Utah/Colorado September and October pelage

[12ring]

I'd like to get some input from anyone that has harvested a mountain goat in Utah or Colorado in September and or October regarding their pelage, specifically mid September (9/15) through the end of October. I would imagine that some thought was put into the quality of the pelage versus the timeline hunted, and input from your taxidermist regarding prime time for pelage. I realize that later in the season the pelage will be better, but how much better? I am a little concerned about venturing into the areas I am interested in, which are quite backcountry versus the Wasatch/Beaver UT type hunts, later in the season taking into account prohibitive weather. Thanks in advance.

 

[TreeWalking]

Pelage is quite a fancy word. If you shoot a goat in August then the hair will not be much and if you look at the chin area then will look like a horse head and you will see muscle definition. If you shoot a goat in November then the chin will look like a guitar player from ZZ Top and you will not see any muscles due to long hair.

A goat in Alaska will have a different timeline of getting long hair than one in Colorado.

Go as late as safely possible if you need longer hair. A bit of snow is desirable as the males will have a yellowish tinge when standing in snow. I hunted second season in CO and the hair growth was noticeable in pictures one of the hunters had from just 3 weeks prior to second season.

Good luck on your draws and stay safe up in goat country. Easy to mess up when in the thin air navigating the steep stuff.

 

[Ftguides]

I've guided them first week of Sept. through mid-October in different areas in CO. There is a noticeable difference. They aren't short haired like I see August billy's in BC, but CO Sept. goats have roughly half their potential. By first week in Oct. they have 80-90% of potential. The main difference can be seen in the beard and front chaps. A mid-october billy, standing in the wind, is probably one of the most majestic things on this earth.

 

[bradb]

I shot a nanny in Ut in sept I would say the hair was decent. But what they hell do I know about that!

Drop me a pm with email and I can send pics if you like

 

[Jimss]

I've been on numerous goat hunts in Colorado and Alaska. Here in Colo the nannies are the last to loose their scraggly hair in the spring and the last to grow longer hair in the fall. Mature billies will have all their scruff gone by August but nannies often have their scrag clear into Sept. That's actually one easy way to distinguish nannies from billies super early in the fall. Mature billies often look like they have a mowhawk with longer hair on the tops of their backs in early Sept. Generally by the first week in October the long guard hairs and fluffy inner hair start to develop well on billies and is pretty thick by mid October. Nannies generally start catching up with longer hair through October.

I harvested a billy the 2nd week of August in Alaska this past fall that had as long of hair as late-Sept billies in Colorado. If you are doing a lifesized mount I would obviously wait as long as you can....especially with nannies.

 

[TreeWalking]

AK billy shot near Gannett Glacier in 14C on 10/4. CO billy shot near Red Mountain at Continental Divide on 9/28. On the ground, CO billy on left. AK billy on the right. Look similar to me but am sure 4-8 weeks sooner would be a big difference with much shorter chin hair.

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Mounted AK billy on left. CO billy on the right.

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