| Fall 2007 | Volume 7~
Issue 3 |
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| A
Big Success OR-FNAWS Hold 2nd Annual Big Horn Sheep/Mtn. Goat Orientation Day The scope of the Bighorn Sheep/ Mountain Goat Orientation Day is
to provide to the newly authorized, resident and non-resident sheep
and goat hunters with the most accurate and effective information
that will assist them to scout for, locate, cleanly take, and care
for a Bighorn Sheep or Mountain Goat, in the State of Oregon. They
also heard the importance of their hunting opportunity, OR-FNAWS and
National FNAWS. The attendance and interest shown by the attendees
at the second OR-FNAWS Big Horn Sheep/Mountain Goat Orientation Day
indicates that it was once again a big success. There were a total
of 77 folks in attendance and 60 of those were BHS/ Mtn.-Goat tag
holders or friends and family of tag holders. The interest level was
high as evidenced by the attention paid to the presentations, questions
asked and the networking that took place after the formal agenda.
The program was held at the Oregon Discovery Center in The Dalles,
OR, on Saturday, July 14, 2007. Don South and Vic Coggins were committee
co-chairs. Mike and Ruthie Boethin, Linda South and Robert Welsh coordinated
raffle and registration. |
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12-Year-Old
Wins Sheep Tag Every
year is a lottery when it comes to drawing sheep tags in Oregon. Odds
are on the long side of 100 to 1 that you’ll draw a tag. That means
that most people will never draw a tag. They just won’t live long
enough. Every year, though, 80 or so hunters buck the odds and draw
a tag. This year is special, however, because we have a 12 year old
winner. Deran Dexter, a seventh grader this fall in Baker City, gets to hunt for bighorn sheep in Hell’s Canyon. How lucky is he? If he was a year younger he couldn’t hunt big game in Oregon. You have to be 12. How lucky is he? He was one of three tag winners among 996 applicants for that particular hunt unit. Deran is practicing his marksmanship and getting in “sheep shape.” Hell’s Canyon is a tough place to hunt so we wish him the best. To increase his odds for success, Deran and his father, Jason, attended the Sheep Orientation Conference recently held in The Dalles. This annual event is sponsored by Oregon FNAWS and is attended by prospective sheep hunters (tag holders), guides, ODFW biologists and others interest in wild sheep hunting and conservation. How lucky is Deran? The editor heard that Deran won the door prize at the conference. Yup, pretty darned lucky. Is he old enough to buy a lottery ticket? Deran shot a 176 point ram. The full story and pictures will be in the next issue. |
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| 400,000
Acres for Bighorn Sheep More than 400,000 acres in California’s eastern Sierra Nevada should be set aside as protected habitat for California Bighorn Sheep, according to the federal government. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed critical habitat designation is in response to a lawsuit filed by environmentalists. Before the turn of the last century, there were thousands of bighorns living in the Sierras. Only about 100 survived as recently as 1998. Predation from lions and problems caused by inbreeding contributed to the decline of wild bighorns. Environmentalists, however, pointed to a single controversial issue for creating the protected habitat. The U.S. Forest Service was wrong in its historical decision to allow ranchers to graze domestic sheep on public lands thought to be crucial to wild sheep survival. Domestic sheep not only compete Sheep for the grasses that wild sheep require in their rugged, mountainous habitat, they also spread lethal diseases like pneumonia and scabies to wild herds when they come in contact with one another. Sheepherders and sheep ranchers dismissed assertions that their herd’s proximity to wild sheep played a roll in the decline of California Bighorns in the high Sierra. Once the 417,577 acre proposal becomes final next year, government agencies and private landowners inside the boundaries will have to consult with the Fish and Wildlife to determine whether a specific project, like sheep grazing, will jeopardize the bighorn’s habitat or its recovery. Source: The Associated Press, The Bulletin (Bend) |
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Life
Member Caribou Hunt Every person who pays $500 and becomes a Life Member between the 2007 Banquet and the 2008 Banquet has a chance to win a caribou hunt. Yes, a caribou hunt. Last year five people became life members. Not bad odds if only five people become life members this year. And you can transfer the hunt to someone else. Mike Boethin got his wife to become a life member and yes, he’s the kind of guy who would try and twist poor Ruthie’s arm so he could go on the hunt. It’s for a GREAT cause and a GREAT organization. You’re helping “put sheep on the mountain.” Become a Life Member of Oregon FNAWS and win a caribou hunting trip. The odds are a lot better than drawing a sheep tag like young Deran over in Baker City. (Above Photo: Amy Martin, hunter extraordinaire, and her brother Bryan, who owns Canadian Mountain Outfitters in British Columbia. Amy bagged this very nice Stone Sheep this fall. Amy and Bryan are the children of Lee Martin, past president of Oregon FNAWS, and his wife Cathie.) |
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Linda
South Successful in New Zealand  Every
family has a hunter and in the South Family that would be Linda. She
took Don down to New Zealand and she shot a huge Red Stag. Don was lucky
and did manage to get a nice Tahr up in the high country but Linda’s
smile says it all. |
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| The
Kill: From the 2007 hunting journal of Donn McAdams We woke up to rain and some cold conditions. Mike and I hunted on one quad while John and Pat looked at the face of Mickey Butte from the south. From the start we saw sheep everywhere we looked. It was like the sheep were finally free of the summer heat and they were up and moving. We spotted a really nice chocolate brown ram that was perfect. He didn’t have the mass to be a shooter but he was truly a beautiful animal. 
We moved to another place to spot, a place we named “sheep central”.
We were looking at a number of animals, but the fog and rain had moved
in and it was difficult to get a good look at all the rams through the
spotting scope. We then moved back to a spot that allowed us a view
of the main part of the canyon. My friend John, who is the very best
sheep hunter I know, spotted a really nice ram at about 1 mile out.
We decided he was a good ram and planned our stalk.Pat, Mike and I started up the backside of the ridge the ram was bedded on. Pat is basically part billy goat and I was glad that I had packed that 50 lb. pack around all summer to get in shape. We moved up the ridge about 2 miles when John said, “5 new rams had moved into the basin and one of those was bigger than the original ram we had set out for”. The new group of rams was about 500 yards down from our position and moving briskly up the canyon. About that time a nice ram bolted in front of our position about 745 yards up hill. He looked to be a nice ram, but we did not see him again. My best hunting buddy Mike, had spotted 3 new rams bedded about 1,000 yards up hill and in the canyon to our left. One of the rams really stood out from the rest. The rams were bedded at the base of a rim rock wall that was about 25 feet tall. We now had a terrible problem; we had nice rams all around us. It was awesome. I was doing it in the big with my friends and I had a tag. The other group of 5 was moving away and we just couldn’t keep up with them as they cleared the canyon to our right. We elected to make a move for the 3 bedded rams down and to our left. I was starting to get excited and thinking about that 25 knot wind that was in my face and what impact it could have on my bullet at 300 or 400 yards. We kept moving, constantly scanning for other animals that could blow our stalk and conscious of the wind. We moved up hill from what we thought was the last position of the 3 bedded rams. It was now about 45 minutes later and we had lost sight of them as we moved to get into position. As we started our descent to the top of the rim rock that the rams were bedded under I wondered if they were still there. Mike ranged the limits of our field of view and the farthest possible shot was 218 yards. As we moved to within feet of the top of the rim rock we noticed movement to our left. 4 beautiful California Bighorn sheep were standing broadside at 35 yards. I was already on my shooting sticks with my scope on 3 power. There was one ram that noticeably bigger that the rest. My mind was racing with thoughts. It was the second day of my once in a lifetime hunt and I had a great ram at point blank yardage. I really didn’t know how he would score, I figured 150-165. About then 2 of the rams looked up at us and Mike whispered I would shoot that ram. I said, “Here we go”. I settled my crosshairs behind the ram’s front shoulder firmly on his heart and squeezed the trigger….Boom!! A big cloud of dust erupted from behind the ram and they all bolted. I chambered another round and shot again at the ram, which was now flying. I saw the ram waiver on the second shot and I knew that I had connected. As I chambered another round Pat said, “don’t shoot again he is done”! He was down quickly and humanely. I had a magnificent trophy on the ground. We skinned, caped, quartered the ram. My once in a lifetime hunt was over in a blink of an eye. As we packed the meat out down the canyon 3 miles to the quads all I could think of the journey that I had taken to becoming a Bighorn Sheep hunter. I thought about how I never really ever thought I would draw a tag. I thought about how I had never seen the hunt area, I didn’t even know where the Sheep’s Head Mountains were located. I thought about how my friend Mike had sacrificed time from his busy schedule and drove all night long with a bum trailer to get to our camp. How he broke his Zeiss spotting scope on the trip. I thought about how he helped me as if it were his hunt that we were on. I looked over at Pat and Mike as we packed the meat down the canyon in the dusk of that perfect Eastern Oregon September day. I thought about my wife and my young boys who had been unwavering in their support of my dream. I thought about my mom and dad who really made this thing happen for me. I thought about how they have always encouraged me to be all I can be. I thought about my friend Greg who bent over backwards to help me with my shooting and my gun this summer. I thought about the conversations I had had with my uncle about hunting, shooting, ethics, etc. I thought about how my friend Jeff had introduced me to the best sheep hunter in the state and how he really wanted to be on the hunt with us. I thought about how I was free to hunt because of the sacrifices that have been made by the men and women of the United States Military. People like John and Pat, and I thanked them for my freedom. My hunt is over now in Oregon but I will always be a Bighorn Sheep hunter. And who knows, maybe my sons Morgan and Conner will draw a tag some day and they can be Bighorn Sheep hunters too. I don’t really know but I guess you can always dream... |
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| Research
Progress and Current Research in the Laboratory of Dr. Sri Srikumaran Rocky Crate-FNAWS Endowed Chair, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington  Bighorn
sheep are exquisitely susceptible to toxins secreted by certain domestic
sheep Pasteurellas. Bighorns die of pneumonia because the Pasteurella
toxins kill the protective white blood cells, called PMNs, which “should”
be killing the bacteria. The bacterial toxins kill the PMNs by causing
them to rupture. When they rupture, these PMNs spill the bacteria-killing
chemicals they contain, directly into the bighorn’s lungs. These chemicals
lead to pneumonia because, once outside of the white blood cells, they
damage the bighorn’s own lungs. Death soon follows. Dr. Srikumaran’s initial research efforts compared the responses of bighorn and domestic sheep PMNs to domestic and bighorn sheep Pasteurella toxins. His initial supposition was that the bighorn’s white blood cells were more susceptible to the Pasteurella toxins because their cell membranes have more “docking sites” for the bacterial toxins than white blood cells from domestic sheep. Through a series of elegant experiments on the leading edge of molecular biology, Dr. Srikumaran’s results showed the difference between domestic and bighorn sheep susceptibility to Pasteurella pneumonia was not in the number of toxin-receiving sites on the white blood cell surfaces. He has also shown that the increased susceptibility of bighorn PMNs to the toxin is not due to the difference in the chemical structure of the receptor (docking site) of bighorns compared with domestic sheep. Dr. Srikumaran’s current approach to this question involves comparisons designed to see if the white blood cell membranes of domestic sheep are inherently tougher than those of bighorn sheep. On another front, Dr. Srikumaran has identified a particularly nasty strain of Pasteurella that caused no signs of disease at all in domestic sheep, but killed bighorn sheep within 24 hours. This discovery is important for unraveling the mystery of disease transmission from domestic to bighorn sheep because it makes a “smoking gun” experiment possible. To establish definite proof of transmission, Dr. Srikumaran and his team will isolate this Pasteurella from the tonsils of healthy domestic sheep. Then the bacteria will be tagged with a green fluorescent protein that will be passed on genetically. These “green-tagged” bacteria will then be put back into the healthy domestic sheep. If they continue to do well, these healthy domestics will be penned with bighorns. If the bighorns die as expected, successful isolation of “green-tagged” bacteria from the dead bighorn sheep should irrefutably demonstrate that the killers came from the domestic sheep to the bighorns and killed them. These experiments will take about two years, and if they show that killer bacteria are transmitted from domestic to bighorn sheep, it should end the debate about transmission of killer bacteria from the domestic to the bighorn sheep under penned conditions. Several other experimental approaches are planned for the future to understand the reasons for the increased susceptibility of bighorn sheep to pneumonia. In the longer-term future, Dr. Srikumaran’s team will also focus on non-domestic pneumonia die-offs in bighorn sheep. Understanding of these processes at the cellular level is necessary if we are ever to understand whether a control measure (perhaps a vaccine-sort of approach) is even possible. |
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| THIRD
ANNUAL THISTLE CUT ON LOWER DESCHUTES A HANDS-ON PROJECT JUNE 9-10,
2007 By Robert Welsh  A group of 12 hardy souls performed Scotch Thistle eradication on the banks of the Lower Deschutes River the weekend of June 9 and 10. This is the third year that OR-FNAWS has participated in this hands-on project. The host/sponsor of the project was again Keith Kohl who is the District Wildlife Biologist for the Mid-Columbia District of ODF&W. Keith, with assistance from ODF&W employees Jeremy Thompson and Stephanie Jenkins did a fine job of hosting the event and providing an excellent camp dinner on Saturday night. Two rubber rafts and a drift boat manned by 8 folks put in the Deschutes at Macks Canyon on Saturday morning and headed downstream chopping thistles as they went. The other four individuals ferried vehicles to the takeout point and brought in gear and set up camp at the halfway point. The thistle cutting is a habitat enhancement for Big Horn Sheep as well as other wildlife. The trip has an added benefit as there was the opportunity to view many Big Horn Sheep rams, ewes and lambs. About halfway between Macks Canyon and the mouth of the Deschutes, a camp was set up near the old Harris homestead. It was a cool and wet day and with the boaters coming in wet from the rapids, the campsite and excellent BBQ meal was a welcome respite. On Sunday morning, Keith took the group up river for some more Big Horn Sheep viewing and he did not disappoint the crew as many were sighted. After the viewing, the boats and crew went on down the river to the mouth at the Columbia, cutting thistles as they went. Keith had warned that it “had been a good year for the thistles” and the participants confirmed that it was. Many shovels were dulled and blisters were formed. It was recognized that it would take many days to get them all. The participants besides Keith, Jeremy and Stephanie included George Houston, Brian Hoge, Larry Jacobs, Mike Town, June McAdams, Brent Tannock, Tom Peterson, Dave Geelan and Robert Welsh. |
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Alec
Fransen’s Youth Hunt Alec
Fransen, has returned from Alaska and a successful hunt. It might not
have turned out the way he would have liked but in his words, “It was
the hunt of a lifetime.” Here’s what he had to say: “Thank you so much for organizing the dall sheep hunt in Alaska last month. We had a great time climbing the hills and looking for sheep but it was extremely difficult. We saw rams every day but we never did find a legal ram. We were unable to hunt the first 2 mornings because the fog was so heavy and our guide felt that the legal rams slipped out of the area in the fog. Luckily the caribou started to move through our base camp when we were there so after 4 tough days of looking for sheep we made a stalk on a herd of caribou. I was lucky enough to shoot a nice bull. The average caribou for that area was 320 and our guide scored him at 360. The trip was unbelievable and the guys at Deltana were the best. The country was great and my dad and I had a super time together. Thanks again for all your work setting up the hunt. It really was a trip of a lifetime. Sincerely, Alec Fransen.”  |
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| Oregon
FNAWS 2007 Project Summary A. #07-66: WA State University-BHS Research $5,000.00 This is an ongoing project for the continuing support of various Bighorn Sheep related research projects at the Veterinary Medical Clinical Diagnostic Research Laboratory, College of Veterinary Medicine, in Pullman, WA. Related to the Rocky Crate Endowed Chair funded separately by National FNAWS. B. #07-67: Nez Perce Tribe-BHS Collaring and monitor $2,000.00 This is a new project request from the Nez Perce Tribe. The request is for collaring BHS on the Salmon River in Idaho. The central elements of the project will be collaring, monitoring, data analysis, report writing and support activities. This research will supplement existing research for BHS in Hell’s Canyon. C. #07-68: ODF&W, purchase of med. salt for BHS $2,700.00 This is an ongoing project request for several geographical areas throughout the State of Oregon. The salt is impregnated with dewormer (Fenbendazole) to hopefully keep lungworm levels low in BHS, in the targeted regional areas. Salt to be distributed by helicopter or other available transportation modes. The “target areas” that are proposed are: Lower Deschutes River, Lower John Day River, Aldrich, Mc Clellan, Steens Mtn., and Hart Mtn. D. #07-69: ODF&W, purchase satellite cell phone $1,250.00 In direct support of project #07-71, this project had received prior approval of the Project Committee and Board, but because of budget reductions, Walt Van Dyke did not implement the purchase. The funding for a field monitoring technician has apparently been restored to the budget. The project request has been re-authorized. ODF&W agrees to pay for activation fee and monthly user fees. To enable communications in extremely isolated areas. E. #07-70: ODF&W, purchase Radio Telemetry Recvr. $868.90 In direct support of project #07-71, this project had received prior approval of the Project Committee and Board, but because of budget reductions, Walt Van Dyke did not implement the purchase. The funding for a field monitoring technician has apparently been restored to the budget. For telemetry receiver, Yagi antenna, headphones, and rapid battery charger. F. #07-71: ODF&W, Leslie Gulch Surviv. Study $5,250.00 This project had received prior approval of the Project Committee and Board, but because of budget reductions, Walt Van Dyke did not implement the purchase. The funding for a field monitoring technician has apparently been re-stored to the budget. Proposal is to capture, collar, monitor and document BHS activities. 30 BHS ewes in Leslie Gulch (12/07-01/08) Samples also collected at time of capture for continued genetic analysis and genetic diversity. G. #07-72: ODF&W, Lower Deschutes Surviv. Study $5,950.00 The proposal is for the purchase of two GPS radio collars. (The funding request is contingent upon OHA not funding said purchase) OR-FNAWS will be in a back up position to OHA for funding purposes. This is for a survivability study of BHS in the Lower Deschutes River canyon to monitor and document the mortality factors for depressed/ stressed BHS populations. |
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| President's
Message As you read these words, I am confident that each of you are heavily involved with the hunting end of the pursuit. Continued best of luck, shoot straight, be safe, and enjoy. In looking back now upon our Second Annual Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goat Orientation that members of the Oregon Chapter facilitated this past July 14th, WOW! What a terrific job you folks did to make this program work so well! Thanks very much to Don South and his entire planning team for all of the hard work that they put in. I have had a number of very nice compliments from the tag holder/participants and their families for the value of the program and process. For the terrific information that you folks provided! Jeff and Jordan Beherns are only the first of hopefully many successful BHS and Goat tag recipients. 171+ green score on a hunt in the Southeastern area! Thanks also to Craig Foster for all of the personal assistance that he provided. I am hopeful that both Jeff and Jordan will be OR-FNAWS active members for a long time to come! We have already reserved the Discovery Center in The Dalles for our Third Annual Orientation Day next year! The NEPA process that relates to BHS grazing allotments is grinding on. With two meetings under their belt, Vic Coggins and Craig Ely of ODF&W seem to be very effectively working to represent the best interests for BHS in the Hell’s Canyon metroplex! Thanks for the extra efforts. We have representatives from Oregon, Idaho, Washington Wildlife agencies, the wildlife representatives from the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Shoshone-Bannock, Shoshone-Paiute tribes are also represented. All of this facilitated by the planning staff of the Payette National Forest, in Mc Call, Idaho! We will try to update you regularly of progress made! I would ask that each of you take time at every available opportunity, to recruit new members to our organization. The only way that the many valuable tasks are accomplished is with the ambition and dedication of a member who really cares! Who continue to try to make things better for the folks that will follow! I look forward to seeing you all at the Winter Board Meeting, Saturday, January 12, 2008, in Portland. We are currently working on a location! Thanks, George |
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| Strawberry
Mountains Get Goats The Strawberry Mountains just south of Prairie City in Grant County recently received a transplant of 13 mountain goats. In early August these goats were captured in the Elkhorn Mountains Northwest of Baker City. Two of the 13 goats are going to get special treatment. As readers of this newsletter should know, goats like to wander. There are 15 or so goats already in the Strawberry Mountains and they got there on their own. Where did they come from? Nobody knows for sure. And that gets us back to the two special goats involved in this transplant. They are each going to receive $5,700 radio collars that have Global Positioning System or GPS capabilities. These collars can pinpoint a goat’s position every half hour, every three hours or whenever the biologist wants. These collars can also record temperatures. After a couple of years, biologists will have mountains of data to analyze. And they’ll know where these goats wander if they decide to look for steeper mountains and greener pastures. With the success of transplants and with goats’ ability to colonize new habitat on their own the future looks bright for mountain goats in Oregon. We full expect to have a goat tag available in The Strawberry Mountains within a few years. Oregon FNAWS supports mountain goats in Oregon and ODFW conservation efforts by purchasing radio collars, capture nets and other items that assist mountain goat transplants and mountain goat research. |
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| Donations
for 2008 Banquet Donations for 2008 Banquet Banquet Chairman Mike Boethin has received three rifles and a 3X9 scope for next year’s Banquet and Fundraiser. “Lucky” Sam Mason has decided to share some of his good fortune and donate back a Browning Stainless A-Bolt in .270 WSM, a rifle he won at the 2007 Banquet. He is also donating a Cabela’s 3X9 scope. Tom Thomsen is donating a .257 Weatherby with a 4 1/5 to 14 Zeiss scope attached. He is also donating a Henry lever action .22. To make our Banquet and Fundraiser successful and help “put sheep (and goats) on the mountain” we need lots of donations. You can help. To make a donation please call Mike Boethin at 541 385-8808 or email him at mikebo@bendbroadband.com |
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John
Day Polaris  John
Day Polaris in John Day, Oregon just might be the best place in Oregon
to buy an ATV. Greg Haberly and his crew are dedicated to giving you
the best price and best service for the best ATV’s. From rugged,
powerful workhorse ATV’s for the ranch or hunting to sport ATV’s
built for speed to ATV’s for the kids you can’t go wrong.
Greg will treat you right.Greg is a hunter and fisherman and a great supporter of conservation, particularly when it comes to an organization like Oregon FNAWS. He has helped Oregon FNAWS with fundraising by providing an ATV for our Banquet ATV raffle. Through the years the ATV raffle has generated thousands of dollars for sheep conservation and “putting sheep and mountain goats on the mountains” here in Oregon. If you are looking for an ATV, give Greg a call and show your support for a business that supports Oregon FNAWS. John Day Polaris; Greg Haberly; John Day, OR; (541) 575-0828  Information
about upcoming FNAWS events can be found on our Events
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