Cullen says he wanted his wife to go to Africa with him, but she dreaded the long flight. "Couldn't they fly to Europe first, she asked?" So, he bid on an unlikely combo hunt at an SCI auction. The trip combined a hunt in Scotland with one in South Africa. In Scotland, Cullen hunted roe deer (which he did not take), and his 12-year-old son hunted a somewhat obscure sheep called Soay.
In case you are not familiar with the Soay sheep, it is an ancient sheep believed by some to be a living remnant of a semi-domestic sheep brought to Britain prior to the invasion of the Romans. It comes from the Island of Soay, which is part of the St. Kilda Archipelago, about 40 miles (65 kilometres) from the Western Isles of Scotland. While no one knows precisely how or when the sheep arrived on St. Kilda, archeological evidence indicates it has been there for several thousand years surviving in total isolation on the uninhabited island. The island's inaccessibility and limited contact with man, allowed the sheep's evolution to be driven entirely by nature and the environment and not by any form of artificial selection by man.
While relatively small, this sheep is quite hardy and agile, able to take refuge amongst Soay's seemingly unscalable cliffs when frightened. In the early twentieth century, some Soay sheep were translocated to establish exotic "Park Soay" flocks at various estates, where they were selectively bred for what their owners considered "primitive" characteristics.
The Safari Club International Record Book describes the Soay sheep as a North European sheep with mouflon-like ears, a very short tail and short wide face. They have........(continued)
