ADBSS

The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society

Dedicated to the Conservation and Population Enhancement of Bighorn Sheep in Arizona.

 

Enter to win one of these coveted Arizona
Special Big Game Tags!

 

Winners of these tags will have 365 days to hunt almost anywhere in the state. The hunting season for all tags is August 15, 2024 – August 14, 2025. Winners will be drawn in July 2024

100% of the proceeds from these raffle prizes will go to on the ground conservation of these magnificent animals!

Enter at ConservationFirstUSA.org

Upcoming Events

ADBSS Board Meeting

April 10th, 2024 – 7:00 p.m – Embassy Suites by Hilton Scottsdale Resort (formerly Chaparral Suites Resort), 5001 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ. Board of Directors meetings are available to all members and anyone interested in bighorn sheep conservation. The meetings are the second Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm (Except December)

Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society Annual Fundraiser 

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

Saturday, May 11th, 2024– Camelback Inn, 5402 E Lincoln Dr. Scottsdale Rd. Scottsdale, AZ

ADBSS Youth Essay Contest

 

It’s back! The Arizona Big Horn Sheep Society is currently sponsoring ten youths to attend the Wild Sheep Foundation/Boone and Crocket Outdoor Adventure Camp at Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Ranch in Montana this summer. The Outdoor Adventure Camps teach young people outdoor skills like shooting, fly-tying and wildlife identification as well as a greater appreciation for conservation and natural resources.  Download the flier HERE.

Upcoming Projects

Our second 2024 project will be Sanmaniego Hills #1 Redevelopment in the N. Silver Bell Mountains the weekend of February 10-11.  Click here: PROJECTS for more information about our 2024 project schedule.  ADBSS members receive project flyers in the mail.  The flyers are posted on the website one week prior to each project’s start date. 

land donation (2)

In The News...

     At the 2022 Wild Sheep Foundation annual SheepShow in Reno, I had a chance to visit with Amber Munig, now retired Big Game Management Supervisor, about the status of the transplant equipment used during Arizona translocations of primarily Rocky Mountain, Desert Bighorn Sheep, and Pronghorn.  Amber shared with me her “wish list” of what she’d like to have available for future work, which included:

  • Refurbishing the existing transplant boxes hauled on a gooseneck trailer. These were originally built by the ADBSS over 40 years ago and donated to the AZGFD.
  • Building (2) new transplant boxes that would fit inside a standard size pickup bed and could hold 4-6 animals. Having individual boxes available helps with quicker transport time by not having to fill up a whole trailer load, and thereby reduces transplant stress.
  • Ordering a new custom trailer with a lower deck height to increase capacity for larger transplant projects and reduce unloading injuries during releases.

     Completing these projects required funding, design work, sourcing a trailer manufacturer, and recruiting volunteers for construction or refurbishing of the existing boxes. 

Click here to read what was accomplished in 2 years!

 

The Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society is actively engaged in trying to convince the Arizona Game and Fish Commission to not disrupt the current Special Big Game Tag (SBGT) program and in particular, not to abandon the bighorn sheep special auction tag element.  A significant portion of the funding for bighorn sheep conservation and management in Arizona comes from auction revenue and we cannot afford to lose upwards of $300K per year on other unproven and experimental ideas.

All members and followers are encouraged to assist us by weighing in and letting your voice be heard by the Arizona Game and Fish Commission.  Please use the ADBSS letter to the Commission as your guide to offering comment and please be as respectful as possible.

Thank You

ADBSS Board of Directors

Your commissioners:

 Commissioner Marsha Sue mpetriesue@azgfd.gov

 Commissioner Jeff Buchanan jbuchanan@azgfd.gov

 Commissioner Clay Hernandez chernandez@azgfd.gov

 Commissioner James Goughnour jgoughnour@azgfd.gov

 Commissioner Todd Geiler tgeiler@azgfd.gov

Bozeman, Montana. April 17, 2020. The Wild Sheep Foundation (WSF), in partnership with Sitka Gear, has produced a new film that, for the first time, takes an in-depth look at what has been killing wild bighorn sheep since the 1930s, and has been slowing efforts to enhance populations of this iconic species.

The culprit is called Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, or M.ovi for short. It is a bacterium carried by some domestic sheep and goats that can lead to respiratory complications and death in wild sheep. M.ovi is not a problem everywhere, or everywhere domestic and wild populations come in contact with each other, but M.ovi has been identified as a pathogen in bighorn sheep pneumonia outbreaks. These outbreaks have resulted in sporadic and, in some places, large-scale all-age die-off events in bighorn sheep, in some cases with mortalities of 70% or more of a given population. What’s exacerbating the problem is these disease episodes also result in low lamb recruitment often for decades.

“Where domestic sheep and goats and wild sheep share the same rangelands, we either have a problem or the threat of problem,” said Kevin Hurley, Vice President of Conservation & Operations for the Wild Sheep Foundation. “Domestic animals can live with M.ovi if they have it, but wild sheep have no immunity to it if they get it.”

Wild & Wool follows researchers and biologists as they monitor the health of bighorn sheep in Idaho’s Hells Canyon and the mountain ranges near Wendover, Nevada, two past and present M.ovi hot spots. The film also brings forward the story of the domestic sheep and wool production industry and the multi-generational family ranches that partially rely on U.S. Forest Service 10-year, term grazing permits.

“As viewers will learn, this is a complex issue,” explained Hurley. “One thing we do know is, with adult mortality rates and poor lamb survival year after year, in wild populations, these infected herds will not last. We can have both on the landscape, wild and domestic sheep, but just not together.”

The film was produced in cooperation with Implement Productions and Foss Media. It has been accepted by the prestigious International Wildlife Film Festival (IWFF), and debuts as a virtual online experience on Saturday, April 18, 2020.

“A whole lot of people are committed to putting more wild sheep on the mountain,” Hurley concluded. “We have the know-how to do that. It’s keeping them on the mountain where M.ovi is making us come up short.”

Help Arizona's Wildlife And Tell The World About It

When you display the Arizona Sportsmen Wildlife Conservation License Plate, you are helping Arizona's Wildlife by supporting the Wildlife Habitat Grant Funds for habitat restoration and Youth Education Programs. When you display the Arizona Sportsmen Wildlife Conservation License Plate, you are helping Arizona's Wildlife by supporting the Wildlife Habitat Grant Funds for habitat restoration and Youth Education Programs. Click Here for more information.