Famed Whiskey Mountain Bighorn Herd Still Recovering From Brutal Winter Of '85

The Whiskey Mountain bighorn sheep herd is one of Wyoming’s wildlife treasures, but it’s nothing compared to what it used to be.

The herd peaked at around 2,500 sheep in the 1980s, and now numbers about 750. Wildlife managers say a decades-long bacterial pneumonia epidemic is primarily to blame.

Wildlife artist Gary Keimig was born and raised near Casper and moved to Dubois “on New Year’s Eve, 1978, 1979,” he told Cowboy State Daily.

He was immediately enthralled with the Whiskey Mountain bighorns and has watched them ever since.

He said their ordeal began during the terrible winter of 1984-1985.

At one point, the temperature in Dubois dropped down to an unprecedented -55.

“It seemed to really take a lot out of them (the bighorn sheep). I remember right after that, things really started going downhill, and they never recovered from it,” Keimig said.