Quote:
Originally Posted by ishootbambi
the precedent i am following here is utah and their elk mangement plan. approximately half of the state is general elk hunting where the meat guys can have their furn and half of the state is quite limited in either the draws or landowner tags. and no i dont think landowner tags are a good idea here. it seems to do a better job of satisfying everyone. do you have any idea how many 400 plus elk utah has produced in the last 10 years? last count was over 30 including the recent world record non-typical at just shy of 500 gross. that is the result of trophy management
southern sheep over the last 50 years of the management system in place now have a base circumference averaging about a half inch bigger than the rams to the north. the information has been recorded and that is fact.
|
So what does Utah kill for elk in the rest of the state in the open zones?
To me a half inch in base circumfrence doesnt really improve things that great. Depends on how that weight is carried through out the horn. You need to get age on a sheep to get that weight out into the other circumfrences. A 14 1/2 inch based sheep will possibly be able to make book if he can grow up(They have been shot its a fact).
My first sheep was 5 1/2 years old and had 15 1/2 inch bases(just legal with lamb tips). If that ram would have made it to 7 or 8 it would have been a great sheep. But the zone he came from produces around 15 to 20 rams per year (12 for sure this year that I heard of) so rams dont have much chance to reach maturity. There is a high amount of pressure in these zones.
Genetics is there in MOST of Alberta but the number of rams reaching the ages of 8 - 10 are pretty slim. Id like to see the alberta average age in non draw zones on the sheep that are shot. I doubt it would make it above 6.