Field judging ewe bighorns

[Outdoors]

Any tips for distinguishing a Rocky Bighorn ewe from a ram? I have heard ewes will be with other ewes but also be with lambs, 1 y.o and 2 y.o. sheep. I had a nightmare last night that I shoot a 2-year old ram that has not yet dropped testicles.

Any tips for judging a "dry" ewe? Is this simply done by looking for a ewe without a lamb? What if the lamb died earlier this year?

Any tips for judging a ewe's horn length/diameter? I can find stats on horn length, diameter and age from CO website and appears most mature ewes only vary a bit in length and some of the longest horns were not the oldest ewes.

I will be hunting in S51 in Colorado this weekend at and a bit above the treeline.

 

[Bambistew]

Rams have thick bases, ewes have thin horns to the tip, usually 5-8" If it has really short horns, and its thin, likely its a lamb...

Look for the wedding tackle...

Ewes are usually way smaller in body size and look feminine

 

[ElmerFudd]

This might be helpful:

http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/conservation/bighorn/IdentificationGuide.htm

 

[Outdoors]

Thanks for the info everyone! Pictures were worth a 1000 words, too.

 

[Outdoors]

After viewing several pictures of ewes and yearling rams, it appears the outside of a horn on a mature ewe (viewed from front) ends prior to the eye socket while on a young ram the outside of the horn extends over the eye.

 

[Randy11]

>ewes have
>thin horns to the tip,
>usually 5-8"

The ewe horns I've measured have been quite a bit longer than that. I don't have a huge sample but I think most I've seen have been over ten, with the biggest around 12-13.

 

[Randy11]

>I don't have
>a huge sample but I
>think most I've seen have
>been over ten, with the
>biggest around 12-13.

Still talking about ewe horns here. I think.