Sunday, June 30, 2013
Colburn's Fishing Trip
Darr brought Parker up and we had a great time catching fish. Parker was able to catch his first fish on a fly rod and then continued hammering them for several days. We caught fish on three different rivers, some on dries and some with nymphs. Parker got better each day but that is to be expected with the fishing genes he has. By the end of trip he was fishing like a veteran!
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Fishing with AZ Wanderings
Ben Smith of AZ WANDERINGS came up and fished with us for a few days. We had a great time fishing the Eagle, Roaring Fork and the Colorado rivers. If you haven't checked out his website you should because it is very good. Not only is Ben a great guy but he is a great fisherman and fly tyer.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Monday, June 17, 2013
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Field Judging Desert Bighorn Sheep-The "Rocky" Ram
This is an awesome Unit 22 ram that was nicknamed "Rocky" by Ernie's son, Seth. He was high on the list of exceptional rams that we found while scouting for Ernie's hunt. We had this spectacular ram at 150 yards the day before the season started but chose to continue looking for one of the bigger rams that we had seen earlier in our scouting. Only in Unit 22 do you even consider not shooting a ram like this. If it was any other unit in the state of Arizona we would have been camping on this ram and waiting until daylight the next morning. If it were not for the other couple of bigger rams that we had seen while scouting we would have been ecstatic to try and harvest this monarch. Our friends at Little Horn Outfitters, got their hunter Mr. Ron Crowe on this ram on opening day. Congrats to Mr. Crowe on a beautiful trophy and a ram of a lifetime! This ram had the longest left horn of any ram I have ever seen at 39 2/8. Job well done to Josh, Geof, Jim, Tim and Bob and the rest of their crew. This ram is definitely one of the prettiest desert sheep I have ever laid my eyes on.
I will describe some of the thoughts we had when trying to score and field judge this ram and am in no way taking anything away from this ram or Mr. Crowe's impressive accomplishment. For the sake of trying to analyze and sharpen our field judging skills here are some of the things that were going through our minds. First impressions are important and this ram certainly made a great first impression. The first thing that jumped out at us was the incredible length of the left horn. When Seth and I were evaluating this ram our only concern was that he looked skinny out on his 2nd and 3rd quarter measurements. Between the very long horns and big bases (16 4/8) it really gave the appearance that he was getting skinny towards the tips which he was. We didn't quite have his bases at 16 and thought that his 3rd quarters were between 7.5 and 8.
We were certainly also using the big, bigger and biggest method while evaluating rams for this hunt. I think that is something to keep in mind while trying to field judge rams or any other animal regardless of score, if you have a top five list and have them categorized from biggest to smallest then at least you have them organized. Also, sometimes score is not the most important thing and the hunter may like a particular ram better than a higher scoring ram. Sometimes there are other factors such as time, physical limitations, other commitments and schedule conflicts that would make a hunter shoot one of the smaller scoring trophies. We all know that a trophy is in the eye of the beholder.
When this ram would look at us we both would gasp and say "look at that!" It became pretty comical because we could not get enough of this ram head on. Seth and Ernie had seen this ram many times but most were from a long distance. Up close he was even more impressive! When the horn bottoms out then starts to curve upwards it is easy for the length to add up quickly.
This ram has 106 5/8 inches of mass which falls right in line with the baseline number for these large Unit 22 rams of 105 inches of mass. I would say using 105 inches on the largest of the five rams in this unit would put you conservatively close to the real number. 110 inches of mass would be the number used for the two largest rams in this unit. Then just add the horn lengths, so 106 5/8 plus 37 3/8 and 39 2/8=183 2/8 gross score now subtract the symmetry in the mass measurements, which is 7/8 and that leaves 182 3/8 NET.
I will describe some of the thoughts we had when trying to score and field judge this ram and am in no way taking anything away from this ram or Mr. Crowe's impressive accomplishment. For the sake of trying to analyze and sharpen our field judging skills here are some of the things that were going through our minds. First impressions are important and this ram certainly made a great first impression. The first thing that jumped out at us was the incredible length of the left horn. When Seth and I were evaluating this ram our only concern was that he looked skinny out on his 2nd and 3rd quarter measurements. Between the very long horns and big bases (16 4/8) it really gave the appearance that he was getting skinny towards the tips which he was. We didn't quite have his bases at 16 and thought that his 3rd quarters were between 7.5 and 8.
We were certainly also using the big, bigger and biggest method while evaluating rams for this hunt. I think that is something to keep in mind while trying to field judge rams or any other animal regardless of score, if you have a top five list and have them categorized from biggest to smallest then at least you have them organized. Also, sometimes score is not the most important thing and the hunter may like a particular ram better than a higher scoring ram. Sometimes there are other factors such as time, physical limitations, other commitments and schedule conflicts that would make a hunter shoot one of the smaller scoring trophies. We all know that a trophy is in the eye of the beholder.
Below are the official measurements of this incredible ram. He ended up netting 182 3/8!
Most sheep horns do not have the upward curl as much as this ram. He easily gains an extra three inches per horn because of this.
You can see in both of these rear angle photos that he has really big bases. I love how the horns flare out at the tip. Another thing we noticed is that the horns had very little chipping in them and were very clean.
Congrats again to Mr. Crowe on his magnificent trophy!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Field Judging Desert Bighorn Sheep-Ernie Meeske Unit 22 186 1/8 Net Ram
This is a breakdown of the official measurements of Ernie Meeske's Arizona Unit 22 Desert Bighorn Sheep from our unbelievable hunt in December of 2012. I was fortunate to be a part of this hunt and look forward to the 2013 sheep season. When evaluating Ernie's ram none of us had his bases figured as big as they were at 16 4/8. It is always good to be conservative when field judging any animal but it can also corrupt your judgement if you are scared to over score. We all knew as soon as we approached the ram that he was bigger than what we imagined and estimated. I feel that the lucky 2013 Unit 22 tag holders truly have an opportunity of a lifetime as there are a few other very large rams roaming the hills and several that should break the magical 180 mark!
FRONT ON VIEW
REAR HORN VIEW
You will notice a very pronounced chip in the left horn of Ernie's ram. Fortunately it fell just outside the D2 or 1st quarter measurement. It is important to try an estimate the exact length of the longest horn then divide by four to try and establish where the quarter measurements will fall. A chip can dramatically effect the overall score.
You will notice a very pronounced chip in the left horn of Ernie's ram. Fortunately it fell just outside the D2 or 1st quarter measurement. It is important to try an estimate the exact length of the longest horn then divide by four to try and establish where the quarter measurements will fall. A chip can dramatically effect the overall score.
LEFT HORN VIEW
On the hoof our rough estimation of the horn length was around 38 inches so the mass measurements would be taken every 9.5 inches on the horn. The exact measurement of each horn was 38 2/8 and 38 3/8 so the longest horn was 38 3/8 inches making each of the eight mass measurements (D) would be taken every 9 19/32. Therefore all four mass measurements are taken along each horn as follows: at the base (D1), at 9 19/32 (D2), 19 3/16 (D3) and 28 25/32 (D4). Print out this cheat sheet below and keep in your pack to help with your quarter measurement estimations.
RIGHT HORN VIEW
RIGHT HORN VIEW
LEFT HORN 93 0/8 + RIGHT HORN 93 7/8=186 7/8 GROSS
subtract the symmetry deductions on the D measurements (mass) 6/8
186 1/8 OFFICIAL NET SCORE
Ernie's ram had over 110 inches of mass. One thing that I learned this last season was that the Unit 22 and 24B sheep have much bigger bases than most rams in the rest of the state. A good rule of thumb when looking at real nice mature 22 and 24B rams is to use 105 inches as the mass benchmark then add your horn lengths to get your rough score. We use photos and video of other rams harvested in the unit to compare base and all mass measurements with side by side comparison photos. Anyone that knows Darr and I can attest to the amount of data (photos and video) we have with us to try to make the best field judgements. In this age of technology, we can have most of what we need right on our smartphones.
Click Here For more Info and Blog Posts on Field Judging and Scoring Desert Sheep
Click the Links Below For More Pics and Video of this Awesome Unit 22 Hunt
Ernie Meeske Sheep Hunt Pics
Ernie Meeske Sheep Hunt Video
Ernie's ram had over 110 inches of mass. One thing that I learned this last season was that the Unit 22 and 24B sheep have much bigger bases than most rams in the rest of the state. A good rule of thumb when looking at real nice mature 22 and 24B rams is to use 105 inches as the mass benchmark then add your horn lengths to get your rough score. We use photos and video of other rams harvested in the unit to compare base and all mass measurements with side by side comparison photos. Anyone that knows Darr and I can attest to the amount of data (photos and video) we have with us to try to make the best field judgements. In this age of technology, we can have most of what we need right on our smartphones.
Click Here For more Info and Blog Posts on Field Judging and Scoring Desert Sheep
Click the Links Below For More Pics and Video of this Awesome Unit 22 Hunt
Ernie Meeske Sheep Hunt Pics
Ernie Meeske Sheep Hunt Video