A successful bighorn sheep hunt in the canyonlands of Owyhee County is a thing to be celebrated. But for a Parma man and his wife, that celebration eventually led to lawlessness.
In 2017, only one bighorn sheep hunt tag was allotted for hunt unit 40, an area encompassing the vast southwest corner of Idaho. Thirty-nine people applied for the coveted tag, which ultimately was awarded to Susan Willmorth (58) of Parma. Guiding her on this hunt of a lifetime was her husband, Joe Willmorth (49). Several weekends of scouting led the pair to a rugged, isolated area deep in the heart of the Owyhee Canyonlands. In late September, Susan bagged a fine, trophy bighorn sheep.
Just days later, Joe and Susan revisited the remote area. The bighorn ram known to them as the “old man” had been Susan’s September quarry; they’d spotted the massive bighorn on several scouting trips. But when the season opened, the old man disappeared.
Multiple days scouting bighorns gave the couple a good idea where the local sheep population lived. And because Susan had the only sheep tag for this remote area odds were low of encountering other people.
On October 6th, Joe Willmorth walked into the Fish and Game Nampa office carrying a trophy bighorn sheep head and his wife’s proxy statement. He was there to have the horns measured and an identification pin inserted as required by law. The ram was impressive, and Willmorth claimed that his wife harvested the trophy on October 1st. A department staffer measured and pinned the sheep, and took a number of photos of the prize ram.
In early February 2018, news reached Fish and Game that all was not right with the Willmorth ram. The ensuing investigation led to a search warrant of the Willmorth residence where the
