Wyoming Mountain Goat
05-10-2015, 05:50 PM
#1
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 2
Wyoming Mountain Goat
I drew a Resident Unit 3 Goat tag.
I have left messages for the appropriate biologist and warden. Spent a couple hours on google earth and have also ordered a bunch of topo maps. I am searching for any info I can get so I can start planning some scouting trips.
Before getting too crazy (which would be easy and probable at this point) I wanted to post here and see if I could get some advice from the members. Anyone been in this unit?
Can even being to express how excited I am!
Thanks in advance.
I have left messages for the appropriate biologist and warden. Spent a couple hours on google earth and have also ordered a bunch of topo maps. I am searching for any info I can get so I can start planning some scouting trips.
Before getting too crazy (which would be easy and probable at this point) I wanted to post here and see if I could get some advice from the members. Anyone been in this unit?
Can even being to express how excited I am!
Thanks in advance.
05-11-2015, 04:32 AM
#3
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 9,230
I did a DIY goat hunt in my native CO. Fun hunt, but hunting goats is different than hunting deer/elk. In CO they do a goat and sheep orientation for all the successful applicants. I don't know if WY does, but if they do you should plan on attending since it will give you a lot of good info and tips.
Billies and nannies look an awful lot alike from a distance. You need to decide if you just want a mature goat or if you only want a billy. When I went, all I wanted was a billy so I had to learn how to tell the difference. The easiest way is that the billies are almost always by themselves. If you see a bunch of goats they will most likely be women and children. You need to took for lone animals in the roughest country around. That is where the billies will be. Another way to tell a billy from a nanny is the posture they take when urinating. The nanny will squat like a dog but the billy stands upright and arches his back when he lets go. So if you have a spotting scope you can spend some time just watching them. Billies also tend to have sort of a yellow color to them while nannies appear more white.
A billy will have thicker horns and will carry the mass all the way up. A nanny can have very long horns but they will be thin. The billy will also have a black gland at the base of the horn. You can see this at about 200 yards with a good spotting scope but if you are farther than that, you probably won't. Goats don't move around a whole lot so if you have a billy's location pinned down he will probably stay in the general area. But that doesn't mean he will be on the exact same cliff face or ledge. There are a lot of nooks and crannies a goat can disappear into and they can be hard to find even when you know the area they hang out in.
Goats are pretty tough so you need to think about what you're going to use. I used a 7mm Mag and it worked well. When you shoot you need to be sure you can recover the animal. Every year hunters shoot goats that fall into places they can't get into. Goat horns are fragile and if he falls or rolls down the mountain they will probably get broken. For this reason I suggest you hit a goat right in the shoulder to break him down right there. if he stays on his feet, hit him again.
Get in shape. Goats live in the highest and roughest country in the nation. You have to be able to get into that country, be able to hunt it and get the goat out. Also, goats are easy to see when there isn't any snow but are really hard to see when it snows and you can get snow at anytime during goat season. This is why it is good to know that billies are often a yellow color. Also, remember goat meat is edible. I pulled the the straps and loins and ground the rest. It wasn't as good as elk, but it is edible and you should utilize it. One last thing, you should think about doing a life size mount or at least a half mount. A shoulder mount doesn't really do them justice. That was all I could afford when I got mine and I've regretted not biting the bullet and doing a life size.
Here's the one I got off Mt Huron in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area in CO. I took him at 13,800 feet. The right horn went slightly over 9 inches and the left was exactly 9 inches. If you look close you can see the gland at the base of the horn.
Billies and nannies look an awful lot alike from a distance. You need to decide if you just want a mature goat or if you only want a billy. When I went, all I wanted was a billy so I had to learn how to tell the difference. The easiest way is that the billies are almost always by themselves. If you see a bunch of goats they will most likely be women and children. You need to took for lone animals in the roughest country around. That is where the billies will be. Another way to tell a billy from a nanny is the posture they take when urinating. The nanny will squat like a dog but the billy stands upright and arches his back when he lets go. So if you have a spotting scope you can spend some time just watching them. Billies also tend to have sort of a yellow color to them while nannies appear more white.
A billy will have thicker horns and will carry the mass all the way up. A nanny can have very long horns but they will be thin. The billy will also have a black gland at the base of the horn. You can see this at about 200 yards with a good spotting scope but if you are farther than that, you probably won't. Goats don't move around a whole lot so if you have a billy's location pinned down he will probably stay in the general area. But that doesn't mean he will be on the exact same cliff face or ledge. There are a lot of nooks and crannies a goat can disappear into and they can be hard to find even when you know the area they hang out in.
Goats are pretty tough so you need to think about what you're going to use. I used a 7mm Mag and it worked well. When you shoot you need to be sure you can recover the animal. Every year hunters shoot goats that fall into places they can't get into. Goat horns are fragile and if he falls or rolls down the mountain they will probably get broken. For this reason I suggest you hit a goat right in the shoulder to break him down right there. if he stays on his feet, hit him again.
Get in shape. Goats live in the highest and roughest country in the nation. You have to be able to get into that country, be able to hunt it and get the goat out. Also, goats are easy to see when there isn't any snow but are really hard to see when it snows and you can get snow at anytime during goat season. This is why it is good to know that billies are often a yellow color. Also, remember goat meat is edible. I pulled the the straps and loins and ground the rest. It wasn't as good as elk, but it is edible and you should utilize it. One last thing, you should think about doing a life size mount or at least a half mount. A shoulder mount doesn't really do them justice. That was all I could afford when I got mine and I've regretted not biting the bullet and doing a life size.
Here's the one I got off Mt Huron in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area in CO. I took him at 13,800 feet. The right horn went slightly over 9 inches and the left was exactly 9 inches. If you look close you can see the gland at the base of the horn.
Last edited by flags; 05-11-2015 at 08:12 AM.
05-11-2015, 09:21 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Michigan
Posts: 3,952
I did a DIY goat hunt in my native CO. Fun hunt, but hunting goats is different than hunting deer/elk. In CO they do a goat and sheep orientation for all the successful applicants. I don't know if WY does, but if they do you should plan on attending since it will give you a lot of good info and tips.
Billies and nannies look an awful lot alike from a distance. You need to decide if you just want a mature goat or if you only want a billy. When I went, all I wanted was a billy so I had to learn how to tell the difference. The easiest way is that the billies are almost always by themselves. If you see a bunch of goats they will most likely be women and children. You need to took for lone animals in the roughest country around. That is where the billies will be. Another way to tell a billy from a nanny is the posture they take when urinating. The nanny will squat like a dog but the billy stands upright and arches his back when he lets go. So if you have a spotting scope you can spend some time just watching them. Billies also tend to have sort of a yellow color to them while nannies appear more white.
A billy will have thicker horns and will carry the mass all the way up. A nanny can have very long horns but they will be thin. The billy will also have a black gland at the base of the horn. You can see this at about 200 yards with a good spotting scope but if you are farther than that, you probably won't. Goats don't move around a whole lot so if you have a billy's location pinned down he will probably stay in the general area. But that doesn't mean he will be on the exact same cliff face or ledge. There are a lot of nooks and crannies a goat can disappear into and they can be hard to find even when you know the area they hang out in.
Goats are pretty tough so you need to think about what you're going to use. I used a 7mm Mag and it worked well. When you shoot you need to be sure you can recover the animal. Every year hunters shoot goats that fall into places they can't get into. Goat horns are fragile and if he falls or rolls down the mountain they will probably get broken. For this reason I suggest you hit a goat right in the shoulder to break him down right there. if he stays on his feet, hit him again.
Get in shape. Goats live in the highest and roughest country in the nation. You have to be able to get into that country, be able to hunt it and get the goat out. Also, goats are easy to see when there isn't any snow but are really hard to see when it snows and you can get snow at anytime during goat season. This is why it is good to know that billies are often a yellow color. Also, remember goat meat is edible. I pulled the the straps and loins and ground the rest. It wasn't as good as elk, but it is edible and you should utilize it. One last thing, you should think about doing a life size mount or at least a half mount. A shoulder mount doesn't really do them justice. That was all I could afford when I got mine and I've regretted not biting the bullet and doing a life size.
Here's the one I got off Mt Huron in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area in CO. I took him at 13,800 feet. The right horn went slightly over 9 inches and the left was exactly 9 inches. If you look close you can see the gland at the base of the horn.
Billies and nannies look an awful lot alike from a distance. You need to decide if you just want a mature goat or if you only want a billy. When I went, all I wanted was a billy so I had to learn how to tell the difference. The easiest way is that the billies are almost always by themselves. If you see a bunch of goats they will most likely be women and children. You need to took for lone animals in the roughest country around. That is where the billies will be. Another way to tell a billy from a nanny is the posture they take when urinating. The nanny will squat like a dog but the billy stands upright and arches his back when he lets go. So if you have a spotting scope you can spend some time just watching them. Billies also tend to have sort of a yellow color to them while nannies appear more white.
A billy will have thicker horns and will carry the mass all the way up. A nanny can have very long horns but they will be thin. The billy will also have a black gland at the base of the horn. You can see this at about 200 yards with a good spotting scope but if you are farther than that, you probably won't. Goats don't move around a whole lot so if you have a billy's location pinned down he will probably stay in the general area. But that doesn't mean he will be on the exact same cliff face or ledge. There are a lot of nooks and crannies a goat can disappear into and they can be hard to find even when you know the area they hang out in.
Goats are pretty tough so you need to think about what you're going to use. I used a 7mm Mag and it worked well. When you shoot you need to be sure you can recover the animal. Every year hunters shoot goats that fall into places they can't get into. Goat horns are fragile and if he falls or rolls down the mountain they will probably get broken. For this reason I suggest you hit a goat right in the shoulder to break him down right there. if he stays on his feet, hit him again.
Get in shape. Goats live in the highest and roughest country in the nation. You have to be able to get into that country, be able to hunt it and get the goat out. Also, goats are easy to see when there isn't any snow but are really hard to see when it snows and you can get snow at anytime during goat season. This is why it is good to know that billies are often a yellow color. Also, remember goat meat is edible. I pulled the the straps and loins and ground the rest. It wasn't as good as elk, but it is edible and you should utilize it. One last thing, you should think about doing a life size mount or at least a half mount. A shoulder mount doesn't really do them justice. That was all I could afford when I got mine and I've regretted not biting the bullet and doing a life size.
Here's the one I got off Mt Huron in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area in CO. I took him at 13,800 feet. The right horn went slightly over 9 inches and the left was exactly 9 inches. If you look close you can see the gland at the base of the horn.
Did anybody ever tell you that you look a little like David Koresh.
05-11-2015, 12:36 PM
#5
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: SW Montana
Posts: 550
Congrats on drawing your goat tag. I shot a goat in 1978 here in Montana, and I have applied every year since without drawing a tag.
Flags gave you some good info. I agree with everything he said except the table fare. My goat was the rankest, worst tasting animal that I've ever tried to eat.
One thing that I'll add to what flags said is that much of the goat's trophy is the hair, and the later in the season that you kill it, the longer, thicker, and better the hair will be. However, the longer you wait, the deeper the snow can be and the worse the weather can be.
Like flags, my goat hunt was DIY. One of my hunting buddies had a late cow elk tag in the same unit as my goat tag, so we shared a camp. I shot my goat on Nov 14th. The temperature was -15*F when we left our tent. My buddy went up one drainage looking for elk, and I went up another looking for goats. When I got to almost the top of the mountain where the goats were, the snow was crotch deep.
I was able to get within 100 yards of my billy, and a 180 grain Nosler Partition from my .30 Gibbs shot in his shoulder dropped him in his tracks.
I completely skinned him out where I shot him, and it was so cold that I pulled his skin over my hands to keep them from freezing.
My billy was by himself when I found him, but the whole time that I spent processing him, another billy watched me from about 100 yards up the ridge. My billy was 6 1/2 years old, had 9 5/8" horns, very long hair, and my taxidermist said that he had the largest body of any goat that he had mounted.
My taxidermist really wanted to do a full body mount on my goat, but at that time I didn't think that I had enough room for a full mount, so I only had a half mount done. I've regretted that decision ever since.
Here's my goat that I shot in the Hilgard mountains near West Yellowstone, MT.
Flags gave you some good info. I agree with everything he said except the table fare. My goat was the rankest, worst tasting animal that I've ever tried to eat.
One thing that I'll add to what flags said is that much of the goat's trophy is the hair, and the later in the season that you kill it, the longer, thicker, and better the hair will be. However, the longer you wait, the deeper the snow can be and the worse the weather can be.
Like flags, my goat hunt was DIY. One of my hunting buddies had a late cow elk tag in the same unit as my goat tag, so we shared a camp. I shot my goat on Nov 14th. The temperature was -15*F when we left our tent. My buddy went up one drainage looking for elk, and I went up another looking for goats. When I got to almost the top of the mountain where the goats were, the snow was crotch deep.
I was able to get within 100 yards of my billy, and a 180 grain Nosler Partition from my .30 Gibbs shot in his shoulder dropped him in his tracks.
I completely skinned him out where I shot him, and it was so cold that I pulled his skin over my hands to keep them from freezing.
My billy was by himself when I found him, but the whole time that I spent processing him, another billy watched me from about 100 yards up the ridge. My billy was 6 1/2 years old, had 9 5/8" horns, very long hair, and my taxidermist said that he had the largest body of any goat that he had mounted.
My taxidermist really wanted to do a full body mount on my goat, but at that time I didn't think that I had enough room for a full mount, so I only had a half mount done. I've regretted that decision ever since.
Here's my goat that I shot in the Hilgard mountains near West Yellowstone, MT.
05-11-2015, 05:02 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: WI
Posts: 1,089
Some nice goats and hunt stories guys! Thats my dream hunt, I have a next of kin in Ketchikan AK who offered to take me, Goat & Coastal Brownie hunting(he got one) but he isn't that ambitious of a hunter, and his boat is always broke down so....
05-11-2015, 08:51 PM
#7
Spike
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 2
Great info and the stories got me pumped! Talked with the Biologist today and he gave me some good leads. Told me to call him back when my maps arrive and he will go into more detail. He also emailed me harvest data back to 2011. Thanks to all who have posted.
06-02-2015, 10:40 AM
#8
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: IL
Posts: 6,575
speaking of if WY doesn't have an orientation, sometimes other states will have a orientation on DVD, I remember when my dad drew his WY bison tag, MT had a dvd for their bison hunt, which was still informative, couldn't hurt.
Awesome tag, best of luck!
Awesome tag, best of luck!
