Adventure photographer Bill Decker, on assignment from fieldandstream.com, captured on film an intense desert operation to relocate Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep from the Phelps Dodge Mine in the Clifton-Morenci region of eastern Arizona to the West Clear Creek area on the Colorado Plateau, some 52 miles southeast of Flagstaff. Using tranquilizer guns like this one (effective range = 50 yards) -- as well as net guns fired from helicopters -- officials and volunteers from the Arizona Game & Fish Department and the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society (ADBSS) targeted and ultimately captured 32 bighorns for relocation.

Whether or not Rocky Mountain bighorns (subspecies cousins of the Arizona desert bighorn sheep) are native to Arizona is the subject of debate. What is certain is that herds of "Rockies" that have taken hold in Arizona in recent years are flourishing. The Clifton-Morenci herd, including some of the largest rams in the state, is believed to have migrated over the New Mexico border after a previous Rocky Mountain bighorn introduction/relocation project. An estimated 800 Rocky Mountain bighorns now range in Arizona, and many of them are concentrated here, in east-central Arizona.

By identifying prime habitat -- places with sustainable food and water sources and limited pressure from agribusiness -- and transplanting animals to these other areas, wildlife officials hope to significantly expand the statewide range of one of the most valued big game species in North America.