MOAB – The Division of Wildlife Resources sponsors its annual Moab Bighorn Sheep Watch next weekend (Nov. 20-21).

DWR officials will guide participants to locations where bighorns have been recently observed, with extra spotting scopes and binoculars for public use, as well as provide a large passenger vehicle for those who wish to ride-share.

The event begins on Friday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m., at the Moab Information Center, located at the corner of Center and Main, where DWR Regional Wildlife Program Manager Justin Shannon will give a power-point presentation about the ecology and life history of bighorn sheep. Shannon, who wrote a graduate thesis on the topic, will display bighorn skulls and horns will be displayed in the course of his presentation.

Saturday morning, participants meet at the Moab Information Center to set off on the search for bighorn sheep in the Moab area. Bighorns are almost always seen from asphalt roads in Moab Canyon and along the Colorado River, so off-road vehicles are not mandatory. For those who ride-share, the field trip generally finishes by noon or early afternoon.

Mid-November marks the peak of the bighorn sheep rut, when bighorn rams compete for breeding rights with horn clashes and other threatening behaviors to intimidate rivals. Head-butting occurs only when competing rams are equally matched in horn and body size; otherwise, more subtle harassment of inferior rams occurs.

Because bighorn sheep are wild and unpredictable, the DWR cannot guarantee that sheep will be sighted at close range, or even at all. Participants need to be aware of that possibility at the outset; in the event that no bighorns are observed, however, participants can still enjoy the unmatched beauty of the Colorado River Scenic Byway.

The event is free to the public. There is no pre-registration. Sheep watchers are encouraged to dress for the weather, bring a pair of binoculars, camera and/or spotting scope.

For more information, contact Brent Stettler at 435-613-3707 or BrentStettler@utah.gov.