CO Anti-Hunters New Target: Bighorn Sheep hunting

[bayoublaster7527]

We sort of saw this bubble up back in 2024 during the Proposition 127: mountain lion hunting ban debate. Trish Zornio, self-described scientist and failed Senate candidate, published an article in the Colorado Sun enthusiastically endorsing Prop 127 and encouraging Coloradans to vote in favor. Also in the article Zornio makes the case to not stop at mountain lions, why not ban bighorn sheep hunting too?

Fast forward to today and the topic came back up in public comment during the 18 July CPW Commission meeting. One prominent speaker, Rainer Gerbach (sp), criticized the current reliance on the Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY) model for managing ungulate populations, particularly bighorn sheep. He argued that this model is scientifically and ethically indefensible, leading to unsustainable hunting practices that threaten the ecological balance. Gerbach (sp) called for a transition to resilience-based wildlife governance, emphasizing the need for policies that prioritize ecological integrity over short-term hunting yields.

If you attend many commission meetings or watch public testimony regarding anti-hunting bills in the General Assembly, you likely know who Rainer Gerbatsch is. He is quite notable in the anti-hunting movement here in Colorado, regularly publishing articles and providing public comment bashing hunters and trappers, spreading false narratives, and advocating for the elimination of hunting and trapping. All in the name of biodiversity and coexistence, of course.

That's right, bighorn sheep hunting is "ethically indefensible". This is the strategy employed by anti-hunting groups in places like Colorado and Washington, calling into question or creating doubt regarding the agency wildlife biologists and their models. Then you make the case to eliminate harvest. Unfortunately this is unlikely to be the last heard of this.

 

[Bonasababy]

How where they portraying the harm to "ecological integrity?". If the population is managed the way I assume it is, I can't see any ecological harm.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Huh. The fact that there are some ewe tags would suggest to me that certain areas are at or near carrying capacity or at least where social demands wants the population?

Bighorn sheep and "ecological balance" sounds like a BS argument on it's face. What is the ecological impact of them being extirpated from much of their range anyway? What's next, a bs video about "how sheep change mountains" like "how wolves change rivers". Who's pulling the weight advocating for their habitat, winter range, livestock conflict, travel corridors anyway?

 

[bayoublaster7527]

How where they portraying the harm to "ecological integrity?". If the population is managed the way I assume it is, I can't see any ecological harm.

That’s a great question. I need to go back to the meeting recording to be entirely sure. However, like most anti-hunting tirades we regularly see at CPW commission meetings, in their 2 minutes they throw around terms like “mass extinction crisis, complete ecosystem collapse, and climate change” without providing any actual data to connect these alleged events to current regulated hunting practices.

 

[Bonasababy]

If there are some ewe tags that would seem to counter any concerns about only harvesting rams.

 

[TheTone]

I’d say domestic sheep are a bigger threat to bighorns than hunters killing them. Why won’t they address that instead of hunting?

 

[bayoublaster7527]

I’d say domestic sheep are a bigger threat to bighorns than hunters killing them. Why won’t they address that instead of hunting?

Because they care more about eliminating hunting than they do about helping sheep.

 

[TheTone]

I do have a worry that auction tags, the money that is spent on them and how a select few hunters buy them over and over could be used against hunting sheep by these people

 

[Sandbrew]

This commenter caught my attention as well and I let @Oak know. There is a some pretty good science behind the harvesting of ewes to keep populations in check to limit younger rams pioneering out looking for new habitat only to cross paths with domestics. Keeping current herds numbers in check and isolated is actually part of the CPW bighorn plan to prevent a catastrophic all age die off across multiple herds. I'm sure there will be some lively discussions and tear jerking testimony before to long.

 

[Forkyfinder]

I’d say domestic sheep are a bigger threat to bighorns than hunters killing them. Why won’t they address that instead of hunting?

On top of that - what funding will replace license sales?

Hunters wanting to sustainably harvest sheep is the only major funding source for sheep conservation.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

This commenter caught my attention as well and I let @Oak know. There is a some pretty good science behind the harvesting of ewes to keep populations in check to limit younger rams pioneering out looking for new habitat only to cross paths with domestics. Keeping current herds numbers in check and isolated is actually part of the CPW bighorn plan to prevent a catastrophic all age die off across multiple herds. I'm sure there will be some lively discussions and tear jerking testimony before to long.

Yep, especially with the addition of two new anti-hunting commissioners linked to Colorado Sierra Club who will join the existing contingent from Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, WildEarth Guardians, etc. This type of comment will likely have a receptive audience despite the rock solid science from CPW biologists.

 

[The_Coloradoboy]

Nothing much surprises me with Colorado anymore…