How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep 4

[Jay Scott]

Below are pics of a Desert Bighorn Sheep that will be the subject of this blog post of "How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep 4". There are front on views, side horn views and rear views. At the bottom of the post are actual measurements from the official Boone and Crockett score sheet. For exercise come up with your horn lengths, base and quarter measurements for each horn and your gross and Net score and compare to the actual measurements. All photos and video were shot by

Colburn and Scott Outfitters.

Here is the Head On view of the horn

Here is the view of the right horn of this fine Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep.

Here is the view of the left horn. What is the length of horn? What are his bases and other quarter measurements?

Remember that there are 8 (1 base and 3 quarters per horn) quarter measurements for both horns. In order to find out where to take each quarter measurement you divide the longer horn by 4. So if the longest horn is 34 inches divde by 4 and you get 8.5. So you will take your quarter measurements on each horn at the 0, 8.5, 17, 25.5" mark on each horn. It is important while scoring sheep in the field to estimate where each quarter measurement is going to fall within the horn. Keep an eye out for cracks or holes in the horn that may decrease the circumference measurements.

Rear View of the Sheep

Click on the video below to see live video of the ram

Here are the actual official Boone and Crockett measurements for this ram.

Left Horn-35 3/8, 14 5/8, 14 0/8, 12 0/8, 8 5/8=84 5/8 and Right Horn-35 2/8, 14 4/8, 13 7/8, 12 0/8, 9 0/8=84 5/8 for a total of 169 2/8 gross. With 5/8 inches of deductions the net score is 168 5/8 and this ram qualifies for the Boone and Crockett record book. This ram was harvested in December 2011 in Arizona Unit 44B South by Erik Swanson. Erik and I had some good times scouting and hunting for his once in a lifetime Arizona Desert Sheep tag. We did not think the ram was quite as big as he ended up. I figured his horns were around 34 inches long and thought his bases were closer to 14 than 14 1/2. We had scoured the unit and this was the best ram we had seen while scouting and hunting. Erik had the honor of having his father in law, best friend, brother and I with him at the time and with those guys having to depart the following day he made the decision to harvest this fine ram. We had the priviledge of many photos and video footage of the ram from our scouting efforts and Erik made a good decision and harvested a Boone and Crockett ram.

Lets take a look a the numbers and how each measurement category relates to percentage of total score. Horn lengths are Left 35 3/8 and Right 35 2/8 for a total of 70 5/8 or 42% of the total scoreMass Measurements are 98 5/8 or 58% of the total score. While judging sheep this is why it is so important to focus on rams that have lots of mass at the base and that carry that mass throughout the whole horn.

With the longer horn being 35 3/8 the D2,D3,D4 quarter measurements on both horns were taken at 8 27/32, 17 11/16, 26 17/32. Watch the video below if you are interested in seeing how the hunt unfolded.

If interested in this post click on the following additional links:

How to Field Judge and Score Desert Bighorn Sheep Blog Posts

Arizona Desert Sheep Hunting Pictures and Blog Posts from Colburn and Scott Outfitters

 

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