#agematters??

When it comes to mountain hunting (sheep and goat) around the world, age is often the most discussed topic. How old was that ram? How old was that billy?

More so than deer species, age is talked about with sheep and goats mainly because you can actually age animals quite easily compared to deer which require pulled teeth for real aging.

There are a lot of reasons to focus on shooting older animals, ‘better trophies’, ‘better herd structure’, ‘leaving them until after they have bred’ etc, and sustainable harvesting of mature animals is one of the cornerstones to quality game management.

In New Zealand we have a very unique and difficult situation trying to manage introduced animals, and currently we have very little in the way of ‘management systems’ for our game. Some game doesn’t need much thought into management but the fact is there is only getting more and more hunters (and guides) and we aren’t making anymore country to hunt on. Tahr and Chamois are both generally seen as ‘trophy’ animals, sure the meat is an import aspect as well, but due to the terrain these animals live in and the distances from our main urban areas the average hunter is out there looking for a ‘trophy’ maybe once or twice per year. Targeting the older males of these species means there will be more young males left to come through as future ‘trophies’. The females are another story and I will touch on that later.

What are Annuli?

Annuli in this sense is referring to a ‘ring’ formed on the horns of animals as their horn growth slows/stops. In mountain game this happens during the winter and every winter a new ‘ring’ will appear. As the spring growth comes through the horn will grow away again. The spaces between each ‘ring’ will progressively get smaller each year until the animal reaches a point where they grow very little. Annuli form on most horned animals. Annuli form on both male and females and have been used for a long time as an accurate age measure. False ‘rings’ can and do occur, these are where the animal has a short period of slowed/changed growth (such as an injury, poor nutrition), these rings are not as well defined as ‘true annuli’. Animals also have ‘crinkles’ and lines on their horns which can confuse things. Tahr horns are usually pretty easy to see the annuli but some Chamois can be quite hard to determine what’s what.

The best view to see annuli is often from the ‘inside’ (back side) of the horn, as the outer surface can be broomed/damaged and harder to read. True annuli will be a defined line that goes all of the way around the horn and you will be able to get your fingernail/knife edge into the ‘ring’.

One thing to remember is annuli/ ‘rings’ refer to winters, not years. They don’t magically form on the animal’s birth day. So, animals are generally called full or half years depending on the time of year they are shot. Tahr shot in the spring/summer will be either 9 or 10 and so on. Shot during the rut they will closer to 9.5 or 10.5 etc.

Tahr

As we know, most Tahr are born at the end of November, from then they have about 6 months of growing before their first winter, during the winter the horn growth is slowed. The horns then start growing again in the spring. The first real ‘ring’ is formed the next winter, at around 1.5 years (18months) old.  From then on, we see the same pattern with around 6-8months growth and a ‘ring’ formed each winter. Like all horned animals the first couple of years really determine how big the horns will grow. A bull can grow anything from 4”-8” over the first 1.5 years and a bull can never ‘catch up’. (they cannot grow more in their 3rd year than they did in their 2^nd year). This is important to remember when looking at ‘false rings’.

A ‘trophy’ class bull has historically been a bull over 12” in length. Some people now consider this to have changed to 13”, as we seem to be seeing more and more ‘bigger’ Tahr. Whether they are getting bigger or there are just more Tahr in general is hard to say. Not all bulls will reach 12”, no matter how old they are. The oldest bull I have personally shot is only around 10.5” long at 14-15 years old.

A bull Tahr seems to live for a maximum of around 15-16 years, after around the 8-9 year bracket the horn growth slows dramatically and is only around 1/8 or 2/8ths of an inch per year.

Nannies show annuli the same as bulls and tend to live longer and I have heard of a few getting into the 20+ age bracket.

Chamois

Chamois have a very unique horn growth and there is no other animal I know of that can have a 90 degree turn to their horns like the chamois does.

Chamois are born a similar time to Tahr and their horn growth follows a similar pattern, but the first ‘ring’ is often impossible to determine. So generally, the first obvious ‘ring’ is generally their 3^rd winter or around 2.5 years old. Once a chamois hit around 4 years old (5 winters) we see a very rapid decline in horn growth and the ‘rings’ from here on out are often very hard to determine. Usually around 1-2mm or 1/16^th of an inch or less.

Some Chamois do not seem to have any real definable ‘rings’ and most of these animals I have seen personally are from the west coast. I believe these animals are spending winters at low altitudes and no do not have a major halt to their horn growth.

Horn rot also adds to the problem of aging Chamois and a lot of these animals are impossible to age with severe damage to the lower horns. I have had a buck with no horns aged at around 5 years (tooth aging) so this shows that they can lose both horns to horn rot at a relativity young age.  

Chamois tend to live longer than Tahr and it is not uncommon to see animals in their teens.

Aging Chamois in NZ from Annuli is very difficult in some cases, and reportedly not very accurate, why our chamois are different to their European cousins is hard to say. From what I have seen personally some Chamois here seem to have very well define ‘rings’ and are easily aged(seemingly) and other chamois have no definable ‘rings’ are therefore impossible to age by this method. This may be just the fact those animals that are hard to age, are just young. Animals under 4-5 years have very little in the way of defined annuli.

Does it matter??

This all depends on who you talk to, and at the end of the day once an animal is shot it won’t get any older or younger. Finding older animals generally shows more patience from the hunter to look over a lot of animals, and allows the next generation to ‘grow up’.

In terms of a ‘better trophy’ it depends who you talk to and what they personally believe.

For Tahr I do think age makes a ‘better’ trophy. Nearly all of the people I have hunted Tahr with, both domestic and foreign are not that worried about inches, after all its only 1-2” between an average and monster one (Tahr we are talking about). The one thing all Tahr hunters I know are looking for is a ‘good skin’. A bull Tahr reaches full maturity at around 7 years old, no younger. His body size and skin size are markedly bigger than a 4-5-year-old.  Once a bull is around 7-8 there does not seem to be much change in the skin size/quality.  So, in terms of a ‘better’ trophy I do think a 7-year-old bull is that much ‘better’ than a 5-year-old. And if we all focus on shooting older bulls, there will be MORE older bulls. It may seem a little backward but the more older bulls we shoot the more will be coming through to reach 8+ years, and therefore more ‘trophies’.

I try and put bulls into 4 categories when I am on the hill, juvenile 0-2 years, immature 3-5 years, mature 6-8 years and ‘old’ 8-10++. The first two categories are not worth much time (my opinion) and you are far better off to spend that time looking for bulls in the last two categories. To age a bull off annuli you need to be within 300-350 yards, have good light and a good spotting scope. All these things are not practically possible in Tahr country so it is far better to age bulls off their body/cape size/markings and behavior. This is a topic worthy of its own article.

Nannies are a completely different ball game to bulls and we should be taking the opposite approach to shooting them. We have a finite number of Tahr in this country and we are obliged to do our bit to balance the herd. Most of us see Tahr as a ‘trophy’ animal, and in that sense, we want a high bull to nanny ratio. If you have an itchy trigger finger let loose on some nannies. A lot of areas are holding too many Tahr and DoC will be cranking up some more gunships in the near future I think (based on the current Govt and numbers of Tahr). Nannies are far better eating than Bulls and there is no real reason to bomb up a mob of young bulls.

Chamois are different, and there is very little difference between a 10-year-old buck and a 5-year-old buck on the hoof. A lot of us shoot ‘old’ nannies/does and this is quite common in Europe as well. Ageing Chamois on the hoof is incredibly difficult and you can often only put them into 2 categories, juvenile and ‘mature’. Even then these can vary hugely and things like horn rot can really throw you off.  From what I have seen over the last few years is that in a lot of areas the Chamois numbers seem to be declining. I think a lot of this is over harvesting of breeding does/nannies (mainly by guides) and an increase of Tahr in some core chamois areas. In Europe shooting old does comes with some ‘respect’, but we should not compare ourselves with Europe too much. All Chamois populations I know of in Europe are very strictly managed and the keepers/guides have very good knowledge of which animals to shoot to keep the herd stable. Here we have no such system and it is very easy to over harvest the breeding population. Chamois are a low-density animal throughout most of their range and do not have the detrimental impacts that Tahr can have on the environment. I think a more careful approach to ‘managing’ Chamois into the future is needed if we are to see them stay throughout their current range.

Aging chamois on the hoof takes years of patience and practice, and reading their body shape and size is a key to accurate aging, the key here is get closer, be patient and if it doubt, dont shoot.

‘Game Management’ is something kiwis are not known for and it is not a part of our hunting culture. In the past there has always been ‘over the next ridge’ or an untouched valley with more game. As our technology and hunter and guide numbers increase there are less and less places for game to hide. The commercial sector has the most to be careful of I think, and we would be wise not to shoot our selves in the foot by over harvesting some species and under harvesting others. Its all about trying to reach a balance where everybody is happy. We only need to look at the past to see what can happen when the commercial sector gets greedy.

Hopefully this make sense and makes you look at your ‘trophies’ a little differently.

‘Game Management’ is something kiwis are not known for and it is not a part of our hunting culture. In the past there has always been ‘over the next ridge’ or an untouched valley with more game. As our technology and hunter and guide numbers increase there are less and less places for game to hide. The commercial sector has the most to be careful of I think, and we would be wise not to shoot our selves in the foot by over harvesting some species and under harvesting others. Its all about trying to reach a balance where everybody is happy. We only need to look at the past to see what can happen when the commercial sector gets greedy.

Hopefully this make sense and makes you look at your ‘trophies’ a little differently.