Which animal

[buckeye hunter]

I am thinking about booking an exotic hunt for my 10 year old son before deer season this fall.   Wild Boar, Barbarosa Sheep and Angora Goats are the animals that will be in our price range at the preserve near us.  I was wondering if you might have some suggestions as to which might be the best for my son to pursue.  This would be his first opportunity to harvest a big game animal.  We will need to tentatively know what we want in advance of the hunt, but we could change our mind in the field. 

[bobg]

I have hunted all of them. The only one that was really a challenge was the hog. That is sure what i would go for.
      bobg

[drdougrx]

Hog!  Taking my 15yo nephew in Nov. for his 1st one.  They can be chased and run and will lend to many stories about the "danger".   

[buckeye hunter]

Thanks!  Just the info I needed!

[Redhawk1]

I would have to agree with the others and say hog.

[markc]

When you say Barbarosa, I assume you mean Barbary Sheep? and not the character played in the movie by Willie Nelson?  LOL   Barbary Sheep, or Aoudad are really interesting animals and can be a challange to hunt.  They have great eye sight and usually run at the slightest sign of something out of place.  The males can weigh up to 250 lbs, probably the wildest and most elusive of all the exotic species in the US.   

The Angora is another name for the New Zealand Mountain Goat, or New Zealand Billie.  I took one with a handgun a few years back that turned out to be the #4 Billie with a handgun.  I have to say that it wasn't a really challanging hunt though. 

You will probably find a feral hog or even other boar hunt to be more affordable than Aoudad, and they are certainly plentiful, so the opportunity to see and harvest one is greater than with the other animals.   

When you say preserve, is it a high fenced place?  If it is and is not too large, the Aoudad hunting would tend to be easier than it is on a free ranging operation.  Good luck, I'm sure your son will enjoy it no matter which animal you choose...

[1187VX2]

Up here in the midwest (I assume Buckeye Hunter is an Ohio type of guy) there are big white rams (with big curly horns) on the ranches that are called Barbarosa rams.  Impressive looking animals, that aren't very wild at all - making them very unlike the Aoudad.  Looks like these rams are called Merino rams in Texas.  Can't recall where the whole Barbarosa thing came from.  My first trip to a game ranch was for one of these.  Again, pretty animal, not much of a challenge.

Might be just right for a beginner.

[drdougrx]

Yep...barbarosa is a merino sheep or ramboulet.  They can be reletively large approaching 150lbs in some cases.  Dollar for dollar, they will have the largest horns for the money.  For example, the current price on one is about $500.  The last two I shot cost that much, one had horns that measured 34" and the other 37".  If they were corsican or black hawaiian or Tx dall they would be at least $1,500 or more.  They are not very good to eat nor very hard to shoot at all.  They make a great, big mount because of all the wool.  The first one I shot had cracked horns that were in terrible shape and fell apart at the taxidermists (couldn't see the damage at the distance I shot it).  The second had perfect horns and an aweful coat with many bare spots.  I used the cape from the first and the horns from the second for the mount.  Here's the link to the pics if you like.

[elmer]

I always thought the Mouflon's colors would make it a nice mount.

[markc]

Brothers ya'll are paying way too much for sheep.  If you want a sheep, whether it be mouflon, Tx Dahl, Black Hawaiian, painted desert etc.. travel to Texas and hunt the Rocky Top ranch in the hill country.  His sheep that make silver or gold in the record book of exotics rarely go over $500.00.  Even with their economy hunt which runs around $180.00 he has some that will go bronze or silver medal.  I shot a Merino with my TC a few years back for $150.00 that missed gold medal by 1/8".   

[drdougrx]

Hey Mark,

Thanks for the info.  Records of exotics permits much smaller trophies to be counted as gold medal than SCI (of which I'm a certified measurer).  I once went to NY to shoot a Gold Medal fallow under ROE.  The owner jacked up the price.  When I saw the deer I passed and another guy shot it.  That night I got to measure it using the SCI system and it barely made a bronze medal.  For whatever it's worth, a ROE trophy is in my estimation at least a third smaller than when scored SCI.  That's just me and I must admit...this trophy thing has ruined my hunting experience for sure...but...when you look at the asking price for ranch animals, one would be wise to know what's a deal or not.

[1187VX2]

Interesting stuff there on ROE vrs. SCI.  Yes some of the minimum scores on ROE are low - I mean 142 inches for a red Stag - not very big.  The ROE does seem kind of self serving if you think about it - developed by a guy who owns/runs a game ranch, with minimum scores that are almost low enough that most anybody who wants to sent in their $ 20 will make the book.   

But hey, no harm done - I'm not knocking T. Temple, more power to him.  The ROE books put out annually are fun to look at and ROE info seems much easier to come by than SCI.  Can you even see the SCI standards without being a member? 

[markc]

This is an interesting thread.  How exactly did the SCI and ROE come about?  Which was first, etc...?  Do these two compete with each other?  Which is the official record book?  Interesting stuff drdougrx.   

[drdougrx]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the input.  I think SCI came 1st.  It's $55 a year to be a member and worth the $$ for the magazine.  I became a measurer in order to assess heads as I like to hunt exotics.  I really have little use for ROE in that the scores are kinda silly as all scoring is.  Really...my best hunts were for animals with the lowest scores.  Having said that I needed some point of reference, so, I took the course, went to the taxidermists and scored everything I could for a couple years.  I also have the Boone and Crockett scoring manual (B&C only scores free ranging native game.)  So...If I shoot whitetail, bears, moose, antelope, etc I use B&C (though I don't have trophies large enough to make their book), and use SCI for everthing else.

Anyway, I expect you can purchase an SCI record book from their web site.  It has the scoring forms in it and they are easy to follow, except for caribou....now there's scoring horror show!!!!!

[buckeye hunter]

Markc...what is the difference between a standard hunt and a discount hunt (besides the price) at Rocky Top?  The preserve we are looking to hunt is a high fence operation that has about 600 acres to hunt.  I don't really have high expectations for the quality of hunt as far as toughness goes, but the guy who runs it has a good reputation of being fair in prices and going out fo the way to make the hunt memorable.  Although I think it would be about the same price to catch a red eye flight and hunt at Rocky Top.  Lord willing, there will always be next spring.

[markc]

buckeye hunter

Unless it has changed, Rocky Top Ranch is 640 acres high fenced, and very rugged with 7 major canyons, a few of which are really deep.  He also has a smaller high fenced enclosure for lazy shooters, but thats another story.

His sheep are all put and take.  None are native to the ranch, and some of them are way too tame for me.  He does have some that are in the back canyons and are a good bit more wild though, including some aoudad if you can locate them.  In the past he said shoot one for free as he wanted them gone.

The sheep are tagged in the ear.  Blue is $180.00 and then it goes up in price according to the tag color, orange, red.  etc..   Some of the wilder sheep are way in the back canyon which is a hike down into proposition only.  There are some blue tag sheep there that are very nice, and should likely be priced higher.  They have lasted longer because not very many of the guests there are apt to work to get down into and especially out of that canyon.  Anything shot down in there must be quartered and carried out.  It is a beautiful ranch, and except for a few things I have always enjoyed going there.   

[buckeye hunter]

Thanks for the info.