While Dall sheep hunting in Alaska over the past century has been a romantic era and love affair for so many hunters, I am going to share a concern on the dwindling sheep populations to bring awareness and offer possible solutions to help this magnificent resource rebound.
To do this, we must concern ourselves with Dall sheep population dynamics or the factors that affect their existence. Throughout history, the earth has been subjected to change, and these pressures can either be positive or negative in how any population responds by adapting. The population of Dall sheep in the 1960s through the 1980s was considered to be stable and around 75,000 strong. Probably the best determining factor of the health of any population is the harvestability numbers. Harvest records began in the latter 60s, and since the latter 70s, there are accurate records of the number of hunters, both resident and non-resident, along with their success rate, ages of sheep harvested, horn size, and location of harvests. When these numbers decline significantly from one year to the next, managers look at the possible factors or changes causing the decline. The number of hunters increased gradually as did the harvest of sheep until 1989, which was the height with a harvest of 1,454. Since then, it went up and down slightly from year to year, but there has been a downward trajectory in the number of sheep hunters and the number of sheep harvested, from a high of 3,645 hunters in 1991 to a low in 2023 of 1,582 hunters. During that same period, the harvest went from 1,454 to 337. This drastic drop is alarming, and steps need to be taken before numbers drop off the cliff. Most experts agree that there are three factors to consider for this population crisis.
The number one concern has been the change in weather. Prior to the 90s, winters were colder and dryer, which meant the snow blew off feeding areas. We have warmer winters overall, and the worst events are the warm-up periods where the temps go above freezing and are often accompanied by rain and then freeze downs where snow becomes crusted and blown areas are iced over, preventing access to feed. We also have been having extended winters by as much as a month which can severely compromise the old rams who are often the first to die due to loss of fat supplies from the rut. The late springs are also hard on lambs being born. Finally, the warmer weather is causing vegetation like alders that compete with sheep forage to creep upward above tree line, causing a loss of food source. While the environmental conditions have significantly deteriorated for sheep survival, the hunters’ gear and ability to access sheep have improved greatly.
Predator control is the second greatest limiting factor on game populations after weather. Back in the 60s and 70s, predator control of wolves through trapping and aerial hunting controlled their impact, but there is very little trapping and actual predator control occurring today, often because it is a hot topic with outside public pressure against it.
The final factor to consider is hunter harvest. Hunter participation is down 57% while harvest is down 77%. These numbers are a comparison to the highs in both categories, which is a bit unfair since highs can never be maintained. However, the numbers paint a bleak outlook and cry to make changes to help this struggling population that is teetering on the verge of being on life support.
A few sheep hunting areas have been restricted and some are on permit. Others, like the Gates of the Arctic and Wrangell St. Elias National Parks, were removed from hunting in the early 80s, which eliminated 25% of Alaska’s prime sheep hunting areas. What that did was displace hunters into those huntable areas that remained, increasing the pressure there. We can point fingers and say we should have done so and so, but this is where we are, so now what? Permits have been cut back and a few areas are restricted, but we are still losing sheep numbers. Where to from here? That is the question.
Based on recent hunter harvests, our sheep population is currently estimated at 15,000-18,000 total. How do we get these numbers back uphill toward the 75,000 we had back in the heyday? In my opinion, we need to reduce hunting harvest and pressure, learn more about Dall sheep, and reduce loss to predators. Here are my recommendations:
1. Allocate 10% of projected sheep harvest to non-residents as is done in the lower 48 states and put them on a permit draw.
2. Increase license and tag fees for both residents and non-residents commensurate to lower 48 fees. An example is $200 for residents.
3. Charge a resource fee of 10% of the hunt cost to be paid by successful sheep hunters and by the guide. For example, if the hunt costs $30,000, the guide pays to the state of Alaska $3,000 and each successful hunter pays $3,000 as well.
4. Limit each Game Management Unit and sub-unit to a pre-determined harvest and emergency close the area when that number is reached, similar to how some goat areas are currently regulated.
5. Limit transporters and air taxis to designated landing strips/drainages where only one party at a time can be dropped off.
6. Predator control needs to be reinstated statewide for wolves. The funds captured from my financial recommendations should be used to facilitate this effort.
7. Provide funds from the financial recommendations to do more GPS collar studies as very few are currently being done.
8. If a hunter harvests a sheep, they are ineligible to hunt the following year. This will make hunters more selective, leaving more marginal rams on the mountain. This would also cut down on the sub-legal rams illegally harvested.
These measures would significantly help our struggling sheep populations rebound, while still allowing opportunity. If these measures are not enough to adequately turn things around, maybe it is time to shorten the season or even instate weapon restrictions that make it more difficult to harvest a sheep. Going to an all-draw for everyone is a solution, but it would destroy sheep hunting since you would seldom, if ever, draw the area you want and opportunity, which is what most hunters want foremost, would be lost.
In 2007 at the age of 60, I harvested a 39”, 167” ram, which totaled 35 rams for me. I sort of had a goal to top out at 50 rams on my 80th birthday, harvesting only rams over 40”. It was 2008 when I became an Alaska Board of Game member and started writing Rampages. Involved in the management of game populations, I became very in tune with harvest statistics since I was aware that sheep numbers were declining and found myself responsible for voting on regulations to help their plight. The politics stalemated at every turn.
My last sheep hunt was in 2010 with my son and grandson when the statewide harvest was 744. Large rams were becoming scarce with a bumpy, steady decline when in 2020, due to a severe winter, their numbers took a nosedive, coming in at a harvest of 612, followed the next three years by 483, 420, and 337. My goals changed since their numbers were seriously affected. I go out each year in search of winterkill pick-up horns, spending more time than if I was sheep hunting. Just being out in the environment with them and picking up dead-heads is my hunt these days. In good conscience, I would feel guilty shooting a ram now under the present circumstances. I have had plenty of opportunity, and what rams survive need to stay on the mountain breeding. I don’t begrudge any new hunters for killing a ram because I was the same way. I am at the stage in my life where I don’t have anything to prove, and I want to be a part of making other hunters aware of the plight of Dall sheep and hopefully convince them to hunt for larger rams than they have already taken and leave the younger rams that might be legal for posterity and be satisfied with not always having to take another ram.
About the Author:
At 79, Lew Bradley remains actively involved in the sheep hunting community. He has authored Rampages, the most comprehensive history of Dall sheep hunting in Alaska, including an original three-volume set and three additional volumes to be released in 2025. Lew, like so many others destined to be sheep hunters, landed in Alaska with the military or looking for work and adventure. For Lew, it was with the US Army, arriving in 1968, which was a prime time for hunting, with many big rams being added to the record books each season. He went on to harvest 35 rams over the next 50+ years, nine of which were B&C rams, and the average of all his rams combined exceeded 40”.
One editor describes Rampages, “This three-volume set of Rampages is the Gutenberg Bible of Dall sheep hunting! Indeed, the information included in this collector’s set qualifies in every way as an all-encompassing and invaluable reference to those interested in Alaska’s great white Dall sheep!”
At the time of this article, what will likely be the final three volumes of Rampages – Volumes IV, V, and VI – are nearly complete. Since the original set came out in 2018, Lew has spent another 6,000 hours putting together the remainder of the history of Dall sheep hunting in Alaska. In the second three-volume sequel, many of the original chapters have been expanded on with new material. This second set of Rampages is also 1,800 pages strong and contains 1,500 photos, poems, quotes, cartoons, drawings, and other artwork with Dall sheep as the subject.
Information on Rampages 1-3 is available on the website at www.rampages123.com, but orders must be placed in one of the following ways:
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