Spring Billy

[TFinalshot]

Is he a shooter, is he a he, and how old do you think he is?

http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/DCForumID21/1701.html

"Roadless areas, in general, represent some of the best fish and wildlife habitat on public lands. The bad news is that there is nothing positive about a road where fish and wildlife habitat are concerned -- absolutely nothing." (B&C Professor, Jack Ward Thomas, Fair Chase, Fall 2005, p.10).

 

[Zigga]

I'll play. Seeing as how a goat is a once in a lifetime tag for some of us poor folk, it's hard to really gain experience judging them unless you like to drag your camera around over 9500' in elevation just for fun. I'll guess HE is 7 years old. Nice bases and great pic!

 

[jims]

Is he a shooter? Are you looking for B&C or a mature billy? I don't think the billy in the photo has the mass to make B&C but he is definitely a mature billy. If you look close at the photo you can make out the growth rings on the horns. It looks like he has 4 or 5 rings plus kid-tips so is likely 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 years old (if I am counting the rings correctly). Billies are mature at 3 1/2 years old and from what I remember generally have grown about 80 to 90" of their horn by 3 1/2 years old. Notice how small the distance between rings are at the bottom of the horn. The rings closer to the base are the most recent years growth while the wider spaced rings are the first couple years growth.

This would be a super billy in Colo where there are hardly any billies that qualify for B&C. If you are hunting in one of the trophy zones in British Columbia that is noted for B&C billies you would likely pass this billy up in search of a billy that holds the mass in his horn all the way to the tips.

You can also tell this is a mature billy rather than an immature billy by the size of his head and length of his nose. Mature billies usually have a nose that look like a mule nose rather than the short stubby appearance of a young billy. If you could see the billies entire body it would likely be huge in comparison to an immature billy or even a mature nanny. A mature nanny you can practically throw over your shoulder to pack out while a mature billy you would have problems moving more than a couple feet!