Ralph E. Welles and Florence B. Welles
This book is often referred to as “Welles and Welles” in normal conversation as well as in scientific literature. This book is often cited in scientific literature to this very day and is considered the foundational study of the desert bighorn sheep but it is also found in many personal libraries of many hunters in particular those who center their life around hunting bighorn sheep. So this book has the rare distinction of being scientifically relevant after more than 50 years. Unlike most scientific books, this book often has a storyline that give graphs and raw data more meaning. I suppose that is because it was the work of two people: Ralph and Florence. This married couple looked at things in a way that was both natural and scientific. For instance, they would name various animals and describe places and events which were not normal for scientific papers then (or now). And yet the quality of this study still stands to this very day as a way to understand the ups and downs of bighorn sheep populations and their environment. So while I could go on and on, I’ll just say I highly recommend this book.
