Dec. 2021 - 21

movements and guides other photographers
on safaris. Sincavage said the bighorn rut
usually runs from November to January with
the Whiskey Mountain herd and is the best
time to watch them. It's the season when rams
square off and charge into each other with
crushing force.
I met Sincavage at The Perch, a downtown
coffee shop on Dubois' main street in early
December. He was dressed in a puffy jacket,
and his face was wind-burned. He agreed to
show me one of the bands of bighorn sheep
he had been watching. I asked him what our
chances were to see rams whacking horns.
" That's the ultimate thing. But with the
rut, there's so much more to it. The behaviors,
the interactions between the differently-aged
males. If you watch them long enough, you'll
get the hitting of horns, and that's always
spectacular. But you'll also see a lot of kicking
and shoving, " Sincavage said.
During the rut Sincavage often photographs
sheep every day of the week just to see what
little changes might occur as the season passes.
On the morning I met Sincavage he already
braved single-digit temperatures to scout
several herds of bighorns. He told me about
a pair of rams that rumbled the week before
I arrived.
" When they are fighting one-on-one, those
battles go on for a long time, " he said. " The two
I watched went on for two-and-a-half hours.
If you catch it right at the start - which I
did - you can change positions and shoot
the angle you want. "
Sincavage said he can distinguish individuals
and begins to know one ram from another as
the season progresses. If he sits in one place
long enough he often is surrounded by ewes
and rams. His wife accuses him of being half
bighorn and wonders whether he likes to be
with them more than in town with people.
Sincavage is deeply involved with the
National Bighorn Sheep Center in Dubois.
This grassroots organization seeks to conserve
bighorns and their habitat. The center brings
hunters, wildlife enthusiasts, biologists,
photographers and others together with one
aim: making sure we always have bighorn
sheep in Wyoming and beyond. It does this
through education and public awareness.
Although Sincavage isn't a hunter, he's probably
spent more time among animals than the most
ardent sportsmen and -women. He's developed
techniques similar to what hunters use to get
Knowing the surroundings and behavior of the animals are key for photographer Bill Sincavage to get quality shots of
bighorn sheep. (Photo by Dave Zoby)
Watching male bighorn sheep fight is fun for Bill Sincavage, but so is observing other behaviors during the rut.
(Photo by Bill Sincavage)
close to his subjects.
" It's like any animal, you know? You can't
just walk right at them - they'll walk away, "
Sincavage said. " You have to go a little bit,
stop, wait until they get comfortable, move
at an angle. I've sat on a rock and had them
fill in all around me. "
We drove the winding, gravel road into
the Torrey Valley. Sincavage pointed out some
petroglyphs just off the road. In the distance
Wyoming Wildlife | 21

Dec. 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Dec. 2021