03x02 - Episode 2

[bunniefuu]

(adventurous music)

- [Dan] There are a few

things that come close

to the pursuit of stone sheep

in their rugged natural habitat,

but this practice also

generates an immense amount

of funding for

their conservation,

in order to protect

their natural habitat,

learn more about

them as a species

and manage their

populations effectively.

Hunting has become a

controversial practice

in modern times.

My name is Dan Cabela

and I'm traveling the globe

to explore the true impact

that hunting is having on our

remaining wild landscapes.

This practice goes as far back

as human history can remember,

but does it have a place

in modern conservation?

For generations, the Cabela

family has shared a passion

for the outdoors,

a love of hunting,

and a deep respect for wildlife.

Growing up with an outdoor

company inspired me

as a young boy, spent a

lot of time in nature,

and it was through this

exploration, really,

that I learned about

wildlife conservation

and that has influenced

the mission that is

so important to me today.

Wild sheep of North America

are about as iconic as any

of the wildlife

on the continent,

and I'm here in Reno

to attend an auction

that will be doing a lot

of good for wild sheep.

- There's never been really

a project put together

on stone sheep for years,

probably 60 years

since Val Geist did 'em

and he did 'em in our

hunting area in Spatsizi.

And with what's

gone on with sheep,

the extra pressure on sheep

or the extra amount of hunters

that we now have on sheep,

we thought that

it would be worthy

to see how sheep are doing.

So we donated a hunt to wild

sheep to put together a project

and it seems like

there's some places

that they're kind

of are under the g*n

and we all wanna

hunt sheep forever,

but I think we need to

care for the sheep too.

- [Dan] Revenue generated

from hunting permits

and licenses for stone sheep

are directly funding

conservation programs aimed at

preserving their

habitats and populations.

- Hey.

- Hey Gray, how are you?

- Hey Dan, good to see you.

- Thanks, good to see you.

Thanks for inviting us out here.

- You got it.

- [Dan] All of these outfitters

love these sheep so much

that they're willing

to do these donations

for the conservation

side of things

so they can keep the

sheep on the mountain.

- You know, they're

stewards of that resource

and they're not gonna

go in there and run

and g*n and wipe it out.

I mean, they want long term.

It is in their best interest

and it's certainly in the best

interest for the wild sheep.

What's amazing is that 75%

of all Wild Sheep Agency

fundings comes from an

auction or raffle tag.

And we're pretty proud that 40%

of all wild sheep

conservation funding comes

from this organization.

Wild Sheep Foundation.

- [Dan] Wild Sheep Foundation

is the leader in raising funds

for sheep conservation,

and its members are

very generous in

how they give their money back

to the conservation

of these wild animals.

- [Auctioneer] This is a

12 day stone sheep hunt

in northern British Columbia.

100% proceeds to support the

Northwest British Columbia

Stone Sheep Initiatives.

Thank you, Spatsizi

River Outfitters.

It is.

It is 100.

100 here.

- [Dan] A small number of

permits are auctioned off

to the highest

bidder, and these tags

attract some massive bids.

- [Auctioneer] Thank

you, and now ten.

Two hundred and ten.

And now 20, 210, now 20.

- [Dan] The auction

is in full swing

and the bidding for the

stone sheep hunt is intense.

The funds raised here tonight

will feed directly back into

keeping stone sheep on the

mountains, sustainable.

- [Auctioneer] That'll get

us going tonight, folks.

$320,000.

- [Dan] After witnessing

the eventful auction,

it's time for me to

head into the mountains

on my own adventure in pursuit

of an old stone sheep ram.

(gently music)

Heading to the wilderness

is sort of a release to me.

It provides an escape from the

pressures of modern day life,

and I always find myself

yearning to get back

to that quiet place.

How's it going guys?

- Not too bad, yourself?

Woody, outta the way.

Nice to meet you, I'm Dawson.

- Dan, Dawson?

Timber?

- Yes, sir.

- Dan, nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too.

- [Dawson] This is Woody.

He's a year old Jack

Russell Terrier that I got

for bear hunting on

Vancouver Island,

and he just likes to be in

the middle of everything.

He's a going concern,

that's for sure.

Obviously likes mosquitoes too.

Get 'em Woody.

- [Dan] We set up camp

in the remote wilderness

and we'll begin our search

for a mature stone sheep

ram in the morning.

Leaving the city behind

and venturing into

the remote wilderness

of British Columbia

awakens a primal sense

of freedom within me.

Where every step

carries the weight

of anticipation and

every moment resonates

with the raw beauty of

untouched landscapes.

Hunting is the main driver

for wild sheep

conservation funding.

Through auctions such

as the ones provided by

Wild Sheep Foundation,

tons of money is raised.

Also, things like the

Pitman Robertson Act

where license fees

sold go directly back

into sheep conservation.

It is through these efforts

that our sheep are

still with us today.

How many stone sheep

are actually harvested

through hunting?

- We took three as

outfitters in this territory

and the residents took one

or two last year for sure,

but I'm not exactly

sure how many they took.

In the park here,

there's only three tags

for residents anyway,

- So it certainly doesn't

seem like it's the hunting

that's impacting these sheep.

- No, I don't

think it is either.

I think, I think, to be

perfectly honest with you,

I think the wolves have

a bigger impact on these

sheep than anything else.

But there's definitely

more money put back in

by hunters than there

is by the government.

That's for sure.

We're rebuilding populations,

not just hunting

them into extinction.

- [Dan] Make no mistake hunting

stone sheep is no easy feat,

but it's these challenges

that make the

pursuit so rewarding.

- [Dawson] I think just

the size of the country

that stone sheep

live in is part of

what really makes them

difficult to find.

It takes a fairly good

sized piece of ground

to support a number

of stone sheeps.

Right on the ridge.

There's a bunch of black rock

that there's a little pinpoint

of rock that comes down off

the bottom of it into the green

and red, but it's

definitely a ram

and he looks like he's got some

decent mass on his head too.

And it, there's just one.

So, the chances of him

being a good ram alone like

that are fairly high.

- [Dan] Getting a little

bit better sun now.

- [Dawson] Yeah.

- I mean it's, the fact that

he is on his own is promising.

At eight years or older rams

are considered to be mature

and possibly past

their breeding prime.

We came in here looking

for a ram that was clearly

eight years or older, and the

one that we've been looking at

since yesterday

appears to not be

clearly eight years or older.

So there's a chance that we'll

move on and keep looking.

In this part of the world,

weather is a constant challenge.

- [Dawson] We had some of the

highest winds I've ever seen

in the mountains on this hunt.

We had plenty of rain, we

had terrible visibility

for the last few days,

and particularly in

some of the places

that we were really

trying to look into.

And playing the weather

game can be a huge part

of the mental game that

is mountain hunting.

And it's definitely

something we did deal

with on this hunt,

that's for sure.

With some pretty

horrendous weather,

particularly right in the last

few days we were up there.

- So we've been up

here how, I don't know,

two and a half days or

so, looking at some rams,

Dawson has declared

that the rams

that we've been looking

at are not quite legal.

So we're gonna start hiking.

Hopefully we'll get a

break in this weather

and we can hunt on the way down,

but it's time to start easing

our way back to the lake

where we're gonna get picked up.

That looks pretty.

That looks pretty iffy.

I don't think I'd make that.

There's no way.

I still don't feel like I

have that much experience

crossing something like this.

So I guess there's only one way.

Am I pulling on you too tight?

- [Dawson] No, no, no,

you're fine, I got you.

Part of the job is being

able to reassure someone

and make sure that they

feel safe in the environment

that they're in

because people can do almost

anything if they're given the

right direction

and given a little

bit of motivation

just to get it done sometimes.

Yeah, it's getting shallower.

You're good.

- [Dan] That was

fricking scary man.

- Now we just gotta

get outta here.

Probably just up there.

(somber music)

- [Dan] If I'm counting right,

I believe we seen eight

grizzlies at this point.

So there's definitely a pretty

healthy population up here.

There are many memorable

moments to any sheep hunt

and it's the extreme

nature of these hunts

that keep pulling me back to the

mountains in search of sheep.

And there are definitely no

guarantees to harvesting a ram.

One day I was sunburnt, the

next day I'm just soaking wet.

So it had kind of all

aspects you'd expect,

but yeah, tough

hunt, rugged, hard,

but definitely worth

the price of admission.

The adventure may not have

ended with a successful hunt,

but the experience has

deepened my appreciation

for these incredible animals.

- [Dawson] We saw, three

7-year-old rams on this trip,

two of which were

legal by horn length,

but just weren't the

age we were looking for.

And it doesn't do any

good for the propagation

of the species if we're

taking underage rams.

It's certainly

something that happens,

but it's not good

for the longevity of

the sheep population.

That's for sure.

- [Dan] The pilot brought

us some lunch here

and I know the sandwich

doesn't look like much,

but after 12 days of mountain

house it's pretty darn good.

There are a few

pursuits as exhilarating

as hunting stone sheep in

their rugged natural habitat,

whether successful or not.

But what many don't realize is

that this practice also

generates immense funding

for their conservation efforts.

The work being done by

the Wild Sheep Foundation

for Stone Sheep is

truly remarkable.

- [Gray] We're in

Spatsizi Provincial Park.

Over the next

eight or nine days,

our objective is to

capture 40 of stone sheep,

20 rams, 20 ewes.

The idea here is to

get some data on 'em.

- Stone sheep faced various

predators, grizzly bears,

wolves, golden eagles,

and humans of course, they

face a lot of activities

and stresses from

development pressures.

But out here we're trying

to maintain the biodiversity

on the landscape.

- We wanna make sure

that our activities

as consumptive users

or non consumptive users

in the sense of hikers

and backpackers, isn't

causing a negative impact

that those animals

can't overcome.

So this project here

will specifically look at

hunter movements as

well as sheep movement.

So ewe groups, immature

rams and mature rams.

Over the course of three years,

we hope to learn

a lot about just

how sheep navigate the

landscape when people are in it.

- [Dan] Sheep

capture initiatives,

where samples are taken

and animals are collared,

provide invaluable data

for understanding the health

and behavior of these

majestic creatures.

- [Bill] Hunters, especially

the guide outfitter,

noticing sheep were

behaving differently.

This project's a reality

because of the guide outfitter

and the Wild Sheep Foundation

were able to

generate the funding

and the interest to

be able to support us.

So we were able to pull

in Tahltan First Nation.

We're able to pull in

government staff, we're able

to pull in University

of Alberta.

The collaboration here is huge.

(somber music)

- Just an exceptional

collaboration.

When you look at the team

that was on the mountain

from the Tahltan First Nation,

we're in their territory here

and their wildlife department.

The ministry staff,

wildlife vets, biologists,

the pilots, just

exceptional crew

of 16 people brought here

to Highland Post as guests

of Spatsizi River Outfitters,

who hosted and also funded this.

- Hunting revenue can

support scientific research

and monitoring programs

to better understand

stone sheep populations,

their behaviors

and their habitats.

This information is crucial

for making informed

management decisions

and implementing effective

conservation strategies.

- Captured, assessed, collared,

sampled 40 sheep in five days

and getting all the

data, biopsies of the

ears, ear tagging,

collaring, a nasal

swab, throat swabs,

a health assessment just

on the general condition of

the sheep, hair

samples, fecal samples,

and then measurements.

Providing us data to really see

how these animals

utilize their habitat

and then react to our

presence, whether it's a hunter

or a non hunter, is gonna

be very, very helpful

to the wildlife professionals

that are in charge

of this fabulous resource

that we all enjoy.

To me, that was just

fascinating to see how efficient

and effective this

professional team was.

And then finally,

when it's all said

and done, to release

that beautiful animal

back on the mountain

and watch it run off,

the first one just

brought tears to my eyes.

(adventurous music)

- It is a testament to their

commitment to conservation,

ensuring that every step we

take towards understanding

stone sheep is a step

towards securing their future

in the wild.

Overall, the Wild

Sheep Foundation plays

a crucial role in

the conservation of stone sheep

and other wild sheep species.

By supporting research,

habitat conservation,

population management,

education, and advocacy efforts.

As these majestic animals are

released back into the wild,

we're reminded of the success

of the conservation model

supported by hunters.

The future of stone sheep

relies on initiatives these

ensuring they continue to roam

the mountains for generations

to come.