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Show I I I I j 1 Bighorn hunt encouraging I I PRICE Results are in I from Utah's first Rocky Moun-; Moun-; tain bighorn sheep hunt in i modem times and they're en-1 en-1 couraging. All three permittees ( took mature rams with massive full-curled horns. 1 The high bid permittee, Jim Tonkin, harvested the largest ' ram, a ten and a half year old i bighorn. Ogden resident, Jay : ; Anderson, was fortunate to harvest the first ram of the hunt, a large one nine and a half years of age. Anderson describes his experience as 'the most exciting hunt I've ever been on in my life." Shawn Labium, the other permit holder from Roosevelt, who also took a large ram, described his experience as 'the hunt of a lifetime! The hardest hunt I've ever been on." The hunt was held on the Rattlesnake unit, situated in southeastern Utah near Green River. The hunting unit owes its existence to several transplants by the Ute Tribe in 1973 and 1979. A total of 28 sheep were brought into south Desolation Canyon and released on reservation reserva-tion lands, but over the years some animals have moved down the Green River corridor onto public land. Last year, a helicopter survey by DWR biologists on both Indian In-dian and BLM lands resulted in a i count of 131 sheep. In 1991, only BLM lands were surveyed, revealing a count of 55 head. : Because of poor survey condi- tions, the population on the Rattlesnake unit is expected to be considerably higher. ''Reproduction was excellent," reported Derris , ' Jones, DWR game biologist. "Virtually every ewe we observed ob-served had a lamb. " In 1991, the Board of Big . Game Control authorized for the first time three Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep permits. The Ute tribe issued an additional three permits. Considering the vitality I ' of the herd and the number of mature rams in the population, a similar number of permits is expected ex-pected to be awarded in 1992. f |