TOWER*2007
20-01-08, 11:16 PM
A mate was having trouble with some goats coming in chewing his trees up on his property. He asked if we could thin a few out and told me there was about 30 in the area. It was good because it was only a 50 minute drive from home and i had never hunted there before.
I took another mate of mine JJJ who has just started bow hunting and was eager to blood his Reflex Ridgeline. I had also got a new PSE X Force and wanted to blood it and take it for a test ride. My X Force was wound right out on the power but it is still moving out and had been good on paper so i was keen to see how it went.
After arriving my mate showed me where he had seen some a few days earlier and a couple of waterholes they had been visiting.
We set off expecting to have to wander all over the very steep hills to find where they were. I picked a likely looking gully and stuck to the ridge heading to a nearby river.
We only walked 500m and walked staright into the first mob. They were heading up the gully so i sent JJJ ahead to try and nail the big billy that was leading. Goats were spread everywhere and the majority concealed by thick scrub.
One big billy spotted me and started snorting and he dissapeared but there was so many more it didnt matter. A decent white billy jumped up on a rock 30m straight in front of me and i quickly sighted him and took the shot. It wasnt too bad, a little further back than i wanted but it knocked him off the rock and he went to ground nearby. The arrow passed through and i found it 5m behind where the billy was standing on the rock.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd117/Tower210372/046.jpg
A heap of them started going up the gully so i headed further into the gully and caught up with another small black and white one. I was looking for one to take for meat so i decided to take this one.
It was a quartering away shot also at 30m and my shot was fairly good. The small billy only went 25m and fell over.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd117/Tower210372/048.jpg
JJJ couldnt get a shot and it was getting darker so we started to head home with a couple of bags of meat. I looked on the oppisite hill and there was goats wandering evrywhere. I said we'll leave some for next time.
We were just about back to where we left from and spotted another 8 large goats standing not far from one of the dams. We couldnt believe it and i sent JJJ for a shot because i was keen to see him suceed.
It was a difficult stalk for him but he took a shot on a large bodied white billy which hit him a bit low. I soon caught up to the billy but had to take a shot from 40m. The arrow didnt drop as much as i expected and to my suprise i nailed him right in the engine room and he only went 15m and fell over. My arrow passed through and was sitting on the ground 2m from where it exited.
This photo truley doesnt do him justice, it looks like a completely different goat. The body of this fellow was very wide and the hair nearly 20cm long, it was unbelieveble. He looked like an alpaca when i was following behind him.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd117/Tower210372/053.jpg
I even had phone service and called my mate who was still out working on his tractor. He came and picked us up on the tractor and it was a funny sight seeing the tractor going along with rocks in the bucket and two bow hunters with bags of meat on the back.
It was a great afternoon and i am keen to head back again in the next few weeks. We saw about 50 goats and i have no doubt there was alot more around the area. Hopefully we can thin out a few more of the tree eating feinds in the future.
cheers.
I took another mate of mine JJJ who has just started bow hunting and was eager to blood his Reflex Ridgeline. I had also got a new PSE X Force and wanted to blood it and take it for a test ride. My X Force was wound right out on the power but it is still moving out and had been good on paper so i was keen to see how it went.
After arriving my mate showed me where he had seen some a few days earlier and a couple of waterholes they had been visiting.
We set off expecting to have to wander all over the very steep hills to find where they were. I picked a likely looking gully and stuck to the ridge heading to a nearby river.
We only walked 500m and walked staright into the first mob. They were heading up the gully so i sent JJJ ahead to try and nail the big billy that was leading. Goats were spread everywhere and the majority concealed by thick scrub.
One big billy spotted me and started snorting and he dissapeared but there was so many more it didnt matter. A decent white billy jumped up on a rock 30m straight in front of me and i quickly sighted him and took the shot. It wasnt too bad, a little further back than i wanted but it knocked him off the rock and he went to ground nearby. The arrow passed through and i found it 5m behind where the billy was standing on the rock.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd117/Tower210372/046.jpg
A heap of them started going up the gully so i headed further into the gully and caught up with another small black and white one. I was looking for one to take for meat so i decided to take this one.
It was a quartering away shot also at 30m and my shot was fairly good. The small billy only went 25m and fell over.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd117/Tower210372/048.jpg
JJJ couldnt get a shot and it was getting darker so we started to head home with a couple of bags of meat. I looked on the oppisite hill and there was goats wandering evrywhere. I said we'll leave some for next time.
We were just about back to where we left from and spotted another 8 large goats standing not far from one of the dams. We couldnt believe it and i sent JJJ for a shot because i was keen to see him suceed.
It was a difficult stalk for him but he took a shot on a large bodied white billy which hit him a bit low. I soon caught up to the billy but had to take a shot from 40m. The arrow didnt drop as much as i expected and to my suprise i nailed him right in the engine room and he only went 15m and fell over. My arrow passed through and was sitting on the ground 2m from where it exited.
This photo truley doesnt do him justice, it looks like a completely different goat. The body of this fellow was very wide and the hair nearly 20cm long, it was unbelieveble. He looked like an alpaca when i was following behind him.
http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd117/Tower210372/053.jpg
I even had phone service and called my mate who was still out working on his tractor. He came and picked us up on the tractor and it was a funny sight seeing the tractor going along with rocks in the bucket and two bow hunters with bags of meat on the back.
It was a great afternoon and i am keen to head back again in the next few weeks. We saw about 50 goats and i have no doubt there was alot more around the area. Hopefully we can thin out a few more of the tree eating feinds in the future.
cheers.