Fall is a time to watch for desert bighorns as these majestic creatures enter their annual activity: the rut.

The desert bighorn, like its cousin the California bighorn, inhabits the rough and rocky redrock terrain of southern Utah. Adapted to this desert environmental, the desert bighorns are light in color and are smaller than their Rocky Mountain relatives. Able to traverse through talus slopes and rocky cliffs, these animals move across rough terrain throughout the Canyon Country. Their split hooves with rough bottoms enable them to clamber over slickrock in a sure-footed gait.

Prior to European settlement, wild sheep sustained the indigenous natives with meat and tools made from bones or horns. Images of bighorn sheep are recorded in rock art panels across the Southwest. The petroglyphs vary in size and style, and one image, found along the San Juan River, appears to be a bighorn sheep playing a flute. The consensus is that bighorn sheep were more prevalent in Canyon Country during pre-historic times.

By the mid-1970s, desert bighorn populations were low due to hunting, habitat loss, and diseases introduced by domestic sheep such as scabies and anthrax, a bacterial infection. Since the animals do not naturally disperse into new country, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources established a program in the 1980s to relocate sheep from existing herds into historic areas. Captured sheep were transported by helicopter to a staging area where they were examined by a wildlife veterinarian and some individuals were fitted with radio collars to track their movement once they were released.

Today, there are herds of bighorn across southern Utah and visitors to Zion, Capitol Reef, Canyonlands, and Arches national parks, Dead Horse State Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and areas on BLM land outside of the parks, have a great opportunity to view these magnificent animals during the fall rutting period. This is when rams congregate with the ewes, lambs, and young sheep because their focus is elsewhere, and during the rest of the year, the rams roam solo or in small bachelor herds.

During the rut, rams will vie for dominance and the opportunity to mate with one or more of the females in his harem. Of course, other males have the same idea and there is a lot of interesting behavior to watch as the dominant rams chase away suitors, engage in posturing such as lip-curling and head thrusting, and the classic heat-butting clashes that sound like a rifle shot echoing off the canyon walls.

An older ram’s horns which are a hollow sheath over a bony core, may weigh over 30 pounds. Like tree growth rings, each section of their horns represents a year’s growth; counting these growth rings provides an age-estimate for the rams. Ewes have smaller horns which have a slight curve, not the impressive C-shape of the ram’s curl.

Driving along some of the backcountry roads in the parks or along the River Road, Highway 128, out of Moab, visitors should watch for the sheep gathered in open areas or on benches along the river. Long Canyon or sections of the White Rim Road are also good to check. After one of the initial reintroductions of sheep into Arches National Park, a small herd would hang out along Highway 191 just before the park’s entrance. Seemingly oblivious to traffic, these sheep would forage on grasses and shrubs in the flats alongside the road. However, increased traffic and the new bike lane along the highway has driven these sheep back up into the more rugged terrain in the park.

In 2015, the bighorn sheep population was estimated to be around 3,000 individuals, compared to about 1,000 thirty years earlier. Though the rebound in numbers is a positive, a spreading viral disease can knock down these numbers quickly. Still, these numbers are a far cry from historic levels. UDWR, the Utah Wild Sheep Foundation, and other organizations have been hard at work protecting these desert dwellers and maintaining a legacy of wild sheep roaming the redrock desert like they did in ancient times.