15-year-old girl bags trophy-caliber ram along Nebraska's sandstone bluffs
Kiersten Black won the bighorn sheep permit after her name was the only one drawn from 3,524 applicants in a lottery exclusively for Nebraska residents.
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SIDNEY, Neb. – A 15-year-old Nebraska girl has recently achieved a remarkable feat by successfully hunting down a ram of trophy caliber, considered one of the best in the world.
Kiersten Black won the bighorn sheep permit after her name was the only one drawn from 3,524 applicants in a lottery exclusively for Nebraska residents, wildlife officials with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission (NGPC) said. Permits are limited to one or two hunters in most years. Some years the NGPC may not issue any permits for bighorn sheep.
The once-in-a-lifetime hunt happened last Saturday on private land in the steep cliffs along Pine Ridge, southwest of Chadron, with Kiersten's father, younger brother and family friend by her side.
Wildlife officials report that the group first saw the large ram with a group of ewes in the early morning. However, the sheep disappeared into the trees, and despite searching the area and its steep canyons for around seven hours, they could not locate it again.
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Kiersten Black is joined by father and brother after her successful hunt.
(Nebraska Game and Parks Commission)
With guidance from her father, Kiersten was able to successfully stalk and shoot the ram just minutes before sundown, when the legal shooting light ended.
"I was just so excited," she told the NGPC. "I couldn’t believe it."
At the time of the harvest, the 10-year-old ram was in the final stage of its average lifespan, according to Todd Nordeen, manager of NGPC's research and disease program for bighorn sheep.
Nebraska bighorn sheep permits depend on the species' population, particularly mature rams.
Nebraska's hunting program has only harvested 34 sheep, marking a significant milestone since the program began in 1998. In the 1980s, bighorn sheep were reintroduced into Nebraska to combat uncontrolled hunting, habitat loss, and disease that had caused their disappearance in the late 1800s.
Today, the state boasts a population of over 250 rams, ewes and lambs, wildlife officials said.
Kiersten was the second female and second teenager to harvest a bighorn sheep in the state.