Bighorns Have Intrigue

Wildlife

Each year, a few hunters will spend more than $200,000 at a special auction for the guaranteed chance to hunt bighorn sheep in a Western state.

States donate tags which are auctioned by the North American Foundation for Wild Sheep to raise money for bighorn relocations and research. The auction works because bighorns are coveted by hunters who are willing to pay a fortune to hunt them.

But hunters aren’t the only ones who benefit from bighorn management.

Interest is keen in Colorado, where state wildlife officials installed a viewing station at the edge of a winter pasture along Interstate 70 near Georgetown.

In the first 19 months after it was built, 32,000 people put quarters in spotting scopes just to try to see a bighorn.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rich Landers The Spokesman-Review