HI there guys,
Finally managed to get out and get a few goats yesterday, it’s not really “hunting” being pest control, more culling.
So I thought I would give you guys a quick run down of how it all went.

We were hampered by fog/low cloud and a cold 12-15 MPH winds in the morning, steep hills with valley systems makes this place tough to shoot, made even tougher by the amount of rain we have had here, it made going pretty tough even on my ever faithful Honda TRX 350, clay mud every where made for an exciting yet slippery uphill climb for 6 kms.

Once we made it to the top, goats were obvious even through the fog, especially the black ones.
A mob of 7 spooked below us only about 30 yrds away, while they were running my guest Mark (a member of the shooting club who shoots TR class, and a lefty BTW) got the instruction, “get in to them mate!!”

The mob was around the 150 yrd mark by now and due to the fog we could hardly see them and they couldn’t see us either, Mark had my Tikka 595 708 with 120 gr BTs which I carry for moments like this.

Now just to fill you guys in when culling goats if you take out the matriarch of the mob they have no leadership and don’t have a clue where or what to do, sometimes they have a 2IC which takes over, and can lead the mob too, but this is rare but it does happen, so normally identifying the leader is they best way to cull the lot!

While Mark was getting set up I kept an eye on the pecking order of the mob, their matriarch was identified so she was first on the list, I told him which one she was, they mob up at this stage but I still had a keen eye on her so it wasn’t too hard, he settled behind rifle, BOOM “yep” mob milled around BOOM “yep” , getting a little nervous they started to wander, and the shooting continued with some misses, animals on the move in thick fog, and a lefty using a right handed rifle, kinda hard I think?
The goats did make a little run for it and then stopped under a limestone face,(typical behavior too) where they met their demise, a tidy little pile of 5 goats all in one spot! Through fog! Awsome!
We walked over and took the back legs and back straps of the nanny’s and young billy’s for currys and pet food.



Mark and a rather handsome Billy(aka “smellys”)

Now Mark being a Londoner thought it was way past the time “for a cup of tea guv!!” after all that work, I had to agree but not in this wind and fog so we continued on to where we would park the quad and walk from, and got the “jug on”.

Through the fog and wind we could hear goats bleating and carrying on, this place crawls with them, but we couldn’t see them, being familiar with the property I knew the mob and where they were, about 550 yrds away, on a face out of the wind! “They will keep mate don’t worry” I told Mark, they will still be there when we get back this evening.

We geared up for the short steep walk to “spot X” which is a little knob overlooking a big valley which has a scrubby bush face on the far side, with little pockets of grass where the goats feed, disappear, reappear its real hide and seek.

Shots vary from 100 yrds to as far as you want to shoot, my Geovids go to 1400 yrds and they aren’t enough.

We set up in the fog and waited…..had a cuppa…..waited…..another cuppa….waiting waiting, lunch time…. Waiting….ooh its…nah….waiting….cuppa… and just like that it cleared!

While we were waiting I explained the rules of engagement to Mark, you shoot I spot, I shoot you spot! NO more than one shot at an animal unless its wounded, but keep follow up shots to a minimum so we don’t upset the whole valley.
Shoot anything, Billy’s, nanny’s, kid’s we are here to reduce numbers, these animals are pests!
Even if we get more than one target, don’t shoot more than one animal at a time from a mob, come back to it later, we are so far away they have no idea were the threat is so they don’t move far. Simple really.

So now the 708 is replaced with my 284 WIN now this is my F-Class rig ( I have two 284s)Barnard/trueflite combo which is in a Manners T2 with a NSX5.5-22 x50 on it, shooting 162 Amaxs at 2920 FPS

So the show began with me as first shooter, Nanny @ 544 yrds 19’ downhill “shooter” gave Mark the dope, I dialed it in, BOOM, instant death!
Marks turn behind the rifle and me on the binos, I picked up a mob in the scrub 674, straight across, but a left and uphill wind, Mark dialed in NSX from the dpe but we took of a “minute” due to up draft, we waited a few minutes, Mark got comfy BOOM…the impact was obvious and the Billy crumpled where he stood!

Now I could go on and on but pretty much this went on for the next hour and 15 minutes, the longest shot of the day was 747 yrds but the best had to be Marks double at 605 yrds.

Even in this short space of time we shot 22 and packed up at 3 pm and climbed back up to where the quad was parked, it wasn’t over however, we got to the top and spied a little white speck feeding on a face that was behind us from where we were shooting, we could only see this face after climbing up, range 711 yrds, all gear got pulled out and setup for shot, got dope, took off ½ MOA due to up draft by now wind had dropped right off, ½ right wind, BOOM.. bullet hit the crease, goat folded and slid down the face.
Now this goat was a juvenile, to give you an idea it was about the size of an adult Cocker spaniel dog, not a huge target!

Packed up again and headed off back to the bike, around a corner and yep there they were as stated earlier the goats on the face, 537 yrds, Unpack AGAIN, Mark behind gun, dope… BOOM, reload I said!get another,“Oi” said Mark “what about em rules you told me?”
“oh them, were leaving! it doesn’t matter”, get em,BOOM, reload again! BOOM, three dead goats! The rest moved off in a hurry, over a crest, SAFE.

As you can see it can get exciting, got a few pics just before the last bomb up, Mark the shooter!



You can see the goats in the distance lil black dots.



Between the end of barrel and scope is the top of the scrubby face I was taking about.

Good news is next weekends forecast is looking good too!


Regards RUNAS

I may live in Texas,but that looks an awful lot like "God's Country" to me. That grass you are layin' on ain't got nothing on the green of my envy.

You are a blessed man, sir.

GWB

Thanks for sharing!

Excellent......

Hey RUNAS!

I saw your thread when I was "away" and was dying to tell you how much I enjoyed the story you wrote. That has got to be the most fun anyone can have with their clothes still on!

Beautiful pictures. You are a lucky dude to have access to that property!