PeterM
15-03-05, 03:58 PM
On the first day, I saw him, it was cool and drizzling and he was not to far from me on the same ridge. I made a short detour to where he was and straight down the hill for the first stalk with the wind in my favour and closing the gap to 50 metres and the wind swung down the ridge line straight to the mob, as they ran down the hill were already half way up the other side by the time you could blink, it was all over that day!
On the second trip, I had an even longer walk to where I had seen the Billies run to from the week before. After searching what seamed like kilometres of ridges and bluffÃ*s I managed to find a mob of Billies again this time on a spot I saw two pigs from the week before as I made the long walk back from last week bungled stalk, this time the wind was not holding any type of consistency in direction at all! As I sat watching, the mob of goats suddenly grown from only a few to over 20 plus, then suddenly at 44 metres below me the big fella appeared! He was moving a little to fast, and with little to no cover made things even harder especially when one Billy in the group decided that he really liked a little green bush only 25 metres in front of me. This let the group containing the 40-inch Billy get further away also now with the wind hugging the side of the hill, now the mob was in front of me, it was only a matter of time with me stuck and the main group getting higher on the hill it did not take long and I was busted again!
To my surprise the mob only moved about 500 metres around the side of the mountain and bedded down. This time with the light fading, I had only about 2 hours left in the day I made my way around and down a ridge to the where the mob was, to have a second go at the big fella. Nevertheless, same old story about one and half hours later and closing the gap to under 50 metres the wind swung again, and this time they were not hanging around. I took note on the last place I saw them go over the ridge a little way into the distance and said to myself well that is the place to start next week.
Now on the third trip, I was carefully walking down the long knife-edge like ridges to where I have seen the mob disappear from the week. Looking over every edge and under all the cover I could and checking the surrounding valley and gullyÃ*s and opposite ridges for the big fella. I started to stalk down though some very very steep and lose country when I manage to spot a goat sitting down under a tree only 25 metres down the hill, I carefully moved sideways to see if there was any other goats with him, immediately to his right the big fellas horns became visible, I found him again! With my heart starting to pump now since the distance were only 25 metres but a very terrible downhill angle and not very stable footing. I moved to a better spot to get an angle on a good chest shot and clear some tree vegetation in my way, at this point the rest of the mob came running into the group. The wind had seemed fine and some how one of the otherÃ*s away from the group had smelt me or been spooked, now the group was alert and very nervous; the big fella was now in a position where I could not get a clear shot. So I quickly and quietly as possible moved to where I thought the big fella was going to emerge and came to full draw, the pins of my Trophy Ridge Matrix sight standing out in my peripheral vision, IÃ*m waiting, waiting but they did not come though. I moved again this time sneaking over a large rock to see them all just standing below me, I got on top of the rock and ready to take a shot as the group started to move away heading in the opposite direction from were they where planning to head last time. I came to full draw and went though the motions. The big fella was less than 25 metres. He started to move, now since I was perched on top of a large rock with no where to go, I had to lean my whole body over to the right, so I could clear the branches of the tree in front of me to get a clear shot at him. He stopped with his body nearly facing away from me, but with me some 25 metres above him the narrow but shootable angle was there, I lined up the 20-metre pin straight onto his spine half way down his back, as it would drive the arrow all the way into his chest if the spine shot did not succeed. The pin floated and settled on the mark, and I released! Only to see the arrow hammer into the dirt next to him! I was standing there in one of those little momentÃ*s asking myself WHAT THE! What the hell happened? The mob tore off down the hill at lighting speed. I had missed, how? Then I realized in the adrenalin that I had not rechecked my No Peep, as I had swung around the tree to clear the branches and had placed a large amount of torque on the my bow hand. This is why I missed. If I had only taken one second to look back at the No Peep, I would have seen that I was out of alignment. Oh how I cursed myself all the way to the car and the long three-hour drive home!
This week I was heading back on the same ridge as the two weeks before, as this is where I seen the mob head to as I was kicking myself all the way home about last weeks stuff up.
I spent a long time and a lot of hard walking and went straight to where I thought they were last week. The long steep walk to the top of the hill on the opposite ridge was where I spotted another mob of Billies. As I got to the top in the distance, one of the Billies was in the 115 DP range but this was a different mob so I moved on. As I moved around the hill to glass as much as the country as possible, I spotted the big fella and his mob! Half way up the same ridge I was on last week and heading away from me. They were heading in the direction of the spot that I had taken the shot from last week. I watched them walk and feed, within 50 metres from the same spot, damm! Now I was over a one kilometre away and with the steep hill to go back down and then I have to go all the way back up to where they where now sitting. It would take me forever, and it was now getting late, oh what the hell, off I went! As we all know by the time I got half way down my side I could not see the mob anymore, so when I snuck into where they where sitting on the ridge from where I saw them one to two hours ago they were gone. I had no idea where they had walked to, I checked the entire drop offÃ*s and close gullies I could in the time I had left but I could not find them. I did not even know which side of the ridge they might have been on; therefore, this meant I did not have a point to start from next week.
The weather was very over cast but maybe a little to windy, I was back on the same knife ridge as last time, and I covered and glassed many a mile of country and Zippo, nothing not a wild animal to be seen, not one goat not one pig or fox, nothing! This made me kick myself all over again from missing the shot two weeks ago. Where was the big fella? Was he still in the area was he even alive? The big question I now started to ask myself was had I missed my chance?
I had been watching the weather all week, the only thing different this time I was going go have another go on my birthday for the big fella. However, the weatherman said it was going to be storms, as he was right it was very bad conditions to hunt in, so I decided to go the next day. As before, I did not know where he was, so I kept to the normal knife-edge ridge I had seen him on mostly. Again, I carefully covered and glassed the county as I walked down the ridgeline to where I thought it would be more likely to find the goats hiding and feeding.
I was right in the middle of a section that the goats and I like a lot, I was walking up the back of a little out crop that I had walked over many a time in the last 10 years. In front of me on a flat part of the outcrop there are many drop offÃ*s, with massive fig treeÃ*s growing out of them, which the goats like to get under, rest, and escape the heat of summer. It was now December, so I always carefully sneak up to these places as you never know what might be in there. As I am half way up the little out crop with the wind in my face this time, the first time in a long time I can remember that it has been so consistent, I smell goat! I knock an arrow and start to stalk up and over the top of the outcrop.
I am standing on the edge looking down into the fig trees looking for the source of the smell. Then I hear Billies fighting, so I move along the top of the out crops edge some more then I see two Billies appear from right underneath me from out of the deep darkness of the fig treeÃ*s shade at no less than 10 metres! I just stand there hoping my 3D Camo holds true to form, they pass buy, now I am sneaking in on the source of the fighting. I am less than 5 metres from these two Billies standing on some massive fig tree branches. They are looking down at another Billy with what it seems like a nanny stuck in and against the out crops rocky wall and under the branches of the massive fig tree stump trying to reject the advanceÃ*s of one pushy in love Billy. As I can only see the two back legs of the main offender trying to get her out from under the fig tree so he can have his way with her. The goat is tan and has black fleck though this coat and now that I know from chasing him all over the country for last six weekÃ*s it is the big fella!
IÃ*m now at only 10 metres and as luck would have it I have a huge clear hole to shoot thought and the massive fig tree is coving the Billy head and chest but I know that he has to back him self out of where he has cornered the nanny. I am set, in position waiting for him to give me a shot, and as since, he is so caught up with the nanny that when the other goats that now are on the same ridge as me have started to feed off and he does not even notice! It seemed like I was waiting an eternity for him to back out from under the massive fig tree branch, I am saying in my mind, STEP BACK, STEP BACK! Then he takes the first backward step, I draw, anchor and line up in an instant, the Billy is backing right out now, his chest is fully exposed and then the pin is on and gone! At ten metres, the arrow wasnÃ*t seen! The big fella is away like a bull at a gate! Running as fast as he can down from underneath the fig tree, he has gone from my sight in less than two seconds! The nanny was now free to head over to the main mob of goats, which is only 30 metres away. Looking at where he had emerged, wondering what was going on, they soon got a real shock as I quickly appeared from around the tops of the massive fig tree to get a better idea on where the big fella has run. With another goat in the mob over 115 point range standing now at 30 metres he picks straight off from where the big fella has just left. I thought to myself well he is worthy, but I will leave him for a year or two I think. I moved quickly to underneath the fig tree to try locate the blood trail of the big fella, this wasnÃ*t hard as the Magnus Stinger 125 grain 4 blade broad head had done itÃ*s job well an easy to see and massive blood trail. It was easy to follow the last 20 metres from where the Billy had emerged to find, him expired a little way down the steep hill. With my heart going a million miles an hour I let out some triumphant yells and did a little birthday dance. What better present could I get!
I set the big fella up for a heap of self-timed photos and ran the tape over him to see if my guess that he would, go over 40 inchÃ*s and 125 Douglas points would be right. I then removed the cape and horns for my mate Nigel Thompson to mount for me and started the long steep walk home.
The official score of the big fella is 126 1/8 Douglas points and he was 40 5/8 inchÃ*s wide.
Bow used was a Darton Maverick set at 81 lbs with Trophy Ridge Matrix 5 pin sight and Trophy Ridge drop zone hunter rest, NAP Shock Blocker 1000 Stabilizer.
Shaft used are Gold Tip big game 100+ that weight 523 grains with the Magnus 125 grain Stinger BH that leave my Darton Maverick RC at 285 feet per second.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/peterm/126%20Plus%20Goat/1261-8Goat2004PBM-web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/peterm/126%20Plus%20Goat/1261-8Goat2004PBM2-web.jpg
This is the final revision, I went thought the story properly and fixed all the spelling mistakes and grammar, I hope, and added some extra detail, and better pics.
See ya Pete.
On the second trip, I had an even longer walk to where I had seen the Billies run to from the week before. After searching what seamed like kilometres of ridges and bluffÃ*s I managed to find a mob of Billies again this time on a spot I saw two pigs from the week before as I made the long walk back from last week bungled stalk, this time the wind was not holding any type of consistency in direction at all! As I sat watching, the mob of goats suddenly grown from only a few to over 20 plus, then suddenly at 44 metres below me the big fella appeared! He was moving a little to fast, and with little to no cover made things even harder especially when one Billy in the group decided that he really liked a little green bush only 25 metres in front of me. This let the group containing the 40-inch Billy get further away also now with the wind hugging the side of the hill, now the mob was in front of me, it was only a matter of time with me stuck and the main group getting higher on the hill it did not take long and I was busted again!
To my surprise the mob only moved about 500 metres around the side of the mountain and bedded down. This time with the light fading, I had only about 2 hours left in the day I made my way around and down a ridge to the where the mob was, to have a second go at the big fella. Nevertheless, same old story about one and half hours later and closing the gap to under 50 metres the wind swung again, and this time they were not hanging around. I took note on the last place I saw them go over the ridge a little way into the distance and said to myself well that is the place to start next week.
Now on the third trip, I was carefully walking down the long knife-edge like ridges to where I have seen the mob disappear from the week. Looking over every edge and under all the cover I could and checking the surrounding valley and gullyÃ*s and opposite ridges for the big fella. I started to stalk down though some very very steep and lose country when I manage to spot a goat sitting down under a tree only 25 metres down the hill, I carefully moved sideways to see if there was any other goats with him, immediately to his right the big fellas horns became visible, I found him again! With my heart starting to pump now since the distance were only 25 metres but a very terrible downhill angle and not very stable footing. I moved to a better spot to get an angle on a good chest shot and clear some tree vegetation in my way, at this point the rest of the mob came running into the group. The wind had seemed fine and some how one of the otherÃ*s away from the group had smelt me or been spooked, now the group was alert and very nervous; the big fella was now in a position where I could not get a clear shot. So I quickly and quietly as possible moved to where I thought the big fella was going to emerge and came to full draw, the pins of my Trophy Ridge Matrix sight standing out in my peripheral vision, IÃ*m waiting, waiting but they did not come though. I moved again this time sneaking over a large rock to see them all just standing below me, I got on top of the rock and ready to take a shot as the group started to move away heading in the opposite direction from were they where planning to head last time. I came to full draw and went though the motions. The big fella was less than 25 metres. He started to move, now since I was perched on top of a large rock with no where to go, I had to lean my whole body over to the right, so I could clear the branches of the tree in front of me to get a clear shot at him. He stopped with his body nearly facing away from me, but with me some 25 metres above him the narrow but shootable angle was there, I lined up the 20-metre pin straight onto his spine half way down his back, as it would drive the arrow all the way into his chest if the spine shot did not succeed. The pin floated and settled on the mark, and I released! Only to see the arrow hammer into the dirt next to him! I was standing there in one of those little momentÃ*s asking myself WHAT THE! What the hell happened? The mob tore off down the hill at lighting speed. I had missed, how? Then I realized in the adrenalin that I had not rechecked my No Peep, as I had swung around the tree to clear the branches and had placed a large amount of torque on the my bow hand. This is why I missed. If I had only taken one second to look back at the No Peep, I would have seen that I was out of alignment. Oh how I cursed myself all the way to the car and the long three-hour drive home!
This week I was heading back on the same ridge as the two weeks before, as this is where I seen the mob head to as I was kicking myself all the way home about last weeks stuff up.
I spent a long time and a lot of hard walking and went straight to where I thought they were last week. The long steep walk to the top of the hill on the opposite ridge was where I spotted another mob of Billies. As I got to the top in the distance, one of the Billies was in the 115 DP range but this was a different mob so I moved on. As I moved around the hill to glass as much as the country as possible, I spotted the big fella and his mob! Half way up the same ridge I was on last week and heading away from me. They were heading in the direction of the spot that I had taken the shot from last week. I watched them walk and feed, within 50 metres from the same spot, damm! Now I was over a one kilometre away and with the steep hill to go back down and then I have to go all the way back up to where they where now sitting. It would take me forever, and it was now getting late, oh what the hell, off I went! As we all know by the time I got half way down my side I could not see the mob anymore, so when I snuck into where they where sitting on the ridge from where I saw them one to two hours ago they were gone. I had no idea where they had walked to, I checked the entire drop offÃ*s and close gullies I could in the time I had left but I could not find them. I did not even know which side of the ridge they might have been on; therefore, this meant I did not have a point to start from next week.
The weather was very over cast but maybe a little to windy, I was back on the same knife ridge as last time, and I covered and glassed many a mile of country and Zippo, nothing not a wild animal to be seen, not one goat not one pig or fox, nothing! This made me kick myself all over again from missing the shot two weeks ago. Where was the big fella? Was he still in the area was he even alive? The big question I now started to ask myself was had I missed my chance?
I had been watching the weather all week, the only thing different this time I was going go have another go on my birthday for the big fella. However, the weatherman said it was going to be storms, as he was right it was very bad conditions to hunt in, so I decided to go the next day. As before, I did not know where he was, so I kept to the normal knife-edge ridge I had seen him on mostly. Again, I carefully covered and glassed the county as I walked down the ridgeline to where I thought it would be more likely to find the goats hiding and feeding.
I was right in the middle of a section that the goats and I like a lot, I was walking up the back of a little out crop that I had walked over many a time in the last 10 years. In front of me on a flat part of the outcrop there are many drop offÃ*s, with massive fig treeÃ*s growing out of them, which the goats like to get under, rest, and escape the heat of summer. It was now December, so I always carefully sneak up to these places as you never know what might be in there. As I am half way up the little out crop with the wind in my face this time, the first time in a long time I can remember that it has been so consistent, I smell goat! I knock an arrow and start to stalk up and over the top of the outcrop.
I am standing on the edge looking down into the fig trees looking for the source of the smell. Then I hear Billies fighting, so I move along the top of the out crops edge some more then I see two Billies appear from right underneath me from out of the deep darkness of the fig treeÃ*s shade at no less than 10 metres! I just stand there hoping my 3D Camo holds true to form, they pass buy, now I am sneaking in on the source of the fighting. I am less than 5 metres from these two Billies standing on some massive fig tree branches. They are looking down at another Billy with what it seems like a nanny stuck in and against the out crops rocky wall and under the branches of the massive fig tree stump trying to reject the advanceÃ*s of one pushy in love Billy. As I can only see the two back legs of the main offender trying to get her out from under the fig tree so he can have his way with her. The goat is tan and has black fleck though this coat and now that I know from chasing him all over the country for last six weekÃ*s it is the big fella!
IÃ*m now at only 10 metres and as luck would have it I have a huge clear hole to shoot thought and the massive fig tree is coving the Billy head and chest but I know that he has to back him self out of where he has cornered the nanny. I am set, in position waiting for him to give me a shot, and as since, he is so caught up with the nanny that when the other goats that now are on the same ridge as me have started to feed off and he does not even notice! It seemed like I was waiting an eternity for him to back out from under the massive fig tree branch, I am saying in my mind, STEP BACK, STEP BACK! Then he takes the first backward step, I draw, anchor and line up in an instant, the Billy is backing right out now, his chest is fully exposed and then the pin is on and gone! At ten metres, the arrow wasnÃ*t seen! The big fella is away like a bull at a gate! Running as fast as he can down from underneath the fig tree, he has gone from my sight in less than two seconds! The nanny was now free to head over to the main mob of goats, which is only 30 metres away. Looking at where he had emerged, wondering what was going on, they soon got a real shock as I quickly appeared from around the tops of the massive fig tree to get a better idea on where the big fella has run. With another goat in the mob over 115 point range standing now at 30 metres he picks straight off from where the big fella has just left. I thought to myself well he is worthy, but I will leave him for a year or two I think. I moved quickly to underneath the fig tree to try locate the blood trail of the big fella, this wasnÃ*t hard as the Magnus Stinger 125 grain 4 blade broad head had done itÃ*s job well an easy to see and massive blood trail. It was easy to follow the last 20 metres from where the Billy had emerged to find, him expired a little way down the steep hill. With my heart going a million miles an hour I let out some triumphant yells and did a little birthday dance. What better present could I get!
I set the big fella up for a heap of self-timed photos and ran the tape over him to see if my guess that he would, go over 40 inchÃ*s and 125 Douglas points would be right. I then removed the cape and horns for my mate Nigel Thompson to mount for me and started the long steep walk home.
The official score of the big fella is 126 1/8 Douglas points and he was 40 5/8 inchÃ*s wide.
Bow used was a Darton Maverick set at 81 lbs with Trophy Ridge Matrix 5 pin sight and Trophy Ridge drop zone hunter rest, NAP Shock Blocker 1000 Stabilizer.
Shaft used are Gold Tip big game 100+ that weight 523 grains with the Magnus 125 grain Stinger BH that leave my Darton Maverick RC at 285 feet per second.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/peterm/126%20Plus%20Goat/1261-8Goat2004PBM-web.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/peterm/126%20Plus%20Goat/1261-8Goat2004PBM2-web.jpg
This is the final revision, I went thought the story properly and fixed all the spelling mistakes and grammar, I hope, and added some extra detail, and better pics.
See ya Pete.