I just thought I'd start posting information I find about what permits brought what...

2/22/2005
Alabama Man Places Winning Bid for Nebraska Bighorn Hunt - Tom Keith
LINCOLN, Neb. – The Nebraska bighorn sheep management program got a big boost Saturday when a Alabama man placed the winning $83,000 bid for a permit to hunt bighorn sheep in Nebraska’s Pine Ridge in 2005. The proceeds from the auction go directly toward the state’s reintroduction and management of bighorn sheep.
Joe Glover of Sawyerville, Ala. was the winning bidder at the Grand Slam Club/Ovis Annual Conference auction, held over the weekend in Biloxi, Miss. Glover will receive four days of guide service, horse usage, lodging and meals at Fort Robinson Sate Park during the Nov. 26 to Dec. 18 hunting season.
Each year, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission conducts a lottery for one hunting permit and sporadically offers one permit for auction. The lottery permit allows a Nebraska resident to hunt during the season. The auctioned permit may be purchased by anyone. Each lottery winner and auction permit holder to date has harvested a full-curl ram from Nebraska’s Pine Ridge herd.
Applications for the 2005 Bighorn lottery permit are $20 and will be accepted through 5 p.m., August 12 at the Commission’s Lincoln office and can be made online at www.outdoornebraska.org. Online registrations will be accepted until midnight, Aug. 12.
Sales of permits through the lottery and auction support the bighorn management program, which is credited with returning bighorn sheep to the state after they were extirpated in the late 1800s. The most recent milestone reached by the program was the purchase and release to the Pine Ridge of 49 bighorn sheep from Montana. Another herd was started in the Cedar Canyon near Gering in 2001 with the release of 22 sheep purchased from Colorado.
The Cedar Canyon herd is now estimated to be more than 40 animals. The Pine Ridge herd, including the recent Montana releases, is estimated at about 190 animals.

Bighorn Sheep Auction License Brings $43,000 - 032304
Jerry Brenner from West Olive, Michigan paid $43,000 for North Dakota's 2005 bighorn sheep auction license at the March 19 Minnesota-Wisconsin Chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep annual meeting in Minneapolis. In comparison, last year's license sold for $40,000.
The Minnesota-Wisconsin chapter is a strong supporter of bighorn sheep management efforts in North Dakota, according to Brett Wiedmann, big game biologist for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Dickinson. "They have provided funding for our ongoing telemetry project in the badlands as well as several bighorn translocations, including last December's capture and transplant of 15 sheep from Oregon," Wiedmann said. "Their enthusiasm for North Dakota's bighorn sheep continues to grow and is reflected in the national interest our auction tag generates."
License sale proceeds, along with an additional grant of $25,000, will be used to enhance management of North Dakota's bighorn sheep. The grant and license auction are part of a 10-year agreement, signed in 1999, between the department and Minnesota-Wisconsin conservation group.
In addition to the license, the chapter auctioned several items, including an original painting and life-size bronze sculpture of North Dakota bighorns, bringing in an additional $9,700, with all proceeds being donated to sheep projects in North Dakota.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, MARCH 16, 2005
NEW MEXICO BIGHORN SHEEP LICENSE SELLS FOR $177,500 AT AUCTION
SANTA FE – A permit to hunt bighorn sheep in New Mexico sold for a record $177,500 at auction during the recent Foundation for North American Wild Sheep Convention in San Antonio, Texas. The price surpassed the previous New Mexico record of $157,500 at the 2002 auction and was the third highest-priced permit sold at this year’s convention.
“The amount shows how much some people value New Mexico’s bighorns,” said Eric Rominger, Department bighorn sheep biologist. “What’s really great about this is most of the money will go right back into our bighorn programs.”
The Department of Game and Fish contributes two bighorn tags a year to the foundation’s fund-raising auction and raffle. Ninety percent of the proceeds -- $159,750 from this year’s auction – is returned to the Department for use in bighorn sheep research, restoration and habitat projects. Since 1990, foundation fundraisers have contributed more than $1.3 million to New Mexico bighorn sheep projects.
New Mexico’s desert and Rocky Mountain bighorn rams are considered large by any standards. Eight of the last nine desert bighorn sheep rams harvested by hunters in the Peloncillo Mountains made the Boone & Crockett record book. The winner of the raffle tag harvested the biggest Rocky Mountain bighorn ram taken in North America in 2003.
The hunter with this year’s auction tag has a choice of hunting either desert or Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. The winner of the raffle will take a hunt not selected by the auction winner. Both bighorn tags are fully transferable and can be sold.
Tickets for this year’s raffle are sold by the New Meixco chapter of the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep and are available at all Department offices or by calling (505) 299-4426. Tickets are $20 each and must be received by June 20.

Oregon bighorn sheep auction hunt nets record $130,000
Date: March 9, 2005
Contact: Brad Wurfel (503) 947-6020
SALEM – Oregon’s bighorn sheep hunting tag was among the big winners at the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep’s (FNAWS) annual convention in San Antonio, TX, last weekend, where it auctioned for $130,000.
The convention is held and attended by hunters and other wild sheep enthusiasts. The auction of state, provincial and Mexican bighorn sheep tags raises money for wild sheep conservation. Ninety percent of the money from auction tags sold at the FNAWS convention is returned to the wildlife agencies for wild sheep management, herd restoration and research. FNAWS keeps 10 percent of the money generated. In Oregon, this money is used for transplanting bighorns to suitable habitat, research, habitat improvement, water developments and for other management activities.
Hunters paid more than $2 million for 20 auction bighorn tags. A number of tags set records for the price received this year. Oregon’s previous high was $110,000, in 1994. Arizona’s bighorn tag brought the highest price of $199,000, and New Mexico’s tag earned $177,800 for the tag to hunt Desert or Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep.
This year’s auction tag allows the winner, a California resident, to hunt Rocky Mountain or California bighorn during an 87-day season in any bighorn sheep hunt area in Oregon. A comparable tag is available in a raffle drawing, held June 4 at the Oregon Hunters Association convention in Seaside.
Oregon’s tag in 2004 was purchased for $86,000. The recipient hunted the Lookout Mountain Unit, and harvested a record Rocky Mountain bighorn ram which scored 191 6/8 Boone and Crockett points.
Oregon’s bighorns disappeared in the early 1940’s, following decades of over-hunting, range quality issues, and diseases brought by domestic livestock. In 1954, bighorn sheep restoration was initiated and animals were gradually transplanted to vacant suitable rage. Bighorns now occupy much of their former Oregon range and current populations are estimated to number 600 Rocky Mountain and 3,700 California bighorn sheep. Money generated by state hunting licenses and tags, auction and lottery tags and private hunter conservation groups has paid for the restoration work.
National FNAWS Convention, San Antonio, Texas , 2005
No., Auction Tag, Bid Price
1. Baja Sur, Mexico Vizcaino Biosphere—(Desert Bighorn Sheep), $52,000
2. Oregon, (California/Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $130,000
3. Utah, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $56,000
4. Washington, (California Bighorn Sheep), $45,000
5. Texas, (Desert Bighorn Sheep, Elephant Mountain), $72,000
6. B.C., (California/Rocky Mountain/Dalls/Stones), $150,000
7. Mexico, Tiburon—(Desert Bighorn Sheep), $85,000
8. Montana, (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $160,000
9. Baja Sur, Mexico Vizcaino Biosphere (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $66,000
10. Utah, (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $70,000
11. Navaho, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $36,000
12. Texas, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $87,500
13. California, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $75,000
14. Nevada, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $72,500
15. New Mexico, (Desert/Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $177,500
16. Colorado, (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $65,000
17. Arizona, (Rocky Mountain/Desert Bighorn Sheep), $199,000
18. Idaho, (California/Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $180,000
19. Wyoming, (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $37,500
20. Alberta, (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep), $180,000
21. Tiburon, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $100,000
22. Carmen Island, Mexico, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $90,000
23. 2nd Carmen Island, Mexico, (Desert Bighorn Sheep), $100,000
Total = $2,286,000.00

Friday, April 01, 2005
Big Game Licenses Auctioned For $204,700
Montana’s four big game auction licenses have been sold for a total of $204,700. At least 90 percent of the auction amount goes to state management of the species and the remainder goes to the auctioning organization.
The 2005 bighorn sheep auction license brought in $160,000 at the annual convention for the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep in San Antonio, Texas in March. Also at the FNAWS convention, Montana’s annual moose license was sold by the Boone and Crocket Club for $15,000.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation auctioned Montana’s 2005 elk license at its national convention in Portland, Ore. in February for $23,000. And, the Mule Deer Foundation auctioned the 2005 mule deer license for $6,700 at its national convention in Reno, Nev. in January.

Date: 4/8/05
Contact: Geoffrey Schneider
Phone: (702) 486-5127 x 3500

Hunters Pay $230,000 for Three Nevada Big Game Hunting Tags

Hunters shelled out $230,000 for three Nevada big game hunting tags and raised another $200,000 for wildlife conservation projects in the state during the 25th annual banquet of Nevada Bighorns Unlimited (NBU), Reno held Friday, April 1, at the Reno Hilton.

Larry Johnson, a member of NBU’s Board of Directors, said a desert bighorn sheep tag sold for $110,000 while a California bighorn sheep tag brought $50,000 and a Rocky Mountain elk hunting permit went for $70,000. He said each set new Nevada records for auction tags to hunt the three species.

All of the money raised from the sale of the tags will go to the Nevada Wildlife Heritage Program that is administered by the Nevada Department of Wildlife. Heritage funds are used for a variety of wildlife enhancement projects that are approved by the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners.

In recent years Heritage funds have been used by the agency and other organizations on such projects as quail, turkey and chukar introductions in the state, funding charter helicopters used by conservation groups to inspect and maintain water developments for bighorn sheep, and for range restoration and reseeding.

A record crowd of 1,829 was on hand for the 25th anniversary event, which raises money for NBU’s conservation and wildlife education activities in Nevada. The $200,000 that was raised from the auction and raffles at the banquet will be for those efforts.

“This banquet is famous nationally. It is very possibly the largest banquet of its type in the nation,” Johnson said.

NBU works closely with the Nevada Department of Wildlife on a variety of projects including the funding of its big game trapping and transplant program that restore animals to their historic ranges in the state. The organization also funds water development projects that provide year round sources of water for bighorn sheep and other animals, funds four college scholarships for Nevada students who are pursuing university degrees in wildlife management and has done extensive work on habitat projects and sage grouse research.

“We are involved in every aspect of wildlife statewide,” Johnson said. “We are not limited to bighorn sheep. Most of the money is for wildlife other than bighorn sheep.”

During the past year, the organization has provided the state wildlife agency with big game transport trailers, a forklift and airlift cargo boxes that are designed to airlift bighorn sheep safely and quickly from areas where they are trapped to remote mountain ranges where they are released.

“This fundraising banquet was our largest ever and keeps getting bigger each year. Again this year, the community and business support was overwhelming,” Johnson said.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is the state agency responsible for the restoration, protection and management of fish and wildlife resources, and the promotion of boating safety on Nevada’s waters. Wildlife offices are located in Las Vegas, Henderson, Winnemucca, Fallon, Elko, and Reno. For more information, contact the agency web site at www.ndow.org.

From the FNAWS website:
Convention: Special Government Hunting Permits
Alberta Bighorn Sheep License $150,000
Arizona Desert or Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Permit $199,000
Baja Sur Desert Sheep Permit $52,000
Baja Sur Desert Sheep Permit $66,000
British Columbia Special Sheep Permit $150,000
British Columbia Roosevelt Elk Permit $41,000
California Owens Valley Tule Elk Permit $20,000
California Desert Sheep Permit $75,000
Carmen Island, Mexico Desert Sheep $90,000
Carmen Island, Mexico Desert Sheep $100,000
Colorado Elk License $13,000
Colorado Mountain Goat License $13,000
Colorado Moose License $22,000
Colorado Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep License $65,000
Idaho Sheep Tag $180,000
Montana Sheep License $160,000
Montana Moose License $15,000
Navajo Nations Desert Sheep Permit $36,000
Nevada Heritage Desert Bighorn Sheep Tag $72,500
New Mexico Desert or Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Permit $177,500
Oregon Bighorn Sheep Permit $130,000
Texas Elephant Mountain Desert Sheep Permit $77,000
Texas Desert Bighorn Sheep Permit $87,500
Tiburon Island, Mexico Sheep Permit $85,000
Tiburon Island, Mexico Sheep Permit $100,000
Utah Rocky Mountain Bighorn Permit $70,000
Utah Rocky Mountain Desert Permit $56,000
Washington Roosevelt Elk Permit $16,000
Washington Bighorn Sheep Permit $45,000
Washington Black-Tailed Deer Permit $8,500
Wyoming Shiras Moose License $17,000
Wyoming Governor’s Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep License $37,500

This message has been edited. Last edited by: RamDreamer,

Thanks for posting the information! It's always interesting to see where this fall's largest rams will come from. I'd be willing to wager that some knowledgable outfitters in Oregon and Arizona have found some boomer rams.
Prehaps we'll see a 185 California taken in Oregon, and a high 180 desert from Arizona taken by the auction hunters. Best of luck to them!

Sure wish these hunters would publish more about their hunts. I always enjoyed reading about Jerry Fletcher's and Stan Boot's exploits in the wild sheep magazines.

Holy smokes....how about that Idaho tag??? That's nearly double what it went for two years ago.

Yeah, Ramslam, you guys never should have let Butch shoot that monster. It just got everybody all worked up. Watch the draw odds in Idaho go through the roof this year too...

I understand that a Nevada "Heritage Tag" set a record on Friday night (April 1st - and, no, I'm not fooling...) at the Nevada Bighorns Unlimited banquet in Reno. I was told it went for $110,000.

Does anyone have details? What about any other tags? Was it for a Desert Bighorn or a California Bighorn?

The Nevada desert tag did sell for $110,000 April 1 in Reno. The California bighorn tag sold for $50,000 the same night.