Sheep Fever

Blayne St. James owns and operates St. James Sporting Properties, a group of elite real estate professionals and outdoorsmen specializing in selling trophy hunting and fishing properties throughout the West. His company has exclusive marketing partnerships with some of the premier names in the outdoor industry and some of the most well-respected names in the non-profit space. In addition to working in the outdoor world, he is also an avid big game hunter who enjoys both archery and rifle hunting. He was awarded the Super Slam® of North American Big Games, holds Grand Slam® #1831, and has multiple archery awards. Conservation is a major priority to Blayne and his family. He holds lifetime memberships in the following conservation organizations: Wild Sheep Foundation, Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep Society, Mule Deer Foundation, Grand Slam Club Ovis, Safari Club International, Dallas Safari Club, as well as the Pope and Young Club.

Sheep Fever co-host Gray Thornton sits down with Blayne to talk hunting sheep, the NA 29, polar bear, and much more, including the essence of hunting and passing it on to future generations of hunters and conservationists. This conservation flows through a multitude of topics, from bow hunting to buying your dream recreational property.

On this episode of Sheep Fever, co-host Gray Thornton visits with Schnee's president & owner, Jon Edwards, and Marketing Director, Matt Miller, to talk sheep hunting, their Montana roots, footwear, firearms, gear, our freedoms, outdoor heritage, and why this iconic downtown Bozeman brand has been a stalwart supporter of Wild Sheep Foundation for more than 30 years.

We discuss Schnee's rich history, its future, and why showcasing a "gun shop" on Main Street in downtown Bozeman is important to our Western heritage and ethos. We also visit on our upcoming partnership -Schnee's & WSF's Ram Rendezvous II July 6-7, 2023 where we again turn downtown Bozeman into a street fair with BBQ, beer, live music, Schnee's & WSF partner vendors, and a celebration of wild sheep, hunting & conservation.

Congress passed the Wild and Free-Roaming Horses & Burros Act in 1971 when populations of these animals were declining. Back then, no one could have foreseen the problems we currently face 55 years later, as unchecked populations overrun the carrying capacity of the land and out-compete native wildlife (including wild bighorns) for forage and water. The law requires the BLM to protect and manage populations of horses and burros for the health of the landscape and these animals themselves, but it forbids multiple-use agencies from destroying healthy animals. That leaves us – the taxpayers and owners of the public land where most of these critters live – with conflicting rules and a whole lot of mouths to feed.

The President's FY24 budget requested nearly $155 million of taxpayer dollars to employ and resource 239 full-time employees for horse and burro management. Most of that taxpayer money will be spent feeding the more than 60,000 animals still in long-term holding facilities.

Current horse and burro policies are failing our public lands, our public wildlife, and the equids themselves. The time for change has come and passed.

Sheep Fever asked those close to the situation to help explain why the law is being carried out as written, how bad things have gotten, and what can and should be done.

For a variety of reasons women are one of the fasting growing segments of the hunting and shooting communities. WSF's Women Hunt® program was conceived to help more women cross barriers into the hunting and conservation space. Women Shaping Conservation is a new program within Wild Sheep Society of British Columbia with a shared vision and mission of WSF's Women Hunt® program.

Gray sits down with Women Hunt® founder and Chair Renée Thornton, Women Shaping Conservation Chair Rebecca Peters, (a 2021 Women Hunt® sponsored New Hunter Course alumni), and Amy Patrick, Policy Director of Oregon Hunters Association (a 2022 Women Hunt® sponsored New Hunter Course alumni) to discuss their journeys as new hunters, challenges they faced, opportunities they enjoyed and the future of Women In Hunting™.

To learn more about the Wild Sheep Foundation, and to become a member, visit our website wildsheepfoundation.org.

You can also connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

One of the most cherished aspects of any hunt is the stories shared around a campfire. Whether enjoying Stone's sheep ribs slow grilled on willow sticks, Dall's tenderloins sauteed on a hot rock, or bighorn backstraps sizzling in a well-worn cast iron pan, the stories told while enjoying the fruits of the hunt in many ways epitomize the allure of sheep camp and the essence of the hunting experience. Guides, outfitters, and professional hunters around the world are renowned as some of the finest storytellers. Weaving a yarn, telling the truth, or a mixture of the two, hunting and outdoor stories shared by hunting icons, are often our most cherished memories of time spent in the mountains and afield.

Gray sits down at the recent Guide Outfitters Association of British Columbia convention in Kelowna, BC, with two such icons, both WSF Frank Golata Outstanding Outfitter winners, Ron Fleming of Love Brothers & Lee, LTD and Darwin Cary of Scoop Lake Outfitters. Ron and Darwin share their journeys getting into the Guide/Outfitting business, hilarious stories, and exciting and harrowing adventures experienced over six decades in the mountains as well as their views on the past, present, and future of guide outfitting in BC.

These two can tell a tale and feed off each other like a few others. Enjoy nearly ninety minutes of two icons of British Columbia. We're confident you'll want even more!

To learn more about the Wild Sheep Foundation, and to become a member, visit our website wildsheepfoundation.org.

You can also connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

Auction Tags, Governor's Tags, Minister's Permits – celebrated conservation funding, special privilege, love them or hate them, amazing record amounts of money are being spent each year for the chance to skip to the head of the line and hunt one special animal. The question is, what do these funds mean to big game species, the agencies that receive these funds, the organizations that sell them, and is this system of conservation funding durable?

On the heels of the 2023 AZ Mule Deer Tag selling for $725,000, Gray and Keith sit down with Hunting and Conservation Editor for Outdoor Life and Mule Deer Foundation board member Andrew McKean to do a deep dive into the crazy amounts of money being generated from these tags, why, who and what benefits and while some people cheer, others complain.

To learn more about the Wild Sheep Foundation, and to become a member, visit our website wildsheepfoundation.org.

You can also connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.

One Health is not a new concept, but it has gained momentum with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and others following the COVID pandemic. One Health promotes the fact that human health is directly tied to the health of the environment, including wildlife, plants, clean air, and clean water. While at the 2023 Sheep Show, Keith visited with wildlife veterinary expert and past Chair of the Wild Sheep Foundation Peregrine Wolff, and Shane Mahoney, president and CEO of Conservation Visions. Their conversation explores how One Health could engage more people in the conservation and management of natural resources, which should lead to a better understanding of the historical role hunters and anglers have played and continue to play in healthy ecosystems.

The 100,000 acre Rancho La Palmosa is the result of a vision to restore native wildlife to the Chihuahuan desert of northern Coahuila including desert bighorn sheep, pronghorn, mule deer, whitetail deer (miquihuanenses subspecies), quail (scaled and Montezuma) and non-game species and to enhance and protect the biodiversity of native flora and fauna. The Rangel family has owned portions of the ranch for more than 50 years. La Palmosa encompasses 156 square miles of spectacular desert, mesa and mountain topography ranging from 4,200' to 8,600' in elevation in the San Marcos y Los Pinõs Mountains.

Gray sits down with La Palmosa owners Emilio Rangel and his son Emilio Espino to discuss the history of the ranch and their repatriation efforts for desert bighorn sheep which from a source population of 133 released in 2005/2006 now numbers more than 700 free ranging bighorns.

Outdoor programming on television has come a long way since its inception, with more and more shows covering the conservation benefits of hunting and fishing. However, the majority of shows air on outdoor networks favored by sportsmen. The broader public that would benefit from this knowing these benefits have been harder to reach. While at the 2023 Sheep Show, Keith sat down with Dan Cabela and Conservation Visions president and CEO Shane Mahoney to talk about Dan's new television series, Hard Truths, airing on a much more diverse platform, the History Channel.

SITKA Gear has led the technical hunting clothing community with their launch in 2005 with purposeful-designed apparel for the sheep and mountain game hunter and their digitally inspired Open Country pattern. Today, their lines include camouflage patterns, apparel, and gear for all species, from elk, mule deer, and whitetail to waterfowl and turkey. A leader in conservation, SITKA has been funding wild sheep and wildlife conservation in a major way since its start and has been the Official Sponsor of the Sheep Show for nine years and the initial sponsor for WSF's