By Al Camp
The Chronicle

     LOOMIS – A $1,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the killing of a trophy-class bighorn sheep ram found Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 24, along Sinlahekin Creek Road.
     An archery deer hunter near Blue Lake in the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area found the ram.
     State Fish and Wildlife officers recovered the animal, regional enforcement supervisor Sgt. Jim Brown.
     “The bighorn sheep ram appears to have died from a gunshot wound,” Brown said. “Officers are unclear as to whether the injuries were made by a well-intentioned passerby that was simply euthanizing the already injured animal, or if all of the injuries were from a poacher who then left the animal to waste.”
     Evidence was collected at the scene.
     The state Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Program is looking for additional information or witnesses than can help them sort out what happened to the animal, Brown said.
     Those with information about the ram, or any other case, can leave information with Washington State Patrol dispatch at 509-422-3800, or the state Fish and Wildlife poaching reporting number at 877-933-9847.
     The Sinlahekin Wildlife Area has also had several deer killed and left to waste over the past year, Brown said.
     “This is the public’s resource that is being killed and left to waste,” Brown said. “We take these incidents very seriously.
     “Some evidence has already been collected. But like before, we are just looking for additional information that will help us clear these cases. Someone out there knows something. We are again appealing to them for their help. Sometimes the smallest reported detail can solve a case.”