"King Of The Mountain" (table) - Bighorn Rams
Sculpture by James Marsico

Close up detail of one of the rams. I have watched Bighorn Rams fighting for hours on end here near my Cody Wyoming home and studio in the late winter and spring and this is exactly the pose they take on as they walk-run the last 20 or so yards before slamming into each other.

Once they ram together they usually just stop and then stare at each other for a minute or so and then back off and do it again or the weaker ram will retreat with as much pride as he can show for a looser. You can hear the slamming of the horns for a really long way off and even locate fighters by listening for the crashes. It is not always the ram with the largest horn curl that wins.

When a really large ram and a much smaller start to face off the smaller ram will wisely retreat before the fight and try and pick on a ewe or even smaller ram than himself. Most of the real battles are between rams of about the same horn size.