ODFW’s 2015 auctions and raffles for Oregon big game hunting tags grossed a record $717,465, of which $413,987 will go to the Access and Habitat Program and $254,578 to big game research and management. The auction of 12 special big game tags grossed $489,000 including $160,000 for a bighorn sheep tag, breaking the previous record of $155,000 set for a sheep tag in 2014. The Governor’s combination deer/elk tag also broke the previous record by $20,000, selling for $68,000 this year. The sportsman/conservation groups that sponsored the auctions at fund raising banquets of their organizations in the past few months will keep 10 percent of the auction proceeds ($48,900). Those groups include local, state and/or national chapters of the Wild Sheep Foundation, Mule Deer Foundation, Oregon Hunters Association, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation, and Oregon Foundation for North American Wild Sheep. Raffle winners were drawn at the Oregon Hunters Association state convention on May 16, 2015 in Lincoln City. A total of 86,721 raffle tickets were sold, grossing $228,465.
