2018 was a challenging year for me as there was a major road construction project on all four sides of my business. I like to think that with each challenge an opportunity presents itself. While the road construction brought decreases in sales and major annoyance daily, it did bring many opportunities for growth. I also like to think the good Lord rewarded my patience with the situation as I drew a moose tag in area 250!

Area 250 is the West Fork of the Bitterroot River south of Darby. Only one moose tag is given in the area each year, so I was pretty excited and humbled to draw the tag. It was a great adventure as I put in nearly 30 days scouting and hunting with my father-in-law. He was a trooper as I made him walk a couple of hundred miles, ride over 100 miles on horseback, and we spent over 2000 miles in the truck searching relentlessly for a moose. We found one spike on opening day, so I was pretty sure we’d find a mature bull no problem. I was wrong. It took many dedicated days of covering the same ground over and over as well as venturing into new territories. I was ready to call it quits on the last day and told my father-in-law I was done and needed to dedicate myself back to work. We were blessed to find a 42” mature bull early on October 14th. It was also a blessing that my father-in-law was able to go back to his cabin nearly 10 miles away and get his two sons to come and help. That was the greatest blessing – as my two brothers-in-law made quick work of packing out all of the moose with a sled. Dealing with the challenges, drawing the tag and bagging the moose taught me that opportunity truly does come when challenges present themselves. I wanted to give up many times, but I’m glad I didn’t.

That brings me back to our mission to put and keep wild sheep on the mountain. Even though the progress seems to come at a glacial pace, we must stay the course to achieve conservation success for this marvelous species. While we were scouting for moose, we were able to view three different wild sheep herds in the area. All of the 250 wild sheep are doing well. One of the herds spends most of its time in the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness. It was so rejuvenating to be able to watch the young lambs play on the cliffs. As you will read later in this newsletter, Montana Wild Sheep Foundation (MTWSF) was able to fund a sheep capture and study in area 250 (West Fork). Area 250 hasn’t experienced a wild sheep die off, and the hope is to learn why. Are those sheep tougher? They do like to hang out on the road, so we know they are not skittish! Are the minerals and pH of the soil in the area making the wild sheep healthier and more able to ward off disease? We don’t know, but hopefully, some of the data gathered during the study will give us some clues to help perpetuate area 250 wild sheep as well as other wild sheep throughout Montana and beyond.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for March 9, 2019 to attend the MTWSF Wild Sheep Fundraiser at the Big Horn Resort in Billings.

Shane Clouse
Montana Wild Sheep Foundation President

shane@shaneclouse.com | (406) 370-4487

The Blessing and the Curse of your Dream Tag

Story by: Jim Blow

Hello, my name is Jim and my sickness “Sheep Fever” started back in the late 90’s. I had just come back from a trip to the top of Mt. McKinley (Denali Now). That’s when I met Jack Atcheson, Jr. Jack Jr. informed me that I had the making of a sheep hunter “Strong Back, Weak Mind”. Referring of course, to why anyone would spend 43 days on Mt. McKinley when there are no sheep there???

Read the whole article in the MWSF_Newsletter_Winter_2019

Painted Rocks Herd Capture

Story by: Rebecca Mowry, Biologist, Region 2 MT FWP

On December 13, 2018, Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks veterinarians, biologists, and game wardens, along with a contingent of volunteers, captured bighorn sheep in the Painted Rocks herd (Hunting District 250, West Fork) for disease testing and collaring.

Read the whole article in our MWSF_Newsletter_Winter_2019