An archery hunter trying to fill his Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep ewe hunting tag in southcentral Wyoming ended up with what could be considered the trophy bighorn ram of a lifetime.
Laramie resident Ethan Overton didn’t shoot the ram. Instead, he found the huge “deadhead” — an intact skull and horns — while stalking his ewe.
He figures the deadhead came from a ram that died about two years ago.
“I think he died of old age, that’s my guess,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
He kept the deadhead but made sure he followed proper procedure, which is alerting the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and getting an $8 Wyoming interstate game tag. That tag is required to legally transport deadheads.
Intact deadheads of any species are rare finds and can have monetary value as collector’s items, sometimes selling for several thousand dollars apiece.
So, the temptation is there to snatch them off the landscape without taking the proper steps with Game and Fish.
Unauthorized taking of deadheads is considered unethical and is also punishable as a misdemeanor crime with maximum penalties of a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail.
Good Hunting Outlook
Overton has “been on scouting trips” for bighorn sheep with his father but had never gone on his own bighorn sheep hunt.
Drawing bighorn sheep tags is tough. Many hunters apply for tags for years on end without drawing one.
So, Overton was happy to draw a tag this year for bighorn Hunt Area 17, the Ferris-Seminoe unit. The tag is good for the archery season of Aug. 15-31, as well as for rifle season Sept. 15 to Oct. 31.
The Ferris-Seminoe bighorn herd appears to be doing well, Overton said.
Bighorns are vulnerable to pneumonia. The famed “ramland” bighorn herd near Dubois has been struggling for years with a persistent outbreak.
Overton accepted a pneumonia test-sample kit from Game and Fish to take on his hunt. If and when he gets a ewe, testing can help determine if pneumonia is an emerging threat among the Ferris-Seminoe herd.
Though his tag allows him to only shoot a ewe, Overton expected to at least get to see some monster rams. The Ferris-Seminoe herd is known for producing great rams, he said.
That could be because it has genetics from sheep transplanted from Montana’s Missouri Breaks region and Hells Canyon in Idaho, both legendary spots for trophy rams.
Bighorn sheep hunting is often associated with steep, rocky alpine terrain. However, much of the Ferris-Seminoe unit is in rolling foothills.
“It’s a popular area to put in for tags, because it’s easily accessible,” Overton said.
‘I Let My Emotions Out’
On Saturday, Overton was hunting with his close friend, Colorado resident Jaron Bartoszek.
They spotted a ewe from the road, and Bartoszek urged Overton to try stalking it.
During the stalk, at about 9 a.m., Overton spotted the gigantic deadhead on the ground and was overwhelmed.
“I let my emotions out,” he said.
“Jaron was questioning why I was expressing my emotions. And then he saw it, and said, ‘Oh, now I understand why,’” Overton said.
They couldn’t believe the luck of finding such a prize, but they knew they had to go about things the right way if they wanted to keep it.
“We didn’t touch it. We took pictures and submitted a GPS location to the biologist and the game warden,” Overton said.
“We had Game and Fish look at it, and then I bought the interstate game tag,” he added.
Game and Fish also put a plug in the horns, indicating that the deadhead had been inspected, recorded and cleared.
With the green light from Game and Fish, the deadhead was his to keep.
Borderline Record-Book Ram
He hasn’t yet had it officially scored according to Boone and Crockett (B&C) measurements. The B&C measuring system is regarded as the gold standard for hunting trophies.
Overton took some measurements himself and estimates the deadhead to be in the 176-177-inch range.
“That’s a borderline (B&C) record-book ram,” he said.
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
