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Newly identified genetic groups of bighorn sheep could aid Idaho management

A new Idaho study has identified six distinct genetic groups of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep across the state, opening new doors for management and reintroduction projects.

Photo Galleries

Hunting

Newly identified genetic groups of bighorn sheep could aid Idaho management

Fishing

Bighorn River trout populations up as dry water year threatens

Hiking

Groups planning work on Idaho trails into the Salmo-Priest Wilderness

Wintersports

Choice lifestyle: Family business flourishes in tough love for backcountry skiing

Conservation

Newly identified genetic groups of bighorn sheep could aid Idaho management

Columns

Dogs, Banjos, and Cake: Palliatives for a burning world | Ammi Midstokke

Field Reports

Access point at 57th an Hatch Road closed through mid May | Field reports

Fish-Hunt Report

Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for April 23, 2026

Latest Stories

Sports > Outdoors

‘They’re not scared, they’re just at home’: Man plans to donate 885 acres to the Kalispel Tribe through conservation easement to protect wildlife

Mon., May 11, 2026

On an average autumn morning last year, Gary Verbrugge would walk off his front porch and watch as a full-grown bull moose took to pruning his apple tree 20 feet away.

Sports > Outdoors

Newly identified genetic groups of bighorn sheep could aid Idaho management

UPDATED: Sat., May 9, 2026

A new Idaho study has identified six distinct genetic groups of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep across the state, opening new doors for management and reintroduction projects.

Sports > Outdoors

Two hikers in Yellowstone seriously injured in bear attack

Fri., May 8, 2026

A pair of hikers in Yellowstone National Park were seriously injured in a bear attack earlier this week.

Sports > Outdoors

Yellowstone elk took a cruise to New Zealand in 1905; their descendants are revered

UPDATED: Sat., May 9, 2026

Yellowstone National Park's elk are known to migrate hundreds of miles, but in 1905 seven cows and three bulls likely set a record – a distance of more than 7,500 nautical miles – when they took a cruise from Washington, D.C., to New Zealand.

Sports > Outdoors

Missing hiker found dead of suspected bear attack in iconic national park

UPDATED: Sat., May 9, 2026

A missing hiker from Florida was found dead on Wednesday in Glacier National Park and park officials are investigating the death as a possible bear attack.

Sports > Outdoors

Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for May 7

Thu., May 7, 2026

Fly fishing

News > Business

Dogs, Banjos, and Cake: Palliatives for a burning world | Ammi Midstokke

UPDATED: Thu., May 7, 2026

I keep trying to get my banjo teacher to teach me contemporary songs, because if Pink Floyd sounds good, it must sound good on the banjo, right?

Sports > Outdoors

Part tying, part carving: How Derek Darst turns deer hair into elaborate bass bugs

Fri., May 1, 2026

The most important part of tying a topwater bass fly is putting enough hair on the hook. So, one Saturday morning in early April, Derek Darst just kept adding more.

Sports > Outdoors

Bighorn River trout populations up as dry water year threatens

UPDATED: Fri., May 1, 2026

Following a warm and dry winter, one of south-central Montana’s major tourist attractions, the Bighorn River, is facing low water levels despite its location below Yellowtail Dam.

Sports > Outdoors

To Cuba for bonefish, tarpon and permit, with a side of a changed Havana | Dennis Anderson

UPDATED: Fri., May 1, 2026

In 1950, Ernest Hemingway founded a billfish tournament off the northern coast of this island nation, not far from Havana. Trolling heavy lines behind his 38-foot boat Pilar, Hemingway won the competition that year. “There is great pleasure in being on the sea,” Hemingway would write, “in the wild suddenness of a great fish.”

Sports > Outdoors

Gopher Snake emerges | Outdoors reader photo gallery

Thu., April 30, 2026

This photo, taken by Rich Zywiak on April 27, shows a 4-foot-long gopher snake at Columbia Plateau Trail in Cheney. Warmer weather has activated local snake species.

Sports > Outdoors

Access point at 57th an Hatch Road closed through mid May | Field reports

Wed., April 29, 2026

From staff reports

Sports > Outdoors

Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for April 30

Wed., April 29, 2026

For both the 2025 and 2026 construction seasons, fly fishing restrictions will once again be in effect from April through November at the I-90 Bridge near Cataldo.

Sports > Outdoors

The ocean can swallow us now | Ammi Midstokke

Wed., April 29, 2026

I recently returned to the island of Oahu to gather with writers and participate as minimally as possible in the great wasteful occupation of a land that does not belong to us.

Sports > Outdoors

Choice lifestyle: Family business flourishes in tough love for backcountry skiing

UPDATED: Sat., April 25, 2026

Grace Yancey might someday write a book about her childhood winters – the igloo playhouse, a breezy three-sided latrine and visitors from around the world at her Little House in the Purcells.

Sports > Outdoors

Groups planning work on Idaho trails into the Salmo-Priest Wilderness

UPDATED: Sat., April 25, 2026

No part of Idaho is officially included in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness, but you can get there from a few trails that begin in the Panhandle.

Sports > Outdoors

Alan Liere’s hunting and fishing report for April 23, 2026

Thu., April 23, 2026

Fly fishing

Sports > Outdoors

Make them soup | Ammi Midstokke

Thu., April 23, 2026

I don’t always cry when I run, but when I do, it’s because I’m too cheap to pay my therapist’s hourly rate. Instead, I ask a friend to join me on a run under the guise of fitness, then steer the conversation toward whatever perceived calamity has struck.

Sports > Outdoors

Chopaka Lake Campground to stay open as WA Department of Natural Resources announces site closures

UPDATED: Wed., April 22, 2026

A campground on one of Washington’s most beloved fly-fishing lakes will stay open this year despite closure threats.

Sports > Outdoors

Idaho Fish and Game urging salmon anglers to go digital

UPDATED: Wed., April 22, 2026

Fisheries managers for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are encouraging anglers to adopt e-tagging ahead of the annual spring chinook fishery that opens Saturday.

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