Lincoln, NE -(AmmoLand.com)- Nebraska’s first bighorn sheep hunt of the 2015 season ended successfully in the Wildcat Hills near Gering this week.
Barbara Sackman of Long Island, New York, harvested a big ram at Cedar Canyon Wildlife Management Area seven miles southwest of Gering on Wednesday, Dec. 2, marking the first time a bighorn sheep tag has been filled from the Wildcat Hills region instead of the Pine Ridge. Wild sheep were reintroduced to Cedar Canyon in 2001.
The 9-year-old ram unofficially scored 173 5/8. It is the 19th sheep harvested in Nebraska since reintroduction efforts began in the 1980s.
Sackman was accompanied by her husband, Alan, and staff members of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission on the hunt. Both Sackmans are world-renowned hunters.
This marks the 29th wild sheep for Barbara, the 2015 recipient of the prestigious Weatherby Hunting and Conservation Award and many other honors.
Despite the many sheep she has harvested in international travels with her husband, this was her first of the Rocky Mountain bighorn species.
“It’s a great sheep,” Alan said. “A person could hunt his whole life and not get many better than that one.”
Barbara said she and her husband hunt for the memories, relationships and healthy meat more than the awards and trophies, though.
“You don’t hunt for the awards. You hunt for the fun and sport of it,” she said. “Plugging along, up and down the mountains, through the hills and streams — it’s worked out very nicely for us.”
The Sackmans bought the permit by auction and is the first of two hunters traveling to western Nebraska this month to hunt bighorn sheep.
The state’s lottery permit winner plans to hunt in the Pine Ridge region of northwestern Nebraska next week.
About The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission:
The mission of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is stewardship of the state’s fish, wildlife, park, and outdoor recreation resources in the best long-term interests of the people and those resources. To accomplish that purpose, the Commission plans and implements its policies and programs efficiently and objectively; maintains a rich and diverse environment in Nebraska’s lands and waters; provides outdoor recreation opportunities; manages wildlife resources for the maximum benefit of the people; and attempts to help Nebraskans appreciate their role in the natural world.
For more information on , please visit www.OutdoorNebraska.org.