Big Bend National Park To Cull Auodads

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

The NM OTC area was supposed to be aerial gunned but the hunter outcry stopped that plan and they changed it to OTC. The number of sheep on that area had remained somewhat constant. The did reintroduce bighorn sheep but they’re somewhat spatially confined to the northern part of the Alamogordo Rim and there have been documented events of aoudad rams defending bighorn ewes from bighorn rams. It doesn’t happen a ton, but it does happen. If the agency wants aoudad gone, aerial gunning is the only way to even have a shot at it and even then you’ll likely have to continue doing it from time to time to prevent repopulation from immigrating sheep.

The number of sheep on that landscape seemed pretty sparse the times I was there (compared to areas that weren't OTC).

Also before going to aerial gunning if they waived the salvage requirement on hunters (just like the gunners) in the NM OTC area the numbers could be knocked back further. In NM when you spot the sheep somewhere you can't retrieve them you can't shoot them.

I am in no way arguing hunters are as effective as helo gunners. But I am arguing hunters can be a lot more effective at knocking down numbers of something if they have less restrictions (quantity and retrieval for example) as the gunners do.

Why pay for gunners versus letting the public hammer on any barbary sheep seen in the gordo cliffs if they want the numbers reduced further? If that proves to be ineffective then circle around on the discussion but the current OTC regulations restrict the effectiveness of the public if eradication is the intention.