I had been doing a regular amount of Goat shooting on a friend's farm over a few years. Knocked the numbers back noticeably we both thought. The farm has good numbers of Red and Fallow deer and occasionally I was offered a meat animal which was a nice bonus. Then he started offering visitor / tourist hunts which took off successfully and started to make it difficult to slot me in for Goat shooting so I just quietly backed off thinking I didn't want to interfere with his new venture and give him unwarranted stress. It's a great block to hunt and I always looked forward to going there but at one point thought I wouldn't be going again until running into my friend at the Sika Show. That was a good catch up but best of all was an invitation to return as the hunting "season" had wound up until 2024 and I was welcome to return and shoot in the gap.
I could get away for one and a half days during this current week so got the OK from my friend and organised my gear and drove down. I had ammo already loaded for my 300 Blaser Magnum, built on a Tikka action, so this was the rifle taken. It's quite a heavy hitter for Goats but really reaches out on those longer cross gully shots for the faraway animals. I took three different loads. The most accurate is Hornady ELD-X 178 gn over AR2213sc which is sweet to 400 yds. For shots to 250 yds or thereabouts I had Sako Hammerheads 180 gn over AR2217 and Hornady Interbond 150 gn over W-760. I have found this action / calibre combination unfussy in terms of potential loads. I have a couple of other unfinished loads that I'm sure will shoot equally as well when I get around to final testing.
I arrived and we had a quick discussion on where I should mainly look. My friend thinks Goats have been more noticeable since I was last shooting and he is quite keen to keep Goat numbers checked. His basic rule is - shoot every Goat you see and if shooting nannys with kids make sure the kids are shot too. I get use of a farm 4 Wheeler which I prefer to use only to access certain starting points before spending a good day walking and glassing picking off Goats as I go.
Upshot of day 1 ( a full day ) was 18 Goats. My best shooting was across a broad gully on a small mob of young Goats at 380 yds. I had the rifle well rested and got two for two shots. After a shot, or two, it usually pays to wait and observe a minute or two in case other Goats pop up from the scrub. Sure enough another appeared. The third shot connected hard. Another short wait revealed the fourth nervous Goat wondering why it's mates were suddenly silent. It turned broadside and shot four took it down. Sweet results with the Hornady ELD-X.
The closer Goats that day copped either the Interbond or Sako Hammerhead. The hammerhead sure knocks them flat and leaves large exit wounds. I think it's quite a hard bullet and it seems to also hit hard. All other Goats that day were taken from 100 to 180 yds.
I overnighted on the farm and hit the hills again early next morning. I hunted a known Goat haunt and was surprised to neither see nor hear Goats. Worked my way while glassing down a long ridge and enjoyed seeing many deer but couldn't understand the absence of Goats. Got almost to the drop-off at the end of the ridge when I heard familiar bleating. Goats nearby. Sneaking downhill brought me to the lip of a small depression and peeking over I saw four Goats all snuggled together. They jumped up and ran and my first snap shot missed. When they emerged trotting up the other side of a small creek I shot the leader at 80 yards which caused the others to immediately halt. The other three were taken quickly.
I spent the remainder of the morning searching other good gullies, all to no avail surprisingly, so just enjoyed the opportunity to be wandering. Then it was time to repack the gear and head for home. Stopped at my friends place on the way and reported my results, 22 Goats for 24 shots, and got the invitation to return. A good result all round.
Some pics of dead Goats and the rifle cos I know without pics it didn't happen.
Cheers
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Sako Hammerhead splatter
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Sako Hammerhead exit, 180 yds
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