Dec 22, 2010: Ramming Texas

[xoxoxoBruce]

This is the extreme, most photogenic, part of the reintroducing Bighorn Sheep in Texas.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's capturing bighorn sheep with a helicopter and transporting them to the Big Bend State Park as part of a project ironically funded by hunting the sheep. Everything's bigger and better in Texas, even environmentalism.

Hunting provides most of the money to restore bighorns and their habitat. Every year the Wild Sheep Foundation and Dallas Safari Club auction permits to hunt wild bighorn sheep in Texas, which sell for $70,000 to $115,000 per permit. Money raised goes to support research and habitat management for Texas bighorn restoration.
The last two years Texas has issued 16 sheep hunting permits annually. Permits depend on annual population surveys and are issued for state and private lands where harvestable rams are observed. A harvestable ram is an older, 7-to-12 year old male that has "done his thing" and is deemed surplus to the population.

A lot of people are unaware of the extra taxes tacked on to all hunting and fishing supplies, which are use for state and federal wildlife programs. Without those taxes from sportsmen, many environmental programs would disappear.

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