NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/760935
DECEMBER 2016 • NEBRASKAland 65 Lincoln, and staff members of the Commission, Bogle set out on his northwestern Nebraska adventure last December. Nebraska bighorn sheep hunters are awarded four nights lodging at Fort Robinson State Park and four days of accompaniment by Commission staff. The staff members help the hunters find a highly sought-after mature ram with trophy qualities, which can sometimes be challenging to identify for those who haven't had bighorn sheep hunting experience. Finding a trophy ram is advantageous for both parties, because those are the animals almost all hunters are seeking, and are also the ones that are best to harvest from a management perspective. Not surprisingly, Nebraska's hunt has developed a reputation for high quality rams. The hunt gives permit holders an opportunity to ask questions and learn about Nebraska's effort to repopulate the species in western regions of the state where they were extirpated largely because of human activity in the early 20th century. Bogle certainly left northwestern Nebraska satisfied. "This whole experience has been outstanding and has exceeded my expectations," said Bogle, who stayed at Fort Robinson State Park and spent an evening and one full day scouting before harvesting a magnificent ram near northwestern Nebraska's most prominent landmark, Crow Butte. "It's given me a greater appreciation for what the Game and Parks Commission does." Bogle's ram was later confirmed as a state record with an official net score of 190 5/8 on the Boone and Crocket scale – a formulation of the horns' length plus four points of circumference. In addition to being a record, it qualified for Boone and Crocket's prestigious "Records of North American Big Game" publication. A Coveted Hunt Barbara Sackman of Long Island, New York, the other 2015 permit holder, was no stranger to bighorn sheep before her trip to the Gering area. Sackman and her husband, Alan, are world-renowned hunters who have received many honors from conservation organizations – the most recent being Barbara's prestigious 2015 Weatherby Hunting and Conservation Award. She won the permit through an auction administered by the Wild Sheep Foundation, one of the conservation organizations that has been integral to Nebraska's sheep reintroduction and management efforts. Nebraska is a coveted bighorn sheep destination for people such as Sackman, a veteran hunter who has especially taken a liking to bighorn sheep hunting and was looking to harvest a specimen from the Rocky Mountain subspecies for the first time. The sheep, harvested at Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area near Gering, was her 29th bighorn and complemented a list that included Himalayan tahr, Barbary sheep and Arabian addax. While the hunts are still in some of Nebraska's most rugged areas, they aren't quite as challenging as those of Hunters fortunate enough to obtain a bighorn sheep permit experience hikes over and around the hills, buttes and escarpments of western Nebraska.