Bighorn Sheep

The Custer State Park herd of Bighorn Sheep roam all over the southern Black Hills during the summer vacation season.  You can see them just outside Hill City clear south to the southern portions of the Peter Norbeck scenic drive.  The big round horns on both the male and female sheep are something you don't want to tangle with...don't do the Mountain Dew commercial.  Leave the head butting to the rams during the spring when they are battling for dominance with the other tough guys in the herd. 

Bighorn Sheep that were native to the Black Hills were driven to extinction by 1916 due to big game hunters. To this day, Bighorn Sheep are one of the most sought after big game species hunted in north America.  In South Dakota alone over 1200 applications are filed for just 3 yearly hunting permits.  The Autobahn Bighorn Sheep seen today in the Black Hills were brought into Custer State Park from Colorado and Wyoming during the 1960's and 1990's.  In 2005 there was an outbreak of pneumonia that swept through the parks’ bighorn sheep in January and February and resulted in the death of up to 75 percent of herd.  Hunting has been stopped since then, and the sheep that made it through are looking stronger then ever.  I saw the largest ram I've ever seen in the Black Hills tromping around Hill City this fall.