Tranquille Sheep Transplant

[David Heitsman]

I have just returned from the third transplant co-ordinated largely by members of the Wild Sheep Society. This year we moved sheep to the Big Bar area.

The capture amount was 19 with perhaps one ram lamb and the rest ewes.

Special thanx to all the volunteers that made our job easy. That was the smoothest sheep processing system I'd ever seen and the government officials verified that at the debriefing.

CFJC TV was there so watch for the story on your local newscast perhaps even tonight.

[Will]

Heard it went Great !
I wanted to be there but had to work......:cry:

Many Thanks to those that did though...Hats Off ! :smile:

[one-shot-wonder]

Wasn't this a 2 day outing? Are you transplanting any more?

I heard if there was any leftovers they were gonna try and plant some additional sheep in OK Mt. park?

[kennyj]

Good work David.I'd like to help out on a transplant project one day.
kenny

[scallywag]

OK mountatin PARK??? your messing me ... my girlfriend took a pic of a of what i call a 3/4 curl ( not a sheep hunter ) near the park..

[scallywag]

my bad you said additional..

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Wasn't this a 2 day outing? Are you transplanting any more?

I heard if there was any leftovers they were gonna try and plant some additional sheep in OK Mt. park?

If they catch any tomorrow they are coming this way. I've got a key and will be letting them in through the Ranch in the north end of Naramata. Much cheaper than renting a barge or helicopter.

I'm heading out there tomorrow early am to thin out any yotes that I can find....and hit.

OSW-You available??

SSS

[one-shot-wonder]

I am not....too bad I would love to come give a hand.

Might try to get out on dog patrol on Sunday though! Here's to hoping!

Good luck on the release tomorrow!

Do sheep like ice wine?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Do sheep like ice wine?

Nope but elk do:frown:.


Glad the capture went smoothly!!:cool:
Good work to all those invloved!!

SSS

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Dang! Just caught the tail end of the story on CHBC News. There were already more sheep under the net as soon as it was reset. We could see some action tomorrow.
Keep our fingers crossed!

SSS

[Dirty]

Dang! Just caught the tail end of the story on CHBC News. There were already more sheep under the net as soon as it was reset. We could see some action tomorrow.
Keep our fingers crossed!

SSS

You thin out the 'yote yet?

[Caveman]

There was a good representation of HBC members there as well

Pictures sure to follow shortly

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You thin out the 'yote yet?

Unfortunately there wasn't much notice that it was "going down". I know a couple of cat hunters that would have liked to head in there to make sure the environment was "hospitable" for the new arrivals:wink:.
Not much access, though.

SSS

[Jelvis]

--Nice to see Doug Jury there on Kammy tv. He's one, if not the best biologists in the business. Good old Doug, let's hope he stays around for a while, he does good things for wildlife and hunters in dah loops area.
Jel---Doug Jury---The best wildlife bio in the business!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

--Nice to see Doug Jury there on Kammy tv. He's one, if not the best biologists in the business. Good old Doug, let's hope he stays around for a while, he does good things for wildlife and hunters in dah loops area.
Jel---Doug Jury---The best wildlife bio in the business!

I believe he's retiring very soon.

SSS

[mark]

Was another good day, went so smooth it was over before I knew it. I also went to the release site today and I can say that they have a pretty sweet new home!

[oscar makonka]

[quote=David Heitsman;394727]I have just returned from the third transplant co-ordinated largely by members of the Wild Sheep Society. This year we moved sheep to the Big Bar area.

quote]

I remember when we did the very first sheep society transplant, it was removing sheep from Big Bar transplanting them to Seton lake. How are those sheep doing.

[David Heitsman]

Oscar

There was an aerial count a couple years ago and another under consideration. I'm not sure of the numbers or trends. I'll try to find out for you.



As to the OK mountain transplant today.(Saturday) I didn't mention it as there was to many people at the Friday drop and we didn't need any more publicity.

[whitetailsheds]

Too much help? That's nice to hear rather than the alternative. Would have liked to been down that way myself. Good on everyone that participated!

[ruttinbuck]

Capture is done,15 ewes and lambs on their way to the Okanagan.
Jury wants to wait a couple of weeks and drop the net again.RB

[ElkMasterC]

How does one get involved in volunteering?

I'd love to help out if work permits. For this or elk, or whatever. We should all try to do a little. PM me if I can help out!
EMC

[Caveman]

Got my son involved this year, and he loved the experience. How many 14 year olds get to do something like this. Pretty special!! Something he'll remember forever

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c247/cavemn94/102_0842.jpghttp://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c247/cavemn94/102_0843.jpg

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Aside from having to chain up, everything went smooth on this end. Used up almost all available daylight....so my camera had a tough time with the fading light. I did get some good video footage.

Headed up there a few hours before the sheep were on their way to see what was going on in that neck of the woods...and to thin out any yotes that were dumb enough for me to catch.
Saw two rams, one of which had a blue ear tag from the last transplant but could not get close enough to tell the number.

Got some yotes howling at me but they would not budge so I had to hike up towards them. I set up on a small bluff over looking an open steep draw.
Tried calling but nothing was biting. I sat still for 1/2 an hour or so when suddenly a herd of 10 mulies came bouncing over the ridge. I knew something had to be hot on their heels and sure enough 4 yotes came running over the hill. Ended up getting just one:roll:.
Hiked down to the yote and saw these tracks(.270 shell)
Hope he doesn't like mutton.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/2009_Ok_mtn_transplant_001.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12431&size=big&cat=500)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/2009_Ok_mtn_transplant_002.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12432&size=big&cat=500)

I think I got one of the smallest
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/2009_Ok_mtn_transplant_003.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12433&size=big&cat=500)

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/2008_OK_mtn_transplant.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12434&size=big&cat=500)

Hopefully these lambs and the new arrivals this spring will do fine. Heard that lamb survival with the last transplant has been an issue.

SSS

[Caveman]

Hopefully these lambs and the new arrivals this spring will do fine. Heard that lamb survival with the last transplant has been an issue.

SSS


Maybe you could host a couple HBC predator shoots, SSS

[Dirty]

Great job on the 'yote SSS. I would love to come up and shoot some dogs. Looks like there were quite a few kids at the capture. Great to see kids involved.

[one-shot-wonder]

One out of four aint bad SSS..... atleast there is one less deer/sheep terrorist running on that hill!!

Looks like a nice track you cut there.....Geez sure hope he doesn't clean up on the newly transplanted sheep this winter!

I would love to go on a dog shoot, HBC endorsed or not!:p

[ruttinbuck]

zome pics from the capture.RB
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0549.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0550.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0553.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0560.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0561.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0551.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0555.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0562.jpg
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f217/ruttinbuck/sheep%20transplant/IMG_0546.jpg

[bighornbob]

Well as others have said the transplant was a great success. First off on behalf of the Wild Sheep Society, I would like to thank all the volunteers who came out from the Kamloops fish and game club and the Wild Sheep Society, ministry staff, and local first nation groups. There were also few HBC members present for at least one of the days. The ones I knew and or met included David Heitsman, Ruttinbuck, Kirby, Mark, KevenB, Ramshot, Caveman, MainlandHunter (who drove up from the coast the morning of), StoneSheepSteve (who helped with the release in OK park). I am sure there were others as there were close to 100 people I would figure.

As someone else said it is great to get this many people out. Actually I had to turn down people as I knew we would have more then enough volunteers. This is something I hated to do but the vet said too many people standing around talking can really stress the animals out. So we had to think of the sheep safety first.

To give some background of the transplant the tranquille area has close to 150 sheep in it. We had about 75 at the bait at one point and I counted close to 50 rams on my way out to the bait site. These rams never came to the bait. These are just sheep we saw from the truck, no real glassing of the hills. We set up the poles and guy ropes on Dec 20 and placed out some bait. Once again I would like to thank the guys that came out in near -20 temps to help put up the poles. Its always easy getting help for the actual sheep work and a little tougher for the other stuff. Thanks again.

Around Jan. 5 we strung the net above the bait. This is always a stressful time as you dont know how the sheep will react. Well they were almost pushing us out of the area trying to come into the bait.:razz:

With the warmer weather we have had, some of the sheep had wandered off but we still had close to 40 animals coming in daily so we knew we would get a good catch. All week before the big drop on Friday we were the 40 were coming in like clockwork. On Thursday the bio went out to bait and there were no sheep in area, they vanished. He noticed some coyote crap on the bait and some sheep hair. He went for a hike to see if he could find them and no luck. On his way back there was 3 sheep on the bait and thats it. No sheep the day before the transplant. It was a stressful night that night as we had close to 80 volunteers lined up for the morning and the possability of no sheep. I even phoned MainlandHunter to let him know as he was coming up from the coast that morning.

Well morning arrived and there was sheep in the area:-P. Things went pretty good. There was close to 30 under the net when the release was hit but a corner of the net did not release so about 8 animals got out. Even with that we caught 20 sheep that within the hour were headed to their new home.

Once a lot of the volunteers left we strung the net up again and there were once again about 8-10 sheep waiting for us to clear to get to the bait.

Saturday morning we had just as many volunteers and the net dropped on 15 sheep (only one got away). These sheep were also quickly processed and headed for Okanagan Mountain Park.

So 35 sheep have new homes and there were no major injuries so it was a great weekend. Thanks again to all those that helped.

BHB

[doubled]

Wow, what an awesome story guys. I never knew aything about this. As others have said, how does one get involved in these things?

[Stone Sheep Steve]

So 35 sheep have new homes and there were no major injuries so it was a great weekend. Thanks again to all those that helped.

BHB

Which puts the number or transplanted sheep in the last couple of years just under 100!!!:smile:

Always good to get some fresh genetics mixed into the herds.

Good work to all!

Putting the hurt on the predators in the park will always be an issue. Ruggedness and access(no motorized vehicles) are major issues.
The local G/O doesn't even hunts cats in the park due to the logistics involved.

Hopefully, the more open terrain created by the fire will allow the ungulates to look after themselves.

SSS

[Kirby]

I would just like to say thanks to the guys who organized this. The volunteers like me that I met all had a pretty easy gig, show up, handle sheep go home, the guys that spent months working have my untmost respect and thanks.

Thanks to the organizers.

Kirby

[mark]

Nice pics, The big ewe on the left in the last pic with the broken horn tip, was the one I tackled!
SSS nice job on the yotey, will have to go back and take out the others!

Just an idea here, theres so many wanting to get in on the fun part of the transplant projects, maybe make a rule that any new members to join the WSSOBC get in on the transplants. Others will be second in line. Would encourage some new membership!

Caveman, get that kid of yours a haircut! :razz:

[GoatGuy]

Good job folks.

I'll echo what Kirby said. The organizers are the ones that put all the time in. Thanks for that.

[Caveman]

Caveman, get that kid of yours a haircut! :razz:

The sad part here is my hair was just as long at that age if not longer, so what can I say. Maybe when I get him turned into a hunter, he'll cut his hair. Right now guitars are his big thing, but holding a bighorn ranks right up there. He got to be part of the "Gully" crew which was pretty cool as well, thanks to Alex. All in all a great weekend!!

[358mag]

Good job folks.

I'll echo what Kirby said. The organizers are the ones that put all the time in. Thanks for that.
con grad's to all that help out on the transplant just wish I could have been there this time
and for all the WSS members that showed up at the local "GO" place to watch the MMA fight hope you didnt drink all of his Rum + Whiskey !!!

[KevinB]

I would just like to say thanks to the guys who organized this. The volunteers like me that I met all had a pretty easy gig, show up, handle sheep go home, the guys that spent months working have my untmost respect and thanks.

Thanks to the organizers.

Kirby


Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks to all the many many organizers.

[GoatGuy]

--Nice to see Doug Jury there on Kammy tv. He's one, if not the best biologists in the business. Good old Doug, let's hope he stays around for a while, he does good things for wildlife and hunters in dah loops area.
Jel---Doug Jury---The best wildlife bio in the business!

Me too, one of my favs. He's done this summer. It'll be a sad day. He's leaving big shoes to fill.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

In case you missed it......

http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/kelownacapitalnews/news/38008674.html

It's good to have allies in the media:smile:

SSS

[Hermen]

Where did the Big Bar Sheep transplant go? Last time I was through that area in Nov I probably counted 60 Big Horns. Didn't know they were running low. Also was that cougar in the Big Bar area as well?

Hermen

[Jelvis]

Well you did'nt take enuff sheep from Kamloops yet, we got sheep everywhere along Ord and Tranquille road, their eating everything in sight. Just driving out a few kilometres from the Singh st. towards Dewdrop, we saw dozens of sheep and mostly rams all along and up dewdrop we saw a few deer tracks. The sheep are taking over where the mule deer used to be, by the dozens eating all the food pawing away for grass. Poor deer don't have a chance to eat anything. The sheep are populating like wabbits. At least your leaving the massive rams behind cuz thats what we're seeing. Rams all over wholley, what the ?
Jel--Sheep by the dozens along the main roads on Ord and Tranquille where the deer used to eat, now mutton.

[325 wsm]

wow great work guy's and gals.. by the way if you have too many of those rams around maybe you could sneak a few of them up into the Yukon. I wouldn't mind hunting brown dall sheep with 17 inch bases 10 years from now.http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Phase III went off without a hitch(except Boxhitch...sorry I used that line before:razz:)

22 more sheep have new homes near Big Bar.

Here's Boxhitch demonstrating side control on a ewe like GSP on BJ Penn!!

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/Transplant_2009_002.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12638&size=big&cat=500)

Got to meet another HBC member Huey who drove all the way up from the coast.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Transplant_2009_004.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12639)


A nice young ram on the way out.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Transplant_2009_005.jpg

Beautiful day for this event.

Again, good work to those involved!!

SSS

[ruttinbuck]

Sorry I missed you guys SSS.
Work got in the way this time,maybe catch up with ya at the WSSOBC weekend.RB