bighorn growth chart

[mbiewer]

courtesy of the azgfd fb page

 

 

Aging a bighorn is a bit like aging a tree. Rams (males) reach mating age at 4, meaning at age 3 they are quite focused on getting bigger so they can compete for the ladies. That’s your best starting point because the 3-year ring is the biggest. Then, moving up the horn toward the skull, look for individual deep impressions (after three the ring size is smaller). Count each until you reach the base. This ram is about 7 years old. Hope the picture helps

[murfys69law]

Awesome info. Didn't know about this.

[couesfreak23]

Always wonder how to score sheep appreciate info

[HuntHarder]

If you guys really want to learn a bunch about sheep, check out all the videos and read all the articles by Jay Scott. Last year when my buddy drew a tag, we tried to pick his brain, read all of his articles and watched all of his videos. I felt pretty confident in scoring rams by the start of the season, and the ram he killed we guessed within a 1/4 of an inch to what AZGFD actually scored him. Some of that was luck, but I felt pretty confident that what I had learned helped me.

[Swivelhead]

Thx for posting. Growth rings are easily seen on that ram which is not always the case. The darkened ring apparently indicates stress from rutting activity, so I'm told.

[kwp]

Thx for posting. Growth rings are easily seen on that ram which is not always the case. The darkened ring apparently indicates stress from rutting activity, so I'm told.

So the three year old ring is bigger because they are like a teenage boy thinking about nothing except rutting for a long time.

[brian390]

Learned something. Thanks for posting.