Aoudad Aging

[Thayden2]

I am west of Rocksprings and I hope I don't have to go wot war with them, but I bet I could find a few friends who wouldn't mind helping with the fight.

I humbly except your generous offer

[Huntsman1998]

That looks to be a pretty nice one for the area, i'd guess he is about 26"

Heed my warning, You need to shoot every Aoudad you see!

The more Aoudad you have the less of everything else you will have.

Their population can explode if you aren't careful.

We laid off of them for 2 seasons thinking it would be cool to have a herd, WRONG!! Before we knew it they were out of control. They are smart, they will take over your feeders, and they are hard to kill.

Our place is in Southern Real county and they have been a major contributing factor to the decline of our whitetail numbers.

I have killed 5 Aoudad with a Recurve, and 1 one with a compound.

if you need help getting rid of them id love to help

[Colton]

My advice is kill them all, they have taken over my friends ranch close to mineral wells. We barely ever see deer there anymore

[Felix40]

They are good to eat. Taste like meat.

[Colton]

They are good to eat. Taste like meat.

Leather*

[-HIC-]

Our landowner raises them to sell to game raches after they reach a certain size. I believe this year we have 20-30 (all male). And the deer do not seem to give a **** about them. They do not destroy feeders and will walk up to the camp house like they are pets. Besides them humping each other all the time and the constant head bunting noises they are just part of the landscape. In fact, I have looked through my thermal at night to see them bedded down in the same pasture as a good number of deer.

I have been told that once they are released and assimilate into a wild heard they get the 'wild' back but after seeing these all the time I doubt I could shoot one.

[stoic]

what is the best way in your opinion? from the post you linked I am thinking that I would make burger and sausage if I were to take one.

It is a sheep. Mature sheep is edible and tastes fine, but you need to prepare it correctly. I don't claim that it is the best meat in the world, but I would not be able to shoot one and waste the meat.

We cooked all of ours and it was great. We were sad to see the freezer empty of it. We did not make any sausage. It was mostly roasts and some hamburger I believe.

We cooked it low and slow in a sauce most of the time. If you like Indian food you can use it in a lot of their spicy curry recipes.

[Speed Freak]

Mature and has good mass...

[dru.bishop73]

Im not an expert at all, but 31" + is what you are looking for. I think this guy looks good. He has a flaired tip on his left side which makes me think he's pretty long. Mature rams will have dark horns (looks like he does but no others to compare against in the photos) and the bases of their horns will appear to touch, while smaller ones will have a clear space between them. None of the shots are facing so hard to tell. If it was me I'd try and take him. Aim for the shoulder, they are big tough critters and hard to bring down.

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[150class]

Look at the gap between their bases, the face is a big give away, marks on the upper portion of their shoulders from their horns rubbing, and their body/chest size.

If you aren’t familiar with them then a ram like him would look balls *** old and then a really mature ram will walk out have twice the chest and another 50-75 pounds on his belly and blow your mind.

A big ram as mentioned is 30+
A monster is 35”+

Alfalfa, salt blocks, protein will keep them coming back (constantly putting those up to appease their appetite is exapensive)

I’d say the ram you posted is just hitting the start of his mature years roughly 8-10 years old The equivalent of a 4.5 white tail.
Rams are said to get anywhere from 12-14 years old with some claiming 18-20 years if the conditions are right.

Length wise I’d guess 26-28” for him . A head on photo mixed with the rest would be awesome.

Now if he fits your fancy then air him out!

Hope the info helps and I’m not a professional by any means. Some of the guys constantly chasing them out West are much more educated on them than me

[dragonsdaddy]

It is a sheep. Mature sheep is edible and tastes fine, but you need to prepare it correctly. I don't claim that it is the best meat in the world, but I would not be able to shoot one and waste the meat.

We cooked all of ours and it was great. We were sad to see the freezer empty of it. We did not make any sausage. It was mostly roasts and some hamburger I believe.

We cooked it low and slow in a sauce most of the time. If you like Indian food you can use it in a lot of their spicy curry recipes.

not a sheep. and not a goat. somewhere in between. the young and the female are really good eating. the rams are not.

[Bowhuntamistad]

what is the best way in your opinion? from the post you linked I am thinking that I would make burger and sausage if I were to take one.

If you want to keep it simple, grind it and use it for whatever you use ground beef for.

We process down to muscle groups and go from there whenever we want to cook something.

We have made chile negro, guisado, abondigas, jerky, crispy tacos, burgers, chili, and fried backstrap so far and it has all been good.

[Crazy Horse]

That looks to be a pretty nice one for the area, i'd guess he is about 26"

Heed my warning, You need to shoot every Aoudad you see!

The more Aoudad you have the less of everything else you will have.

Their population can explode if you aren't careful.

We laid off of them for 2 seasons thinking it would be cool to have a herd, WRONG!! Before we knew it they were out of control. They are smart, they will take over your feeders, and they are hard to kill.

Our place is in Southern Real county and they have been a major contributing factor to the decline of our whitetail numbers.

I have killed 5 Aoudad with a Recurve, and 1 one with a compound.

Same - kill them all!

Agreed on the 28” too...

[BETTERLUCKYTHANGOOD]

I am west of Rocksprings and I hope I don't have to go wot war with them, but I bet I could find a few friends who wouldn't mind helping with the fight.

Have bow will travel, plus I can fix things!!!

[stoic]

not a sheep. and not a goat. somewhere in between. the young and the female are really good eating. the rams are not.

The mature ram that we ate tasted great.

My point was that you need to understand the meat if you want to eat it. Don't expect it to be similar to a lamb or a young goat. It is an old mature animal. When most of the world cooks older sheep, they typically cook them in stews and other dishes that are low & slow cooking.