Big Billy Down

SatchSquatch

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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.

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My wife with her billy. She shot him from that cliff in the background of the picture.

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My brother (left), me, and my wife.

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My wife and me with the billy.

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Perspective of the steepness.

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I think I spotted superwoman on the hike out. I’m pretty proud of her and what she was able to do!

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Horns with annuli rings.

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Great goat!!!

I'm jealous of how much more hair this billy has than mine. A month does make a big difference.
Your goat got my blood pumping more than it already was for this hunt. When I saw you got a nice one and after we talked, I went into kill mode. I just wanted to be up there hunting but scheduling was tough with our kids, jobs, my masters program every other weekend, my brother’s elk hunt, trying to get horses and helpers, etc. Heaven knows we tried to kill earlier. It just didn’t come together for us and the hair is a nice bonus!
 
Nice Job To The SatchSquatch Family!

Them Goats Usually Turn In To Alot Of Work For Sure!

Don't Tell Ms SatchSquatch You're Putting Her In For Other Hunts!

Sometimes It takes A Year To Heal!:D
 
Nice Job To The SatchSquatch Family!

Them Goats Usually Turn In To Alot Of Work For Sure!

Don't Tell Ms SatchSquatch You're Putting Her In For Other Hunts!

Sometimes It takes A Year To Heal!:D
Thanks elkassassin! I appreciate all the conversations we’ve had and your eyes on the south end of the unit. It would’ve been nice if a billy showed up down there but the constant contact and input allowed us to focus on the north like you kept on saying.
 
Awesome Billy! I’d say he’s 9 but I could well be off. He’s stacked pretty tight at the bottomView attachment 160407
Those are the lines I have as well. I’m trying to figure out what age the first line starts at. On my sheep it was 3 1/2 but I’m not sure on these goats and I can’t seem to get a good answer. Here’s my ram from 2015 and what I drew up on the goat for a guess.
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Thanks elkassassin! I appreciate all the conversations we’ve had and your eyes on the south end of the unit. It would’ve been nice if a billy showed up down there but the constant contact and input allowed us to focus on the north like you kept on saying.
Good for you Bobcat, we caught you again, helping someone come home with a great memory.

Congrats on a beautiful hard earned goat Satch. Your wife is clearly…….. tough as nails…… it proves what I’ve been saying over the years, women hit what they point there rifle at.

And thanks for the tidbit on ole elkassassin playing a helpful roll again.
 
Those are the lines I have as well. I’m trying to figure out what age the first line starts at. On my sheep it was 3 1/2 but I’m not sure on these goats and I can’t seem to get a good answer. Here’s my ram from 2015 and what I drew up on the goat for a guess. View attachment 160411View attachment 160412
I guess I’ve always thought they get their first annuali at 3 just like a sheep since that’s the first year they rut but I could be wrong. On that. My MT Billy had the same age rings as yours, meaning he was 9, and the state tested tooth data showed 9 as well for what it’s worth. My UT Billy was same but was 5.
 
From what I understand, where Satch has his 2nd line drawn in his post above that would be at 1 1/2 years age. The first line that Sastch drew is at the billies first winter. There is generally not much horn growth during the winter months or when stressed so that's where the rings show up.

Take a look at kid and yearling billy photos taken in the winter and it will give you an idea of horn growth in years 1 and 2.

Once 6 years of age it is really tough to see the rings. I usually have to look over both sides in detail all the way around each horn to find the true rings.

Another thought would be to send in a tooth and have it aged!
 
Good for you Bobcat, we caught you again, helping someone come home with a great memory.

Congrats on a beautiful hard earned goat Satch. Your wife is clearly…….. tough as nails…… it proves what I’ve been saying over the years, women hit what they point there rifle at.

And thanks for the tidbit on ole elkassassin playing a helpful roll again.
Thanks 2lumpy. Did I say elkassassin helped? I meant to say he was an ornery old curmudgeon and wasn’t any help. 😜
 
From what I understand, where Satch has his 2nd line drawn in his post above that would be at 1 1/2 years age. The first line that Sastch drew is at the billies first winter. There is generally not much horn growth during the winter months or when stressed so that's where the rings show up.

Take a look at kid and yearling billy photos taken in the winter and it will give you an idea of horn growth in years 1 and 2.

Once 6 years of age it is really tough to see the rings. I usually have to look over both sides in detail all the way around each horn to find the true rings.

Another thought would be to send in a tooth and have it aged!
I sent the teeth in yesterday! Not to poison the well on tooth data but I don’t know how well I trust it. When I got the tooth data from the Utah DWR for that ram from 2015 in the posts above, they told me he was 4. I called to tell them they were getting bad data if they aged him at 4 and they pretty much said, “It is what it is” and they used the tooth data over the annuli and pictures they have on file from when I checked it in to get it plugged. We’ll see in March or April when they post the results!
 
Well!

I Really wasn't Alot Of help Other Than Suggesting To The 2 MM'ER Goat Hunters To Stay/Hunt NORTH!

I Spent Quite A Bit Of time On The South End Which I Already Knew Was In Trouble For Goat Numbers/Mature Billies!

Sometimes Letting guys Know What I'm Seeing Might Keep Them From Wasting Time When They Could Be Looking/Hunting Elsewhere!

We Did See Some Goats!

Not Even Close To What We Use To See Just A Few years Ago!

The Best Billy I Seen Was 5-6 Years Old & I Had Him At 40 Yards,He Had Decent Horn Length,He Needs Another Year Or Two!

I've Had Alot Of Fun With The Billy Goats Over The Years!

I Showed My Brother Some Goats Here In DRATville on The South Slope Many Many years ago Before The State Planted/Reintroduced Them Here on The Unita's!

My Guess They Came In From Wyoming?

They Were A Skittish Bunch As Well!

I Located A Record Book Billy A Few Years Back,The Biggest Billy I've Ever Seen With The Whitest Coat I've Ever Seen,It Was Quite A Hike To Where He Lived,I Left Him A Few Frito's Each time I Seen Him & He Was Alot Like The Billy Founder Got real Close To A Few years Ago When He was Hunting Goats!

A Few Years Back We Seen 140+ Goats In One Day,Yes I'd Say It Was An Exceptional Day/Once In A Lifetime Day!

The Last 2 weeks Up There Recently I Only Seen 27 Goats Total & Not One Mature Billy!

CONGRATULATIONS To Ms SatchSquatch & Family & To D_Hoyt & His Bunch On their Once In A Lifetime Hunts!
 
As usual BC, denying good deeds. Sorry to destroy you true nature……. but it served you right!😁
 
Beautiful billy, congrats!

I also count 9 on him. As for the tooth aging, it's not that expensive to send a sample to Matson Labs. They are far better at that than most state agencies.
 

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