Reward For Info On Eastern Oregon Bighorn Poaching, Wastage Climbs To $4,500

The reward for information on an Eastern Oregon bighorn shot for its head alone last fall has reached $4,500 after the Oregon Wild Sheep Foundation added to the fund in hopes of bringing the poacher(s) to justice.

The ram was illegally shot last November on Bureau of Land Management ground in the Hibbard Creek Road area on Lookout Mountain south of Baker City, and only the head and horns were taken.

“The lack of respect for an animal that represents the beauty, strength and wild lands of Oregon is just sad,” said Kevin Martin, ORWSF president. “Add to that the loss for all of Oregonians the opportunity to see and interact with an animal, that has been stolen from all of us.”

As we reported earlier this year, no controlled tags to hunt bighorns in the Lookout Mountain WMU have been available since 2019.

Martin’s organization, ODFW and others have been working to figure out why the herd is dwindling.

“And this criminal act just adds to that loss,” he said.

Elsewhere in Oregon, federal managers are using “strategic removals” of cougars to save the Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge bighorn herd.

ORWSF’s contribution adds to the standing $2,000 from the Oregon Hunters Association for bighorn poachings, as well as $500 pitched in by the Oregon Wildlife Coalition.

ODFW reports that unlawfully killing a bighorn can lead to fines of up to $10,000, hunting license suspension and forfeiture of the weapon used.

“In this case, additional charges of waste of a game mammal would likely apply,” the agency added.

The carcass of the ram was reported by a member of the public and investigated on November 30 by OSP Fish and Wildlife Trooper Dakotah Keys

“Not only are poaching acts like this considered theft of a public resource highly valued by all Oregonians, including hunters and non-hunters,” said Don Whittaker, ODFW ungulate coordinator. “It undermines the long-term effort to restore and conserve this iconic species on Oregon’s landscape for future Oregonians yet to come.”

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Oregon State Police Dispatch at 1-800-452-7888, *OSP (*677), or email at TIP@osp.oregon.gov.