Game wardens find dead sheep, report other activity
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
MISSOULA – The deaths of two world-class bighorn sheep, found dead on Wild Horse Island last year, had game wardens wondering what happened.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks Warden Captain Lee Anderson presented the incident to the Flathead Reservation Fish and Wildlife Board on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at the FWP headquarters in Missoula. About a dozen Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Game Wardens and FWP wardens attended the meeting, along with representatives from both governments.
The board consists of tribal and state members with one representative from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Their objective is to advise the state and tribes on cooperative management plans.
Captain Anderson began his 2015 enforcement summary with the case on Wild Horse Island. He didn’t give specific dates or names, and later said he would like to put those facts together in a press release, but he did say he received a call last year about a dead bighorn sheep on the island.
“It was a nice big trophy ram,” he said during his presentation.
Soon after the first call, another call came in about another sheep.
“What is going on out on the island?” he asked, adding that the possibility of poaching sends off mental alarms.
“We did an investigation,” he said. “It didn’t appear to be poaching.”
Bullet holes were not found on the animals.
“So, who killed the sheep?” he asked.
During the investigation, game wardens ran into a few suspects by luck.
“We went out on the island and found these guys picking up the sheep,” he said. “They had taken possession and were burying (the sheep). They didn’t take off, but they later admitted to burying the sheep.”
A search warrant was issued for the suspects’ home. Anderson said that sheep horns, an illegal bobcat shot out of season, and an illegal lion mount were seized. The suspects were ordered to pay fines and they lost hunting, fishing, and trapping privileges for three years.
“And they were banned from Wild Horse Island,” he said.
But, the suspects hadn’t killed the sheep, so one question still remained, who was killing the sheep? A camera was set up to catch the culprit.
“It was a lion that took out two world-class sheep,” he said. He later added that the island is a state park, so even if the animals are killed naturally, people need to leave the horns on the island as part of the natural resource.
“As hard as it can be, you have to leave the horns on the island,” he said.
Anderson also reported a successful year at the Aquatic Invasive Species check station in Ravalli through the summer where all watercraft needed to be inspected for invasive species as required by state law.
“We had a lot better compliance,” he said with the new location where traffic is slower and it’s easier to stop. He also added that officials are working on improving signage for the next season.
Federal Wildlife Officer Mike Koole reported events at the Bison Range from the past year. He said he was watching out for the people trying to get too close to the bison, which was a regular occurrence.
Officer Koole reminds people that they need to apply for a permit to film on the range for commercial reasons.
“We usually don’t allow films like “Die Hard,” but documentaries are okay,” he said explaining that approval was based on how much the project would disturb the land.
Koole also stated that efforts were being made to collect antlers on the range to make it less enticing for visitors to want to pick them up, which is illegal.
Problems with anti-government sentiment in Oregon where a refuge was taken over by members of the public caused staff at the range to be cautious. The Bison Range was closed for one day as a precaution.
“The entire region was closed,” he said. “When things like this happen, we use an abundance of caution.”
CSKT Chief Game Warden Pablo Espinoza expressed gratitude for the positive cooperative work relationship between FWP and CSKT officials. He said that FWP staff provided accurate information about tribal regulations for many visitors. He also reported a busy 2015 summer.
“The berry crop dried up so the bears came down,” he said. “We had bears coming into town, and seven or eight black bears killed on the road. We’ve never seen that.”
Tribal Wildlife Program Manager Dale Becker informed the board that two swans were hit by cars in 2015 on the reservation, otherwise, the birds were doing well.
“We had 23 successful nests,” he said. “It was a pretty good year.”
It was also reported by other officials at the meeting that game wardens were enforcing rules against poaching wild game, as usual, and fines were being enforced for taking bull trout. They also occasionally use helicopter patrols, so people need to follow regulations.
