Big sheep changes
 

Can't believe they're going through with this. In 2016 all WMU south of the brazeau will be full curl and 400/302 will have one week less at the end of the season. Good luck finding a full curl ram, congrats to those who said change was needed. At this rate my son will probably never even get the chance to sheep hunt.

I my area sheep will hit 4/5 by 5.5 - 6.5yr old
I think it's good, but I'd like to see to option
For a 4/5 double broomed(no lamb tips)

Would an option for the Broomed no lamb tips be an age regulation? Don't they do this for thin horns?

I'd love to have full curl Rams every where but I just don't see that happening. I agree with you tho about the brooming but I can't see that happening either. Luckily I've shot a ram and My next one will be a nice mature ram, but for those first time sheep hunters if they don't see success, or even the possibility of success, then our numbers as sheep hunters will slide. Which at first glance seems nice but numbers is power. This is the first change what comes next...?

UH OH. Might be pulling 410 faster than I planned... Dammit what is wrong with this province? So whats word on the street, when does SRD start managing real issues with sheep in Ab? Let me guess, that kicks off right after this hey?

I think this is great. !! Finally a chance for a K country ram to reach full curl. A friend of mine who hunts down south a lot said to me" probaly the worst animal to be in alberta is a 4/5 legal ram in K country becAuse you know your dead as soon as a hunter lays eyes on you"

I'm in favour of it but would like to see an option that allowed harvesting broomed short old rams.

Great idea.

Wmu 400 has been a full curl for a long time. They've yet to allow harvest of Broomed Rams even tho you see a lot of heavy mature Broomed rams. I just don't see it happening.

As a guy that's spent many days in 400 sheep hunting this change is garbage. I've seen 30+ rams in a season, many mature broomed rams and not close to full curl.

The government has not addressed any habitat or predator issues but taken opportunity from sheep hunters.

All goes on draw with some people drawing the tag and not even purchaseing it :evilgrin:

Ok maybe im playing the devil's advocate abit....they are impressive/interesting creatures for sure...was hunting elk high up in wmu 400 this fall and had a 4/5 ram only 250yards away.....for a few minuits the rams had a stunned look like they were going to lick the salt off my boots,however they did slowly make there way down the mountain into some thick bush.

Will a 4/5 ram grow to full curl in only a year? Im guessing not

No, in fact that 4/5 ram may never reach full curl.

Exactly! Those that are for it I assume you think it'll mean more Rams. Sure eventually there will be a lot more full curl Rams then there are now. But it won't last. I've seen some dinky full curl Rams. Will be the same as 4/5 as soon as a ram reaches full curl it's dead. Full curl doesn't mean heavy 180" ram.

Nope so many rams will die off of old age preditors and Mother Nature before ever reaching full curl. This just takes opportunity away from hunters. There is no way you can have a full curl rule but then allow mature 4/5 to be shot. Who decides what's mature. How much do they have to be broomed? Age determining a big horn on the hoof has been determined difficult and inaccurate on the hoof.

I see....thanks

I don't see a problem having to look at,and walk away from,some nice ,heavy broomed off rams while sheep hunting. Anything to keep some sheep on the mountain is a bonus.After a couple years it might just be totally awesome seeing some good rams, rather than these squeakers you see now.

Yes they do this with thin horns
But it's very hard to count rings on a big horn compared to thins
That's why I say 4/5 double broomed no lamb tips
That ram I shot this yr was broomed on only one side, so he would
have been aloud to breed this winter

[QUOTE=ksteed17;2643330]Exactly! Those that are for it I assume you think it'll mean more Rams. Sure eventually there will be a lot more full curl Rams then there are now. But it won't last. I've seen some dinky full curl Rams. Will be the same as 4/5 as soon as a ram reaches full curl it's dead. Full curl doesn't mean heavy 180" ram.[

I don't think there will be more full curl at all if any thing there will be much less. There will be more 4/5 curl rams around to stare at

[QUOTE=medicmoose;2643341]^^^

I agree with medicmoose
As soon as a Ram hits full curl it's going to have a clock over it's head ticking
Not many will make it threw the season once hitting the line....
For me , this will just mean I hunt the last 2 weeks looking for park rams

Will the rules stay the same for 2015 season

I agree. If there was a way to install a full curl/ 9.5 year+ rule that would be perfect. But it can be hard to age a ram in the field unless he gives you a perfect look.

You are always going to see squeakers in the hills all rams pass through this phase on the way to maturity. Only thing is now there will be more squeaker rams around as they won't be taken. There will be more 4/5 curl rams as well. All of these rams will now make it through to the breading season. Were we will now have less full curl rams around to breed. The old system worked because hunters took a variety of animals right from 4 year squeakers to 12 year mature animals. Now we are going to reduce the number of mature animals exclusively

It's hard to get a F&W officer and a biologist to agree on age on a harvested ram, it would be stressful on the hoof for sure.

So again, when does SRD start managing real sheep issues here. Why is nothing they do based upon healthy herd management. This is a hunter restrictive change that will not positively affect the sheep herd or sheep country issues one bit. Are we really being force fed more SRD crap,,, still?? When do these bozos begin addressing what it is that they are paid to do in this province? Why does no one take these goofs to task on this bs.

Lol... word spreads fast...
And to think that as of noon today the gov. had no intention of releasing this Proposal.....

For starters. . This is a Proposal. There will be time for coconsultation before any final decisions.

There has yet to be a concern provided by f&w for making this proposal.

Why do they want to do this? We need to know.


This appears to be a continuation of the proposal and concerns from 2013.

The government did not have any poignant data to back up the claims of either a problem nor a solution....

The full curl requirement is NOT producing larger rams....

All it is doing is severly reducing the number of rams harvested while allowing the majority of rams to die from anything but a bullet.

I hunted 400 years ago well before it was full curl. At that time you didn't hardly ever see any old rams unless they snuck over from the park or BC side. The pressure on sheep here in Alberta is intense and any ram that makes legal whether it be full curl or 4/5 is dead ram in most of the province. I think it's a good thing for herd dynamics that some older rams survive whether or not they ever make legal.

There is no doubt we could use some habitat improvement and more predator control in sheep country as well, not arguing that and I'm sure almost everyone can agree on this point.

I can see a shortened season and or draw for most of the province in the near future if things don't change. The days of General sheep seasons in much of the province are numbered imo.

No doubt. It would be hard to do

Because it's alot easier to manage us hunters then it is to face the real issues. Like you I agree habitat and predator control should be number one. But that's too hard to do.

Well that's a little more comforting. Hopefully a good solution will come of this.

Ya, like SRD doing their jobs. Good god when do people say enough is enough.