TPWD News Release

AUSTIN, Texas � A ram Stephanie Altimus harvested in the Beach Mountains in early January should stand as the new Texas state record desert bighorn sheep. The record sheep scored 184 points under the Boone and Crockett scoring system following the required 60-day required drying period for scoring purposes.

Trans-Pecos Wildlife Management Areas manager Michael Pittman scored the record ram.

�This is a great ram and it shows just how far the Texas bighorn program has come,� said Pittman.

The record eclipses Terry Fricks� previous state best of 183 5/8 taken on Elephant Mountain WMA two years ago.

Since 1988, when TPWD reinstated hunting for desert bighorns on an extremely conservative basis, approximately 70 permits have been issued. More than half of the rams harvested in Texas have qualified for the Boone and Crockett Club�s big game record book

A ram scoring 179 was also taken this year at Elephant Mountain WMA with a permit donated to the Texas Bighorn Society, which auctioned it off with proceeds going into the bighorn sheep program.

By conducting annual helicopter survey counts, TPWD biologists can ascertain not only how many animals are present, but also if there are surplus bighorn rams that can be harvested through highly conservative hunting opportunities. The most recent survey documented 822 sheep.

This year�s record sheep numbers made possible a record 12 bighorn sheep hunting permits in Texas, well above the previous high of eight permits two seasons ago. Nine of the 12 Texas permits issued this year were for sheep hunts on private land, illustrating how private land stewards are benefiting from the restoration effort.

�To anyone unfamiliar with the Texas bighorn sheep restoration program and big game hunting, the price tag for the right to hunt these magnificent animals may seem inflated,� said Mike Berger, TPWD director of wildlife. �But it�s the cause that fuels the bidding. These folks are investing in conservation.� �In addition�, added Berger, �we regularly offer desert sheep permits through our public hunting program at virtually no cost to reward the hunters of Texas who have supported this restoration program for decades.�

Berger said the decision to offer the permits is based on evidence of additional surplus bighorn sheep observed during the annual aerial census surveys.

Nearly a century ago, wildlife biologists estimated there were about 500 desert bighorn sheep in Texas. Half a century later there were none. Today there are more than 800 of these majestic animals in the state and counting.

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department biologists recently completed their annual desert bighorn sheep counts and report populations continue to expand and flourish after years of restoration efforts.

The desert bighorn sheep was once prominent in the remote mountains of West Texas, with populations of more than 1,500 animals in the late 1800s. Due largely to unregulated hunting, bighorn numbers dwindled to about 500, according to the survey conducted by Vernon Bailey in 1903.

Protective measures for bighorn sheep began as early as 1903 with the enactment of a hunting prohibition; however, changing land use caused numbers to decline to an estimated 35 sheep by 1945. The last reported sighting of a native bighorn sheep occurred in October 1958 on the Sierra Diablo Wildlife Management Area. Biologists believe the last native Texas bighorns were gone by the early 1960s.

Efforts to restore bighorns in Texas began in 1954 with the development of a cooperative agreement among state and federal wildlife agencies and private conservation groups. Through landowner and Texas Bighorn Society support, remote mountains in the Trans-Pecos have been enhanced to meet the basic needs of the desert bighorn, including construction of numerous man-made water guzzlers. These capture the area�s limited rainfall to provide more reliable water sources for sheep and other wildlife.

The Texas Bighorn Society offers online visitors a chance to observe these animals in the wild via a satellite Web camera and a weather monitoring system near one of these �drinkers� atop Elephant Mountain. To view bighorns in action, go to http://www.texasbighornsociety.org/.

In addition to the conservation work by Texas Bighorn Society members, hunter funded initiatives such as the Big Time Texas Hunts, sheep permit auctions, hunting license buyers, and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration federal aid program have provided money for ongoing TPWD research and management efforts.

Wow thats some awesome stuff right there!

WOW...heres a pic:


Stephanie Altimus
Texas Desert Bighorn
Official B&C 184 0/8
NEW TEXAS STATE RECORD
Taken January 8, 2007

holy wow!

Thanks for posting the article JP.

This is one of those stories that I find myself having lots of mixed feelings about.

While it is a major accomplishement by both the public(TP&W) and the private(Texas Bighorn Society and related organizations and private ranchers) sectors in re-establishing these animals in the wild in Texas, it places such a premium on those animals that do become available to be hunted, that the average Texas citizen will never be able to get the chance to hunt one.

I guess that is a really negative way to look at the situation, but it would be nice if they could offer at least one tag yearly, I think they have offered 2 in the past 3 or 4 years, in the Annual Drawings for Hunts on Public Land.

It is something special that so many folks have been committed in helping restore these animals, even folks that know they will never get the opportunity to hunt one.

Good point CHC, I have read alot that the chances of completeing the grand slam for sheep (or whatever they call it) is almost impossible anymore, because it is so hard to get drawn for a desert bighorn anywhere, not just Texas...

Well that is partially correct Chris. It is hard to get drawn for the permits in most areas. That is one of the reasons that average people will not ever get to do it.

For those people making 6+ figure salaries, and those 6+ figures are to the LEFT of the decimal point, they can afford to go the auction route at such things as the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep annual convention. Also, if a person has about 65,000.00 to drop, they can go to Mexico and shoot a Desert Bighorn. The cheapest sheep hunts I have seen are for Dall in Alaska and they are running about 10,000.00.

i do believe the state offers one permit a year thru the texas big time hunts program. before one looks at the price tag for a hunt on one of these animals, they have to also look at the money it took to restore the population to where it is huntable. most of the money came from private landowners and conservation agencies, not license sales.

take for example:

i went to falcon lake on a bass trip on friday. my fishing license for texas cost 40 bucks, in addition to the mexican licese i also had to have, which was $50 dollars. i'm at $90 right there. then count the boat permit which was $55 dollars. so i have to have $135 just in licenses and boat permits just to fish in amistad or falcon. we might make 2 or 3 trips this year. i was kinda miffed about the fact that it cost so much until i got down there and started fishing. shorelines were clean, not alot of trash and the fishing was awesome. i would gladly pay the licese fees every year if thats what it takes to keep the bass population healthy, the gill netters at a minimum, and the lake clean.

restoring the bighorn populations probably took a few million dollars at least, most of it from private monies since the state really did't want to bother with it until private groups made a real effort to stock some sheep purchased with there money. since then the state has stepped it up some. i see no problem with those conservation agencies getting a ton of money from a sheep hunt, not only because they put up most of the cash to start with, but also because there will be a greater percentage of the money going back into the sheep program. i'll probably never hunt a sheep in texas or anywhere else unless i get drawn, but i'd have to start entering the state hunts. be thankful that people with deep pockets take an interst in the sport of hunting, because those same people spend a lot of money in small towns buying groceries and eating meals, tipping guides to help them make a living, and spread alot of money around buying hunting gear that keeps people employed.

Like I said, the program is a good one and I commend everyone involved with the program, but one area where I think you may be off base, is that not all the landowners that have bighorns on their properties and are therefore eligable to receive permits, contributed anything to the program. As the population has grown, it has spread out due to range requirements.

Anyone can rationalize things anyway they choose, I choose not to set and say that, "Well, because of this factor and that factor, things are this way or that way." While a great feat was achieved and a species of native wildlife has been restored to part of its former range, the average Texan will not only never get the chance to hunt one, but for most folks, they will not even get the opportunity to view one in the wild.

Call it sour grapes on my part if you want, but while I do feel that this is an important and historic happening, I can't help but wonder what the re-establishment of these animals actually does for the general population of the state. Just my opinion.

Montana has a particular region with over-the-counter sheep tags. No, not too good to be true! But, yes- there is a catch. VERY difficult terrain. Walk in only. Takes two days to get to the sheep- but they are back there! Check out Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks website for info.

Yep, unlimited bighorn tags.
The only problem is, they sell out a bunch of these otc tags, but set a quota for that unit. So, once that quota is filled, the season ends for that unit. It would suck to be way out in the boonies and then find out the season just ended.

Especially as you are packing out a monster shot the day before! (Ha! Ha!)

There are plenty of sheep back there, just hard to get back there. With sheep hunting, you are going to pay a high price- either $, or blood, sweat and tears!

thats why i don't fancy an elk hunt. once i shoot the dang thing, i gotta pack it out. i can carry a mule deer out alot easier than an elk. i wish they tasted the same though.

Mountain hunting is different, for sure. My favorite kind of hunting.

Its always gloom and doom from CHC...another couple of years and no one will be hunting...How can any hunter / conservationist in Texas knock re-establishing big horn sheep numbers in Texas. I think it is awesome.

I am not knocking the re-establishment of the Desert Bighorn, I am merely pointing out the fact, that the average Texas hunter will never have a chance to actually hunt one.

Is that or is that not a true statement??????

All you folks that look down on me for my gloom and doom attitude, I feel are just kidding yourselves about the future of hunting in Texas.

I have been watching the changes that have taken place for a couple of days now at least. Hunting has gone around the bend, and prices and opportunities are not going to get any better for the average hunter.

If you don't see it that way, that is your perogative, BUT do not accuse me of thinking or feeling that the re-establishment of the Desert Bighorn, is not a great accomplishment.

Gotcha CHC...

Yeah it would be awesome to win the draw hunt but just about as likely as a lotto winner. Awesome to see them coming back even if I will probably never hunt them. Who knows...maybe they will thrive and there will be more permits in the future.

Yes Sir, I agree on the concept of it being great to see them back in the habitat.

As for the more permits coming available, the only way that will happen is if TP&W offers some kind of really impressive incentives to private landowners, or stipulates that out of every so many permits given to private landowners, a certain percentage have to be offered in the drawing system to the general public.

sad to say, as much of a "doom and gloom" preacher he is, does have a good point in the future of hunting. it will become alot more money oriented and the traditional family style leases will give way to 3 and 4 day package hunts, at least in alot of the areas. hate to see it, but unless attitudes change, thats what will happen