Mountain Goat Anchoring

[Spartan Gunner]

I'm wondering what shot placement, caliber and bullet choices people have used for goats near cliffs - shots usually less than 100 yards.

I have been a packer on a couple of hunts where my partners have lost goats to cliffs. I encouraged them to take neck/spine shots because of the steep inaccessible cliffs near by. They both thought the goats would drop with rib/shoulder shots. They did not.

Do any folks have experience using bigger calibers (375 or 458) with soft bullets or use a more frangible bullet to put more energy into a goat at relatively close ranges?

Does anyone have experience with a .308-.338 cal ttsx or similar to the base of the neck?

The successful goat hunt I was on saw a got soak up two 150gr LRABs to the lungs and liver and still stand at the top of a chute for minutes before it slid to an easy...ish recovery.

 

[Jimss]

You are wise to research this! Goats are one of the toughest species in North America to anchor! The are renown for performing great death dives and tumbling off cliffs! I've always recommended 30 caliber and 150+ grain bullets. I've used Nosler Partitions in 300 WSM with great results. So far my son and I have anchored 5 different billies with great results shooting through or just behind the front shoulder. Make sure to aim a little lower than normal because their spine vertebrae stick up higher than most big game species.

One thing I would keep in the back of your head is to be patient before shooting and don't take shots in locations where billies will potentially roll and drop off cliffs. Sometimes this is impossible but it will save a lot of grief, bloody cape, and broken horns! Billies often come out of the cliffs in the evening to feed before heading back to the cliffs to spend the night.

 

[204guy]

Only been around 4 goat kills but hitting cns is the only way to anchor anything. I havent seen them be overtly tough. As Jimss points out where their are at when you shoot is as important as anything. I doubt you'll gain anything but a heavier rifle going to a big bore. 1 thing to consider with goats is how thin bodied they are. Goats have a reputation for being tough and so guys use a tough bullet. It's backwards thinking, goats are thin, so heavy for cal fragmenting bullets are imo a great match for goats.

 

[Antares]

I've been thinking about a very similar question. This thread will be fun to follow. I've never shot a goat, but I have lots of OTC opportunities, so I want to get after it this year. The options I have considered are .308 Win 150 gr TTSX on the shoulder or 6.5CM 140gr ELDM behind the shoulder.

 

[JPeters218]

I've been thinking about a very similar question. This thread will be fun to follow. I've never shot a goat, but I have lots of OTC opportunities, so I want to get after it this year. The options I have considered are .308 Win 150 gr TTSX on the shoulder or 6.5CM 140gr ELDM behind the shoulder.

I would strongly bet that a 6.5 behind the shoulder isn’t going to anchor them

 

[FishfinderAK]

Only been around 4 goat kills but hitting cns is the only way to anchor anything. I havent seen them be overtly tough. As Jimss points out where their are at when you shoot is as important as anything. I doubt you'll gain anything but a heavier rifle going to a big bore. 1 thing to consider with goats is how thin bodied they are. Goats have a reputation for being tough and so guys use a tough bullet. It's backwards thinking, goats are thin, so heavy for cal fragmenting bullets are imo a great match for goats.

This is an interesting thought. One I have been considering a lot recently too.
Seems we’re all looking the perfect deep penetrating controlled expansion bullet. But maybe that’s exactly what we don’t want for thin bodied goats and deer.

My son is will be looking for a billy this year. And is planning on packing his 7/08 shooting 131 Hammer Hunters.

I’m new to the Hammers but from what I understand, they seem to be a happy medium of penetration and fragmentation.

As far as shot placement, I always try to aim for the opposite shoulder. This almost always requires passing through vital and ideally breaks down the opposite shoulder.

But ALWAYS best to be patient and wait until the goat is in a retrievable spot, plenty far from the cliff.

 

[30338]

6.5-06 with a 140 berger vld to high shoulder dropped mine in its tracks. That bullet drops a lot of things in its tracks actually.

 

[magnum44270]

Have never taken one but have researched their anatomy and the anatomy of every other species i go after. Biggest thing i read about goats is their thick hide/fur is deceiving, as far as determing where the actual body structure isx this woukd make precise neck shots difficult.... as with other species, i reccomend the high shoulder shot, to anchor. Straight up the leg, not behind it, top 1/3 of the shoulder. Break both the legs, hit the brachial plexus, and usually frag some of the spine.. i would keep away from copper solids and look for something that penetrates and expands. Partition, AB, ablr, eldx, ect.

 

[Kiddross]

I shot mine with a .300 Win Mag . 212 ELD-X traveling at 3096 FPS. 340 yards. I know this bullet is controversial and would most likely react different at the ranges in discussion but it worked really well for me. Boom-Flip. Rolled about 20 yards darn hill without a twitch. No meat loss

Watch from the 15 min mark to 15:30.

 

[AK Troutbum]

If you feel comfortable with a neck/spine shot, and you make it, there is absolutely no other shot that will anchor a goat better than that. I've killed a handful of goats and I've been lucky enough to have never had one go further than about 10-15 yards (probably just jinxed myself), with most shots being double lungs. I did shoot one in the neck a few years back, with a .270win at just over 200 yards, I'll try and post the video.

 

[AK Troutbum]

2017 Kodiak goat hunt

youtube.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WCB]

Caliber in this situation means almost nothing. Shooting something mid body or right behind the shoulder seldom ends in an animal dropped in its tracks. Hit the central nervous system and it will go down. Any reasonably decently built bullet in and grain weight with any common hunting caliber will get it done.

Focus on shot placement and what firearm you shoot the best. I saw a Pronghorn shot with a 50BMG at 250 yards. Kept its front feet under it and dragged itself 40 yards before it fell over hit behind shoulder upper 1/3 of the body.

 

[slvrslngr]

To answer the OP's question, yes, I watched my brother drop his billy with a 45-70 (Marlin Guide Gun), Rem Core-loct 300sp (if I remember correctly). Shot was about 120 yards, hit behind the shoulder and dropped at the shot, DRT. We recovered the bullet on the far shoulder just under the skin.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Caliber in this situation means almost nothing. Shooting something mid body or right behind the shoulder seldom ends in an animal dropped in its tracks. Hit the central nervous system and it will go down. Any reasonably decently built bullet in and grain weight with any common hunting caliber will get it done.

Focus on shot placement and what firearm you shoot the best. I saw a Pronghorn shot with a 50BMG at 250 yards. Kept its front feet under it and dragged itself 40 yards before it fell over hit behind shoulder upper 1/3 of the body.

Sound like something you’d see at a high fence ranch in texas. That evening you could go drive the tank around.

 

[Antares]

2017 Kodiak goat hunt

youtube.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That is what I would call "anchored." Nice!

 

[Coveyleader]

You're better off letting them get to a place where you minimize the "Fall" vs trying to "think" you can anchor them when they're in a bad spot. I've only bowhunted them, so its alot different, but still, from what I've seen, if they go you can pretty much guarantee a messed up goat.

 

[Decker9]

Iv seen goats dump from a .243, and Iv seen goats crawl and bail over a cliff with no backbone from a .300. Best thing to do imo, first be sure there’s nowhere he can crawl of fall that you can’t access, second, make your first shot count. Every goat is different.

 

[Montero]

OP your thinking is right on.....you need to consider this strongly. I give a double thumbs up on the point Coveyleader just brought up. I've only harvested one goat in CO so it's not something I've done regularly but after scouting and chasing them on the mountain it became clear to me that the "shooter goat" I was going to kill was the goat that made it self available in a spot where it was not going fall into the abyss and get broken up badly or force me to call the special ops folks with climbing gear to retrieve. Our hunting community had a young fellow hunter who just a few years ago lost his life falling on the mountain while retrieving his goat in the country I hunted.

To your question, I anchored my goat with a 300 WSM, one shot, Barnes 175gr LRX, high shoulder rear of center 176 yds, anchored in place.

 

[Coveyleader]

The second goat I arrowed went about 30 yds after the shot, didn't fall, but got into a little steep area. I took pictures with the goat, (Nice Billy) and everything was fine. I had to try and move him a bit to start the break down process, and he started to slide and there was no way I could hold him and he fell! It wasn't the 1000 foot tumble, but he went at least 300 yds and I can tell you in just that short distance once they start picking up speed and you see them flipping 3 or 4 feet off the ground, things can and do happen. Their heads start to really start whipping and breakage will occur. I went from a perfect Billy, to a Billy that survived the fall, but had a couple knicks on his face and only a small chip on one horn.


As a side note, a taxidermy friend of mine who specializes in goats says 9-10 he's putting goats back together, or sewing faces up, patchwork etc.

 

[WCB]

Sound like something you’d see at a high fence ranch in texas. That evening you could go drive the tank around.

No this was on a cattle ranch in MT. After seeing it I really had no feeling either way if it was a dumb idea or not. I've seen worse exit wounds and more dramatic hits on goats from 300wins and even .270s with ballistic tip bullets.