Female sheep

[northernmadman]

Why can I shoot a female in any other species but sheep? Is there a legitimate reason?

 

[MThuntr]

But you can...ewe permits, while not common, exist.

It's about recruitment. If you shoot ewes then you're removing the source of babies and you're not expanding the population. Take 1 ewe and you lose 10 lambs which potentially removes their potential offspring

 

[northernmadman]

The same could be said about all species which is why I ask. You could make the argument that taking the biggest male will reduce the gene pool as well as they can knock up over 10 females in a season.

I have never seen or heard of ewe tags, bet they taste amazing

 

[FAAFO]

The same could be said about all species which is why I ask. You could make the argument that taking the biggest male will reduce the gene pool as well as they can knock up over 10 females in a season.

I have never seen or heard of ewe tags, bet they taste amazing

You can hunt the females in herds that are doing well. Sadly most sheep herds are not doing well. But with 5 mins of using the tool below you can locate all ewe desires/opportunities:

ONLYEWES

 

[LongWayAround]

Ewe tags are very achievable in my state. If that's your fancy...

It seems to me like sheep are just bad at reproducing. I don't know much about their predation ratios, but it seems like when only a couple rams get wacked per year, there should be a few more of them.

 

[desertdwellerdyl]

All aoudad/barbary tags in NM are ES or Ewe

 

[Legend]

The same could be said about all species which is why I ask. You could make the argument that taking the biggest male will reduce the gene pool as well as they can knock up over 10 females in a season.

I have never seen or heard of ewe tags, bet they taste amazing

Game agencies give out female tags when they want to reduce the population size. Males are not necessary as there is almost always a male around to breed. As for genetics a little more than half of all genetics come from the female anyway.

 

[northernmadman]

Thanks guys appreciate the answers. In the NWT there are no ewe tags and I had never heard of them before and was curious.
It’s not my thing to take the females in any species but I have been with some people who decided to take cow moose and there is a different taste to the animal, much milder with little to no wild games taste.
Hopefully I get my fat ass up the mountain this year to get one.

 

[Scottf270]

If populations are at objective, hunting does, cows, or ewes doesn't hurt. If a population is below objectives then no female harvest should be allowed.
I hear a bunch about male to female ratios but until populations are where they need to be, killing any females is misguided.

 

[The Regulator]

If populations are at objective, hunting does, cows, or ewes doesn't hurt. If a population is below objectives then no female harvest should be allowed.
I hear a bunch about male to female ratios but until populations are where they need to be, killing any females is misguided.

One of the biggest reasons to kill ewes is for all the data that can be collected. For example in Montana they want blood sample, mucus swab, poop sample and both lungs if possible

Sent from my SM-S926U using Tapatalk

 

[desertdwellerdyl]

All aoudad/barbary tags in NM are ES or Ewe

to compound, the majority (maybe all) of NM oryx tags are also ES. They also have a nannie tag for Ibex (they maybe shouldn't as there are rumors of low herd numbers from hunters/outfitters familiar with the area but I don't know that for sure). Also, there is a ewe tag every year for Rocky Mountain Big Horn in NM, although archery only.

 

[cuerro viejo]

CO has ewe tags

 

[7RemMag]

I think one of the important things to remember here is the significant vulnerability of sheep, particularly in the lower 48. One disease outbreak can pretty easily decimate the population, or eliminate it entirely if bad enough. Sheep are a vulnerable species. Unfortunately there’s not much we can do besides manage them intelligently.

In places where the population is sufficient, or deemed in excess, ewes can be killed. Wyoming this past fall started a “3/4 curl or less” tag aimed at targeting some of those young(er) rams that are more prone to wandering and potentially spreading diseases. As far as I know, they considered it a success and were going to look at trying it in more regions.