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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1972 History winter range and current status of the Rock Creek Montana bighorn sheep herd Michael William Aderhold The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Aderhold, Michael William, "History winter range and current status of the Rock Creek Montana bighorn sheep herd" (1972). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 6498. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/6498 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE HISTORY, WINTER RANGE, AND CURRENT STATUS OF THE ROCK CREEK, MONTANA, BIGHORN SHEEP HERD By Michael W. Aderhold B.S., University of Michigan, 1963 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirments for the degree of Master of Science UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA 1972 Approved by: ^ \ Board of Ekamin^s n, Gr^duaW School^ - r —f Date Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMl Number; EP37299 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction Is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT UMl EP37299 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work has required the time and cooperation of many indi­ viduals and organizations. It is my pleasure to acknowledge several o f the many who have h elp ed . The study was financially supported by the School of Forestry of the University of Montana, the American Museum of Natural History, and the Montana State Fish and Game Department. The author i s g r a te fu l to Dr. W. L e s lie P en gelly and Dr. James Lowe, not only for the interest cney nave snown in tnis work, but also for their friendship and counsel during his stay in Montana. Pro­ fe s s o r M elvin S. Morris and Dr. Lee Eddleroan v is it e d the sheep range and lent valuable assistance in the range aspects of this work. The author appreciates Dr. Philip Wright's personal inter­ est in the Rock Creek sheep and his assistance during the early stages of research. To Reuel Janson, Fred Hartkorn, and Liter Spence of the Montana Fish and Game Department, Hoke Grotbo of the U. S. Forest Service, Don Lotvedt of the Bureau of Land Management, and Ralph Dunmire and Beach Warner of the Soil Conservation Service, the author is deeply indebted for their technical assistance and cooperation. He is also indebted to the U. S. Forest Service for living accommodations at Rock Greek and the equipment necessary to secure a good camp. i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Librarians Irene Evers, Forestry School Library, and Lucile Speers, University of Montana Documents Library, were especially helpful in locating literature not directly related to bighorn sheep. I am thankful for my colleague and friend, Steve Berwick, who continues this work where I left off, for his companionship and unselfish assistance. A warm thank you to the people of Rock Creek; Mrs. Harold Wyman, the Bob Neal family, the Chester Brewer family, the Carl Rhienhart family, and the Bill Parfitts, not only for their cooper­ ation in this study, but for the hospitality shown me during my stay in their country. Above a ll, I am grateful to Dr, Richard D. Taber, my com­ mittee chairman, advisor, and teacher, who guided this work and instructively criticized this paper, and my wife, Lynn, who shared the joys and disappointments of this work and kept faith to the end. I l l Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Acknowledgments ---------------------------------------------------------------- i i List of Tables ---------------------------------------------------------------- v i List of Figures ---------------------------------------------------------------- v i i PREFACE 1 CHAPTER I - INTRODUCTION --------------------------------------------------------- 3 Objectives ------------------------------------------------ 3 Literature ----------------------------------------------- 4 Methods -------------------------------------------------- 6 II - THE SITE -------------------------------------------------- 9 General Description of the Study Site ----------------------------------------- 9 Rock Creek Climate ------------------------------- 10 H istory ------------------------------------------------ 13 Present Status —— ------------------- 21 Future ------------------------------------------------------- 32 I I I - THE ECOLOGY ---------------------------------------------- 34 Geology -------------------------- 34 Vegetation of the Rock Creek Bighorn Sheep Winter W ildlife Resource ------------------------------- 47 Relationships ------------------------------------- 50 IV - THE ROCK CREEK SHEEP HERD ------------------------------- 52 H istory -------------------------------------------------- 52 Decline of 1965 57 Population Factor ------------------------------ 73 Winter Observations 76 Conclusions ----------------------------------------- 78 V - SUMMARY ------------------------------------------------------------- 81 XV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) Page Appendices ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Appendix A - Species List of Birds Observed 3 5 on the Bighorn Sheep Winter Range Appendix B - Species List of Mamma1s Observed on Bighorn Sheep W inter Range ---------- 87 Appendix C - Soils Series on Bighorn Sheep Range---------- gg Appendix D - Composition of the Seven Range Types Found on the Rock Creek Win ter Range ---------------------------------------- 9 3 Bibliography -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 98 Biographical Sketch ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 104 V Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1 Public and Private Ownership of the Rock Creek W inter Range ---------------------------------------------------- 22 2 Summer Traffic Opposite the Bighorn Sheep Winter Range 1960-1967 '--------- 28 3 Hunting Regulations Affecting the Rock Creek Bighorn Sheep ------------------------------------------------- . 56 4 Summary o f Bighorn Sheep Perm its and K ills 58 5 A Summary of the Bighorn Sheep Censuses in the Rock Creek Area Since 1954 61 6 Incidence of Lungworm Infection in the Bighorn Sheep of Rock Creek --------------------- 64 7 The Results of Mr. Eugene Hughes' Tests for Tick Paralysis ------------------------------------- 56 8 Nematodes Recovered from the Rock Creek Sheep Autopsied the Winter of 1966-67 68 VI Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1 Location of Rock Creek, Montana ------------- 11 Figure 2 The Rock Creek Winter Range ---------------------- 12 Figure 3 Public Ownership of the Rock Creek Winter Range --------------------------------------------- 23 Figure 4 Private Ownership of the Rock Creek Winter Range --------------------------------------------- 24 Figure 5 Geology of the Rock Creek Winter Range 36 Figure 6 S o ils o f the Rock Creek W inter Range — 40 Figure 7 Vegetation of the Rock Creek Winter Range 45 Figure 8 Former and Present Limits of Bighorn Sheep Distribution in Granite County 54 v i i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE In 1870, Montana's non-Indian population was estimated at slightly more than 20,000. Thirty years later, at the turn of the century, the state's population was still under a quarter of a mil­ lion. In this short time, however, incompatible cultural practices, the immense dependence of settlement on wild meat, imported diseases, and the tremendous exploitive nature of man, combined with the deli­ cate nature of early big game herds, drastically reduced the new state's wildlife resource to but an echo of its aboriginal status. Among the game animals that suffered most were two races of wild sheep, the Audubon bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis auduboni) and the Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis c. canadensis). The first species inhabited the rough, broken river brakes found extensively along the major river courses in eastern Montana and the western Dakotas. It was described by Lewis and Clark in bands

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