Colorado Wildlife Officials Search For Poacher Who Killed Bighorn Ram

Wildlife officials in Colorado are seeking the public’s help identifying a suspect responsible for illegally killing a Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep earlier this week.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) said District Wildlife Managers William Miedema and Cait Philpott-Jones responded at around 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 11 to a report that a bighorn ram had been fatally shot and left about 200 yards off Saguache County Road 38FF in the Cabin Draw area along Middle Creek, designated as Sheep Hunting Unit 10 (Game Management Unit 681).

They arrived to find a Rocky Mountain bighorn ram that had been shot through the guts, with the bullet entering the animal’s right side and exiting through the left. With the assistance of a CPW K-9 unit, they determined the ram had been shot in the area earlier that same day.

“This bighorn was shot and left there with nothing removed from it,” Miedema said. “There is a single bighorn ram hunting license available in S-10 and neighboring S-55, but my legal hunter for this area had already harvested a ram this year and the season dates were Sept. 2 through Oct. 2.”

In Colorado, willful destruction of a big-game animal is a felony that can lead to a lifetime suspension of hunting and fishing privileges. Depending on the charges, convictions can result in jail time and heft fines.

The illegal take of a bighorn sheep is punishable by a fine of up to $100,000. In this case, the ram that was killed had a half-curl of its horns, and the illegal take of a ram with a half-curl or more can result in additional fines exceeding $25,000.

“The sheep was left there to rot and was spoiled by the time we got there, so we were unable to salvage and donate the meat,” Miedema said. “This is wanton waste. If somebody saw something or has any information that could help in this investigation, please reach out to help us protect our wildlife resources in our state.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Miedema at 719-850-6364 or william.miedema@state.co.us. To provide an anonymous tip, members of the public can contact Operation Game Thief (OGT) by phone at 877-265-6648 or by email at game.thief@state.co.us.

Operation Game Thief, a CPW program, offers rewards of up to $1,000 to citizens who turn in poachers. Colorados Turn In Poachers (TIP) program can also reward people who turn in poachers with preference points or, in some cases, hunting licenses.