Bighorns for Fort Berthold

Bighorns for Fort Berthold

Cultural, historic significance

Submitted Photo These bighorn sheep were among those recently released in the Twin Buttes area on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The sheep were re-introduced following a 150-year absence.

Submitted Photo These bighorn sheep were among those recently released in the Twin Buttes area on the Fort Berthold Reservation. The sheep were re-introduced following a 150-year absence.

Bighorn sheep were released last week in the Mandaree and Twin Buttes areas of the Fort Berthold Reservation. The introduction of bighorns to tribal land was done in a cooperative agreement between the Three Affiliated Tribes and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department.

In all, 30 bighorn sheep were released. The sheep were captured on the Rocky Boy Reservation located in north-central Montana and transported by trailers back to North Dakota.

“It went great and all the sheep were in good health,” said Jeb Williams, NDGF Wildlife Division chief. “It couldn’t have gone any better. It was wonderful working with the tribe and anytime we can add to that resource is great.”

NDGF provided staff and trailers to transport the bighorns that were captured by helicopter net gunning. A unique aspect of the project is that it was privately funded by KUIU, a hunting and apparel company that is interested in the preservation of bighorn sheep. The release was the culmination of many months of planning.

“We’ve been talking with Game and Fish the last few years and finally did it,” said Toni Smith, Tribal Fish and Wildlife director. “We’re excited to see how it goes and if the herd will expand and flourish.”

A memorandum of understanding was signed between Game and Fish and the Three Affiliated Tribes regarding the bighorn project.

“We’ll be assisting with management of the sheep,” explained Williams. “If and when we’ll see enough mature rams for a hunting season there will be an alternate license system.”

The first license issued would go to the tribe. The second to Game and Fish, all of course depends on the development of the bighorns.

“We’ll have to see where we end up several years down the road,” remarked Williams. “The Mandaree country is definitely good sheep habitat with good potential. It was a good day for sheep, right? Anytime we can add sheep to North Dakota in good sheep habitat is a good thing.”

Three of the 30 sheep released were yearling rams and two were rams about two years of age. Brett Wiedmann, NDGF big game biologist, explained that young rams tend to stay with ewes, unlike older rams that often range long distances.

“We wanted young rams,” said Wiedmann. “The older rams are rough on the ewes in the trailers and, when released, they can take off and never come back. We tried to get mostly two to four year old females which is kind of ideal.”

The sheep were released at two separate locations. Thirteen ewes and three rams were released at the Mandaree site and 12 ewes and two rams at the Twin Buttes site. Wiedmann says he considers both locations to be ideal terrain for bighorn sheep.

“It is really good bighorn habitat, not a lot of it, but really high quality,” said Wiedmann. “All have GPS collars so I get to see where they are at six a.m. every day.”

It is estimated that 150 years or more have passed since the last bighorn sheep roamed the area where the sheep were released, making the re-introduction a culturally significant event for residents of the Fort Berthold Reservation.

“There are historical accounts from our tribal members of hunting them with bow and arrow,” said Cory Spotted Bear, Twin Buttes councilman. “Crows Heart, a full-blooded Mandan and one of the last of the old timers, said they would go to the Little Missouri breaks specifically to hunt bighorns. To see these sheep released was very uplifting and emotional. It’s meaningful for us and the state.”

It is not generally believed that bighorn sheep ever roamed in big numbers in North Dakota, but there’s ample evidence of their early existence. Paintings by famed frontier artist Carl Bodmer includes at least two works of art depicting early native Americans of the area, Two Ravens and Four Bears, wearing bighorn sheep hide.

“Four Bears was a Mandan chief. Bighorn sheep hide is so soft. It’s the best of the best,” said Spotted Bear. “You can see why somebody of Four Bear’s stature would wear such a garmet.”

According to Spotted Bear, the horns of the bighorn rams were utilized too, primarily for ceremonial purposes.

“It was a highly specialized skill,” explained Spotted Bear. “They would heat them up and unravel them and fashion them into a medicine bow. That was something done amongst our tribe.”

While the return of bighorn sheep to reservation land helps preserve a cultural aspect, Spotted Bear says there’s another historical benefit too.

“The prairie thrived when animals moved through. The land heals and native grasses return. For us it’s been 150 years and bighorn sheep are back on the land again,” remarked Spotted Bear.

In time, the Mandaree and Twin Buttes bighorns may become part of the state’s limited bighorn hunting season, usually limited to five or fewer licenses issued from 15,000 or so applications. It takes about eight years for bighorn rams to grow large enough to be considered huntable trophy animals. That means the first hunting season on the newly released bighorns is at least six years away, if all goes well with the sheep and their is no setback to their survival.