macka
26-06-08, 09:01 PM
Well bugger me I never thought there were that many goats out in those hills I said to myself. After a property owner of one of my roo shooting places said the choppers went through and shot 150 out the big range of hills close to home. He also said that a neighbor shot a billy that went 40 inches wide. I had asked about goat numbers before and apparently there were just a few that move through from time to time but I guess I should have known better. These ranges are huge steep and scrubby with no 4wd access what so ever so and that’s really the main reason I have never been out into them thinking there were only a handful of goats out there. I was a bit disappointed the chopper had beat me to it but thought they can not have got them all so I went to try my luck anyway.
I arrived at the property just on first light and drove my land cruiser as close as I could get it to the valley system I wanted to be hunting in. I had only been walking for about 10 mins and I knew these ranges were bigger than I had originally thought. I soon made it to the top of one of the main big ridges that ran right up to the peak of the mount. Looking over into the gully it was clear to me this wasn’t going to be like hunting my usual properties. There were valleys running off this main ridge right down into the creek. The tops of the ridge were pretty open with a gum tree forest but as you got lower down the face it became really rugged with cliffs and thick bushes. Perfect goat country and to say I was excited would be an understatement.
Some pics from the first ridge overlooking the main valley.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010074-1.jpg
There was a bit of sign about but nothing really fresh so I decided to drop down a level and walk along the edge of the thicker stuff. It wasn’t easy going with the ridge face being so steep but the sign down lower was great and it wasn’t long before I found where the chopper had found some goats. The quality of the heads lying around was another excitement builder as it looked like the goats had a bit of age about them and a couple were above 33+ inch mark, I just hoped they had left some behind.
A couple of the goat skulls that were next to each other.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010077-1.jpg
After some more walking without any sightings I dropped right down past the cliffs into the valley floor to find that the whole creek line had springs running from the recent rains. This may be normal for some places but not here in the flinders. If they stay full it will be a real focal point in the summer time for the goats.
A pick of the creek.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010079-1.jpg
After following the creek uphill towards the head for a while I cut up on the opposite ridge I was walking along and started to head up. It was another uneventful slog up hill but half an hour later had made it to the top. I took a couple photo’s looking back across at the ridge I had just come from.
Looking back at the ridge I had just come from.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010082-1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010081-1.jpg
I made my way to the top of the mount and finally reached the peak. It was way too windy up there to enjoy myself so I soon headed back down towards the valley I had just come from but this time I dropped down further down stream and covered a different level that I couldn’t see from the other side. It wasn’t long and I spotted some goats!
A pic zoomed out from my first sighting.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010090-1.jpg
zoomed in, goats love their cliffs.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010087-1.jpg
Finally after about 6 hours of walking I had found some. They were about a km away under some cliffs on the opposite ridge. I could see a ripper billy with horns from here already with my vortex bino’s so I was keen to get down there and have a go at him. While I was watching him I heard a bleeet from just down in front of me and I grabbed my gear and slowly made my way down hill. (tried desperately not to slip down the hill) I was moving in the direction of where I thought I heard it when I just bumped into a mob of goats. They had not noticed me so I started snapping some pics of them.
Some pics of the younger goats in the mob, all within 15m.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010091.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010093.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010095.jpg
There was nothing that caught my eye then a white billy came striding out harassing a nanny so I thought it would be a good test for the new Magnus 2 bladers I was using. The billy was perfectly broadside at 18m and I hit him tight behind the shoulder. He pretty much rolled down the hill from where he was hit. The arrow plowed into a rock out the other side and smashed the head. Maybe 80# is a little overkill for goats.
The magnus did the job photo was taken from where he was shot.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010098.jpg
The broken horn old white billy.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010101.jpg
The goats hardly even moved and I waited for them to feed away a bit before I took some photo’s of my goat. I continued on to try and locate the big fella I had seen earlier when I ran into another 2 mobs of goats in between me and where I wanted to get. So it was some sneaky stalking to get past them and I was passing up some goats around the 100 point mark to try and have a crack at the fella I had seen earlier.
I have never seen pure brown billies like this before but they were everywhere out in this lot of ranges.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010103-1.jpg
I finally made it to where I had last seen the big fella and I could hear some rutting billies down below me. Slowly sneaking in I got to 20m from a heap of bushes thrashing around making all sorts of weird noises as the goats do when their rutting but I still had no idea if he was in with them or not. Next thing a big set of horns swayed back and forth through the brush I snapped off a quick pick but I was now under 20m and wanted to get an arrow in him.
My quick pick, he gave me a quick glance before plowing back into the bushes after the nanny.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/goat.jpg
He then pushed the nanny out of the bush, She made a bolt for it but she was held up again only 20m away. I crept my way over and got in to 23m the billy was steep downhill quartering away and I sent the arrow through him.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010111-1.jpg
I found him just down the side of the ridge face a little way and he was a good one. I have shot a goat over the 120 mark in new south but this is my personal best flinders ranges billy and one I am damn proud of. I have shot a lot of goats and looked over a lot of goats and he is one of the better ones I have found locally. This spot really looks to have some old billies running around.
The big fella
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010116.jpg
After downing the big fella I put my release aide in my back pack and headed for home it was a long and hard slog out of there but well worth it in the end. The hills really take it out of you but when you get right back there in that sort of stuff you can really notice how much quieter the game is and how much older the animals are.
Made it back to the top of the big ridge all down hill from here.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010121.jpg
Looking over the country i usually hunt. Smaller and more open.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010076-1.jpg
I think I’ll be planning a backpack hunt into this range very soon when I get some back packing gear sorted out.
Thanks for reading.
Macka
I arrived at the property just on first light and drove my land cruiser as close as I could get it to the valley system I wanted to be hunting in. I had only been walking for about 10 mins and I knew these ranges were bigger than I had originally thought. I soon made it to the top of one of the main big ridges that ran right up to the peak of the mount. Looking over into the gully it was clear to me this wasn’t going to be like hunting my usual properties. There were valleys running off this main ridge right down into the creek. The tops of the ridge were pretty open with a gum tree forest but as you got lower down the face it became really rugged with cliffs and thick bushes. Perfect goat country and to say I was excited would be an understatement.
Some pics from the first ridge overlooking the main valley.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010074-1.jpg
There was a bit of sign about but nothing really fresh so I decided to drop down a level and walk along the edge of the thicker stuff. It wasn’t easy going with the ridge face being so steep but the sign down lower was great and it wasn’t long before I found where the chopper had found some goats. The quality of the heads lying around was another excitement builder as it looked like the goats had a bit of age about them and a couple were above 33+ inch mark, I just hoped they had left some behind.
A couple of the goat skulls that were next to each other.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010077-1.jpg
After some more walking without any sightings I dropped right down past the cliffs into the valley floor to find that the whole creek line had springs running from the recent rains. This may be normal for some places but not here in the flinders. If they stay full it will be a real focal point in the summer time for the goats.
A pick of the creek.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010079-1.jpg
After following the creek uphill towards the head for a while I cut up on the opposite ridge I was walking along and started to head up. It was another uneventful slog up hill but half an hour later had made it to the top. I took a couple photo’s looking back across at the ridge I had just come from.
Looking back at the ridge I had just come from.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010082-1.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010081-1.jpg
I made my way to the top of the mount and finally reached the peak. It was way too windy up there to enjoy myself so I soon headed back down towards the valley I had just come from but this time I dropped down further down stream and covered a different level that I couldn’t see from the other side. It wasn’t long and I spotted some goats!
A pic zoomed out from my first sighting.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010090-1.jpg
zoomed in, goats love their cliffs.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010087-1.jpg
Finally after about 6 hours of walking I had found some. They were about a km away under some cliffs on the opposite ridge. I could see a ripper billy with horns from here already with my vortex bino’s so I was keen to get down there and have a go at him. While I was watching him I heard a bleeet from just down in front of me and I grabbed my gear and slowly made my way down hill. (tried desperately not to slip down the hill) I was moving in the direction of where I thought I heard it when I just bumped into a mob of goats. They had not noticed me so I started snapping some pics of them.
Some pics of the younger goats in the mob, all within 15m.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010091.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010093.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010095.jpg
There was nothing that caught my eye then a white billy came striding out harassing a nanny so I thought it would be a good test for the new Magnus 2 bladers I was using. The billy was perfectly broadside at 18m and I hit him tight behind the shoulder. He pretty much rolled down the hill from where he was hit. The arrow plowed into a rock out the other side and smashed the head. Maybe 80# is a little overkill for goats.
The magnus did the job photo was taken from where he was shot.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010098.jpg
The broken horn old white billy.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010101.jpg
The goats hardly even moved and I waited for them to feed away a bit before I took some photo’s of my goat. I continued on to try and locate the big fella I had seen earlier when I ran into another 2 mobs of goats in between me and where I wanted to get. So it was some sneaky stalking to get past them and I was passing up some goats around the 100 point mark to try and have a crack at the fella I had seen earlier.
I have never seen pure brown billies like this before but they were everywhere out in this lot of ranges.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010103-1.jpg
I finally made it to where I had last seen the big fella and I could hear some rutting billies down below me. Slowly sneaking in I got to 20m from a heap of bushes thrashing around making all sorts of weird noises as the goats do when their rutting but I still had no idea if he was in with them or not. Next thing a big set of horns swayed back and forth through the brush I snapped off a quick pick but I was now under 20m and wanted to get an arrow in him.
My quick pick, he gave me a quick glance before plowing back into the bushes after the nanny.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/goat.jpg
He then pushed the nanny out of the bush, She made a bolt for it but she was held up again only 20m away. I crept my way over and got in to 23m the billy was steep downhill quartering away and I sent the arrow through him.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010111-1.jpg
I found him just down the side of the ridge face a little way and he was a good one. I have shot a goat over the 120 mark in new south but this is my personal best flinders ranges billy and one I am damn proud of. I have shot a lot of goats and looked over a lot of goats and he is one of the better ones I have found locally. This spot really looks to have some old billies running around.
The big fella
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010116.jpg
After downing the big fella I put my release aide in my back pack and headed for home it was a long and hard slog out of there but well worth it in the end. The hills really take it out of you but when you get right back there in that sort of stuff you can really notice how much quieter the game is and how much older the animals are.
Made it back to the top of the big ridge all down hill from here.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010121.jpg
Looking over the country i usually hunt. Smaller and more open.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010076-1.jpg
I think I’ll be planning a backpack hunt into this range very soon when I get some back packing gear sorted out.
Thanks for reading.
Macka