing their big game populations. Jim and Nan moved to Belgrade in 2005 where he began to study, write about and tirelessly advocate for wild bison.

Jim was the author of several books and numerous publications and articles in the field of wildlife management, including The Principles of Wildlife Management and American Plains Bison, Rewilding an Icon. He and his many graduate students conducted extensive research and collectively contributed many publications while observing bighorn sheep and Rocky Mountain goat populations in Colorado. Jim’s last crusade was as coordinator of the Montana Wild Bison Restoration Coalition, seeking to reintroduce wild bison to the CM Russell Wildlife Refuge.

He was a member of the Colorado and New Mexico chapters of The Wildlife Society, The Gallatin Wildlife Association, a Life Member of the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society, the Desert Bighorn Council and the Northern Wild Sheep and Goat Council. He was also an official member of the Die Hard Cub Fan Club since 1944 and lived to see “the day hell froze over.” WS

Travel & Gear TRAVEL & GEAR

Canada, Alberta

Canada, British Columbia

Backpack Hunts for Bighorn Sheep Foothill hunts for Mule Deer, Whitetail & Black Bear

Sheep • Mt. Goat • Mt. Caribou • Alaska-Yukon Moose

Photo: Tim Shinabarger

Advertiser’s Index

ON THE ADVENTURE TRAIL

by Ken Nowicki

THE COO-COO RAM

“What we have here is a failure to communicate”

— from Strother martin in Cool hand luke

Down at Ruby’s it was story time. My old outfitter friends always have something to hold forth on, and I am always looking for tips on “where” to find big rams. To my frustration, they want to talk about “how” to hunt big rams, and I think I pretty much know all there is to know about that.

“And as the story goes,” intoned Packtrain MacNammee, with 50 years on the guiding and outfitting trails

through the mountains from Alaska to Mexico, “The rams were on a timbered slope, maybe 1500 feet above the valley floor.” He looked at me. “Timber rams are hard to hunt.”

“Were there many,” I asked. “Where was this?” I call it the double entende—sort of a trick by asking two questions in one—I always hope he slips and answers the second.

“Just listen, Boy,” frowned Packtrain. “I’m trying to learn you about how

to hunt sheep—what you need to do when you get rams timbered-up.”

I was fiddling with my new smarter phone—and he is always irritated with cell phones. “I have an app on this and can tell me how far they are and mark it with a GPS pin and calculate the angles and I could probably snipe the ram from the valley if it was only 1500 feet up that mountain.”

“Sure,” chimed in Lead-On Highfee, a venerable veteran of untold ram

hunts as a guide from Pole to Pole, and he says, “What if those rams are screened by trees? You have to know how to stalk them and get up close and personal.”

“I can do that. I leave my guide to spot and I take a map on my phone and use satellites to give me a bird’s eye view. And my spotter can text me directions if the sheep move.” I gave them a smug look.

Just like that, Packtrain had me in

a headlock. He clamped his fist and roared into my ear —“You listen you little smart-ass, and you listen good. You ain’t heared a word I said.”

Lead-On reached over and patted his old friend’s arm like a tap-out in the MMA. He could see my eyeballs were bulging. Then he fixed me with his beady eyes and said, “Them phones need to be banned. It’s not fair chase. Do you hear me?”

I was frothing and spitting and we

were nose to nose. It was revolting because he smelled like chew and a rotten tooth. I was still in the headlock too.

“Everyone has a phone these days,” I gurgled when released. “Mine has a great camera too. I can take a picture right through the spotting scope. I can send it to and expert like you to age and judge the trophy quality. Like if it’s right on the line for legal you can give me an opinion.”

“I seen those kinds of pictures and I ain’t impressed.” Packtrain bobbed like a rooster and just finished establishing the pecking order. “That don’t take any skill.”

“In my hey-days, I was guiding four or five sheep hunts every fall, “Lead-On said. “You had to keep within hailing distance of your hunter. More better, you had your hand on his shoulder steering. Getting in close was the ultimate challenge and timber rams are some of the hardest to hunt.”

“You liked to get your hand right into his pocket,” giggled Packtrain, but Lead-On kept talking.

“Boy,” he continued, “To be both legal and ethical, you can’t use any kind of electronic communication for hunting.”

“Hmmm, but how do you pass a message? Like these days everyone texts, right?”

“You ever heard of semaphore? Everyone should learn how to use it. We learned how as basic woodcraft in the Boy Scouts, back when they was such a fine organization.”

“And Morse code. I learned it when I served in the Forces,” added Packtrain. “These aren’t lost arts

kid. You just might find yourself up the creek without a paddle, with no dumbphone. Maybe you will run out of juice back in the boondocks. What then?”

“I recall the air traffic controller’s strike when Reagan called their bluff. Us old pilots got along just fine. We kept our separation with old-time radio skills. I never even heard of GPS back then.”

“I also remember old Midnight Anderson picking me up on a mountain top. He turned when I flashed him a signal and guess what I used? I used this silver buckle I won riding bronc at the Calgary Stampede.”

Packtrain leaned back in his stool and pulled off his belt, all stained and sweaty and showed me the back made of shining silver. It was a work of art.

Lead-On promptly yarded his own belt off and proudly displaced his sheep buckle won for the biggest ram of the year at the Outfitter’s Annual Shindig. “I done it a time or two,” he said.

“Ok,” I said. “What about timber rams? How do you hunt them?”

“You make like a lizard and crawl. That way you don’t scrape any branches. One time I crabbed half a mile with my hunter. I poked my nose over a rock and there was a ram 40 yards away looking right at me in a little gully. I froze and moved real slow and beckoned with my hand at the sport. Nothing.”

“I give the come-hither signal and

waited and waited. The ram just laid there staring at me. I was pinned.”

“Where was that hunter? I had to roll an eye to the side and back, like a reptile, and I see the guy is about 40 yards up the hill and he can’t see me. I had to get him to look down.”

“Know how? I tried to whistle but there was a big chew right under my upper lip. So, I give a coo-coo-coo like a dicky bird and he looks down and sees me and I’m twirling my hand over my backside to come hither. He’s smart and starts hitching down on his behind and I bend my finger left and then give him the trigger pull sign. He nods and eases up and shoots and bags a huge ram.”

“Wow, wow, wow,” was all I could say. That was a great story.

“Turns out that guy spent time in Vietnam out in the jungle and he and his fellow veterans were experienced at hand signaling. I felt really good about that stalk.”

“Well, thanks, I’ll pay for coffee. Bottom’s up,” I said and I drained my cup and headed for the door to pay by tapping my phone.

I looked back and I didn’t say a word when the old codgers stood up with buckles and belts in hand and had their pants drop to the floor. WS

Editor’s note: Nowicki, lives near Cranbrook, B.C. and learns about the finer points of sheep and sheep hunting from some of the old-time outfitters in the area. He has researched the Bone and Stone Club and googled on his phone for rules on fair chase and found out that Lead-On and Packtrain are correct. It is not fair chase to use any electronic communication during a sheep hunt. He is currently writing an essay with information gleaned from professional guides and hopes to give a seminar at the next Wild Sheep Convention, in Reno.

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