At sunset on Saturday, a small and enthusiastic group of BHA volunteers joined up with CDFW's Region 6 sheep biologists at the foot of the Marble Mountains in the Mojave for the annual desert bighorn sheep survey. After camping through a windy night, everyone woke to a mercifully overcast morning. Three teams, each led by one of the scientists, were off not long after dawn, and everyone was at their first glassing location shortly after 6 a.m. It didn't take us long to find sheep as we glassed up first one group of over a dozen and then another! Everyone saw at least one sheep, but the moderate low-90s temperature and clouds kept them from congregating at their watering holes. After the morning's activity, the sheep got harder to find. We finally regrouped in the afternoon and compared notes.
BHA volunteers helped CDFW by counting the overall population, identifying sex and age class, and identifying collared individuals with ear tags and VHF. This information, along with trail cam and aerial survey data, will be used by the CDFW biologists to develop management recommendations. These folks work incredibly hard not only to preserve sheep but also to conserve tags and hunter access. The good working relationship between hunters and CDFW is critical to the future of hunting in California and was again on display this weekend. We all had some hard fun and went home knowing more about our bighorn sheep than we did before!
About Joel Weltzien
Joel grew up backpacking and river running in rural Montana, and as an adult began hunting and fishing every chance he got. As California's Chapter Coordinator, Joel seeks to advance diverse coalitions in support of BHA's mission in the Golden State.