# blue ross or not?



## rodlittle (Feb 6, 2008)

Shot this guy yesterday and trying to determine if he is a blue ross. This decides if he goes on the wall or not.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

It looks like it might actually be better yet...

It looks to be a hybrid.

It has the head, neck, bill of a Ross

But the body of a mature snow.

Contgrats! :beer:


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## sodakhunter13 (Feb 2, 2007)

Shorter bill, looks like a Blue Ross to me, but Im no expert.


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## Large munsterlander1 (Feb 11, 2008)

I would also have to say that it looks like a ross hybrid. Nice job on killin such an awesome bird! :beer:


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Researchers using DNA evidence have never found a true Blue-phased Ross......they are all hybrids.


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

Nice lookin' little goose though. Good work.

Dan


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## nebgoosehunter (Aug 18, 2005)

I'd mount that thing regardless!


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## echoXLT (Aug 27, 2007)

Agree, looks like a hybrid blue/ross, pretty cool though. :beer:


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## dfisher (Oct 12, 2007)

Come to think of it, nice lookin' big goose there too. :lol: 
Dan


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## snow123geese (Feb 3, 2008)

Looks like a hybrid to me Good Work!!


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## ghostbuster (Nov 30, 2007)

man that blue looks so cool nice job of shooting him too bad he was not banded :beer:


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## bluegoose18 (Jan 9, 2008)

Pretty awsome hybred :beer: 
Call your Taxidermist


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

Sweet bird, put em' on the wall for sure.


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## ValleyCityHunter2008 (Jan 13, 2008)

I just can't get over the fact of how short and stubby his neck is. Cool looking bird i'd eat that one for sure! :beer:


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## Duckmaster15 (Nov 13, 2007)

Awsome
that is a great looking bird you shot there i would definitly put him on the wall for sure


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## jwdinius1 (Dec 14, 2006)

very nice!!!


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## goosehunter20 (Oct 19, 2006)

Put 'im on your wall!!!


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## KEN W (Feb 22, 2002)

Actually I should have said cross not hybrid.Hybrids can't reproduce.


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## Phil The Thrill (Oct 21, 2005)

ghostbuster said:


> man that blue looks so cool nice job of shooting him too bad he was not banded :beer:


Who cares if it wasn't banded?!? Sweet lookin' goose Rodlittle!


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

Congrates!!!

Last spring on one of the last hunts we harvested one, and it sits in my freezer( Hustad has all the pictures we took of it)! Pj, his father, Chris, OldHunter, and myself were one of the lucky ones to harvest it (we found it in the pile later in the day). I just have to get it to Jonser so I can put it on the wall. What I plan on doing is having this one put sitting on a piece of drift wood for now, so when I shoot a true blue phase ross I can put it right next to the cross. Then hopefully a full white chested Blue on the other side.


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## collarcatcher (Jan 26, 2006)

hard to say for sure, as some taxonomists argue the very existence of a blue morph ross's. that said, the bill length/shape and restricted white facial patch lean toward "ross's"...can't say for sure if it has a "grin patch"
that is a toss-up from the photo. it is (at very least ) a hybrid lesser snow 
X ross's...IMO it should go on the wall- may be a long time till you bag another like it! congrats on a nice bird :beer:


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## orrghead16 (Dec 29, 2005)

KEN W said:


> Actually I should have said cross not hybrid.Hybrids can't reproduce.


Nope, hybrid is a correct term. Hybrids can be completely fertile. Many of them are not, but that is not in the definition. Just because a

Look at any polyploidy plant. They are all considered hybrids and are completely fertile. Wheat used for bread is a hybrid between two ancestor species of wheat. And if wheat was not fertile, then this world would be completely different.

A cross is the breeding part. Hybrid is the result of a cross.


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## cgreeny (Apr 21, 2004)

You have to hang that one. I shot a cool bird like that a few years ago and its hands down my favorite mount now. congrats on a great bird.


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## huntingdude16 (Jul 17, 2007)

orrg is right, hybrids can be fertile. Polar bear/grizzly bear hybrid's have proved to be fertile also.


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## chris lillehoff (Jan 9, 2006)

BPR from 2 years ago that SNOWHUNTER shot.


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

chris lillehoff said:


> BPR from 2 years ago that SNOWHUNTER shot.


NOW THAT is a super sweeeeeeetttttt bird!


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## wyogoose (Feb 11, 2006)

I love those, can I have it? :lol:


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## ValleyCityHunter2008 (Jan 13, 2008)

Ok now that looks like a blue morped ross. Not a hybrid. A real blue ross. What do you think it's got the small body to.


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## topnotch (Feb 20, 2008)

thats sweet chris


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## barebackjack (Sep 5, 2006)

chris lillehoff said:


> BPR from 2 years ago that SNOWHUNTER shot.


I hope that went on the wall!


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## chris lillehoff (Jan 9, 2006)

I personally did not shoot the bird. My friend did. It is the single coolest blue i have ever seen, let alone BPR. Very cool bird and the mount is also very nice.


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## hunter121390 (Nov 7, 2006)

nice geese. mount it.

sweet goose the other guy got too


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## Classof81 (Dec 19, 2005)

If you're not sure put it in the freezer. Think about it for awhile and show it to a good taxidermist. I have done that a few times and mounted birds up to two years later and they turned out fine. You may never shoot one like that again. Think of it as an investment in good memories.
I know what I'd do.


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## ksfowler (Oct 4, 2007)

I would have to say that is a hybrid. You can kind of tell by the way that the feathers line around the bill has a curve to it. Ross' have a straight line, and snow geese have curve. Either way it should be on your wall.


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## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

The one in the middle that was shot last year was the same size as the ross, but the beak was just big enough to make it appear to be a hybrid. We actually see quite a bit of these nowadays.


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