Many of Wyoming's bighorn sheep hunt areas open on September 1st. And a handful of those lucky enough to draw one of the highly coveted tags are now bringing in the fruits of their labor for the mandatory registration into the Game & Fish database. "We have seen some really nice rams so far," said Jackson Wildlife Coordinator and long-time bighorn sheep manager, Doug McWhirter.  "We've had some nice ones from hunt area 4 and 5 and a pair from the Jackson sheep herd (Hunt Area 7) with over 35-inch horns.

Based on the number of rings (called annuli) on the horns, one was aged at11.5 years-old and the other just 6.5 years-old. Horn growth is typically done during the summer when resources are plentiful for the animals. In the winter, very little horn growth occurs because the animal is putting all of it's energy into simply surviving, which results in a ring on their horns. Sometimes an animal will put down a ring in the summertime as well (called false annuli), which is typically a result of the animal being sick and it not having the extra energy for horn growth. 

Most Wyoming sheep hunting seasons end October 31st, but often early season snow will make it diffucult or impossible for hunters to access the high elevation haunts where these animals live.