Legal?

[robAK]

So here’s a sheep my brother and I patterned and got close enough for judging. Decided he was too close to pull the trigger on. After deciding to pass James shot the rock he was behind 2xs within 6 inches of each other at 720 yds. (The sheep had fed up hill about 150 yds and couldn’t care less about the shots BTW) Anyways I’m alternating between we made the right decision and we possibly passed on a legal ram. Your thoughts.

 

[robAK]

These were the best freeze frames from video to argue legal BTW

 

[Stid2677]

Looks FC on the right side. Using the head on photo, apply the stick test to the photo. Use straight edge across the bases, to me the right horn extends above a line drawn from the bases.

 

[wantj43]

My guess is you made a good call by not shooting. It does not look like the right horn on the bedded sheep passes the 'stick test". The crown of the left horn is lower than the right which means there is an exaggerated view of the amount of curl for the right horn. If the picture of the bedded sheep is blown up the vertical pixels of the horn tip come close to matching the vertical pixels of the base which indicates it is very close to full curl.
Might be kind of like shooting a shooting a moose thinking it was 51 inches and it turns out to be 48.
Again, good call I think!
Joe

 

[Sobie2]

Legal, there are lots of tests, stick test, tip test, age rings, gap between horns, thickness or horns, etc. We spent 1.5 hours on our hunt last week looking at 3 legal shooters. Our was well past legal but we still had to look a long time. If you are uphill of the ram legal rams appear sub-legal too. Those horns spread way out vs a held in curl. If the body is massive vs a more narrow build sheep. But yes when in doubt pass. I discussion I had with a State Trooper was if you have to spend a long time judging a ram pass. The big ones you just know, but if you were like us last week and it was your first hunt that is hard to figure out. You have to view a lot of rams in the field. Another hunter said you can tell from a long ways away, and by that I am thinking he was referring to body size. It is nerve wracking for sure.

Sobie2

 

[AK Troutbum]

I think you made the wise choice. In the first picture, he does appear to be FC but he also appears to be a little above you guys and that angle helps to make him look FC. He may have been legal but from that distance I think it’s just too hard to tell for sure.


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[Stid2677]

No shame in walking away, I always prefer the 2 ways legal rams. My partner and I passed on this ram this season. These photos were taken using a Swaro ATX 95 and Olympus TG5. IMHO this ram is FC on the right side and 8.

Mr Joe, thoughts on this guy Sir?

Ram is under 400 yards.

 

[Russp17]

Agreed Stid, I get him at 8 and appears to be full curl. As far as the first ram I think you made the wise choice. He looks like he is 1/2 inch short....

 

[wantj43]

No shame in walking away, I always prefer the 2 ways legal rams. My partner and I passed on this ram this season. These photos were taken using a Swaro ATX 95 and Olympus TG5. IMHO this ram is FC on the right side and 8.

Mr Joe, thoughts on this guy Sir?

Ram is under 400 yards.

From the picture I would say eight, but without having it in hand, that would be my best "guess", though aging this sheep seems pretty clear. I ran the left horn and came up with 369 degrees.
Nice pictures, thank you for posting.
Joe

 

[AK Troutbum]

No shame in walking away, I always prefer the 2 ways legal rams. My partner and I passed on this ram this season. These photos were taken using a Swaro ATX 95 and Olympus TG5. IMHO this ram is FC on the right side and 8.

Mr Joe, thoughts on this guy Sir?

Ram is under 400 yards.

That’s a shooter, no doubt about it, but it’s a good thing you let him go. Now, where did you say you found this ram?


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[Jimbob]

The sheep I got this year was easy to judge, yet still nerve racking. It was only easy because he was in a group of sheep that had every age class. He was not full curl, but I counted at least 8 rings. Also I could compare him to every other ram. My inner dialogue "Ok that ram is 5 and he is way bigger and mass and has more rings. He must be at least 8 yrs old"

I watched that group from 9 am till 2 pm. When the mid day heat hit the mirage in my scope then had my second guessing. Nerve racking for sure. I think I would have had a harder time with my ram if he was by himself. He was 9.5 yrs old.

 

[Jimbob]

I think you passed on a legal ram (I am no expert though). He is so close to full curl. What about age? Did you try to count rings? I would have tried to get closer and count rings.

 

[Stid2677]

Zoomed in, I'm still leaning towards legal. I have imposed a line and he looks to be above it to me. Also appears to be possibly broomed on the strong side too. I also believe I can see at least 8 annuli. Just my humble opinion based on a blurry photo. Rams like this is where quality optics and the environmental conditions to use them really pay off. He also has a very mature looking body. "Not recommending this as a judging guide" but there also "should" be some of the base covered by some hair.

 

[robAK]

We used Swarovski 8x42s and 20x50 swaro spotter. We were lower in elevation at 650 yds. I didn’t want to rely on the ring method, with the possibility of false annulai rings. He would look legal then turn and look an inch or two under. We ended up in an area I never scouted due to low clouds dominating most of the unit. Feel pretty good that we gave it our best shot considering less than ideal weather. Spotted him changing beds in a boulder field in a deep draw, really hidden and hard to approach. By himself too.

 

[tntrker]

man oh man..nice pcs