Broomed off?

[mlycrzy]

I have been reading some stories about sheep hunting and have heard the term broomed off or heavily broomed. What does this mean. Thanks!

 

[d13r]

LAST EDITED ON Jan-10-08 AT 06:41PM (MST)[p]It means the lamb tips, and sometmes lots more is broken off the ends of the horns. It seems that the bighorns(desert, rocky, and california's) broom more than the thin horns(dall and stone). Lots of theories why. They actually rub or "broom" them against rocks and things to break them back. In general the sheep that broom live in drier conditions, maybe they just break easier.

JB

 

[nochawk]

Here is Mrs. Pleasedears ram for example...

Non-boomed side

Boomed side

Head on shot

Hope this helps you out..

 

[PopeShawnPaul]

I think that they also broom to enable them to see better. The other theory is that Bighorns are more aggressive than the thinhorn sheep so they break them more when fighting.

Shawn

 

[mlycrzy]

Thanks for the explanation. Great pictures too!