Field judging tips for Aoudad?

[Tony Trietch]

Looking to learn how to field judge Aoudad better.
Any tips or measurements of the face you use to guess horn length?
Or just look for mass?

 

[wyosteve]

My first hunt I was told to look for 'Mickey Mouse' ears for the horns. The closer they come to 'full curl', the better. That will put you in the 28 inch plus range generally. Also, mass carried through the horn is a good indicator. Like most critters, if you can see several rams in a herd, the big ones always stick out. Good luck.

 

[Dwnw/theAltitudesickness]

Drew a Barbary sheep few years back. Founds some decent incite on google/ other forums:

Field judging Aoudad Rams

Ok so three of us including @shooter7 are headed down to Texas in mid January to hunt aoudad sheep. The question has come up about judging these rams. For those of you who have hunted these things does anyone have any good advice on judging them in the field prior to pulling the trigger?

www.longrangehunting.com

Tips for judging aoudad?

Are there any tips to help with judging aoudad? I don't want to tip one over only to walk up and see that, while being the biggest in the group, is only 24". Thanks

www.24hourcampfire.com

For length people talked about curvature & shape of the tips.... I can't remember it to well. For me it was looking at mass between horns and how good the Chaps looked.

You hunting private or public? Might change your criteria on how selective you will be.

 

[Tony Trietch]

Drew a Barbary sheep few years back. Founds some decent incite on google/ other forums:

Field judging Aoudad Rams

Ok so three of us including @shooter7 are headed down to Texas in mid January to hunt aoudad sheep. The question has come up about judging these rams. For those of you who have hunted these things does anyone have any good advice on judging them in the field prior to pulling the trigger?

www.longrangehunting.com

Tips for judging aoudad?

Are there any tips to help with judging aoudad? I don't want to tip one over only to walk up and see that, while being the biggest in the group, is only 24". Thanks

www.24hourcampfire.com

For length people talked about curvature & shape of the tips.... I can't remember it to well. For me it was looking at mass between horns and how good the Chaps looked.

You hunting private or public? Might change your criteria on how selective you will be.

Drew NM unit that is mostly public land. I have no private permission if there is any private that holds sheep.

 

[Tony Trietch]

And thank you for those links!

 

[MTGunner]

I hunted two days looking at Aoudad sheep in tough country. Saw a few that looked to be real trophies. My guide wanted me to shoot the first one spotted. It was a good looking ram but was first group and early in the hunt. We stalked a really good group with a real clunker in their bunch. Could not get to within my comfort range. Guide was not pleased and told Me to shoot this one or we were done. To that I answered good ‘nuff! Didn’t take the shot. I ended taking a 29” plus ram on the last day. He was within 200 yds. It was one and done. Take the one that makes you smile. MTG

 

[keller]

They are tough to judge and very tough critters to get close too.closest i got was 250 yds .dark color and body size and chaps is what made my decision. Shot mine at 450yds attached pic is mine and my cousins about 1 1/2" difference but mass and age

 

[diamond10x]

Hair between horns- younger smaller ram
No hair just squished skin- older bigger ram

 

[NMpistolero]

Hair between horns- younger smaller ram
No hair just squished skin- older bigger ram

If that works for you that’s awesome. But if you’re close enough to tell hair from skin, or a half inch from 3/4 of an inch you’re close enough to tell a lot more about age or size. Might as well just count rings while you’re at it.

My comments and pics are in the 24campfire thread. Good luck on your hunt!

 

[Tony Trietch]

If that works for you that’s awesome. But if you’re close enough to tell hair from skin, or a half inch from 3/4 of an inch you’re close enough to tell a lot more about age or size. Might as well just count rings while you’re at it.

My comments and pics are in the 24campfire thread. Good luck on your hunt!

There is some great info in that thread.

 

[Northpark]

When I went we looked for horns that appeared to touch at the base and rub marks on the hide from the horn tips rubbing. Also length of chaps was big factor for me as mature rams usually have long full skirts. My sheep was a 29” with the longest hair, my brothers was a 32” sheep but shortest hair.

 

[NMpistolero]

When I went we looked for horns that appeared to touch at the base and rub marks on the hide from the horn tips rubbing. Also length of chaps was big factor for me as mature rams usually have long full skirts. My sheep was a 29” with the longest hair, my brothers was a 32” sheep but shortest hair.

Chaps are a tough one, and can vary by mountain ranges. But you’re right, to me the hair is half the trophy. I’ve never seen a young ram with long flowing chaps but I have seen old rams with short chaps.

Rub marks are interesting. Many people believe scars and rub marks are from the individual ram’s horns but that’s not really correct. During the rut when rams are fighting they will stand shoulder to shoulder and hook their horns over the others shoulder. Then they’ll lean on each other and wrestle around until one submits.

 

[diamond10x]

If that works for you that’s awesome. But if you’re close enough to tell hair from skin, or a half inch from 3/4 of an inch you’re close enough to tell a lot more about age or size. Might as well just count rings while you’re at it.

My comments and pics are in the 24campfire thread. Good luck on your hunt!

It’s pretty easy to tell what is skin and what is hair. They’re different colors.

Judging by their chaps IMO can be deceiving, especially if they’ve been using areas with thicker brush or if they’ve been feeding from their knees a lot and not standing.

Unless you hunt them all the time or see them on a regular basis, I’ll stick by my original statement of judging them by the gap between their horns. I’m by no means an expert but I’ve looked at enough to be able to judge them fairly accurately and judging them by that space is about the easiest thing for someone who hasn’t seen many.

 

[Outwest]

Field Judging Aoudad - Pursuit with Cliff

A field judging guide for aoudad hunters.

pursuitwithcliff.com

Cliff has some great info in here.

Try your best to get on a level plane, above or below can skew your judgement. There's two main aspects to judging sheep, body and horn.

A mature ram will carry weight in his shoulders and neck and will be clearly larger than younger rams or ewes. His face will show signs of age like scarring and drooping. His body will be longer and he will have a blockier gate. I never look at the chaps unless that's really what you're after, they don't seem to be consistent in my experience to show a big ram. Hair between the horns is also a poor metric, even young rams can have very little visible hair between their horns.

1. Hoop size. You want to see a good amount of air space between the inside edge of the horn and the face. Depending on horn shape, this is best judged face on or at a quarter-to. A drooping or curling ram wont have much space from a side view while a swooping ram will have a lot and vice versa with a straight on view. Bigger hoop=longer horn.

2. Mass carried throughout the horn. When you get the McDonalds view (Golden arches, head on), look at the 12 o'clock position on the Horn. Is the mass more toward the head or is it evenly distributed past 12 o'clock and into the second quarter? Do you see a sharp decline in mass as the horn approaches the 3/9 o'clock position? A really big ram will carry mass into that second quarter and will be bigger than you think.

3. Terminal Curl. Look for a ram with tips that parallel the ground. A ram with perpendicular tips will lose 2-4" and is a tell tale sign of a young ram. Aoudad rarely broom in the true sense of the word because of the shape of their horn and will keep a fairly pointed tip. Again, good examples of this in Cliff's article.

You need all these elements to come together for a real giant. Judging rams from the side or the back alone can be very deceiving. Wait for all views before you get behind the gun.

Best of luck to you and congratulations in the draw.

 

[Tony Trietch]

Field Judging Aoudad - Pursuit with Cliff

A field judging guide for aoudad hunters.

pursuitwithcliff.com

Cliff has some great info in here.

Try your best to get on a level plane, above or below can skew your judgement. There's two main aspects to judging sheep, body and horn.

A mature ram will carry weight in his shoulders and neck and will be clearly larger than younger rams or ewes. His face will show signs of age like scarring and drooping. His body will be longer and he will have a blockier gate. I never look at the chaps unless that's really what you're after, they don't seem to be consistent in my experience to show a big ram. Hair between the horns is also a poor metric, even young rams can have very little visible hair between their horns.

1. Hoop size. You want to see a good amount of air space between the inside edge of the horn and the face. Depending on horn shape, this is best judged face on or at a quarter-to. A drooping or curling ram wont have much space from a side view while a swooping ram will have a lot and vice versa with a straight on view. Bigger hoop=longer horn.

2. Mass carried throughout the horn. When you get the McDonalds view (Golden arches, head on), look at the 12 o'clock position on the Horn. Is the mass more toward the head or is it evenly distributed past 12 o'clock and into the second quarter? Do you see a sharp decline in mass as the horn approaches the 3/9 o'clock position? A really big ram will carry mass into that second quarter and will be bigger than you think.

3. Terminal Curl. Look for a ram with tips that parallel the ground. A ram with perpendicular tips will lose 2-4" and is a tell tale sign of a young ram. Aoudad rarely broom in the true sense of the word because of the shape of their horn and will keep a fairly pointed tip. Again, good examples of this in Cliff's article.

You need all these elements to come together for a real giant. Judging rams from the side or the back alone can be very deceiving. Wait for all views before you get behind the gun.

Best of luck to you and congratulations in the draw.

Thank you for the detailed and through write up, I appreciate it! I will check out the link as well.

 

[FLATHEAD]

I put that link in my favs.

 

[S-3 ranch]

It’s not hard to judge what’s a mature trophy when you see them standing side by side
shoot the stud of the group

 

[Short Track]

Does it matter ???
No one is counting inches when it's up on your wall.

 

[Antares]

Does it matter ???

Depends what lenses you're looking at it through.

If you're just trying to have fun or have an experience, then no.

If you're trying to remove an animal is such a way that it will have the least impact on the herds reproductive potential, then you're choices, from best to worst, generally speaking, are:
- Old male
- Young male
- Old female
- Young female

Horn/antler size in most cases is a reasonable proxy for age. So in this scenario, yes, horn/antler size and sex might matter to you.

 

[Tony Trietch]

Depends what lenses you're looking at it through.

If you're just trying to have fun or have an experience, then no.

If you're trying to remove an animal is such a way that it will have the least impact on the herds reproductive potential, then you're choices, from best to worst, generally speaking, are:
- Old male
- Young male
- Old female
- Young female

Horn/antler size in most cases is a reasonable proxy for age. So in this scenario, yes, horn/antler size and sex might matter to you.

Does it matter ???
No one is counting inches when it's up on your wall.

Yeah, I am not wanting to shoot a young ram. That is why I made the post. Any time I draw a tag on a new species I try to learn how to judge them better. I am not afraid to say I have things yet to learn.