Aly and the Billy Goat

Yesterday I went on my first goat hunt in the Kahurangi Ranges, accompanied by neighbour Rich as my guide and my father who tagged along for the ride.

Driving up to the block, we could easily see a group of ten billies and a few nannies hanging down low enough to casually shoot from the gate. We watched them for awhile with the binos as we set up, could clearly see some decent trophies in there! I was more keen for something younger however, a nanny more like, for meat - so we tried to suss out what we could see.
However, just as we started the wind picked up from the snow and rain clouds just rolling in - wind was not on our side!

We snuck up to the fence on the hill and watched the goats on the trail above. They were beginning to move upwards because they could smell us, but couldn't see us.

Rich handed me his .223 and I propped myself up against a fence post and sighted them up. It wasn't easy - I think I had too much caffeine beforehand, I was shaking! Also the nippy wind blowing down from the snow-capped tops was not helping at all. We decided that I would try to knock off one of the billies.
I sighted him up, gently pulled the trigger -BAM! Damn! It just skimmed over his neck and hit the rocks behind! They all started making their way up the hill now far too far off to sight up.

So we decided we would sneak up the trails and make our way across to try and stalk them from a higher vantage point. This meant a good thirty minute ascent, zig zagging up the hills, about a 400 meter climb up this rocky path. We climbed over fences - I instantly regretted not bringing my gaitors thanks to all the gorse we had to march through - being pelted with rain, and made it up until we were on a path opposite the hill where the entire herd seemed to be grazing. Awesome! Some clear shots and I had the pick of who I wanted!
The slope we were on was too steep to set up a shot though, so Rich and I attempted to climb up higher on the hill to find a good spot. As we were making our way up a massive southerly blew gusts at us - carrying our scent straight at the herd! DAMN! The whole lot of them started running! I found a log and propped myself up, loaded the .223 and sighted them. Thankfully they were all following a trail horizontal to us, I could sight up anyone's shoulders. Rich just said to take a pic of anything.

So I sighted up a black billy walking across the top going slower than the others (which wasn't that much slower since they were at a jogging pace), steadied myself right and pulled. SHOT! He falls down on the trail! The other ones bolt for it. With a 10 mile crosswind and a moving target at 300 yards, I'd shot his spine and paralysed his back legs! He kept trying to get up and drag himself away, but it was just causing him to fall down the cliff. I didn't want him to fall off to a place where we couldn't retrieve him, so I tried to sight him up and take two more shots at his neck and get him out of his misery. Too much wind, missed both and damn - out of ammo. This was going to be a messy mission.

Walked along the trail towards the hill where he was on, all goats gone.
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(Rich and my father in behind)

I had to climb up the cliff and come down on top of billy as he kept dragging himself down, while Rich came up from below with a knife. Grabbing his horns, a bit of wrestling, had to take to his throat to put him out of his misery. Then lifted him down on the trail - heavy fella he was!

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At about 5 years old, he was one sturdy rough nuts! Absolutely banged up horns from fighting, and pretty banged up himself, he was a tough as nails breeder. Not the meat provider I would have liked. Still, he presented me a challenge and a lesson - Rich was pretty happy because he's one of the goats that needed to be knocked off anyway.

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Me and rough nuts, squinting with the sun in my eyes and wet hair from the rain haha.

We decided to head him, and carried the body down the cliff to rest him in a place to attract pigs so that we could come back later and try to hunt some of the oinkers rooting up down there.
I took his head and propped him up on a tree stump, where he wont be going anywhere and I can come back for his skull later.

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Rough nuts on his throne.

More of the weather was coming in, so we had to make it back down the trail. I found a kid's skull on the side of the trail - perfect condition, picked clean right! Obviously brushed their teeth had no cavities ;)
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I've got the kid in my room right now. I think I might use it for some anatomy study, then clean it up and get creative. Could paint it, carve it, mount it! Will see. Give it a second life ;)

40 minutes climb back down through the gullies, found a dead lamb and two dead cows - skeletons everywhere.

Overall a good lesson and a great day in the hills, a good few hours of exercise and hunting lessons. Sounds like I might be back out there next weekend for some oinkers.

good efforts on the hunt and the article.

Well done Aly, you will have learnt more on that trip than reading a hundred on here....

Well done Ally :cool:

Good work there Aly

Nicely done, goat curry is great!

Good on you Aly. I look forward to the follow up,story.

Cheers :)

Cool :cool: bananas :thumbsup:

good work aly !!! ..... although , .... out of ammo is a nightmare statement for me ....... im a range shooter ..... so carry way more than I should ....

Same Stumpy, Aly good write up and lessons

Its almost De javu:) nice work on the shot well done.I like the Billy pic I have one just like it I called Him Dejango:D
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Originally Posted by Maca49

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Well done Aly, All I managed to shoot at in the weekend was some clay birds and they all broke before I could get the dog to retrieve them :)