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 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 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 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