Well stated.Those 130 rams each year as I suspect you know are taken (with some exception) by the same small group of hunters year after year. The summer ram pasture I am familiar with supplies one and sometimes two rams every opening day like clockwork,sometimes to those I hunt with, sometimes to someone else.
I am NOT attacking you or anyone else who takes mediocre rams every other year. I am suggesting all concerned would be benefited (especially the rams) if there were more of a feeling to appreciate sheep as a trophy animal and not one to be taken on an every other year basis just to prove you can do it. Montana for example allows a hunter to hold a tag every seven years with the exception of I believe one area which is open.
You begin by asking if I look for a bigger better deer each year. In truth I do but I think to compare a readily accessable animal like a deer to something as valuable as a bighorn ram is an inaccurate comparison.
You are absolutely correct when you say that very few people are passing up the little ones. THAT,my friend, is my point exactly. I dont look at bighorns as meat animals. There status as trophy animals is under appreciated by many in this province.
I dont think we really disagree on this one. Congrats on the Grizzly. I took a Grizzly in 2000 up on the Chinchaga that is 8'8" on the wall. I think our Grizzly hunting is about over in this province,at least until enough tourists get eaten.

p.s. On the topic of getting sheep on a draw I,like many,many others agree 100%. If ever there was an animal to be protected by draw it should be the Bighorn.As an active AFGA member I have tried through the resolution process for years to get this initiated but have been frustrated at both the AFGA level and the provincial level.I can assure you that at the FNAWS meeting in San Antonio, Texas last year the topic of Alberta's mismanagement of Bighorn sheep was front and centre.
If you have any new ideas on how we can pressure David Coutts,Minister of Sustainable Resource, to listen I am all ears.
The kicker of course is that segment of our population who can legally kill bighorns 365 days a years on lands they have access to (re:crown land) oh yeah, thats where 99% of our bighorns live.

I think many hunters would agree witht he draw system. I am finding that the sheep are addapting to the hunting pressures by hiding where they can't be hunted. It only makes sense. I use to hunt when I was 14 down near the bow zone next to Banff and would see 25+ rams in a hunt. I am lucky to see 5+ now. The area never had ewes and lambs and now is full of them. All the rams stay in the park and you are lucky to get a big one to come out. The area is overhunted and even if the rams are not shot at they are scared back to the park and they slowly learn not to come out. If the hunting pressure was limited then it would be better for the sheep and for the hunters.
I have always thought that if you shoot a full curl ram you would have to wait 3-4 years to shoot another and if you shot a squeaker ram you should wait 5-6 years. If we went on a system that did something like that then we wouldn't need draws and I think then we would have bigger sheep walking around. What do you think of this kind of an Idea?

Your suggestion would be a huge improvement over the current system. I think another huge plus for the bighorn would be to have them removed from the list of "subsistence" animals legally shot by "subsistence" groups.

The big question is how to initiate the implementation of these changes. Traditional tactics are very slow and lets face it,pretty ineffective. Any Ideas?

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Traditional tactics are very slow and lets face it,pretty ineffective. Any Ideas?

Road blocks, protests and lawsuits seem to work pretty well.

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I think another huge plus for the bighorn would be to have them removed from the list of "subsistence" animals legally shot by "subsistence" groups.

You bet. I doubt rams were ever targeted for "subsistence". And if they were killed for "cultural or ceremonial purposes", there should be a limit on the harvest of them for that purpose now (like whales or eagles etc)...not open season on any sheep.

I also agree with you guys about the time constraints vs lottery system. We have that already for stone sheep and mule deer (in some jurisdictions) in BC...I'd like to see it stay that way even if the time frames get longer. And I could see the same thing for Bighorns and G-bears in some areas. At least you can plan around them and it isn't a crap shoot where some guys go unlucky for decades and others get 3 or 4 opportunities in the same amount of time.

Cheers,
Canuck

Hey Canuck

For a road block,count me in.
For a protest,count me in.
For a legal action,count my donation as in.

I'm as serious as a heart attck. The time for chit chat on these things is over.

I like the idea of a draw system that once you get drawn and you shoot one you cannot apply for 5 years. If you do not kill one then two years you can apply.