May have found the one

[Rizzy]

This is the biggest bodied Goat I have seen so far and he was in a hunt-able/ shoot-able location. Historically, the biggest Billy for the unit was 9" with 5" bases and the average Billy has been 8.3" with 4.8 bases to give you an idea of what the unit produces. I watched him feed for about an hour in the evening and he was by himself in the basin. He seems a little thin for mass, but good length. I don't have enough experience judging Goats to really know though and the video quality sucks. What do you think?


[video=vimeo;102552630]http://vimeo.com/102552630[/video]

 

[muleman]

Love the mosquito smack down

I agree the horns do look to be on the thin side. It was hard to tell but the horns looked about 1.75x ear length. Is that about right?

Judging by the ears has always been difficult for me. For instance this goat is 9 5/8" on the long horn and 8" on the worn down short horn with 5 7/8" bases. His long face masks the size. His sent glands were sized like huge chocolate donuts.

 

[Rizzy]

I forgot my spray

Yeah ears are more difficult then I would have thought, the ears seemed 1.5x or better. I didn't really notice the scent glands, not like the ones on your Goat. Shoulders, pot belly, and balls are what stuck out on this goat.....

 

[norsepeak]

looks like a big goat, but very hard to accurately judge score on that video, it's very far and grainy, but looks like a big mature goat.

 

[Rizzy]

Hiked in to another remote spot and found a small Billy. I can tell a difference in body mass and movements, which is what I wanted to find out. I'm pretty sure it's a young Billy, but it could be a Nanny. This was another lone goat in a very hunt-able and stalk-able location. I'm not finding goats on the cliffs, but below them in more of the Bucky areas. Not seeing any bucks though. I might hike back in here and stay longer when I get a chance. I had a 360* view of prime habitat for all the Game animals, but only enough time to glass a small part of it. I heard a Bull Bugle in the morning, but didn't have time to check it out.




Boone & Crockett Mushroom




This Goat is about 3/4 of mile out, the video is blurry. I have to say I am disappointed in the performance of my 65 mm Vortex Viper when it comes to looking over Goats and digiscoping. It's hard to get a clear view of horns over a quarter mile.




[video=vimeo;103727686]http://vimeo.com/103727686[/video]

 

[bkondeff]

The first goat is definitely better.

I'll be heading back into two drainages to see if I can find more goats this weekend. I have one, about the size of yours, in a good spot that I found a week ago. Sure makes it easy when they lift their back hoof up to scratch their ear to help with confirming sex!

 

[Rizzy]

Yeah, I'm pretty set on going after the first one so far. I'm not going back out until September and I am considering taking my longbow with me

I hope you find another big one this weekend!

 

[Rizzy]

Update

Went in on Monday with the bow to see if I could get a shot on the billy I videoed in early August. Spent the first day in the basin and never saw him. I hiked up to the top and found a set of tracks leading out over the saddle into a completely different drainage.




I packed up camp and hiked into the next basin over thinking maybe he might of gone there and again nothing. It was now the 3rd day and no goats, so I packed up camp once again and hiked out of the drainage and up the next one. That took all day, but that evening I saw my first Goat. The horns looked the same but the shoulders sort of didn't? Maybe it's because the hair is longer now

[video=vimeo;107301812]http://vimeo.com/107301812[/video]




This goat was on one of the highest peaks in the area and it didn't look like a place I could get him out, but decided to try anyways. The next morning I left my spotter in camp to lighten my load and go after him. I planned on seeing him with my binos and then climbing up to him. I glassed the whole area that morning where he had been the previous evening and no Goat again. I did however see a nanny and an adolescent in a side canyon and then a billy off to the side of them. I headed over to make a stalk on the billy. I got below him and was able to spot him through the timber bedded about 2/3 rds the way up the mountain in a small rim above an open slope. I picked a route and started hiking up out of the bottom. On my way up I looked back across the canyon I was now in and could see a Goat out feeding about 500 yards away. This canyon was steep and tight. I set up my tripod and binoculars to get a better look and caught the tail end of another goat going over the top. I was able to watch the one 500 yards away for a while and got pics with my camera. It was hot that day but he fed out in the sun til about 10Am. I was able to see his glands and he looked like an 8"+ mature Billy, which is about what this area produces.


I decided to keep going with the stalk I was already on and kept watching the other billy along the way. I was a little off on my landmark and got busted at about 80 yards. It would have been an easy rifle shot as the goat just stared at me broadside for a while before moving away. I opted to not harass the other Billy that was feeding in the sun and come back for him with my rifle next week

 

[Rizzy]

2014 Idaho Billy

These OIL Goat hunts are a well balanced trifecta of fun, stress, and gratification. This is one the apex hunts for a Backpack hunter, it will take you to a new level of fitness, both mentally and physically.

The first evening I relocated a nice Billy I had seen the week before about a mile from camp. He was now a ways up a side canyon. I had about an hour of daylight left so I opted to wait until the next morning.



The next morning, I had a little trouble finding him. These Billy Goats always seem to be on the move like a Buck. Finally at about 9:30 Am I spotted him bedded even farther up the canyon.



I started the climb, got above him, and made my way down. He must have moved or detected me because I never saw him again. The country was really broken, with lots of trees and I could have been 50 feet from him and not knew it. This was really humbling and I started to get concerned. I only knew of 1 more Goat in that canyon and it was twice as far up the mountain.

I got back to camp around 1 PM, ate, refiled on water, glassed the canyon below camp and then headed out again for the evening. I decided to hike up the main trail even farther which would take me to the unit boundary after about 2 miles. By the time I got to the top of the drainage, I had completely re-evaluated my hunt. I thought I would need 2 days to get everything out, so that left me with 1 more day to hunt. I had previously used half my hunt/scout time to try taking a Goat with a longbow. I didn't regret this, but I was now getting down to the wire. The season was open for another month, but it was time to get back to being a father and husband in 3 days. It takes a day to get in and at least a day to get out, so weekend hunts are out of the question. If I didn't fill the tag, I would have to wait 2 years to start applying again. I would be 40 by then, but more importantly my twins are currently 8 months old and the next decade will be more about family and less about hunting. Taking a bunch of time to Goat hunt in the future would not be as easy. So I swallowed my pride and decided the first decent lone Goat I see, nanny or billy, I'm happily taking.

About half a mile from the unit boundary, I looked up the slope and saw a lone Goat standing out in a scree slope. I didn't look at it through the spotter as I could tell it was a Billy through the binoculars. He bedded down out in the sun as I watched him. His hump was not as pronounced as the one from that morning, but he was mature and in a good location for a shot. I had 3 hours of daylight left when I started the climb. When I got into position, he had got up and moved. I looked around and didn't see him anywhere on the slope. I moved a little closer and continued scanning the slope. Then I saw him about 200 yards away at the edge of the scree slope. One shot with my 270 and he collapsed where he stood. All was well until he went completely limp, then he started to roll. He rolled about 20 feet and stopped, then another 50 feet and got hung up on some stunted pines. then he rolled another 20 feet and got hung up in a thick patch of stunted pines again.



With about an hour and a half of daylight left the real challenge begins.



I tied his foot off to the tree and did my best with pictures. His horns seemed small when I walked up to him, maybe around 7 inches for the long one. The tip of the other one looked like it had broke off during the roll. Overall he was a nice Billy Goat.



It was dark by the time I got him caped and boned out, and there was not as much meat as I expected. I loaded everything up and started the hike off that slope via headlamp. It was slow going, but I made it all the way back to camp without any mishaps.

The next morning I was refreshed and decided to load everything up and try to make it out in one trip. I took a few more pics first.





The EMR2 expands nicely and swallows up camp, goat cape, and meat. There is no way I would have been able to do this with a smaller pack, and I would not have been disappointed with the even bigger prototype EMR2.



The load was manageable, it felt like between 80-100 pounds, and it took me about 5.5 hours to make the 7.5 mile hike out. The Goat got bigger and bigger with every mile. By the time I got back to the trail head he had grown to just over 8".....

 

[Shrek]

Congratulations on a great hunt and harvest ! Thanks for taking us along .

 

[ol490]

Great hunt and congratulations. Sounds like you really earned that one - especially going at it solo.

 

[Nick Muche]

CONGRATS MAN!!! Nice work! Thank you for sharing!

 

[Browtinemt]

Congrats on a great accomplishment and animal!

 

[Arbutusbucks]

Great Job!

 

[justin davis]

very nice

 

[RamDreamer]

Very nice!

 

[Navaluk]

Well done! Welcome to the Brotherhood of Mountain Goat hunters. Remember, "We look down on Sheep Hunters".

 

[Ryan Avery]

Congrats! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Steve O]

Ron,

That is my holy grail...goat with the longbow. I will savor it just the same with my .270 if that's how it ends up. Beautiful!

I am always curious about bullet selection on mountain goats as you always hear how tough they are. Seems like you had fantastic results; what bullet did you use?

 

[Rizzy]

I'm not an experienced bow hunter, but I felt later on down the road I would regret not giving it try with the longbow.

I have had great results with the same loads on Deer, Bear, Elk, and now Goat out of that 270. I came across the bullet while skinning it, so I put it in my pocket. It was in between the meat and the skin on the outbound side.






They do have really thick skin, I broke 2 havalon blades skinning and caping him.

Ron,

That is my holy grail...goat with the longbow. I will savor it just the same with my .270 if that's how it ends up. Beautiful!

I am always curious about bullet selection on mountain goats as you always hear how tough they are. Seems like you had fantastic results; what bullet did you use?

I checked him in today and dropped the head/cape off at the taxidermist for a wall pedestal mount.

7 1/2 years old
8 1/4 length
4 1/4 bases
Shot on Oct. 2nd in Idaho Unit 39