Sheep Show 2024

[hunt1up]

Are all the raffles and in-person hunt give aways over at this point, or were you not interested in staying for those? I would have thought tonight would be a grand finale of sorts....are you "missing" anything by leaving? Not meaning to be critical of you in any way, just trying to plan for next year and understand the sequence of things.

The only raffles left would be the floor raffle hunts that you need not be present to win. I’ve got my name in a few hats with those. I attended the <1 club raffles last night as well. I believe all that’s left are some more auctions and you can stream that and bid online. Those are typically some high dollar items.

 

[Trial153]

Agree, Reno isn’t my favorite place. Been there once and you seen and done it all.
I was very happy when P&Y moved their convention after two years in Reno. While I was hoping for a central or eastern venue for a break, Phoenix is a nice change, I will take it.

 

[Maddog58]

Sheep show was fun and got to see the kids. Love the show in Reno, lots to do besides just gamble. Just do some research and tons of stuff to do

 

[Maddog58]

I even grabbed a pair of pocket binos from Maven to use on my fishing trips. Talked to my sheep taxidermist , Wildlife Revolutions, and will probably have him do a bison for me too. On a final note I bought a bottle of Full Curl bourbon for some hunting campfire future libations

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

Watching guys blow $90,000 for an antelope tag or $140,000 for an elk tag is interesting to say the least.

Wait….what!?

 

[duckcarver]

Last night’s auction was fun to watch. Sounds like the Colorado tag auction tonight will be on a different level.

 

[dreamingWest]

This my first time staying Reno for the show. In years past I would take an extra day off and we would stay in Lake Tahoe for a day of skiing. It's an easy drive for folks that are tired of Reno. I like it here.

 

[hunt1up]

Wait….what!?

 

[RC_]

Anyone catch the Lionheart documentary this morning? Curious about that one.

 

[duckcarver]

Wow!!
$1M for member #100 WSF Marco Polo Society
$600K for Colorado rocky
$450K for Oregon

 

[Steve O]

$600,000 for the NM Rocky as well and $400+ for the AZ Desert. Wyoming was super high tonight as well can’t remember other than being shocked…

 

[BoilerBowHunter]

GoHunt didn’t tell me these were options. This opens all kinds of new doors for me!!

 

[TWHrunner]

How much did the Alberta Bighorn tag go for?

 

[duckcarver]

How much did the Alberta Bighorn tag go for?

$320,000

 

[ssgjpd]

It was a great showing.

 

[cbeard64]

Those numbers are astounding. The big money folks have come into sheep hunting in a big way over the last 3-4 years. We will see million dollar sheep tags in the next few years.

That’s good for conservation $$ raised I guess but I’m not so sure it’s good overall for the sheep. The more sheep hunting becomes just for the wealthy few the less society as a whole will value them.

It’s certainly not good for the regular folks who would like to hunt sheep one day. Intentional or not, WSF has kind of created a monster with all the spotlighting of sheep hunting as an “elite” pursuit.

 

[TheTone]

Those numbers are astounding. The big money folks have come into sheep hunting in a big way over the last 3-4 years. We will see million dollar sheep tags in the next few years.

That’s good for conservation $$ raised I guess but I’m not so sure it’s good overall for the sheep. The more sheep hunting becomes just for the wealthy few the less society as a whole will value them.

It’s certainly not good for the regular folks who would like to hunt sheep one day. Intentional or not, WSF has kind of created a monster with all the spotlighting of sheep hunting as an “elite” pursuit.

The model is completely broken IMO. It’s simply a way for the ultra wealthy to always be at the front of the line while everyone else sits out and watches

Some poor sheep have already been picked out and effectively sold for slaughter

 

[wyosteve]

I'll climb on the soapbox for a bit. It seems every year there is the negativity/animosity over the price of auction tags at the Sheep Show which confounds me. People need to realize that the auction tags are just 1 license. I'll use Wyoming as my example since I'm most familiar with it. Wyo. typically has 150 to 200 bighorn licenses issued every year. This means there are 149 to 199 licenses issued to 'regular' folks who apply and draw a tag. This scenario is pretty similar in most states.

The Sheep Show licenses which sell for a lot of dollars have virtually no impact on the 'common Joe', whoever that might be. Outfitting for sheep is a business, like most others, that exists based on 'supply and demand'. Yes, the cost has gone up and will continue to do so as long as the demand exists. It's no different than hotels in my town that essentially double their prices when the yearly rodeo contest comes to town. Or the hotels in Sturgis during the rally or in Las Vegas during the Super Bowl this year.

Not everyone who wants to hunt sheep will be able to do it. Accept that! I can't afford a Ferrari, but I don't begrudge those who can. Most high dollar folks I've met at the Sheep Show have earned their money. If someone here is unhappy with their circumstances, they can work to change it. Virtually all the money spent on the auction tags benefits the various game and fish departments. From my perspective, be grateful there are folks who have the dollars who are willing to spend them for a top notch conservation organization.

Getting off the soapbox now!!

 

[duckcarver]

I'll join @wyosteve 's soapbox for moment and share a few additional thoughts.

This was my first Sheep Show and I had a great time. As a state wildlife commissioner from the Mid-Atlantic, I was really impressed by the conservation tag auctions. Maryland has great whitetail hunting, a black bear lottery and wild sika deer, but does not have game species that will ever see tag prices remotely close to any of this week's auctions.

Like every aspiring sheep hunter, I would love to see increases in sheep populations that support sustainable increases in hunting opportunities. I believe that's exactly what these very limited conservation tag auctions (or raffles) help to accomplish. Sheep biologist salaries, guzzlers, tagging, tracking and test and remove programs, M. ovi research, grazing allotment retirements, population establishment/transplants all help to increase sheep populations and cost a lot of money. Funding that generally does not come from state budgets, rather it comes from sportsmen and women. Wildlife management in most states is funded by license/point revenue and Federal aid (Pittman-Robertson, D-J Act and others), significant portions of which are based on the number of licensed hunters in the State and unencumbered State wildlife revenue. Valuable Federal matching dollars can double State funds for certain wildlife projects.

I'll highlight a few data points for Wyoming I found though a quick web search since it was referenced by the post above. Note - I have no personal knowledge or connection to Wyoming - it would be interesting if someone from Wyoming or WSF would confirm or correct the following:

The 2024 auction tag sold for $190,000. The auction description says "90% of the auction proceeds provide funding for Wyoming bighorn sheep projects via the Wyoming Governor’s Big Game License Coalition"-- that's $171,000 for bighorn conservation in lieu of one tag most of us realistically would never draw anyway.

A 2020 Wyoming Game and Fish Commission Revenue fact sheet describes a total annual budget of $88.6M, $56.4M of which is generated by license sales and approximately 77% of that revenue comes from nonresidents. In 2020, the $800,000 in annual General Fund support for wildlife management was eliminated. It appears that Wyoming issued 184 bighorn tags in 2020. The auction price for the single 2020 bighorn tag sold at the Sheep Show was $110,000, generating $99,000 for Wyoming bighorn sheep projects. In contrast, all regular bighorn sheep license revenue totaled just over $119,000 (approx. $100K from nonresidents and $19K from residents). In other words, as I interpret the reports, the single conservation tag auctioned at the 2020 Sheep Show generated almost as much funding for sheep conservation as the other 180+ bighorn tags sold that year (assuming there were a few additional bighorn conservation tags, the revenue from them and the Sheep Show tag appear to be reported as "Conservation Stamps" revenue in the report).

With the 10% rule, increasing prices, and availability of only one random sheep tag, excepting those who are close to max points, most nonresidents appear to have virtually no chance of drawing a bighorn tag in Wyoming. Nonresident sheep tag preference point revenue may stabilize or even decrease. It is probably true that a conservation tag offered for auction is a tag that would otherwise be available to be drawn by the masses. Unfortunately, without more and robust sheep populations, it is also true that most of us will not be successful in the draws this year, next year or beyond. Beyond the benefits for sheep conservation in general, over the long-run, I believe the gains accomplished using the funds these tags provide will generate more hunting opportunities for all of us than are lost through the very modest diversion of less than a handful of tags per state.

Finally, I understand these soaring auction tag prices and hunt opportunities are only within reach of a very small group of hunters. I'm grateful that they chose to invest in conservation and hope they have a fantastic hunt that compels them make even greater contributions in future years. I'm clearly not in that group, but am proof that a young(er) guy without a lifetime of preference points or $110,000, $190,00 or $600,000 for a bighorn tag can occasionally get very lucky and have the hunt of a lifetime for a very modest contribution for conservation. Several states address the concerns about access or monetizing hunting in conflict with the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation by making a few tags available in raffles or Super Tag drawings. Anyone who can afford to shoot a centerfire rifle can find $20, $50 or $100 to send to Washington or New Mexico WSF or to buy a few chances in the Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, or Nevada Super Tag, Dream Tag or Silver State tag raffles.

Stepping off the long-winded soapbox.

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/WGFD/media/content/PDF/About%20Us/Commission/WGFD-Revenue-Fact-Sheet_FINAL.pdf

https://wgfd.wyo.gov/WGFD/media/content/PDF/Hunting/Harvest%20Reports/2020BighornSheep_HarvestReport.pdf

 

[Steve O]

One would have to sit thru an entire 4 days to even begin to has the slightest clue to understand the amount of money that goes directly to the sheep, their habitat and funding for research and projects to protect and grow them.

99% of these rich dudes are self made men, they love to hunt and they are doing something for the GOOD of the sheep and the entire ecosystem of mountain hunting. They could be doing a lot worse with all that money!

I spent 15 minutes talking with a guy that probably spent a million bucks this weekend. He bought the Montana tag last year. Couldn’t tell him from a guy running a bulldozer…at the company he used to own. Now he’s sold it, has time and money to hunt more and he does. And he builds churches.

There are some dirtbags of course but do some research before you paint all this with a broad brush. I’m involved on the lowest level with conservation projects for the sheep and their habitat and the funds generated get a lot of good work done.