Montana Bighorns

[mdbuck5x5]

So I was driving to Kalispell this morning and I came upon these guys standing in the middle of the road just north of Paradise. There was close to 30 head with four rams, 2 younger ones and 2 big boys in this herd. As I came up on them they ran down the road then off to the side and proceeded to eat. I started to take pictures and as you can see one of the smaller rams was getting a little fresh with one of the ewes  . He kept chasing her around the herd. Pretty cool to see these guys up close as I was only about 40 feet from them. What I don't understand is while this younger ram was chasing the ewe around and mounting her neither of the bigger rams seemed to mind. They didnt confront him or anything. Maybe some of you guys that know more about bighorns could shed some light but it was kind of odd. I figured they were territorial like elk or deer and wouldn't let that happen. None the less it was a cool morning. This was the 4th herd I saw through that area. Never seen them down low like that so I'm guessing since they're rutting that has something to do with it. Anyways enjoy!

[carpsniperg2]

its always cool to see bighorns. 

[Elkstuffer]

A young ram will mount anything and an older ram will only mount a ewe that is actually in esterus. Did you get any pic's of the larger rams? Paradice is the unit I put in for every year. Thanks for sharing.

[mdbuck5x5]

The 2nd pic has one of the big ones, but looking through the pics I don't have one of the other. He was the biggest of the 4.

[jackelope]

It was interesting to see that rocky sheep from Asotin that was 200" still had lamb tips. It seems that some are just not fighters maybe.