Chelan Butte Disabled Hunt 2015

[Archery King]

That's outstanding!!! Great job!  I saw that ram a couple times this year on my hunt.  Very glad you guys got on him.  I was worries he would be hard to get to for a disabled hunter.

[Ridgerunner]

Good job, those pics bring back some  memories for sure!

[Boss .300 winmag]

I thought they rut in November? 

[quadrafire]

Was he tagged 12 yrs ago during the transplant? What do you think happened to the other tagged animals. Death or dropped tags?  Just curious.
Great story and ending. Congrats to all

[Whitpirate]

Great work Pope.... you are a tireless advocate of sheep here in WA and we are lucky to have you.

Congratulations to the hunter on his lifetime capstone hunt.

[popeshawnpaul]

I thought they rut in November? 

Rocky Mountain bighorn rut in November.   These California bighorn rut earlier in October.   When thinking of mating strategies they time it based on when food is available in the spring.   Our low elevation areas that these Cali rams live in are areas that green up sooner in the spring than the places high in mountains that might still be under snow.  When they drop them in april-may there is plenty of food around.

[popeshawnpaul]

Was he tagged 12 yrs ago during the transplant? What do you think happened to the other tagged animals. Death or dropped tags?  Just curious.
Great story and ending. Congrats to all

Good question because a hunter has never taken them.  I've also never heard of a scull being found either.  I have pics of them all and would likely recognize them if I saw one.  I'm guessing they died of old age or mtn lions.  Last photos I have of a couple of them had them over past Wal-mart 4 years ago.  I doubt any are still alive given the man hours we've put in there and we've not located one.  I haven't heard of any others from other hunters either.

[coachcw]

Congrats to both the hunter and Pope ..... what a success story ... It's impressive to see you Cary through from conception to finish on this hunt .   

[gunnarnewt]

Great story! Congrats to all involved. 

[CAMPMEAT]

Where is Chelan Butte compared to Chelan ?

[DOUBLELUNG]

Congratulations to the hunter and you.

I can clarify a couple of details.  The transplant was in March 2004, and a total of 35 sheep from Clemans were released on Chelan Butte; all were ear-tagged with the white tags, and some ewes were radio-collared.  #19 was the "big" ram released (upcoming 4 yo in 2005, just shy of 3/4), I'm not positive but I think #18 was the 1/2 curl upcoming 3 yo, and there was also an upcoming 2 year old.  The other two ear-tagged rams would have been ram lambs at the release (upcoming yearlings).  The only documented mortality during the early release period was a radio-collared ewe hit by the train near Knapps Hill Tunnel during year one or two.  Most if not all of the transplanted ewes were pregnant, and there was pretty good lamb survival.

Pope is entirely correct that by age 4 or 5 the transplanted ram lambs and those born on the Butte had much larger horns than the three transplanted rams.  I was curious whether the lambs born on the Butte would show better growth than the transplant ram lambs, but wasn't able to keep track past 2006 so never got an answer to that question.     

[bowtech]

Awesome story! I read this last night and thought it was a great story. As luck would have it I skipped work today to take my South Chelan goat into the Vancouver WDFW office. I also let my 6 year old son skip school to come with me and listen to what the biologist had to stay. As we entered the office the biologist was busy helping an elderly man who had shot a sheep. I instantly recognized that it was Dick. My son and I were lucky enough to get a good look at #13 along with some pictures. I believe the biologist aged him at 15 yrs. Again, great story!

[chukarchaser]

way to go Pope.  You did something very special

[GameHunter1959]

Great story..
Love to hear about older hunters harvesting trophy animals. Thanks for sharing..

[popeshawnpaul]

Congratulations to the hunter and you.

I can clarify a couple of details.  The transplant was in March 2004, and a total of 35 sheep from Clemans were released on Chelan Butte; all were ear-tagged with the white tags, and some ewes were radio-collared.  #19 was the "big" ram released (upcoming 4 yo in 2005, just shy of 3/4), I'm not positive but I think #18 was the 1/2 curl upcoming 3 yo, and there was also an upcoming 2 year old.  The other two ear-tagged rams would have been ram lambs at the release (upcoming yearlings).  The only documented mortality during the early release period was a radio-collared ewe hit by the train near Knapps Hill Tunnel during year one or two.  Most if not all of the transplanted ewes were pregnant, and there was pretty good lamb survival.

Pope is entirely correct that by age 4 or 5 the transplanted ram lambs and those born on the Butte had much larger horns than the three transplanted rams.  I was curious whether the lambs born on the Butte would show better growth than the transplant ram lambs, but wasn't able to keep track past 2006 so never got an answer to that question.   

Thanks for the clarification on the details.  I'll try and get a moment to post pics of all the ear tag rams for comparison.  I was able to count 11 growth rings on #13 and it was my understanding he was 3.5 on release based on what Jon told me.  Maybe 14.5 yo?