Goats last laugh

Green overalls proved a good choice today, sliding down a slope in lush green grass (on my back) provided entry into a gully system undetected.

Previous trips had cleaned the Goats completely from this farm and i was surprised to hear of a "survivor"

Typically the wily few grazed within view of the owner and bolted at the slightest new sound, and this one was no exception, as this was probably my fourth attempt to get him i learned that magpies, plovers, parries and farm animals all provided an adequate warning system.

Sidling into a cooler scrub filled gully
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i found a small patch of wild strawberries and tried to to rekindle the memory

To say they lacked would be an understatement, they were as sour as battery acid and stole moisture like a mouthful of dry weetbix

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Sitting in position to glass the whole valley i was not surprised to see it empty, magpies earlier had told anything that would listen about the green intruder.

Having nowhere else to really be, settling in for the long haul seemed a reasonable choice, laying back in the grass i shut my eyes, farm flies aside it was quite relaxing

Everywhere around me were grasshoppers of all types, two even having a hopathon on my rifle and stayed on it for probably 10 minutes

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An hour passed before i spotted my target, high above a bluff system on a steep grassy slope he munched. On hands and knees i moved 50yrds to get a better shooting position and disturbed a small frog

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And near the cover of some scrub a lil covey of new Quail

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The last few yards in the open grass were easy as its great cover

236yrds easy for the 223, i waited for him to lift his head, dog tucker to be

At the suppressed shot he dropped and slid out of sight, job tidy.

Standing where he last stood i had to smile, at the headshot he slid down the steep slope and dropped off into an impenetrable cliff/ gorge system and was gone

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All that and i had no dog tucker, Goat had the last laugh.

:thumbsup: You seem to be at one with nature, its simply comes and hops into your hand :D

I always thought those were wild raspberries?

Nice story and nice photos.

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Originally Posted by Gibo

:thumbsup: You seem to be at one with nature, its simply comes and hops into your hand :D

I always thought those were wild raspberries?

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Im not actually sure what they are, i just had a memory of them tasting yum as, but they don't :)

Very nice writing style.

Thanks

Yeah nah those wild strawberries are terrible.I like wineberries/dewberries when I find 'em.

Superb photos,thanks for sharing!

Goat shooting is a great sport and you never know what will happen next.

Nice detail, thanks for sharing!

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Originally Posted by rockland

Goat shooting is a great sport and you never know what will happen next.

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So true, almost needs it's own thread. Goats do the weirdest things.

those wildlife photos are bloody magnificent-love the crickets and the wee quail-mate you are something special.

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Originally Posted by Gibo

I always thought those were wild raspberries?

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Doh! Look at the leaves.

7mmsaum I would have had a great time. I would have eaten the grasshoppers and the wild strawberries. Been eating the wild strawberries since I was a kid. Yes they are not that great but they are food.

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Originally Posted by Rushy

7mmsaum I would have had a great time. I would have eaten the grasshoppers and the wild strawberries. Been eating the wild strawberries since I was a kid. Yes they are not that great but they are food.

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Are the wild strawberries a native plant ?

Iv found them around Otago wear the old miners worked if they are in the sun good eating

I've got wild strawberries growing at home in my garden. They are small fruit, but very nice.

I never get enough for a real desert, but they are nice to just pick off the plant and eat.

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Originally Posted by Tahr

I've got wild strawberries growing at home in my garden. They are small fruit, but very nice.

I never get enough for a real desert, but they are nice to just pick off the plant and eat.

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@Tahr

The wild strawberries are out now, and they are no sweeter than last years :)

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Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

@Tahr

The wild strawberries are out now, and they are no sweeter than last years :)

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Early spring for you? No sign of them here yet.
So its time for you to go for a hunt and to report in the same manner as you did in this story back in '16.

Early spring ground temps here are rising around sunny cliff faces and north facing farm meadows

The Sika are feeding around a lot of Rock faces at the moment where the soil temp rises first, the new green pick has certainly attracted them this year.

Did the daisy chain in your hair? Look just lovely? Good story, nice when it comes together! Spent Sat avo doing the same, nothing shootable, but pheasants, mallards, parries, tui, yellow hammers, fan tails, turkeys, even black birds. Makes for a great avo!!

The goats are back, they have eaten the easy tucker from the bush and are eyeballing the pasture again.

It’s not going to be a good week to be a goat :)

One time I saw a mob of goats and picked out the biggest Billy , he walked over to a nanny and tried putting the moves on her put she wasn’t in the mood and turned around to give him “ the glare”. She took a couple of steps away and he took a 308sst through his broken heart .
I guess he got the last laugh though because when the rest of the mob ran away a Billy with a bigger head I hadn’t seen ran out of the scrub .

great write up...cant see photo of quail unfortunately....

It’s that time of the year again when goats are on the hit list