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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 17, 2005 California hunter has record-setting bid for bighorn sheep tag By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune A San Jose, Calif., man bid a record $130,000 for an Oregon bighorn sheep tag during the Foundation for North American Wild Sheep convention in San Antonio, Texas. Dan Smith III’s bid meant Oregon’s tag drew the seventh-highest amount among the 23 tags auctioned off to the highest bidders at the FNAWS convention banquet March 5. Oregon’s previous record bid was $110,000 in 1994. Last year’s Oregon tag was bought for $86,000. Smith’s bid allows him to hunt a Rocky Mountain or California bighorn during an 87-day season in any bighorn sheep hunt area throughout the state. A similar tag is available in a raffle drawing, scheduled for June 4 at the Oregon Hunters Association annual convention in Seaside. The auction is one of the ways Oregon raises money for bighorn sheep management here. The Oregon money is used for trapping bighorns and putting them in suitable habitat, as well as research development, habitat improvement and creation of water sources the animals can use. Advertisement Ninety percent of the money from tags sold at the FNAWS convention is returned to wildlife agencies for wild sheep management, herd restoration and research. Hunters paid almost $2.3 million for sheep tags at the FNAWS auction. The highest bid was $199,000 for a tag to hunt either Rocky Mountain or desert bighorn sheep in Arizona. Bidders paid $180,000 each for a Rocky Mountain tag in Alberta, Canada, and a tag to hunt California or Rocky Mountain bighorns in Idaho. The lowest state tag was Washington’s offer of a California bighorn, which fetched just $45,000. A desert bighorn ram from Navaho, , Mexico, raised just $36,000. Oregon’s bighorns are a re-introduction success story. The state’s sheep disappeared in the 1940s following decades of over-hunting, habitat degradation and diseases transferred from domestic livestock. Oregon began restoring sheep populations in 1954, with transplants into and out of the state as recently as last fall. Oregon now sports an estimated 600 Rocky Mountain and 3,700 California bighorn sheep. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Reviews Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy online casino Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Reservationstogo Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Natto Kinase Nattokinase Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Investments & Loans Advertisement s