Even today, the candidates of the hunting exams a question about applied zoology is sometimes asked. "In which of the following species of ungulates (chamois, deer, roe deer, ibex, mouflon, fallow deer) the males have horns? ". Lot of neo-hunters, without thinking too much, they answer with confidence: "All!!". Although this term is in common use, the answer is wrong. Because? Only for ungulates with permanent horns (Chamois, Ibex and Mouflon) we can speak of "horns" in the strict sense, considering that they grow but are never laid over the course of a lifetime; for ungulates, on the other hand, which change them every season, it is necessary to speak of "stanghe ”caducous, renewed year after year.
This distinction is not just a sterile matter of scientific terminology, especially in the context of selection hunting. As i well know selecontrollers, the permanent horns allow to determine the age class of the observed species, even in life. On the contrary, the deciduous poles, generally present only in males, determine the sex classes, but they do not represent a decisive element - quite the contrary! - to indicate the age group. All this especially when it is necessary to determine, especially in life, with observation instruments, the age class of the ungulate.
The growth rings.
In other words, in the Withdrawal Plans they concern Chamois, Ibex (where possible) and Mouflon, we will have to know how to evaluate the growth rings generally present at the base of the permanent horns. For deer, roe deer and fallow deer, on the contrary, we will have to rely on other morphological-behavioral elements, “forgetting” the shafts and, above all, the number of points. Just to give an example, a deer (in retreat) with only 8/10 points can be much older than a crowned one with 16/18 points. And so on, without counting the anomalies, first and foremost roe deer. The permanent horns, therefore - typical of Chamois, Ibex and Mouflon - they are an open book, at least for those who know how to read it correctly. But how to determine the age precisely? The answer is based on the growth rings. In spring, the animal produces horny tissue which is deposited at the base of the case that covers the horns; in winter, the process stops, due to the variation of the light and the lack of nourishment.
In this way the growth (or junction) rings are formed, which we need so much to count the years of the animal. Growth is greatest in the first two to three years of life; the growth then drops to a few cm. per year and further decreases after the fourth year; in the course of old age, the horn narrows at the base, around the toggle, and the growth settles in a few millimeters.
This also applies to Mouflons and Ibex, also endowed with large permanent horns. But let us not be confused by the evident and scenographic “beauty knots” which do not indicate the age of the animal in a precise way; the age group is determined - always and only - by the growth rings. We will never tire of underlining the importance of these elements of evaluation, ground of conquest of binoculars and telescopes for terrestrial observation. Today - fortunately - the first ungulate that passes in front of the rifle is no longer shot. The "assigned" boss is a great legislative achievement to which the selection hunt and the Digiscoping hunting can not give up.
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