Just thought I'd share a couple pics. These were on the way home from work last night, riding with Colotrad. Pics aren't great but only had the cell phone. Two rams in Colorado National Monument, for some reason they seem to like this spot in the winter. Desert Bighorns are probably one of the rarest "huntable" big game species in the states.
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/kadbow/0121111718a.jpg)
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/kadbow/0121111719a.jpg)
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/kadbow/0121111719b.jpg)
(http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b229/kadbow/0121111719c.jpg)
Beautiful animals! I'd love to see one. Thanks for sharing!
GLENN
Thats really cool... God I love those sheep.
Every time I see sheep I remember reading Jack as a kid. Jack O'Connor.....
I love looking at sheep. Nice pic's. Boy I thought at frist the pic's were of a herd just south of me. They winter in a very similar spot. Maybe some day I could draw one of the few tags!
Nice pics Mark. Now if someone could just draw a tag :banghead:
i think i want to move back west!! nice pics. i was a jack o'connor nut, bruce. had his books and read everything he wrote in "outdoor life" magazine. he was the reason i began shooting, and handloading for .270 winchester. had a pre-'64 at one time. sure wish i had it now-----.
Great pictures!
I never get tired of seeing pictures of sheep; I think they are awesome animals.
Great pictures!
thats a cool picture!they dont mind the cars at all.
That is an awesome set of pictures
What a majestic animal to spot...hard to beat the impressiveness (not sure that's a real word??) of those big curls on a nice Ram.
Thanks for sharing...
Lee
Mark,
Those animals are nice to see. I envy you for spotting them. Thanks for taking the pictures and letting the rest of us share in the experience. I have personally never seen a desert bighorn in the wild, but I have seen a number of Rocky Mountain bighorns over the years. I'm not sure which I find to be the more impressive. Both are spectacular.
Allan
Mark: nice pictures. Are you shooting tomorrow? I'll throw my camera in the jeep in case the sheep are still there. Jim
Cool Pictures!
Thats really cool,right along the road.
Lucky you brother just to see one. Thanks
kadbow - Cool pix, thanx for sharing.... Question – do you know the boundary that separates the CO Desert Bighorns from the Rocky Mountain Bighorns, cause was told those wild sheep not far away in Glenwood Canyon were of the Rocky Mountain subspecies?...Thanx for any info.
The Glenwood Canyon sheep are Rocky Mtn Bighorns. In the winter you can usually see them along I-70 at the No Name Exit.
My dream animal. And highest animal on my bucket list.
Shawn
Just seeing the pics makes the heart rate speed up. What majestic animals they are.
Jim, I am planning on shooting tomorrow @ 10:00. I didn't see the rams today. Zbone, as Jim said the Glenwood Canyon sheep are Rocky Mtns. There are only a few units on the far west edge of the state that have Deserts.
Yeah, that's what I said, "those wild sheep not far away in Glenwood Canyon were of the Rocky Mountain subspecies"
What or where is the boundary that separates the two subspecies? Those two locations are not that far apart...
I don't know if there is a particular boundary. The Desert's pretty much stay south of the Colorado River and west of the Gunnison River.
That's pretty cool, Mark! Thanks.
Nice!
They are amazing animals.
Jim - That is kinda what I was getting at. With two subspecies so closely grouped together, what keeps them from crossbreeding?
Are those in Colorado National Monument true Deserts, and are those in Glenwood Canyon true Rocky Mountain or are they a mixed bunch?
Thanx
Mark,I remember well that turn on the road,but then we didn't see those sheeps.Take care.Felix
Mark,
Nice pictures.! Not much snow in that area. I thought you guys were buried over there??
Look forward to seeing you guys in a month.
No they are not mixed. They are about 100 miles apart
Truely a Majestic animal. Thanks for sahring.
Earl
Awesome pics...amazing they are that close to the road
Okay thanx Jim, didn't know.
Google maps shows the locations around 70-80 miles apart as the crow flies, and I assume there are other animals in between and know 70 miles isn't all that uncommon for western big game to migrate in harsh weather.... Was just curious is all...Thanx
Thanks for the pics. Amazing animals....
Great stuff if your back that way again would love to see some landscape pictures.
Cheers
Paul
Nice pictures, they are magnificent animals.
Oh man, DREAM hunt! Awesome pictures, thanks!
Nice pics, thanks.
Cool animals and pictures.
Beautiful animals,great pics
Man I would love to live out west!!!! I would even enjoy that ride home from work!!
Rusty
zbone
there pretty much seperated by the CO river, now there is a recent transplant in the debeque area of rockies that puts them a little closer
but right now there still a true species, but there is nothing other then physical boundries to keep them apart, they will interbreed and do, I remember a huge desert came from new mexico just a couple of years ago, looked just like a rocky, so it boils down to where you kill them as to what specie they really are, alot of animals are (lines in the sand) if you will, stones and dalls are the same way
a true desert sheep is a very small bodied animal but that is due to there habitat, you put them in lush vegatation with few predators and they grow big
the only real way to keep track of them is radio collar the young rams as they travel great distances
here are some rockies
(http://i53.tinypic.com/nb9n5y.jpg)
Beautiful pics,Thank you for sharing!!
I'm with everyone else on this--Cool Pics! I'm gonna have to admit that I am very jealous though!!
The winter seems to change the animals priorities with regards to survival. They seem less concerned with humans and roads and mor concerned with food. In the winter I will see herds of elk bedded in an open field right off of I-70. It also makes them more susceptable to poachers.
Great pics !
I was fortunate to grow up in Alaska with dall sheep hunting right out my backdoor. Recently I've moved to Colorado and would love to make a run at at big horn.
What's the chances of drawing a tag ?
Once you have 3 points you have a chance, slim, but a chance. Where do you live?
Right now I'm out in north east , Yuma CO. My in-laws had a house here we could stay in. But we're hoping to move to the mountains as soon as my land in AK sells. I'm looking at the Westcliffe and Trinidad areas.
Thanks, John
That is a nice area you are looking at. I sent you a PM with some local trad info.
HornHunter - Yeah, they'll travel, and if far enough capable to interbreed, and that was kinda my reason for bringing up the subject. I Iived in Colorado a couple years (was also inspired by O'Connor as a kid) and spent as much time as I could around the wild sheep while out there (even drew a Rocky ewe tag once), but it wasn't until reading this thread did I realize the desert variety were relocated so close to the Rockys. Although I hadn't really looked up Colorado's desert subspecies locations because odds of ever drawing a tag are astronomical, I thought they were more isolated to the desert canyons of southern CO, much further from there Rocky cousins, but hmmm, guess not...
Spent some time around the Glenwood, Rifle, Meeker area, and had I known about the Debeque herd would have checked them out. Have never seen a Desert subspecies in the wild.... Again kadbow, thanx for sharing the pix.
Awesome pics!!!
Great looking Ram