Stone Hunt Pics

[RedStag]

Awesome guys, love all the input. Just read over my sheep aging booklet from this weekend convention here. Learned a lot, but there is still lots to learn.

 

[RedStag]

I was also told, that if a stone has more than 5 inches of horn before the first visible annuli, than that annuli will not be counted as their first year. This comes into play particularly if the ram is broomed. The rule, however, is not the same for bighorns, as they can have much more horn growth in their first season as a lamb? Anyone else hear of this??

 

[tuffcity]

If that info came from Bill at the aging workshop I would take it as correct.

Good seeing you this weekend!

RC

 

[yama49]

Sheep aging from bill was very informative, my son also did well learning from this session.. Was a good weekend

 

[Call of the Wild]

While doing some research online I came upon this forum and post. I’ll share some information about aging Stone sheep and my goal is to help out others who are trying to educate themselves. I want to say I don’t consider myself an expert on the topic and there are many more experienced and knowledgeable people out there but I did my homework on this topic over the years.

Best advise of all learn how to age sheep and recognize features to horns then find ways to practice your knowledge on real horns. Pictures are great but there’s nothing like friends’ house, hunting store sheep mounts, use store’s binos to check the rams on the walls display way high or low, sheep/hunting shows with mounts on display and the best of all real horns before they get mounted so you can turn them around and play with them as much as you want.

Some basic information to consider when you try aging stone rams:
- some rams are easier to judge than others by having easy to find rings, growth sections are normal, no or easy to identify false ring(s)
- I’ve seen mature horns that would be impossible to age in the field but legal by curl. While manipulating these horns only a couple feet away of my own eyes these horns are very tough to age and from every angle too. On a mountain side not every sheep are ageable.
- The colour, wetness, quantity of light and direct sun rays can affect the ability of one to really see/find each rings and distinct them between rings and false rings
- Learning the normal growth pattern of each year will help you much more than trying to find each ring. First it’s important to have the ability to find and eliminate false ring in your aging count, knowing the normal growth pattern will help you doing so. Second when a ring is not easily found, with practice you’ll know where it should be found on the horn.
- Tight rings can be formed from an injury. Rams can get hurt throughout their lives and while they heal up their horns’ growth stop or slow down which will affect the length of the horn growth between two rings. Personally I don’t advice to count two dark close rings as both real rings even if they are. The reason is some less experienced/knowledgeable hunters on a mountain side might/do count false rings close to a real ring as a real ring on the concept of an old injury which slowed the horn growth! Also I’ve seen such feature on horns while holding them in my hands and it’s tough to tell with certainty if two tight dark rings are real and caused by an old injury. Use caution with stone horns with such feature, assume one of the ring is a false ring to side with caution when aging.

When I age a stone sheep in real life, horns in my hand, from a picture or a mount I try to look at more than just the rings. There are other things to look for which can help you age properly and tell you if you’re looking at a mature ram, doesn’t always work on each set of horns but each set of horns will have some of the following characteristics:
- You can usually see the second year ring but it’s very light colour and not very grooved in. Lamp tips are very short in length, in a spotting scope you’ll most likely won’t see lamb tip rings or they are not present anymore.
- The third year ring is the first predominant ring
- The fourth year as some mentioned is often the darkest ring of all (this one is not always true, use this as a tool to help you find the fourth ring right)
- Rings are more easier to age on the inside side of the horns
- False ring don’t groove in unlike real rings which groove in slightly toward the inside of the horn. This grooved in is all around real rings (feature seen only with horns in your hands) but when you’re looking at a ram (in a spotting scope, picture, sideways) look at the horn’s two edges you see to find the grooved in. Not all rings groove in and each ram produce its own degree of grooving.

For stone sheep they reach the age of maturity at 8 years old. There are features to look for that ONLY mature rams will have!! When trying to age a stone sheep try using as many tools/indications as possible to confirm your age assumption. The following are more general rules to look for while aging rams, in no means it’s an exact science and true on every set of horns there are out there:
- After seeing so many stone horns especially horns in my hands at various occasions, I find that up to the year 7 when viewed sideways the outside edge of the horn will have a smooth edge. After year 7th to the skull the edge between the rings gets rugged, as the ram ages the gap between the rings become smaller with more roughness/bumps/cracks etc.
- Mature rams appear to have darker bases than non mature rams.
- Rams with some age have rough edges at the bases, 8th year ring to skull/horn line
- Now let say a ram is sideways looking to the left of you. If the 6th year ring is at or past the 1 oclock mark the stone ram should be legal by age, if ram looking to the right it’s 11 oclock mark. Use this only as a tool to help you age a ram NOT AS AN INDICATION TO SHOOT THE RAM ONCE THIS IS FOUND look for more! Also make sure you have the 6th year ring right obviously.


Myself I learned to age sheep with counting the ½ year into it. The problem with this method is people will round up the ½ to the next number just like we are thought in math class in primary school. When aging sheep you CANNOT DO THAT!!!! If you count the ½ this is growth from late spring/early summer until the ram is harvested. In no way is there a ring at the base of the horn and skull when sheep are hunted. The rings are pushed away from the skull from new growth throughout the summer hence the no ring at the horn/skull when rams are hunted in summer to winter depending on hunt dates.

I hope this helps out the ones seeking more information on aging stone sheep. If you some of you need pictures to understand some aspects feel free to ask.

 

[sheepguide]

Here is what I would go with. A yearling ram coming out of his first winter and sporting his fist growth ring wont have as much horn as many state. Some have year 1 where I have year 2 and i've yet to see that years lambs going into winter with that much horn. They will have a couple inches. As well in all the mature 8+ yr old rams i've guided to the ear most often points to year 4 which is also the most horizontal ring. This Has been the case on 98% of the NE BC stones I guided.

 

[Buster]

While doing some research online I came upon this forum and post. I’ll share some information about aging Stone sheep and my goal is to help out others who are trying to educate themselves. I want to say I don’t consider myself an expert on the topic and there are many more experienced and knowledgeable people out there but I did my homework on this topic over the years.

Best advise of all learn how to age sheep and recognize features to horns then find ways to practice your knowledge on real horns. Pictures are great but there’s nothing like friends’ house, hunting store sheep mounts, use store’s binos to check the rams on the walls display way high or low, sheep/hunting shows with mounts on display and the best of all real horns before they get mounted so you can turn them around and play with them as much as you want.

Some basic information to consider when you try aging stone rams:
-some rams are easier to judge than others by having easy to find rings, growth sections are normal, no or easy to identify false ring(s)
-I’ve seen mature horns that would be impossible to age in the field but legal by curl. While manipulating these horns only a couple feet away of my own eyes these horns are very tough to age and from every angle too. On a mountain side not every sheep are ageable.
-The colour, wetness, quantity of light and direct sun rays can affect the ability of one to really see/find each rings and distinct them between rings and false rings
-Learning the normal growth pattern of each year will help you much more than trying to find each ring. First it’s important to have the ability to find and eliminate false ring in your aging count, knowing the normal growth pattern will help you doing so. Second when a ring is not easily found, with practice you’ll know where it should be found on the horn.
-Tight rings can be formed from an injury. Rams can get hurt throughout their lives and while they heal up their horns’ growth stop or slow down which will affect the length of the horn growth between two rings. Personally I don’t advice to count two dark close rings as both real rings even if they are. The reason is some less experienced/knowledgeable hunters on a mountain side might/do count false rings close to a real ring as a real ring on the concept of an old injury which slowed the horn growth! Also I’ve seen such feature on horns while holding them in my hands and it’s tough to tell with certainty if two tight dark rings are real and caused by an old injury. Use caution with stone horns with such feature, assume one of the ring is a false ring to side with caution when aging.

When I age a stone sheep in real life, horns in my hand, from a picture or a mount I try to look at more than just the rings. There are other things to look for which can help you age properly and tell you if you’re looking at a mature ram, doesn’t always work on each set of horns but each set of horns will have some of the following characteristics:
-You can usually see the second year ring but it’s very light colour and not very grooved in. Lamp tips are very short in length, in a spotting scope you’ll most likely won’t see lamb tip rings or they are not present anymore.
-The third year ring is the first predominant ring
-The fourth year as some mentioned is often the darkest ring of all (this one is not always true, use this as a tool to help you find the fourth ring right)
-Rings are more easier to age on the inside side of the horns
-False ring don’t groove in unlike real rings which groove in slightly toward the inside of the horn. This grooved in is all around real rings (feature seen only with horns in your hands) but when you’re looking at a ram (in a spotting scope, picture, sideways) look at the horn’s two edges you see to find the grooved in. Not all rings groove in and each ram produce its own degree of grooving.

For stone sheep they reach the age of maturity at 8 years old. There are features to look for that ONLY mature rams will have!! When trying to age a stone sheep try using as many tools/indications as possible to confirm your age assumption. The following are more general rules to look for while aging rams, in no means it’s an exact science and true on every set of horns there are out there:
-After seeing so many stone horns especially horns in my hands at various occasions, I find that up to the year 7 when viewed sideways the outside edge of the horn will have a smooth edge. After year 7th to the skull the edge between the rings gets rugged, as the ram ages the gap between the rings become smaller with more roughness/bumps/cracks etc.
-Mature rams appear to have darker bases than non mature rams.
-Rams with some age have rough edges at the bases, 8th year ring to skull/horn line
-Now let say a ram is sideways looking to the left of you. If the 6th year ring is at or past the 1 oclock mark the stone ram should be legal by age, if ram looking to the right it’s 11 oclock mark. Use this only as a tool to help you age a ram NOT AS AN INDICATION TO SHOOT THE RAM ONCE THIS IS FOUND look for more! Also make sure you have the 6th year ring right obviously.


Myself I learned to age sheep with counting the ½ year into it. The problem with this method is people will round up the ½ to the next number just like we are thought in math class in primary school. When aging sheep you CANNOT DO THAT!!!! If you count the ½ this is growth from late spring/early summer until the ram is harvested. In no way is there a ring at the base of the horn and skull when sheep are hunted. The rings are pushed away from the skull from new growth throughout the summer hence the no ring at the horn/skull when rams are hunted in summer to winter depending on hunt dates.

I hope this helps out the ones seeking more information on aging stone sheep. If you some of you need pictures to understand some aspects feel free to ask.

Quite the first post. Welcome aboard. Hope you stick around and introduce yourself in the FNG forum.