Help aging rams ? Family banter

[Rambucsabillbul]

Here's my arm-chair assessment. I was comfy with 8 because in the field I count those tight clusters as one to be cautious. zoom inspection in photoshop I could clearly see the 9 rings with the lab tips still intact on both sides.

View attachment 513907

It appears to me with the two lines in position 3 and 4 from the Lamb tip...... You are counting a False Annuli.
Just my opinion
The rings should either get closer together or further apart to the next true Annuli depending on the direction your counting but not back and forth.

 

[MBN]

It appears to me with the two lines in position 3 and 4 from the Lamb tip...... You are counting a False Annuli.
Just my opinion
The rings should either get closer together or further apart to the next true Annuli depending on the direction your counting but not back and forth.

I agree. Definitely an interesting one to age. Hard to tell from the picture.

 

[Broomd]

Pure speculation with that poor picture. Side view or waste of time.

 

[Rambucsabillbul]

What I do find particularly frustrating in BC anyway is that True Wildlife Biologists don't do the mandatory or compulsory inspections all the time any more.
The province has allowed every region to also have other inspectors do what the Bios job used to be.
For example, and it has been challenged in court,
Some Rams have been aged say at 7, where Full curl or older than 8 years old rules apply. This has caused some confiscations.
In the meantime, another inspector could say the same Ram at 6 or 8 .......
It's not always consistent, that said I wouldn't shoot a short broomed Ram unless I'm counting say 10 or more Annuli the way some of these inspectors come up with what they do.

Just my opinion

 

[Larry Bartlett]

yup the important thing is that one is sealed and at the hizzy, so well freakin done.

 

[Catchfish]

Intrigued by the horns they seem to be really smooth

 

[wildwilderness]

Here's my arm-chair assessment. I was comfy with 8 because in the field I count those tight clusters as one to be cautious. zoom inspection in photoshop I could clearly see the 9 rings with the lab tips still intact on both sides.

View attachment 513907

Sorry but there is no way the rings would be spaced like that. The annuli go in a pattern and decrease in size proportionally. A picture of the back and under side of the horns help

 

[wildwilderness]

Some guess from the picture, so hard to tell. At least the tip is way past 360!

 

[Larry Bartlett]

here's an example of an 8-9 y/o ram. One bio claimed 9 and the other decided 8 y/o.

 

[Bighorn80]

Very hard to tell from one picture, but I would say 8. This thread is exactly what it sounds like at the ADF&G sealing shed.... they have 4 different biologists look at it and come up with 3 different ages. Its funny unless your the one bringing in the sheep hoping the kid just out of collage doesnt say 7!

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Here's a 12 yo

 

[wantj43]

here's an example of an 8-9 y/o ram. One bio claimed 9 and the other decided 8 y/o.

View attachment 514209Which ring was counted as three?

 

[Rambucsabillbul]

Wow Dandy ! Ram.
Look at the mass of him down low ......
Great Ram

 

[smg]

I love these threads - keep em coming. If the law of the land is harvesting older class rams, then there are those of us who need the practice in aging. Don't get me wrong - full curl should be obvious but it would be reassuring that both full curl and age exist before its sent.

 

[smg]

For those experienced in aging - how critical is it to view the annuli from the back? It seems to me that even a trained eye may get fooled from the side but seeing the annuli from the back removes more doubt.

 

[wantj43]

For those experienced in aging - how critical is it to view the annuli from the back? It seems to me that even a trained eye may get fooled from the side but seeing the annuli from the back removes more doubt.

The angles on the back of the horn are especially helpful on older sheep when trying to identify rings closer to the base.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

IMO the whole aging ram thing has to be reconsidered at some point. The ram is either a full curl it isn't. If three experts can't agree when they are holding the horns in their hands, how difficult is it to judge from hundreds of yards? I think Joe Want has been involved in this "aging and judging" discussion for years. He's forgotten more sheep encounters than I've seen in the field. Maybe wantj43 is him and can school us up?

My last sheep hunt was a hand full of years ago with a friend who shot a ram at close range after we both agreed it was a legal ram. The tips met the top of the hair line from multiple angles. The biologist disagreed and counted 7 years and that its horns had an ellipsed circle. His trophy AND meat were confiscated. It made us both sick that we misjudged that ram. I didn't see that coming even after packing it and caring for it for days. Sank my confidence frankly, but it taught me to strictly avoid shooting a ram that isn't abundantly obviously full curl. Not my proudest field call but I would have shot it if he hadn't. Anyway, hard lesson to learn fellas. This thread and ones like it help others avoid this shit.

 

[Rambucsabillbul]

Very well said above.
I turned down several to not possibly be made a fool of to start. Looking back and knowing what I know now, I should have a number more blessing my hands these days.
The last couple years in BC more and more short sheep have been shot by those thinking their entitled and going by Annuli and the 8 year rule, not viewed correctly as a full curl or larger. I admit, it's tough to hold off but must be practiced by those that have to question themselves, and don't have the knowledge and experience at borderline Rams

It's not the harvest, it's the experience and memories in the land they live in that make the hunt.
When you do lay your hands on that obvious big one it's super gratifying.

 

[kaboku68]

How old do you think this sheep is?

 

[wantj43]

How old do you think this sheep is?

Is that the sheep that was displayed in Sportsman Warehouse?