Gravy Train Through High Cotton

Hem · Nov 9, 2022

Great ram photos.
Keep them coming.

madtom · Nov 9, 2022

Mthuntr said:
More confusion for you pervs Video holding my phone looking through my spotter. One day I'll own a PhoneSkope

Jesus, no wonder they're going extinct.

El Jason · Nov 9, 2022

Every time I read the name, Rocketman, it makes me laugh.

MThuntr · Nov 9, 2022

Ok so the website found may not be the most appropriate or science based however it references studies several known biologists. I'm just too lazy to look for other sites

EDIT: several studies suggest that it's mostly a dominance structure that are even practiced among ewes...Rocket is a larger, stronger ram while is buddy is a subdominant. I haven't read any studies (besides the website below) that suggest that bighorn in their bachelor groups have a gay society as mentioned on the below website so there's the caveat

Play behavior and dominance relationships of bighorn sheep on the National Bison Range

By Christine C. Hass, Published on 01/01/86

scholarworks.umt.edu

All bighorn rams that mate with ewes participate in gay courting & copulation most of the year. (Gender Showcase, 9-12) — Gender-Inclusive Biology

www.genderinclusivebiology.com

Hem · Nov 9, 2022

Mthuntr said:
Ok so the website found may not be the most appropriate or science based however it references studies several known biologists. I'm just too lazy to look for other sites.

All bighorn rams that mate with ewes participate in gay courting & copulation most of the year. (Gender Showcase, 9-12) — Gender-Inclusive Biology

www.genderinclusivebiology.com

Hmmm...who wants to take a "stab" at proper pronouns?
Think this is a case where I would have preferred to be blissfully ignorant.
Now everytime I look at my ram on the wall...

thecrittergitter · Nov 9, 2022

JLS said:
Every time I read the name, Rocketman, it makes me laugh.

It’s hard to not sing along to the song rocket man for me

.
Ima rocket man…..Rocket maaaan…..and I think it’s gonna be a long long time.

In his case, it’s been a long long time

thecrittergitter · Nov 9, 2022

Gerald you better get back with the story before this gets too derailed

Tradewind · Nov 9, 2022

thecrittergitter said:
Gerald you better get back with the story before this gets too derailed

he likes to drag it out. the thing will be mounted before we know the whole story

SwaggyD · Nov 9, 2022

Tradewind said:
he likes to drag it out. the thing will be mounted before we know the whole story

Judging by some of these pictures, he may have already been mounted!!!!

Gerald Martin · Nov 9, 2022

Hey, some folks have to work for a living…

Gerald Martin · Nov 9, 2022

This is the part of the story where @thecrittergitter and @abqbw might have to supply some pics. I was concentrating on looking at their phone video and pics to determine which ram was one to pursue…

After watching RocketRam and his sidekicks for a while, we decided to try and head to the top of the ridge to get a better angle into a couple of side drainages further up canyon. @thecrittergitter was in the lead and as soon as he got to any opening in the trees he waved me up and got started getting his spotter set up.

There was another herd two ridges away from the group we had been watching. This herd had probably 25-30 ewes and at least 6 or more rams in it.

Two of the rams were bedded at the edge of the herd and we knew instantly they were in the “bigger” category. Were they bigger than RocketRam?

Gerald Martin · Nov 9, 2022

This new herd is 850 yards to our left, RocketRam is 500 yards to our right. There was a small dead branch in front of our glassing spot that was obscuring our view. As I broke it off to get a better look at the new rams, the sound of the break caught the attention of another ram that was bedded about 400 yards away on the ridge directly across from us and between the two herds.

This new ram was also an impressive ram at least as big as RocketRam. (I hope Matt can supply a pic of this ram since I don’t have any of him.).

We now have four rams within 800 yards that are the quality of ram I was wanting to shoot. I was going back and forth between multiple guys spotters trying to compare the attributes and weaknesses of each ram to make a decision which one to stalk if any.

This new ram and RocketRam were noticeably broomed on one horn a couple inches shorter than the other. Aesthetically, they weren’t as appealing to my sense of “the ideal ram” ( whatever that arbitrary definition means???) as a ram that was symmetrical in length.

The lower ram in the previous picture seemed to be a bit heavier in mass than his companions in the herd and from what I could see was pretty even in length.

It was just past 5 pm. If I was going to make a decision and kill a ram, I needed to get on with it…

Gerald Martin · Nov 9, 2022

All factors being considered, my friends being present, the setting of where the rams were, the quality of the rams, the knowledge that killing a ram early in the hunt would free me up at home and at work flipped that mental switch in my mind from observer to predator.

In the span of about 30 seconds I went from comparing sheep to packing up my gear and telling the guys, “ I think I am going to kill that chocolate ram that is bedded lowest in the herd.”

We made a quick stalk plan. @thecrittergitter and @theat would accompany me to video and help me judge quality and everyone else stayed on the glassing knob to observe from a distance.

Gerald Martin · Nov 9, 2022

The stalk was not difficult. A rock outcropping 250 yards across from the sheep obscured us from their sight. The only difficulty was that a private land boundary barred us from keeping the wind in our favor on our approach.

Instead of being able to keep the downward thermal in our face and come up below the sheep to reach the outcropping, we had to circle high and come down the ridge.

As we peeked over the edge of the rock, the sheep had already winded us and were beginning to nervously exit the shale slide they had been bedded on.

My hoped for calm and slow sorting through the rams at close range became much faster than I wanted as my opportunity began to evaporate.

Travis and Matt did their parts extremely well of getting set up to video and spot and I concentrated on getting a clear shot and a steady rest. We had a brief back and forth about which ram I was targeting, but it all came together quickly and each of us concentrating on the same ram.

In the excitement of the moment, my shooting ability didn’t meet my desired expectations but I was able to kill the ram after several shots.

I will let the pics of the aftermath take up the tale for a bit…

Gerald Martin · Nov 9, 2022

My ram was dead in the middle of the slide. This deadhead ram was 30 yards from his final resting place. I stumbled on to the horn as I walked up to my ram.You can see my ram above my pack. l