We had 11 radio-collared bighorn sheep to find.

Took us 1.1 hours.

The good news? Found all 11, and none of their collars were on mortality (if a collar doesn't move for eight hours, it doubles the rate at which the radio beeps are sent out, basically a frantic "find me! find me!").

Three sheep left the mountains completely shortly after they were released and once the ice melted they were separated from the mountains, and the rest of the bighorn, by a quarter-mile wide, four-mile long arm of water. Everyone was wondering what they would do when their adopted home turned hot, dry and brown.

Well, one of the three, a ram, had his radio collar drop off on schedule at the end of June. He was across the lake and on a sand dune ridge halfway back to the mountains, and the other two still wearing their collars were nearby.

Early in July I checked their signals from the ground, and it sounded like they'd continued on north. Today we confirmed it... they're happily back in the mountains, near the highest point, with a couple other collared sheep.

The best outcome we could hope for. Really.

The other worry was good ol' number 312. A neighbor'd made several attempts to locate her in the past month, all without success. A line has been drawn in the sand: if she goes seven miles or so east or north, she will be killed.

Just too much risk of her encountering domestic sheep, and becoming a "Typhoid Mary" with Pasteurella haemolytica Type A.

So the big worry has been... where is number 312? Quite a few people were eagerly awaiting the results of my flight.

Well, the good news is...

Number 312 is exactly where she used to be. Only thing is, her radio has shifted slightly in frequency (not a common thing, but not uncommon either. Two of my ten elk radios did the same thing.), so that's probably why other folks couldn't find her.

So she'll be left alone.

All in all, a pleasant flight.

Next month, we'll do it again.