GEORGETOWN, Colo. – Few animals evoke Colorado’s rugged and unforgiving mountains like the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Yet the vertical terrain that keeps sheep safe from predators also limits opportunities for Coloradans to view and appreciate Colorado’s state animal.

A happy exception for wildlife watchers is Georgetown, where the Colorado Division of Wildlife is finalizing preparations for the 4th Annual Georgetown Bighorn Sheep Festival.  Sponsored by DOW, the Town of Georgetown and Great Outdoors Colorado, the festival is timed to coincide with the sheep’s head-banging mating season. This year’s event will take place the weekend of November 14-15.

Georgetown is one of the few places in Colorado you are almost guaranteed to see bighorn sheep, particularly during breeding season in November and December, said Mary McCormac, Education Coordinator for the northeast region at the DOW.  Every year we’ve been fortunate to introduce the public to the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, from our Wildlife Viewing Area.  The sheep always put on a good show and an educational and fun time is had by all!

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DE BEQUE, Colo. – Three energy companies are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the person or persons responsible for the poaching of a bighorn sheep ram north of De Beque.

On Friday, Oct. 30, investigators with the Colorado Division of Wildlife were notified that a quarter-curl bighorn ram had been poached on private land. Information from people in the area and evidence collected at the scene indicate that the bighorn sheep ram was likely shot between Sunday, Oct. 25 and Tuesday, Oct. 27 by a single shot to the neck. The poacher made no attempt to salvage meat from the animal or to take the head or horns.

“This is the worst kind of poaching case,” said Albert Romero, District Wildlife Manager for the De Beque district. “It appears that someone just shot and killed this animal for no reason at all.”

Chevron, EnCana and Williams have committed a total of $10,000 to the Division of Wildlife reward fund for information that leads to a conviction in this case. Additionally, Operation Game Thief has offered a $1,000 reward and Colorado’s TIPS program may provide tipsters with a bighorn sheep hunting license in exchange for testimony in the case.

The ram, which was part of the De Beque Canyon bighorn sheep herd, had recently wandered into the Kimball Creek area west of Roan Creek Road (Garfield County Road 204). The ram was frequently seen and photographed by area residents and energy workers who travel the road up Kimball Creek. The ram carcass was discovered on private property owned by Chevron.

Criminal charges in this case could include trespassing, illegal possession of wildlife, waste, felony willful destruction, and hunting in a closed unit. If convicted of all charges, the perpetrator in this case could face up to five years in jail and more than $100,000 in fines. Upon conviction the person would also face suspension of their hunting privileges in Colorado and 30 other states.

Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep are the official state animal of Colorado and they appear on the seal of the Colorado Division of Wildlife.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact Operation Game Thief at 877-265-6648. Callers wishing to remain anonymous can qualify for up to $1,000 in reward funds; however tipsters must be willing to testify to qualify for energy company reward funds or TIPS licenses. Operation Game Thief is a program that works with the Division of Wildlife to provide rewards for information in poaching cases. TIPS is a DOW program that provides hunting licenses or preference points for sportsmen who provide information in poaching cases.

Editor’s note: A Chevron employee snapped a photo of the ram days before it was poached. A copy of the photo is available at http://wildlife.state.co.us/apps/ImageDB/ImageDownload.aspx?ImageId=25530&ImageSize=Print&ImageType=JPG

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

The Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks Commission recently selected four organizations to auction the 2010 bighorn sheep, mountain goat, moose, elk and deer hunting licenses. The annual hunting-license auctions raise funds for big game management efforts in Montana.

The Wild Sheep Foundation will conduct the bighorn-sheep license auction at its annual convention set for Feb. 4-6, 2010 in Reno, Nev.   Earlier this year, the high bid for the 2009 bighorn sheep license was $245,000. The Wild Sheep Foundation has a long history of hosting the auction license and for assisting states with wild sheep management, including financial assistance with the production of Montana’s first bighorn sheep conservation strategy.

The Great Falls Chapter of Safari Club International will conduct the auction for Montana’s mountain goat hunting license at its annual event in Great Falls. Over the past eight years, SCI has raised about $145,000 for conservation and recently contributed nearly $20,000 for mountain goat trapping and transplanting to the Ear Mountain area west of Choteau along the Rocky Mountain Front.

The elk and moose licenses will be auctioned by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation at its annual Elk Camp set for March 4-7, 2010 in Reno, Nev. The RMEF’s three-year average auction price for the elk license is $20,000. RMEF has provided funding for more than 600 conservation projects in Montana.

The Mule Deer Foundation, at its annual convention scheduled for Feb. 11-14, 2010 in Salt Lake City, will host the deer-license auction. The Mule Deer Foundation generated $13,500 for the 2008 deer auction license and has provided more than $5,000 to mule deer related enforcement efforts in Montana in 2009.

Hunters have until Thursday, April 30, to apply for moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat controlled hunts in Idaho.

Apply at Fish and Game offices or license vendors, or apply using a credit card by telephone or over the Internet. Telephone applications may be made at 1-800-554-8685; Internet users may apply through Fish and Game’s Web site at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.

Read the full article here.

The Arizona Game and Fish Commission approved the remaining big game fall hunting seasons for deer, turkey, javelina, bighorn sheep, buffalo, bear and mountain lion at its April 18 meeting in Phoenix.

The application deadline to apply for a hunt permit-tag is Tuesday, June 9 by 7 p.m. (MST), Postmarks do not count, and there is no online process available. You can start applying once the regulations are posted on the department’s Web site at www.azgfd.gov/draw.

Draw application instructions, season dates, permit numbers, hunt numbers and other draw related information will be published in the 2009-2010 Arizona Hunting and Trapping Regulations booklet that should be available for download at www.azgfd.gov/draw the last week in April. Printed copies of the booklet should be available at all Department offices and license dealers statewide no later than the second full week in May. To apply for a 2009-10 fall hunt permit-tag, paper applications must be used – no online application service is available.

Applicants should note, there is a new P.O. Box for submitting hunt permit applications and the new address should be reflected on the new envelopes. The new address is Arizona Game and Fish Department, Attn.: Drawing Section, PO Box 74020, Phoenix, AZ 85087-1052. However, applications mailed to the old address will be automatically forwarded to the new address.

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Montana’s annual hunting regulations are available. Finally. The long-awaited, 120-page, deer, elk and antelope regulations arrived Monday, March 30, at Fish, Wildlife and Parks offices. They should also be at license agents throughout the state. Arriving at the same time were the smaller, 40-page, moose, bighorn sheep and mountain goat regulations.

The deadline to apply for moose, bighorn sheep, bison and mountain goat licenses is May 1; for deer and elk permits and antelope licenses the deadline is June 1.

Almost a third of the bighorn rams that hunters have taken over the past three years in Montana qualify for the Boone and Crockett Club scoring system record book.

Hunters and conservationists interested in sheep say that makes Montana one of the best, if not the best place to hunt trophy bighorns.

See six record rams taken last year in Montana and read about a record ram taken during an undercover operation by FWP and a new plan to manage the sheep in Thursday’s outdoor section.