The Whiskey Mountain herd\u2019s territory includes a coveted spot near Dubois that fans call\u00a0Ramland<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a place where bighorn rams congregate and during the rut, or mating season, engage in brutal head-butting contests.<\/p>\n Keimig said the head-butting is one of his favorite things to watch and listen to.<\/p>\n The sound of the rams\u2019 horns colliding is \u201clike taking a big hammer to an anvil. It\u2019s a pretty good crash, and you can\u00a0hear\u00a0it from some distance away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the prime time for watching that. From now, into December,\u201d Keimig added. \u00a0<\/p>\n He can recall a time when he could always count on seeing bighorns in several of his favorite viewing spots around the area.<\/p>\n Sadly, that\u2019s no longer the case.<\/p>\n \u201cI was up there last week, and I didn\u2019t see any sheep, which doesn\u2019t surprise me anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Nowadays, it might take several trips to a prime spot to actually see sheep, he added.<\/p>\n The Whiskey Mountain herd also has a tenuous connection to another bighorn herd, in the Sinks Canyon area near Lander.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got sheep scattered here and there between Dubois and Lander,\u201d Keimig said.<\/p>\n The Sinks Canyon herd has also been greatly diminished by pneumonia outbreaks.<\/p>\n Back when both Dubois and Sinks Canyon herds were in their heyday, Keimig liked visiting the Sinks Canyon bighorns.<\/p>\n One ram\u00a0in\u00a0particular, Bam-Bam made quite a name for himself in the late 2000s.<\/p>\n He loved people, and getting peanut butter as a treat. But he got his name for his habit for\u00a0ramming into vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bam-Bam died of natural causes in 2013.<\/p>\n Keimig said he remembers Bam-Bam well, although the rowdy ram never head-butted any of his vehicles.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess he just didn\u2019t want to pick on me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u2018Just An Amazing Animal\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Although he\u2019s saddened by the Whiskey Mountain bighorns\u2019 decline, Keimig said he\u2019ll never tire of watching the sheep, or including images of sheep in his artwork.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen they\u2019re sky-lined up on a rock or something like that, they just make the perfect model for art,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re just an amazing animal,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n And he loves\u00a0introducing\u00a0newcomers to bighorn sheep.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes when people see bighorns for the\u00a0first time, they\u2019re amazed that they\u2019re not as big as they imagined they would be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Keimig wonders if the herd will ever see more glory days.<\/p>\n The Whiskey Mountain herd used to be one of the largest and most robust in the West, Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation Executive Director Katie Cheesbrough previously told State Daily.<\/p>\n Bighorns captured from the herd were transplanted in several locations to seed new bighorn populations, she said.<\/p>\n That isn\u2019t possible so long as the pneumonia infection persists and the herd\u2019s numbers remain low, Keimig said.<\/p>\n The good news is, the herd\u2019s numbers are holding steady.<\/p>\n \u201cThe population is at a kind of status quo; it\u2019s just kind of going along. I hope it will improve someday,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Moose Down, Elk Up<\/strong><\/p>\n Moose also used to be common near Dubois, and even in town, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI used to have them in my yard,\u201d Keimig said.<\/p>\n Their\u00a0numbers have also plunged, and also likely because of disease, he said.<\/p>\n The moose are susceptible to heartworm disease, he said. And ticks also\u00a0take\u00a0a toll on them.<\/p>\n Wildlife officials say ticks can be brutal on moose, sometimes piling on to a single moose by the\u00a0tens of thousands<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the other hand, elk around Dubois are thriving, as they are across Wyoming and the West, Keimig noted.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of elk around here now. It seems like there\u2019s been quite the population increase,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n![\"Fans](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Ramland-too-Close-12.29.23.JPG\")
Fans of bighorn sheep getting too close to \u201cRamland Wyoming\u201d bighorns near Dubois can stress the animals. (Photo Courtesy Karl Brauneis)Remembering Bam-Bam<\/strong><\/p>\n