Quote:
Originally Posted by sheepguide
If I had to wait longer or wait for a draw or what ever to increase the odds of killing a big monster old ram then I would be all for it. Our percentage on big sheep excluding the November rut draws is very low.
SG
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I don't know about the past 2 seasons, but in 2007 I am aware of 9 rams that were 180+ taken in the general season outside of the draws. I am sure there were more than a few 180+ rams that I did not hear of, some guys keep it quiet.
What about the older age class rams (8 yrs+) that are from zones not known for high scoring sheep (Willmore) that score in the mid 160's, 8+ yrs old that you never hear of either? From what I know of the annual harvest numbers it seems to we are killing a fairly high percentage of old sheep outside of the few draw areas we have.
I do agree that we want to kill old sheep, but to equate a monster with the statement might be a mistake. Alberta is on the Northern fringe of sheep habitat and no doubt we have great genetics, there are loads of old sheep in this Province that won't net 170" that are 8+ years old. A Boone and Crockett sheep is a rare creature, the vast majority of sheep that die of old age will never score 180.
Then look at the Big old ram that Ksteed killed. Most of us agree that it is a ram over 10yrs; this ram went into the database as a 7 yr old ram? On top of a problem that I think does not exist, some of the data they are using is definately out of whack when they call that ram 7 yrs old.