GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 1, 2017 Stumbled on a herd of 10-11 rockies the other day. Couple pretty good ones. 7 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
WHT_MTNMAN Report post Posted May 1, 2017 Nice pics on some good Rams, one of these days I'll get a tag for sheep. Maybe...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 1, 2017 sad reality that probably 90% of us that apply every year will never get an AZ ram. The Ram in the 4th pic down could really be a big one in a few years. Real low dropping curl and long horns. Looks like he's only 6-7 years old 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Norteno Report post Posted May 1, 2017 Because I have no idea, how do you tell if it is a Rocky or a Desert Ram? Other than known territory is there an easy way to tell such as there is in coues and muley's? From the terrain I would have guessed it was a Desert Ram. Looks like this is right off the road somewhere 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreyGhost85 Report post Posted May 1, 2017 Yeah, they weren't very far off the road. Rockies are usually a lot bigger body size. Really deep chested, stocky animals. Big rams go over 300lbs. Most desert sheep i think are in the ballpark of 150-200lbs. Their coat is usually a lot more gray as well. Like you stated, easiest way to tell is where they are. I have seen rockies from 3,000' in unit 28 to 9,000'+ in unit 1/27 though. Theoretically there isn't any overlap in their populations though i Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rossiranch Report post Posted May 2, 2017 If there was an overlap in their population would/could they interbreed? Is hybrid sheep a thing?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hunter4life Report post Posted May 2, 2017 Yes they could interbreed. They are different subspecies, but all part of the same species. It all depends if you are a "lumper" or a "splitter". Lumpers would say there are only dall sheep, bighorn sheep and snow sheep. Splitters will break it down in to Dall, Stones, Rocky mountain bighorn, Desert Bighorn, California bighorn and the several varieties of snow sheep. Some will even split them further for example into Nelsoni or Mexican desert bighorns. If you look at some of the bighorns coming out of NM recently it sure looks like some Rocky mountain genetics have been mixed in. Just look at Jim Hens' state record and Chase Willis' desert bighorns out of the Ladron's. They sure look like Rocky's to me. http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/hunting/information-by-animal/big-game/bighorn-sheep/ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
trphyhntr Report post Posted May 2, 2017 That Willis ram looks all rocky, crazy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
