Walks4Rams 2005 Mountain Goat (pics)

bigbull1 · Oct 25, 2005

My brother-in-law, Larry Berg of Reno, took this incredible Mt. Goat on a self-guided hunt in eastern Nevada.

I'll let him tell the story...

Congrats Bro!

Ed

kilowatt · Oct 25, 2005

Ed,
See that you got this picture posting down good now, great now we can expect to see more in the future. That second picture is awesome, could make the old rear pucker up real quick. LOL

Brian

DonV · Oct 25, 2005

Congrat's and awesome pics

predator · Oct 26, 2005

Dang nice goat, love the mass on that baby!

sjhgraysage · Oct 26, 2005

Awesome! photos too!

BCBOY · Oct 26, 2005

SWEET!!!! That is a GREAT GOAT! Now that gets me inspired for one last kick at the can this weekend.

walk4rams · Oct 26, 2005

Thanks Ed for posting my pics & thanks for the compliments to all. Some hunt info: I harvested this 6 1/2 year old billy on a self guided hunt in the Ruby Mts (Nevada). After 2 late summer scouting trips and 4 days of hunting I harvested this goat on Oct 1. I spotted this goat at 1 1/2 miles away moving up a a cliff face were he bedded on an impossible narrow ledge at almost 11,000 ft. After lots of glassing we found a shooting position that would be under a 100 yds. and a route to recover the goat if he did not fall. My buddy Tom Carpenter and I were able to climb up next to a sleeping billy at 55 yds where I waited 1/2 hr. to shoot. I could not see his horns until he got up and I had 2 seconds to judge him before I shot, as he was turning away from me. I took a high front shoulder shot, slightly quareting away that dropped him (7 mm). He did mange to move 15 ft. If he moved less than 2 ft. closer to the lip of the ledge he was on he would have tumbled 700 ft. Luckly we were able to move from the shooting position to the animal on some 6-inch ledges with overhangs. We harvested the billy at 2 P.M. and got back to the truck at 2 A.M. The pack out was in the dark with the loaded packs lowered down a 60 ft. cliff in the dark and thru numerous avalance cutes, what a thrill ! The billy is just shy of 9-inches (8 7/8 and 8 3/4) with pretty good mass, green score 48 2/8. I waited one month for the goats to hair up, it's a two month season in Nevada. This billy will make a great full body mount. I did see two other good billys, one I spent two days on and I got outsmarted by him and the other was far away which may have been killed by another hunter (10+ inches?). The excitement of hunting goats was far more than I planned because they are active, the country they hang in and trying to judge them. Thanks for the Monster Muleys Posts and all who helped me.. P.S. The muzzleloader forum really helped me harvest a 360 gross bull elk (7x7) with Master Guide Thomas Brunson of Timberline Outfitters, McGill, NV. last year.....best of luck on all your draws and hunts, Larry Berg

scottyboy · Oct 26, 2005

That is one awesome billy. Congrats to you on a super trophy and a great hunt.

--Scottyboy--

BigPig · Oct 27, 2005

LAST EDITED ON Oct-27-05 AT 08:21AM (MST)[p]Wow! Awesome photos and great goat. That hairs me out just looking at that pic. That's a long ways down.

Hornseeker · Oct 27, 2005

Nice Job, great pics! I sure hope I'm next!!!!

Lien2 · Oct 28, 2005

A huge congratulations!!! That is an awesome Billy and a great story. Looks like some steep country too!

Lien2

Wes · Oct 30, 2005

Congratulations on a great billy Larry. I know exactly where you killed him. I've seen him a few times up there. That is a nasty hill he lived on. I've heard some rumors about a world record goat killed a couple miles from where you killed your's this year but I'll have to talk to the outfitter to confirm that.
Wes

walk4rams · Oct 31, 2005

Thanks Wes for the information and all comments. That Billy could not have gotten any higher up on that cliff, His bed was the only good flat spot up there. Wes please send me an e-mail, I would like any info on my goat. I was pretty concerned about getting snowed out by early storms. As you know the next night (Oct. 2) the mountains got some good snow which would have increased the pucker factor and made my hunt impossible until a good melt. Thanks for all the nice comments from all of you hunters out there, regards Larry.

ktc · Nov 1, 2005

Great goat Larry. You state in your story you had to judge and shoot quickly. I look at a lot of goats during the summer. Could you tell me what you look for to judge a goat? Hell, I struggle deciding the difference between a billy and nanny let alone horn size.

Again, nice goat.

NDBadlandsbucks · Nov 1, 2005

Awesome goat, great pictures, and a great story to boot - a big congrats to you!

Keep the Sun at Your Back and the Wind in Your Face

NMHUNTNUTT1 · Nov 1, 2005

Congrats on a great goat !! Those are some awesome pictures . Are you related to any of the Bergs in the Smokey Valley or Tonopah ? I lived in Round Mtn. for 7 years a knew a few Bergs ?? Just curios....NMHUNTNUTT

walk4rams · Nov 1, 2005

To answer your question no I am not related, but I worked in the Smoky Valley since 1991 and often stayed at Kenny's Motel a number of times, great guy. I really love the country around the smoky Valley, thanks.

walk4rams · Nov 1, 2005

Hi KTC, This was my first goat hunt and I could only tell you what I learned. There are so many more experienced hunters out there who could better help you out. After reading as many posts on this web site, reading Duncan Gilchrist's book "Hunt High", and asking everybody the same questions I learned that I should look for a lone goat. Several times I watched a single goat only to have a kid pop up out of the rocks and make me fill silly that a nanny got me going, patience helps. I got to see the nanny's squat and the bily stretch out like a horse to urinate. The body size of a billy seemed to be larger than the nannies. I had a lone billy feed way over to a nanny & kid which made me scared to shoot the billy, even though I saw it take a billy leak ( I never really got close enough to shoot that goat). You could look for the glands at the back of the horn base but if you have never seen them close up they were not to helpful for me. The mass between the horns seemed to work,one finger for a billy and three finger widths for a nanny. I don't want to bore you but we could discuss it more by email. Put it this way, I was real happy (relieved) to see the proper plumbing on my billy when I got up to him. All the billies I saw were definite lone goats, thanks Larry

ktc · Nov 2, 2005

Thanks for taking time to tell me your experience. It sounds like we have the same problems when looking at goats. I was hoping you had a sure fire way to tell, but it sounds like it is difficult. I look at them a lot waiting for my turn to draw.

I have to laugh at your comment about being relieved it had the right plumbing. I would bet the first thing 90% of the goat hunters do when they kill a goat is pull the legs apart to have a look see.

Thanks for your perspective. This is just part of my years and years of questions to help me when the permit comes. Patience is always key no matter what we are chasing. Great goat. You did well.

eccut · Nov 2, 2005

When you see a big billie if you have been scouting them you will instantly know. They are alot bigger, more hump, stained on their back legs, mass at the base of horns, glands behind the horns, long beard, longer hair on the front legs, horns close together & curved the whole length rather than just at the tips as on a nanny. Sometimes alone but not always.