Mountain Goat ????????????

Tikka · Dec 1, 2011

So I decided the other day that I am going to spend my points on one of the Uintah units, this year.

So I have two questions.

This will be my one and only chance for a goat, that being said I want to kill a good one. They have got to be one of the hardest animals to judge.

So for you guy's with experiance hunting and judgeing these critters whats the best way for me to practice judgeing over the next several months?

Next question how is how does the meat taste? Is it kind of like Antelope or Mutten?

"And just what were these guys doing riding horses in an aspen thicket"
WhiskyMan

smitty · Dec 1, 2011

When I get the chance at a goat, I will be more focused on the size of his body and the condition of his coat. 9-11 inches of horn isn't the biggest thing you will notice. I'd rather shoot a 9 inch billy with a perfect thick coat, than a 11 inch billy with summer hair.

My thoughts anyhow.

muleyczy · Dec 1, 2011

I killed a 9" billy in BC this year and was happy with him. Good hair and good length and an even better adventure but thats what its about in my opinion.

Good luck trying for an 11" billy. It's like going for a 200" or better muley, pretty hard. Id say that the average is 8-9 1/2" with a 10" plus being a great goat. Keep in mind that the difference between a "good" goat and a "really good goat" is usually 1/2-1" I personally would go for hair first, mass, then horn. You wont notice an 1" on the wall.

I used all the various F&G websites used for judging, looked at a tons of pics and tried to mentally size them up. Theres also a good book, "A beast the color of white" very informative and helpful, i thought. Anyway good luck.

SneakAttack · Dec 1, 2011

I hunted a nannie on Willard Peak a few years ago. I was more concerned with not killing a billy by mistake. Good advice about horn size has already been given. As far as the meat...my nannie was by far the most mild flavored meat of any any animal I've eaten.....domestic or wild. Its was tender, lean and took seasoning very well. Very surprising. I was told it would be trashy. It wasn't at all.

nfh · Dec 1, 2011

my goat from this year i made steaks and burger. the burger is good. the steaks are tough i mean really tough.

to judge on i just did a search on mountain goat scoring. and found some pratice test and did them a lot. then while out scouting for goats and watching them all day it became easy which one was a nanny and billy and how good they would score.

so sittting there and watching goats best helped me to score them out

Tikka · Dec 2, 2011

Thanks for the info. guy's!!!!!!!!

If you want to share photo's please post em up.....

"And just what were these guys doing riding horses in an aspen thicket"
WhiskyMan

ForkWest · Dec 2, 2011

I can't even judge them at 8 yards! But then again, I don't know much about goats. I was elk hunting the Uintas when this guy walked right up to me.

swbuckmaster · Dec 2, 2011

Best advise is score don't mean anything if there aren't big goats in the area.

So my advise is to look over as many goats on your unit. look for one that stands out. You will find them if you look over a lot of goats. You will start to see the difference in a billy/nanny or a big billy/small billy. Then hunt them when their hair gets thicker. The hair and body size of the goat is the trophy imo not the size of their horns. Its hard to tell the difference in a goat with 9' horns and one with 9.25" horns but there is defiantly a difference in body size.

nfh · Dec 2, 2011

>Thanks for the info. guy's!!!!!!!!
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>If you want to share photo's
>please post em up.....
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i got some of my scouting pictures in the sheep,moose,goat forum. might have to dig into the 3rd page to find them. my billy that i got this year is in Eastmans hunting journal this month