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Dall Sheep are the white and possibly prettier version of the two
species of thinhorn sheep found in North America. The other species
of thinhorn is the Stones Sheep which has a percentage of
black hair mixed with the white hair. Dall rams normally weigh between
175 and 200 pounds or about 50 pounds less than a Stone Sheep. However
the horn size of the two species is comparable often making a Dall
ram a more magnificent mount.
Our area is very well known as an excellent producer of Dall Sheep
and it is not unusual to see large numbers of sheep in a single
day. There is very little or no black hair on the rams and if there
is black hair it is normally confined to the tail of the animal
which does not effect the rams classification as a Dall sheep.
Our sheep are normally found above timberline in a variety of country
ranging from mountainous to rolling plateaus. This allows us the
opportunity to try to match our hunters with the conditions to which
they are most suited. This may include, hunting from horseback with
only the final stalk on foot.
This area was the area in which outdoor writer Jack OConnor
preferred to hunt Dall sheep and most his Dall hunting was done
here in the late 1940s through to the 1960s. This is
also the area that the number 10 ram in the Boone & Crockett
record book was taken as well as rams such as Herb Kliens
47-inch ram. Today the area is well managed and continues to produce
excellent quality rams. Our sheep generally have heavy bases and
there are normally several rams over 40 inches that are harvested
each year.
The average age on our rams normally varies between 9 ½
and 10 ½ years old but we have recently taken rams as old
as 16. By putting emphasis on the age of the sheep that we harvest
we are allowing our younger rams with good genetics to grow and
become our busters of the future. In other words, this is an area
that still has the possibility to find some pretty fantastic sheep.
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