Trophy Hunting
- Thread starter sheephunter
- Start date
I can with one word: HABITAT
It has worked for other species by very good wildlife management and it would also apply for sheep as well. I have trust with our biologists in Alberta where they have performed a great job governing wildlife. Sheep hunters just have to do without, give it a chance for about 10 years and see what the outcome is. There are many place in the world to hunt sheep.
Really hard to say....horn growth is drastically influenced by the amount and quality of nutrition a ram gets in his first year of life. If the five year old was born on a banner year and the 8 year old was born on a tough year the five year old will quite likely be bigger. Walk through a herd of sheep one day and look at rings and horn size and it become pretty apparent. This ram is about as old as they get yet there were dozens of younger rams around him that were considerably bigger
You just kind of gloss over any real evidence and keep going back to other species in Alberta where there is no correlation in management....interesting.
Declining to development I'll assume? If so, then there is nothing that can be done, money will take presidence as usual over wildlife. Well I guess that if sheep cannot adapt to declining winter ranges, what can be done, continue hunting them as usual without concern?
It's not exactly that simple, a ram's horn to the most growing in the early years of life, depending on those years it could be the 5 year old.
Genetics plays a part in horn growth, but nearly as much as you are alluding to.
A lot of it is declining because of over growth of alders and such. This is why burns are necessary.
What you assume is totally wrong and it's been discussed several times already in this thread if you'd have taken the time to read it. It's declining due to aspen encroachment.....due to fire suppression. It's nothing some good prescribed burns couldn't take care of. There's lots that could be done.
Yes for nutrition, however for the biggest picture genetics play the biggest role. Then if rams are not receiving great nutrition then they should be allowed to grow a few more years for better quality.........don't you think? A draw system would certainly help to curb the appetite of a hunter wanting to shoot a squeaker.Really hard to say....horn growth is drastically influenced by the amount and quality of nutrition a ram gets in his first year of life. If the five year old was born on a banner year and the 8 year old was born on a tough year the five year old will quite likely be bigger. Walk through a herd of sheep one day and look at rings and horn size and it become pretty apparent. This ram is about as old as they get yet there were dozens of younger rams around him that were considerably bigger
The amount of horn growth in the later years of a Rams life is very minimal.
And no, genetics doesn't play the biggest role.
Seriously? It would encourage the shooting of squeakers. A guy who knows this is his one and only chance to shoot a ram in his life and a squeaker ram walks out in front of him...what do you think he's going to do.
It's not volunteers that are needed for burns. It's the government to pull it's head out.
Ok, food. I don't know how many more times it needs to be stated?
I agree the solution seems simple. In fact I've been saying that all along. Now get the government sanction some burning and we'll be on the right track. BTW there are around 2,500 licenced sheep hunters in Alberta each year....I said nearly 12,000 apply in the limited sheep draws we have now. I suspect most are not nor will they ever be sheep hunters unless they draw a tag and even then, many still never are.
Kapoooooow!!! Not a very good trophy if he is looking for one. However, a full or 4/5 curl rule would curb that, I would hope. I have spoken to F&W out of Blairemore and one of the most common problems they have with sheep hunters is that many illegal rams are killed, moreover they are unreported by the hunter and left to rot. Contact the Blairemore office and they will inform you. A regulated draw system would possibly help eliminate such activity, or hope it would.
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We have a 4/5 rule now...how would it change anything? Btw, I've seen 4/5 rams that would score 140 inches and I've seen 4/5 rams that would score close to 200 inches. It's really just an imaginary line to determine legality....not trophy quality.
You are kind of all over the map, not sure how a "common problem" in Blairmore (which is actually a illegal activity) is pertinent to a horn growth issue? Grasping at straws to push a draw that likely isn't required I would guess...
For this somewhat unrelated topic:
Why not put some teeth into existing legislation? how about a 50k fine, loss of all related hunting equipment and loss of hunting for 5 years?
I bet if you knew that was coming you wouldn't want to shoot short sheep.
How on earth would a draw stop poachers from committing crimes?
Did F&W give you the numbers of rams shot and left? I know of one and the guy was caught.
