Outdoor Notes / Earl Gustkey : State Biologists Hope to Move 15 Bighorns to Ventura County

Department of Fish and Game biologists hope to capture about 15 bighorn sheep in the San Gabriel Mountains Monday and airlift them to a release site near San Rafael Peak in Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County.

The goal is to live-trap 13 female and 2 male bighorns and move them 76 miles to the northwest to a new home, where they’ll join 21 bighorns released in 1985, according to Vern Bleich, DFG bighorn specialist.

Bill McIntyre, DFG “mountain man,” has been living in a tent in the snow and rain at the trap site, baiting it daily with alfalfa and studying the bighorns as they feed. The site is beneath a 70 x 70-foot drop net.

When captured, the bighorns will be blindfolded, hobbled and examined by veterinarians before being flown to their new home. They will also be fitted with miniature radio transmitters.

The project is the second in a series designed to provide a population of 100 bighorns in the rugged Los Padres Forest area.

Bleich said that groups of 15 to 30 bighorns will be moved from the San Gabriels to the San Rafael Peak area over the next several years until the goal is reached.

The DFG believes that the carrying capacity of the San Gabriels is close to its maximum, with an estimated 700 sheep in the range.

Briefly Anglers Travel Connections of Torrance is offering $165-per-person fishing weekends to Catalina aboard the 65-foot sportfisher Mustang. Sailing dates: Jan. 23, Feb. 20, March 27, April 10, May 15. . . . Wilderness Fly Fishers will hold their annual free fly tying classes at Webster Junior High School at 7 p.m. Feb. 19 and 26; March 5, 12 and 19. . . . Loyola Marymount University’s Bass Fishing Techniques Institute will start Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., at Seavers Hall.