Montana 3/4 curl ram judging

freu1chr

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Apr 5, 2018
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158
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Jordan, Minnesota
What is everyone’s tricks on judging if a ram is 3/4 curl or not. I like to line up the base of the horn and the tip of the horn with a straight edge and if it is in front of the eye its legal.
 
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My point of this post was to educate new hunters on quick ways to figure it out if its legal without having to Jess if its a straight line
 
According to the Boddington article in WSF magazine they canted a rifle scope and used crosshairs.
Not necessarily a bad idea to confirm, but on that ram I sure wouldn’t trust my ability to hold cross hairs steady at a cant and be accurate within the fraction of an inch that ram was determined to be “legal”.🙄
 
One thing is for certain, if I was having thoughts that a ram might not be legal I wouldn’t want to stare at him on my wall the rest of my life. It would be a hard pass until I found one that didn’t need to be questioned. Maybe Boddington can sleep at night staring at that dink they shot, but I couldn’t. Sheep are too special to shoot 3-4 yr old rams.
 
A good spotting scope along with a good spotter can and will help immensely. I have spent countless hours glassing rams near me. Not saying I am any sort of expert mind you. The idea that a legal small ram might be taken is something only the tag holder can decide whether or not to take, better be legal though. But, if mind you, I ever draw a tag I will spend my entire season hunting for a GOOD legal ram. I am fortunate to live about 45 minutes from the zone that I apply for. I know the country, the trails and not many roads within this zone. But, I can dream and who knows? Someone has to draw. MTG
 
Really? Brooming means jack on age.

I passed a heavily broomed ram in 2019 that I thought about shooting. I thought it was an old ram, a guided hunter killed it a couple days after I passed it, 6 years old.

I'll post pics tomorrow of an unbroomed bighorn I watched one of my best friends kill in Montana...10 year old ram.
 
In a world full of technology.....

If someone wanted to be damn sure, why not phone scope a ram and draw a line?

Again, not what I would do but I've heard of people doing it and also try to age dalls they're unsure of.🤷‍♂️
 
IMO if the horns aren’t broomed some it’s a young ram
this idiot shot this ram just to fill out a tag . Ram about 3-4 View attachment 219552View attachment 219553
I don’t fault the guy for shooting that ram, don’t look like he’s getting any younger and probably a dream of his, so why not fulfill your dreams why ya can ? Don’t know the guy or his financial status but possibly once in a life time ?
 
Not necessarily a bad idea to confirm, but on that ram I sure wouldn’t trust my ability to hold cross hairs steady at a cant and be accurate within the fraction of an inch that ram was determined to be “legal”.🙄
Agreed! I don’t trust myself that much.
 
What if they only, sorta, broom one side? :D

51850693231_b58f90e2ad_6k.jpg
 
Really? Brooming means jack on age.

I passed a heavily broomed ram in 2019 that I thought about shooting. I thought it was an old ram, a guided hunter killed it a couple days after I passed it, 6 years old.

I'll post pics tomorrow of an unbroomed bighorn I watched one of my best friends kill in Montana...10 year old ram.
My buddies ram, 10 years old and unbrooomed.

tomsram2.jpg


The ram I passed 6 years old:

pic-bighornsheep165-hunts-wyoming.jpg
 
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Yes as proven I don’t know squat about judging sheep, the desert bighorn around here that I see , the studs are old broomed knot heads, I will never have a chance to hunt them as I am just a poor guy working cattle or mule deer hunting
 
Buzz do you have a side view of your buddy's ram? Curious what the % of curl he was, he looks like a darn nice ram.
 
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