AK Sheep, Population Observations

[AK Troutbum]

Thanks, F&G just sealed him at 8. On the hoof i knew he was at least 8, but was hoping for 9. The distance and conditions made things difficult.

Makes FC regardless though, right?

 

[ColeyG]

Here is some interesting info in the context of avg age of rams getting killed and avg horn measurements from the last handful of years, 2019 tp present. Some of this will likely be a repeat for those that have been following along for a few years.

Data from ADFG's harvest data tool: https://secure.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvest.lookup

Rams Harvested
2019 = 840
2020 = 627
2021 = 487
2022 = 424
2023 = 340

Avg Age of Rams Harvested
2019 = 8.65
2020 = 8.81
2021 = 8.28
2022 = 8.21
2023 = 8.06

Avg Horn Length
2019 = 35.09
2020 = 35.25
2021 = 35.03
2022 = 35.88
2023 = 35.32

Average Horn Base
2019 = 13.02
2020 = 12.72
2021 = 12.79
2022 = 12.78
2023 = 12.91

Interesting how the average age of rams killed has gone down 1/2 to 3/4 of a year, but the horn measurements haven't really changed much. If anything it seems like horn dimensions proportionate to age have improved/increased.

 

[nate907]

Makes FC regardless though, right?

He does

 

[nate907]

Here is some interesting info in the context of avg age of rams getting killed and avg horn measurements from the last handful of years, 2019 tp present. Some of this will likely be a repeat for those that have been following along for a few years.

Data from ADFG's harvest data tool: https://secure.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvest.lookup

Rams Harvested
2019 = 840
2020 = 627
2021 = 487
2022 = 424
2023 = 340

Avg Age of Rams Harvested
2019 = 8.62
2020 = 8.77
2021 = 8.25
2022 = 8.18
2023 = 8.06

Avg Horn Length
2019 = 34.97
2020 = 35.08
2021 = 35.59
2022 = 35.62
2023 = 35.32

Average Horn Base
2019 = 12.97
2020 = 12.66
2021 = 12.99
2022 = 12.69
2023 = 12.91

Interesting how the average age of rams killed has gone down 1/2 to 3/4 of a year, but the horn measurements haven't really changed much. If anything it seems like horn dimensions proportionate to age have improved/increased.

This pretty much lines up with the data presented a couple years ago by F&G. Similar event in the 90's


Full presentation here.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Here is some interesting info in the context of avg age of rams getting killed and avg horn measurements from the last handful of years, 2019 tp present. Some of this will likely be a repeat for those that have been following along for a few years.

Data from ADFG's harvest data tool: https://secure.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=harvest.lookup

Rams Harvested
2019 = 840
2020 = 627
2021 = 487
2022 = 424
2023 = 340

Avg Age of Rams Harvested
2019 = 8.62
2020 = 8.77
2021 = 8.25
2022 = 8.18
2023 = 8.06

Avg Horn Length
2019 = 34.97
2020 = 35.08
2021 = 35.59
2022 = 35.62
2023 = 35.32

Average Horn Base
2019 = 12.97
2020 = 12.66
2021 = 12.99
2022 = 12.69
2023 = 12.91

Interesting how the average age of rams killed has gone down 1/2 to 3/4 of a year, but the horn measurements haven't really changed much. If anything it seems like horn dimensions proportionate to age have improved/increased.

So the average length over those 5 years is just over 35 1/4". Man, assuming that the vast majority of them weren't broomed (may or may not be a big assumption), that seems awfully small. So, for every 40" ram killed there was a 30 incher killed. Or, for every 40" killed, there were 5-34" rams killed.

 

[mtwarden]

How many 40" rams killed? Two, three?

I think 40" rams are talked about like 30" mule deer (or 16" antelope)- but they are rare; very, very rare- yet it seems like everyone has killed one

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

How many 40" rams killed? Two, three?

I think 40" rams are talked about like 30" mule deer (or 16" antelope)- but they are rare; very, very rare- yet it seems like everyone has killed one

Rare for the general population of resident hunters, but probably not so rare for those of us that are serious and frequent Rokslide. So I get Troutbum’s surprise at the stats.

 

[mtwarden]

Rare for the general population of resident hunters, but probably not so rare for those of us that are serious and frequent Rokslide. So I get Troutbum’s surprise at the stats.

If they are rare for resident hunters, probably rare for non resident hunters as well (maybe more rare???); thus it shouldn't be a huge surprise.

When I was a game warden you would have thought 30" mule deer were a dime a dozen by the way people talked- I checked maybe 4-5 in a 24 year career

 

[Doc Holliday]

I’ve been eagerly checking the meat pole thread hoping to see some success.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's been noticeably quiet this year on the pic thread, meatpole thread, as well as hunt report threads. Zero on all 3 as of this moment. I hope that changes soon

 

[ColeyG]

Numbers above updated after culling out a few bad records in the data set. No major change to the patterns.

Regarding the mythical 40" ram...

>40" Rams Harvested

2019 = 54 (5.3% of total)
2020 = 40 (4.5% of total)
2021 = 29 (6.0% of total)
2022 = 19 (6.5% of total)
2023 = 18 (6.5% of total)

 

[AK Troutbum]

How many 40" rams killed? Two, three?

I think 40" rams are talked about like 30" mule deer (or 16" antelope)- but they are rare; very, very rare- yet it seems like everyone has killed one

I've never killed one that big, but I know at least a handful of people that have. A 40" ram gets you into the "trophy class/club", just like a 60" moose, and although I've never killed a 60" moose, I know quite a few people who have. I'm sure there were a lot more 40" rams killed back in the day, compared to probably the last decade or so, but they are still out there, and they still get taken every year. There used to be a way you could look up the size of the sheep killed annually for a particular hunt, but I don't know if that is still possible on the F&G website.

 

[mtwarden]

5-6% still pretty rare, but good on the guys finding them!

 

[AK Troutbum]

@VernAK posted on another forum that a friend of his killed a 41 incher, 3 days ago.

 

[mtwarden]

@VernAK just posted on another forum that a friend of his killed a 41 incher, 3 days ago.

Nice!

 

[jofes]

What is the normal loss in length after drying? 1/2 an inch?

 

[VernAK]

Nice!

I won't post the young lady's pic but it was a beautiful ram.......I didn't measure the bases, but I was envious.

 

[Liv2HntBigBullz]

Seems to be real tough out there, lots of photos of unsuccessful hunts and pictures of sublegals on the hoof.

 

[Alder_]

There's been a 20-33% decline in the number of 40" rams killed annually since 2019, that's kind of sad.

I've got reports back from 6 friends.
Two struck out. Four killed rams.

One was a group of three and it was one persons turn to shoot unless they ran into more than 1 legal ram.

I haven't seen pictures of any of their rams posted anywhere yet, and I know two won't get posted.

 

[ColeyG]

There's been a 20-33% decline in the number of 40" rams killed annually since 2019, that's kind of sad.

Even sadder is that the overall population has declined equally across the state. Big rams make up the same percentage of overall harvests that they have for the last handful of years at least. We don't have just a lack of big rams problem, we have a major lack of sheep problem.

I went out for a quick trip with a friend over the weekend to help him put together a strategy to get close to a group of rams he saw during the youth hunt a few weeks back. Saw a handful of rams, nothing approaching legal, and about 20 lambs and ewes. The lamb to ewe ration was very good, approaching 1:1, which I was glad to see. Southern Talkeetnas.

 

[Alder_]

No doubt.
But they're still out there and ya can't shoot one sitting on the couch.
Bummer we're in a lull.
We also saw high lamb:ewe ratios but it would only a few different groups.
Makes me hopeful.