SatchSquatch
Member
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- 35
Well, to wrap up the “Goat Field Judging” conversation from a little while back, my wife was able take a nice billy yesterday. He’s older and bigger than I was reasonably expecting. I couldn’t be much happier and neither could my wife but it’s for different reasons. She’s excited she doesn’t have to hike her tail off anymore. I’m ecstatic that we were able to get her in a position for success. That country is no joke. The only slight “negative” is that he broke off a little over 2 inches on one side at some point - based on the length of the other side. It didn’t happen during the fall. It was missing before she shot him as I discovered afterwards looking at the pics and video.
We spotted the goat at about 10:00 AM and had to work the rest of the way up to the top of the ridge before heading across the ridge line while staying out of his view for about a half mile. We got onto a cliff above him at just after Noon and ended up at 113 yards - almost straight vertical. We had to move back to a different part of the cliff to get to a place where she could comfortably get the gun pointed down at a steep enough angle to shoot. It ended up being about a 125 yard shot. She pulled the trigger and we got the dreaded “click.” The gun didn’t fire. I moved over to her and removed the chambered round. The primer didn’t even have a mark on it so I’m still perplexed as to what even happened. No biggie, she cycled the next round in, got re-situated and WHAP!!! - she gave it to him. He started to try to run down the hill. He stopped momentarily and she put another one in him. He rolled then tried to get up again and she hammered him one last time. He tumbled another 15 yards or so and got caught up in a tree/bush. Good thing too because just on the other side of the trees was about a 30-40 foot drop with a small shelf at the bottom (still very steep) followed by another 150 or so foot cliff to the bottom boulder field.
We got some pictures then got him all processed. The steepness made it more difficult than normal. There was no footing and no leverage. We were fighting gravity the whole time. We had to prop a rock under him to keep him from rolling. After processing and loading everything up, it took us 3 hours of hiking out with heavy packs, working around cliffs, through boulder fields, scree, and forest to get back to the car at the trailhead just after dark - about 8 PM. Boy I’m glad my brother was there with us. All the gear (gun, spotters, binocs, tripods, waters, etc), meat from a big goat, and the full body cape is a lot for two men and one woman under normal circumstances - let alone in that terrain where a slip and fall in the wrong spot can literally mean the end of your life.
What a fun hunt with a great reward. I’m not sure on age but I think he’s either 7 1/2 or 8 1/2. Let me know if you have thoughts on his age.
Where we found him when we poked our heads over the cliff.
My wife with her billy. She shot him from that cliff in the background of the picture.
My brother (left), me, and my wife.
My wife and me with the billy.
Perspective of the steepness.
I think I spotted superwoman on the hike out. I’m pretty proud of her and what she was able to do!
Horns with annuli rings.
We spotted the goat at about 10:00 AM and had to work the rest of the way up to the top of the ridge before heading across the ridge line while staying out of his view for about a half mile. We got onto a cliff above him at just after Noon and ended up at 113 yards - almost straight vertical. We had to move back to a different part of the cliff to get to a place where she could comfortably get the gun pointed down at a steep enough angle to shoot. It ended up being about a 125 yard shot. She pulled the trigger and we got the dreaded “click.” The gun didn’t fire. I moved over to her and removed the chambered round. The primer didn’t even have a mark on it so I’m still perplexed as to what even happened. No biggie, she cycled the next round in, got re-situated and WHAP!!! - she gave it to him. He started to try to run down the hill. He stopped momentarily and she put another one in him. He rolled then tried to get up again and she hammered him one last time. He tumbled another 15 yards or so and got caught up in a tree/bush. Good thing too because just on the other side of the trees was about a 30-40 foot drop with a small shelf at the bottom (still very steep) followed by another 150 or so foot cliff to the bottom boulder field.
We got some pictures then got him all processed. The steepness made it more difficult than normal. There was no footing and no leverage. We were fighting gravity the whole time. We had to prop a rock under him to keep him from rolling. After processing and loading everything up, it took us 3 hours of hiking out with heavy packs, working around cliffs, through boulder fields, scree, and forest to get back to the car at the trailhead just after dark - about 8 PM. Boy I’m glad my brother was there with us. All the gear (gun, spotters, binocs, tripods, waters, etc), meat from a big goat, and the full body cape is a lot for two men and one woman under normal circumstances - let alone in that terrain where a slip and fall in the wrong spot can literally mean the end of your life.
What a fun hunt with a great reward. I’m not sure on age but I think he’s either 7 1/2 or 8 1/2. Let me know if you have thoughts on his age.
Where we found him when we poked our heads over the cliff.
My wife with her billy. She shot him from that cliff in the background of the picture.
My brother (left), me, and my wife.
My wife and me with the billy.
Perspective of the steepness.
I think I spotted superwoman on the hike out. I’m pretty proud of her and what she was able to do!
Horns with annuli rings.
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