adam
03-08-07, 05:38 PM
Traditional Journeys no:2
Old Ways but not Old Days
By Adam Greentree
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General gear used on this Journey
My bow for this trip is a 2001 Custom bighorn 60 inches with a 17inch riser. It’s a takedown model very smooth in its draw and ships an arrow out at a good speed. The poundage is about 60# at my 29 inch draw. The bow has clear glass limbs and it made up of some beautiful timbers making it very appealing to the eye. A Flemish twist fast flight string keeps the limbs bent with cat whiskers for silencers and that’s all it needs. Arrows used are carbon 10 grains per inch raw with a finished weight of 600 grains and shoot really well from the bow. I put 145grain Outback Supreme broadheads up front on most shafts, but the last 2 goats harvested in this article where with 145grain Magnus Snuffer broadheads. I used a Selway raw hide bow quiver for the majority of the trip and a Vista back quiver on the last day. No advantages over the other on this occasion just a personal preference and what I felt comfortable hunting with. A spotting scope was also used on this trip and was quite handy in scouting the rocky ridges and looking down into the large gorges that are in the outback of the Pilbara. Without going into fine detail that’s about the general gist of the gear I used while on this hunt.
Techniques while hunting
In both areas I hunted this trip there was limited water and the days temperatures were into the forty’s. So around any water sources would be a prime spot and creek beds should hold some what of a better feed. Rather then sitting on the water and waiting for the game to approach me I’d scout around the source choosing to spot and stalk. Also any caves and deep gorges that held a cool shade for the goats would be a prime spot and I targeted these areas successfully spotting goats.
The hunt
It was a long time coming that’s for sure, I think my deer hunt in march last year was the last time I really hunted hard. As most of us all know gaining access to good grounds is very hard. I was actually thinking I would never gain my own hunting spot up here in the north, but as persuasion has it I have gained permission to 2 hunting grounds in the Pilbara. My goat hunting prier to that had been on a mates place in the south somewhat.
The landowners trap goats up here and the goat market has taken over from sheep, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t want you hunting around there tanks. But most tanks would be the drinking places of feral cats and foxes so I was granted permission to look a few over. My goat hunting would have to take place in the back country were goats could not be trapped. I was fortunate in taking an old mangy fox on the first tank and the owner was very happy to here of it. I think I done the fox a favor as he wasn’t much but skin and bones. Though weary he was as on the ball as any fox and spooked after the wind changed direction favoring the fox. But at seven meters I was well ready for the shot and took him through both lungs as he trotted off. He’d only gone 10 meters and died in full stride.
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The first bit of goat country I hunted was fed by a large dry river that holds a good pool of water (300meters by 70 meters wide) all year round. This made for good hunting as the goats couldn’t be targeted in any easy way due to the expanse of the water hole and the multitude of trails and scrub surrounding it. Certainly a paradise in the outback with birds flocking to the river, tall gun trees standing over for shade in the mid forty degree heat and top hunting. Fish are plentiful and they draw my attention away from settling up camp. This is the perfect camp site and the pool is deep enough to have a wash in at the end of the days hunt.
It was already late afternoon and I hadn’t seen a goat as yet so I ventured into some thicker scrub looking for greener scenery. It wasn’t long before I spotted a white goat and at closer grounds it was a magnificent billy goat feeding on some shrubbery by himself. I hadn’t much thought of his size only the stalk ahead of me. With the wind directly in my face I moved in on the feeding billy and was soon standing at twelve meters amongst some salt bush. The billy still content with feeding grazed on a slightly angling away position one that any traditional bowhunter would be keen on. The smooth draw on the Custom Bighorn recurve never felt so good. I released the 60 odd pounds carrying a carbon arrow tipped with an Outback Supreme. The billy was hit well and quietly went down at little over 15 meters away. I still hadn’t really thought about his size, only that it was good to be able to hunt and how much I missed being in the elements of wild Australia. The quality of the goat was a real bonus but not an essential as I was just happy to be out there doing my thing. The billy turned out to be my second goat over the 40 inch mark, measuring 42 inches tip to tip and a Douglas score of 118 my third biggest goat to date. I headed back to camp at that point and started dinner. Not long after a good meal I was in the swag gazing into the stars while listening to the outback wildlife.
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I awoke during the night to see the moons light brightening up the outback ground. The waters surface was rippling with fish hunting any insects that landed on the water. It was a nice sound to fall back to sleep to. Next time I awoke it was for good of the day still 2 hours till first light but I was too pumped to get back to sleep so I had an early breakfast and ran some broadheads over the sharpener. As first light appear I could make out a feral cat standing amongst the rocks at the pools bank. I was ready to head off and made a bee line for the cat. The feral cat was deeply watching something, most likely a small lizard in the rocks. I’ll kick myself again as I write this but I clean missed the bugger at 15meters for no reason other then rushing the shot. I spent the rest of the morning shooting clumps of spinifex in the dry river bed and watching billy goats fight it out near a smaller creek. They made for interesting watching for well over an hour, most of that time spent in locked horns.
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My return back to the river pool would see me sitting on a small rocky ridge with a spotting scope trying to locate any billys in the distance. Slowly mobs of goats poured from the Mulga bushes towards the waters edge. Goats settled in at the waters edge some even jumping in for a swim. This was obviously a bit queer to some goats as it spooked them a bit. Glassing over the waters edge I laid eyes on a top billy goat, a big white fella with wide sweeping horns. I then Notice another quality goat at the waters edge, Shaggy brown with twisting horns going up and out and behind him a white typical western billy with exceptional horns also. What a bowhunters paradise, something of what I’d heard about in the old days from old time bowhunters. Now the challenge of getting to the goats dawned on me, there was at least 60 goats residing around the 3 good billys, 100 different game trails to leave the water on, little cover and a ground made up of mostly crisp leaves, twigs and bark.
Over the next 3 hours I carefully stalked around the waterhole spooking no goats but that of which was trying to get to the waters edge from out wide. I’d gone into the Mulga scrub 500 meters off the water, then when I thought I was behind the big billy goats position I moved in to around 150meters away. The billys to my surprise had taken refuge from the sun under the shade of a large gun tree and looked quiet content in staying there for some time. I settled into the shade myself and waited to see what trails the goats were using to leave the water. I’d never get within range by stalking, there was a barrage of goats surrounding the billys. I’d have to try an ambush on one of the trails leading off the water. After watching for awhile the majority of nanny goats left on two particular trails. There was a superb twisted gum tree about 120meters away from the goats at the water and right between the two game trails getting the most activity. To get to the twisted gum I’d have to stalk past 2 mobs of resting goats plus what ever goats crossed my path while leaving the waters banks. The crunching sounds under my knees while stalking was washed out by the flocking birds hanging around the water hole. Somehow I got there putting most of my success down to slow steady and sticking to the shade. At a couple of points I had goats just 3 meters beside me, luckily they feed away without me moving.
This billy goat made it onto the front cover of Bowhunting Downunder August/september2007.
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There I was tucked under the branches of the gun tree, game trail to the east just 7 meters away and the trial to the west 12 meters away at most. I set the video camera up and checked my draw and for bow clearance under the branches. All was good now I just had to wait it out. I very much doubted that the billy goats would come by this trail but you’ve got to try all the same and if nothing else I would capture some good goat activity and pictures from this position.
It was a long wait with some close calls as goats passed by my ambush position, but the blotchy shadows from the leaves above broke my outline up well. It was going onto the 6th hour since I first spotted the goats when one of the large white billy goats stood up and headed my way. I turned the camera on and press record hoping the billy goat would head along one of the two trails I was waiting patiently off. It was looking promising so I sat an arrow on the rest and my fingers took position on the string. He came straight along the trail to the east and would pass me broadside at just seven meters. I drew the bighorn back at a hard cant to clear any branches hanging down and let loose a razor tipped arrow. It struck the billy high lungs dropping him wear he stood and he expired within seconds. No goats spooked from the water and 10 minutes later the other big white billy goat walked the same trail. He stopped to look at the first downed goat at little more then 7 meters, I drew again and this time I favored lower lungs taking the goat tight behind the shoulder blade. He was down and out at 15 meters with only the noise of a swift arrow hitting hide and the little noise from a recurve bow.
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I still sat patiently in my ambush position waiting for goats to leave the drinking area. The big Brown shaggy goat had decided to take another route back to the Mulga scrub and although I was keen to follow the big billy I’d only spook him by pushing other goats his way from the water. A short time later a clear gap out of there opened up and I snuck on out to look for the brown billy. I soon found him feeding around a small sand ridged off to the edge of his mob. This opened him right up to my stalk and I moved in undetected. The sweat poured from my body in what must have been 45 plus degrees. If I got caught out in the open sun I’d bake to a crisp in a stand off with the goats. I crept on in and made it to fifteen meters from there on in the ground was crisp with branches and leaves. I waited a few minutes till the brown billy turned broadside. I then drew in a quarter cant form and let loose. The arrow passing through double lungs and exiting at the same spot on the other side. The billy made a 20 meter dash scattering his mob in the process.
The big brown billy was in excellent condition and for anyone interested measured 111dp with a 36 1/5 inch spread. The white billy with high horns which I arrowed first measured 111dp as well with a 35inch spread and the big old broken white billy went 38inches 105dp. Scores and horns aren’t everything and I hold a good hunt much higher then a good score. If this big guy hadn’t of been broken he would have measured over 40 inches and into the 120dps it bothered me none the less.
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Now a new priority came to light and that was getting back to camp for a cold drink and a swim. The water in my hydration pack was hotter then a winter’s shower and the sweat pouring out of me not much cooler. It was good ducking in for a swim and lying back reminiscing about the unfolded hunt thus far. I still had another property to check out a few hours back towards home. Though I really wasn’t fussed what it held not after such a good trip already, it was still worth checking out for future hunts. I slowly packed up camp and a few times was a bit twisted to leave such a remarkable landscape. But I headed off if for no reason but to break the trip up back home a little ways.
It’s always exciting heading into new grounds and fun meeting new owners. Ben the owner of this certain property was 4th generation on the land and he had some great stories from his grandfather and father about the place. He told me of an ongoing war with the goats when they were only worth $5 a head and they still lived of a sheep’s back. They worn rifles out on them and you still couldn’t see a difference in numbers. These days the station lives of the export goat market and instead of sheep and goats damaging the environment it’s just the goats. Ben his wife and the workers all seemed to be open minded and was very interested in this “bowhunting” that I done. They could see I was very tied from the days hunt and drive and didn’t hesitate to offer me dinner along with a bed. I didn’t want to be anything of a burden so I asked only of a place to lay my swag in the yard and I have my own dinner to cook under the stars. I thanked them all the same but one of the reason I enjoy hunting is for the outdoors. Ben offer to draw me a mud map in the morning pointing out the country they can’t muster or trap as water is aplenty and the ridges and rough ground too hard for bikes or horses to bear.
I arose early with 3 smelly dogs besides the swag, all looked happy to see me as I got out of the swag. I laughed as I thought about a bit of a comedy skit about waking up in the morning with an ugly stranger beside you. This was a bit funnier then that and I was sure all the dogs were smiling. Probably not the easiest thing to explain but the owner Ben was looking down my way from the homestead when I laughed. However I did explain it pretty well, he said “so you must have been at the receiving end as your not smiling”. We had a good laugh and at that point I knew it would be good to come back here in times to come. He passed me a neat little map that pointed out 4 large springs that flowed from the ranges in the back country.
It took 2 hours to reach the springs and they were marvelous. Picture traveling through the harsh red outback then seeing huge gun trees with reeds at the bases and water trickle around its exposed roots. It was yet again a beautiful place to set up camp, with more springs further to the east for goats and wildlife to drink from without being spooked by my camp. I geared up and looked over the other springs. There was good goat sign around the springs indicating that a few mobs visited the area. I headed into the hills in search but besides a few nanny goats with young the walk was fruitless bar the great scenery. The temperature soared throughout the morning and by lunch time I seek not goats but a hole to cool off in. Arriving back to camp I headed off in the vehicle to another spring that was marked on the map. This spring held a pool of water close to one meter deep and was cool from flowing water under the grounds surface. It was very refreshing and before long I felt revitalized and headed back to the spring I was at earlier. The other springs on the map all had fresh bubbling water but not quite the sign as the first spring. I set back up on the spring under a tall gun tree amongst the reeds were it seemed somewhat cooler. I watched goats come and go throughout the day, mostly nanny goats and small billy goats.
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To my north about one hundred meters away ran a large ridge around one hundred and thirty meters tall, its mass made up of solid red boulders. I could hear a rock scattering its way down as it hit other rocks. On glassing the ridge I spotted a mob of 6 billy goats two of which looked very impressive even over a long distance. They had no interest in the springs and kept heading into the rocky country and into the dry creek bed behind the springs. They settled in under a large gun tree and never looked like venturing back towards the water. The biggest two looked to be around the 40 inch mark, maybe a bit under. One brown and black with wide curling horns the other white with thick horns. Goats faced in all directions making it impossible to moving at any pace. It was to be the beginning of a 3 hour stalk moving from shaded area to shaded area when ever the goats seemed busy. There was a few times my Asat 3d gear would have been good but it was simple to hot, besides I was trying to be as casual as I could. A few times I had to sit put in some aching positions up to thirty minutes as a goat would lay down facing my way. As well as the mob of goats I was trying to get closer to there was another mob that had laid up under a large gun tree sixty meters of the creek. This mob was on a rise giving them a good advantage view point of the area I was stalking making it very hard.
Well time could only make things better I thought so I took my time only inching forward ever so slowly when staring eyes permitted. Three hours saw me just 15 meters away much to my advantage was fighting goats. Given the opportunity I’d take both goats if they stayed within my range. I had to sit put for a while before I drew, maybe five minutes but felt like fifty. Both of the big goats faced away from me and wasn’t a shot I felt I could take. Eventually the brown and black billy turned to an angling away position. I could easily put a razor sharp arrow through both lungs from here (15 meters). I waited just a little longer hoping that one of the smaller billy goats facing my way would look away, He did and I made the shot. All the goats stood up confused as to what was going on, the big brown and black goat dropped after stumbling a few meters. I slid another arrow on the string this one destined for the big white goat. He stood around 17 meters away looking at the brown and black billy I had just harvested. He stood broadside as I concentrated tight behind his shoulder blade about 6 inches up from where the bottom of his brisket would be. The arrow hit with a thud and the white billy hit the ground with much the same sound 15 meters later. Although the shot had taken the goat down hard I heatedly crept over and put a second shot in to speed up the process. Two very quick harvest in which a bowhunter strives for in taking an animals life.
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As I say the trophy isn’t the be all and end all, the 3 hour stalk and hunt involved was the greater but here is two awesome trophy goats all the same. The brown and black one measured 38 ½ inches 117 Douglas points and the white goat 39inches 116 Douglas points for those interested. After arriving back at camp I rested besides the spring closest to camp were 13 kingfishers drank, it was quite peaceful. Returning back to the Homestead I showed Ben the horns from the goats I harvested. Next trip he’d tell me more about some of the goats that reside in the hills, there’s some bigger spreads then that he says.
Well that was a hunt using the old ways and a bit like the old days.
Enjoy the hunt
Adam Greentree
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Old Ways but not Old Days
By Adam Greentree
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v388/bowhunting/pilbaragunitgoats154.jpg
General gear used on this Journey
My bow for this trip is a 2001 Custom bighorn 60 inches with a 17inch riser. It’s a takedown model very smooth in its draw and ships an arrow out at a good speed. The poundage is about 60# at my 29 inch draw. The bow has clear glass limbs and it made up of some beautiful timbers making it very appealing to the eye. A Flemish twist fast flight string keeps the limbs bent with cat whiskers for silencers and that’s all it needs. Arrows used are carbon 10 grains per inch raw with a finished weight of 600 grains and shoot really well from the bow. I put 145grain Outback Supreme broadheads up front on most shafts, but the last 2 goats harvested in this article where with 145grain Magnus Snuffer broadheads. I used a Selway raw hide bow quiver for the majority of the trip and a Vista back quiver on the last day. No advantages over the other on this occasion just a personal preference and what I felt comfortable hunting with. A spotting scope was also used on this trip and was quite handy in scouting the rocky ridges and looking down into the large gorges that are in the outback of the Pilbara. Without going into fine detail that’s about the general gist of the gear I used while on this hunt.
Techniques while hunting
In both areas I hunted this trip there was limited water and the days temperatures were into the forty’s. So around any water sources would be a prime spot and creek beds should hold some what of a better feed. Rather then sitting on the water and waiting for the game to approach me I’d scout around the source choosing to spot and stalk. Also any caves and deep gorges that held a cool shade for the goats would be a prime spot and I targeted these areas successfully spotting goats.
The hunt
It was a long time coming that’s for sure, I think my deer hunt in march last year was the last time I really hunted hard. As most of us all know gaining access to good grounds is very hard. I was actually thinking I would never gain my own hunting spot up here in the north, but as persuasion has it I have gained permission to 2 hunting grounds in the Pilbara. My goat hunting prier to that had been on a mates place in the south somewhat.
The landowners trap goats up here and the goat market has taken over from sheep, so it’s understandable that they wouldn’t want you hunting around there tanks. But most tanks would be the drinking places of feral cats and foxes so I was granted permission to look a few over. My goat hunting would have to take place in the back country were goats could not be trapped. I was fortunate in taking an old mangy fox on the first tank and the owner was very happy to here of it. I think I done the fox a favor as he wasn’t much but skin and bones. Though weary he was as on the ball as any fox and spooked after the wind changed direction favoring the fox. But at seven meters I was well ready for the shot and took him through both lungs as he trotted off. He’d only gone 10 meters and died in full stride.
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The first bit of goat country I hunted was fed by a large dry river that holds a good pool of water (300meters by 70 meters wide) all year round. This made for good hunting as the goats couldn’t be targeted in any easy way due to the expanse of the water hole and the multitude of trails and scrub surrounding it. Certainly a paradise in the outback with birds flocking to the river, tall gun trees standing over for shade in the mid forty degree heat and top hunting. Fish are plentiful and they draw my attention away from settling up camp. This is the perfect camp site and the pool is deep enough to have a wash in at the end of the days hunt.
It was already late afternoon and I hadn’t seen a goat as yet so I ventured into some thicker scrub looking for greener scenery. It wasn’t long before I spotted a white goat and at closer grounds it was a magnificent billy goat feeding on some shrubbery by himself. I hadn’t much thought of his size only the stalk ahead of me. With the wind directly in my face I moved in on the feeding billy and was soon standing at twelve meters amongst some salt bush. The billy still content with feeding grazed on a slightly angling away position one that any traditional bowhunter would be keen on. The smooth draw on the Custom Bighorn recurve never felt so good. I released the 60 odd pounds carrying a carbon arrow tipped with an Outback Supreme. The billy was hit well and quietly went down at little over 15 meters away. I still hadn’t really thought about his size, only that it was good to be able to hunt and how much I missed being in the elements of wild Australia. The quality of the goat was a real bonus but not an essential as I was just happy to be out there doing my thing. The billy turned out to be my second goat over the 40 inch mark, measuring 42 inches tip to tip and a Douglas score of 118 my third biggest goat to date. I headed back to camp at that point and started dinner. Not long after a good meal I was in the swag gazing into the stars while listening to the outback wildlife.
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I awoke during the night to see the moons light brightening up the outback ground. The waters surface was rippling with fish hunting any insects that landed on the water. It was a nice sound to fall back to sleep to. Next time I awoke it was for good of the day still 2 hours till first light but I was too pumped to get back to sleep so I had an early breakfast and ran some broadheads over the sharpener. As first light appear I could make out a feral cat standing amongst the rocks at the pools bank. I was ready to head off and made a bee line for the cat. The feral cat was deeply watching something, most likely a small lizard in the rocks. I’ll kick myself again as I write this but I clean missed the bugger at 15meters for no reason other then rushing the shot. I spent the rest of the morning shooting clumps of spinifex in the dry river bed and watching billy goats fight it out near a smaller creek. They made for interesting watching for well over an hour, most of that time spent in locked horns.
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My return back to the river pool would see me sitting on a small rocky ridge with a spotting scope trying to locate any billys in the distance. Slowly mobs of goats poured from the Mulga bushes towards the waters edge. Goats settled in at the waters edge some even jumping in for a swim. This was obviously a bit queer to some goats as it spooked them a bit. Glassing over the waters edge I laid eyes on a top billy goat, a big white fella with wide sweeping horns. I then Notice another quality goat at the waters edge, Shaggy brown with twisting horns going up and out and behind him a white typical western billy with exceptional horns also. What a bowhunters paradise, something of what I’d heard about in the old days from old time bowhunters. Now the challenge of getting to the goats dawned on me, there was at least 60 goats residing around the 3 good billys, 100 different game trails to leave the water on, little cover and a ground made up of mostly crisp leaves, twigs and bark.
Over the next 3 hours I carefully stalked around the waterhole spooking no goats but that of which was trying to get to the waters edge from out wide. I’d gone into the Mulga scrub 500 meters off the water, then when I thought I was behind the big billy goats position I moved in to around 150meters away. The billys to my surprise had taken refuge from the sun under the shade of a large gun tree and looked quiet content in staying there for some time. I settled into the shade myself and waited to see what trails the goats were using to leave the water. I’d never get within range by stalking, there was a barrage of goats surrounding the billys. I’d have to try an ambush on one of the trails leading off the water. After watching for awhile the majority of nanny goats left on two particular trails. There was a superb twisted gum tree about 120meters away from the goats at the water and right between the two game trails getting the most activity. To get to the twisted gum I’d have to stalk past 2 mobs of resting goats plus what ever goats crossed my path while leaving the waters banks. The crunching sounds under my knees while stalking was washed out by the flocking birds hanging around the water hole. Somehow I got there putting most of my success down to slow steady and sticking to the shade. At a couple of points I had goats just 3 meters beside me, luckily they feed away without me moving.
This billy goat made it onto the front cover of Bowhunting Downunder August/september2007.
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There I was tucked under the branches of the gun tree, game trail to the east just 7 meters away and the trial to the west 12 meters away at most. I set the video camera up and checked my draw and for bow clearance under the branches. All was good now I just had to wait it out. I very much doubted that the billy goats would come by this trail but you’ve got to try all the same and if nothing else I would capture some good goat activity and pictures from this position.
It was a long wait with some close calls as goats passed by my ambush position, but the blotchy shadows from the leaves above broke my outline up well. It was going onto the 6th hour since I first spotted the goats when one of the large white billy goats stood up and headed my way. I turned the camera on and press record hoping the billy goat would head along one of the two trails I was waiting patiently off. It was looking promising so I sat an arrow on the rest and my fingers took position on the string. He came straight along the trail to the east and would pass me broadside at just seven meters. I drew the bighorn back at a hard cant to clear any branches hanging down and let loose a razor tipped arrow. It struck the billy high lungs dropping him wear he stood and he expired within seconds. No goats spooked from the water and 10 minutes later the other big white billy goat walked the same trail. He stopped to look at the first downed goat at little more then 7 meters, I drew again and this time I favored lower lungs taking the goat tight behind the shoulder blade. He was down and out at 15 meters with only the noise of a swift arrow hitting hide and the little noise from a recurve bow.
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I still sat patiently in my ambush position waiting for goats to leave the drinking area. The big Brown shaggy goat had decided to take another route back to the Mulga scrub and although I was keen to follow the big billy I’d only spook him by pushing other goats his way from the water. A short time later a clear gap out of there opened up and I snuck on out to look for the brown billy. I soon found him feeding around a small sand ridged off to the edge of his mob. This opened him right up to my stalk and I moved in undetected. The sweat poured from my body in what must have been 45 plus degrees. If I got caught out in the open sun I’d bake to a crisp in a stand off with the goats. I crept on in and made it to fifteen meters from there on in the ground was crisp with branches and leaves. I waited a few minutes till the brown billy turned broadside. I then drew in a quarter cant form and let loose. The arrow passing through double lungs and exiting at the same spot on the other side. The billy made a 20 meter dash scattering his mob in the process.
The big brown billy was in excellent condition and for anyone interested measured 111dp with a 36 1/5 inch spread. The white billy with high horns which I arrowed first measured 111dp as well with a 35inch spread and the big old broken white billy went 38inches 105dp. Scores and horns aren’t everything and I hold a good hunt much higher then a good score. If this big guy hadn’t of been broken he would have measured over 40 inches and into the 120dps it bothered me none the less.
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Now a new priority came to light and that was getting back to camp for a cold drink and a swim. The water in my hydration pack was hotter then a winter’s shower and the sweat pouring out of me not much cooler. It was good ducking in for a swim and lying back reminiscing about the unfolded hunt thus far. I still had another property to check out a few hours back towards home. Though I really wasn’t fussed what it held not after such a good trip already, it was still worth checking out for future hunts. I slowly packed up camp and a few times was a bit twisted to leave such a remarkable landscape. But I headed off if for no reason but to break the trip up back home a little ways.
It’s always exciting heading into new grounds and fun meeting new owners. Ben the owner of this certain property was 4th generation on the land and he had some great stories from his grandfather and father about the place. He told me of an ongoing war with the goats when they were only worth $5 a head and they still lived of a sheep’s back. They worn rifles out on them and you still couldn’t see a difference in numbers. These days the station lives of the export goat market and instead of sheep and goats damaging the environment it’s just the goats. Ben his wife and the workers all seemed to be open minded and was very interested in this “bowhunting” that I done. They could see I was very tied from the days hunt and drive and didn’t hesitate to offer me dinner along with a bed. I didn’t want to be anything of a burden so I asked only of a place to lay my swag in the yard and I have my own dinner to cook under the stars. I thanked them all the same but one of the reason I enjoy hunting is for the outdoors. Ben offer to draw me a mud map in the morning pointing out the country they can’t muster or trap as water is aplenty and the ridges and rough ground too hard for bikes or horses to bear.
I arose early with 3 smelly dogs besides the swag, all looked happy to see me as I got out of the swag. I laughed as I thought about a bit of a comedy skit about waking up in the morning with an ugly stranger beside you. This was a bit funnier then that and I was sure all the dogs were smiling. Probably not the easiest thing to explain but the owner Ben was looking down my way from the homestead when I laughed. However I did explain it pretty well, he said “so you must have been at the receiving end as your not smiling”. We had a good laugh and at that point I knew it would be good to come back here in times to come. He passed me a neat little map that pointed out 4 large springs that flowed from the ranges in the back country.
It took 2 hours to reach the springs and they were marvelous. Picture traveling through the harsh red outback then seeing huge gun trees with reeds at the bases and water trickle around its exposed roots. It was yet again a beautiful place to set up camp, with more springs further to the east for goats and wildlife to drink from without being spooked by my camp. I geared up and looked over the other springs. There was good goat sign around the springs indicating that a few mobs visited the area. I headed into the hills in search but besides a few nanny goats with young the walk was fruitless bar the great scenery. The temperature soared throughout the morning and by lunch time I seek not goats but a hole to cool off in. Arriving back to camp I headed off in the vehicle to another spring that was marked on the map. This spring held a pool of water close to one meter deep and was cool from flowing water under the grounds surface. It was very refreshing and before long I felt revitalized and headed back to the spring I was at earlier. The other springs on the map all had fresh bubbling water but not quite the sign as the first spring. I set back up on the spring under a tall gun tree amongst the reeds were it seemed somewhat cooler. I watched goats come and go throughout the day, mostly nanny goats and small billy goats.
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To my north about one hundred meters away ran a large ridge around one hundred and thirty meters tall, its mass made up of solid red boulders. I could hear a rock scattering its way down as it hit other rocks. On glassing the ridge I spotted a mob of 6 billy goats two of which looked very impressive even over a long distance. They had no interest in the springs and kept heading into the rocky country and into the dry creek bed behind the springs. They settled in under a large gun tree and never looked like venturing back towards the water. The biggest two looked to be around the 40 inch mark, maybe a bit under. One brown and black with wide curling horns the other white with thick horns. Goats faced in all directions making it impossible to moving at any pace. It was to be the beginning of a 3 hour stalk moving from shaded area to shaded area when ever the goats seemed busy. There was a few times my Asat 3d gear would have been good but it was simple to hot, besides I was trying to be as casual as I could. A few times I had to sit put in some aching positions up to thirty minutes as a goat would lay down facing my way. As well as the mob of goats I was trying to get closer to there was another mob that had laid up under a large gun tree sixty meters of the creek. This mob was on a rise giving them a good advantage view point of the area I was stalking making it very hard.
Well time could only make things better I thought so I took my time only inching forward ever so slowly when staring eyes permitted. Three hours saw me just 15 meters away much to my advantage was fighting goats. Given the opportunity I’d take both goats if they stayed within my range. I had to sit put for a while before I drew, maybe five minutes but felt like fifty. Both of the big goats faced away from me and wasn’t a shot I felt I could take. Eventually the brown and black billy turned to an angling away position. I could easily put a razor sharp arrow through both lungs from here (15 meters). I waited just a little longer hoping that one of the smaller billy goats facing my way would look away, He did and I made the shot. All the goats stood up confused as to what was going on, the big brown and black goat dropped after stumbling a few meters. I slid another arrow on the string this one destined for the big white goat. He stood around 17 meters away looking at the brown and black billy I had just harvested. He stood broadside as I concentrated tight behind his shoulder blade about 6 inches up from where the bottom of his brisket would be. The arrow hit with a thud and the white billy hit the ground with much the same sound 15 meters later. Although the shot had taken the goat down hard I heatedly crept over and put a second shot in to speed up the process. Two very quick harvest in which a bowhunter strives for in taking an animals life.
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As I say the trophy isn’t the be all and end all, the 3 hour stalk and hunt involved was the greater but here is two awesome trophy goats all the same. The brown and black one measured 38 ½ inches 117 Douglas points and the white goat 39inches 116 Douglas points for those interested. After arriving back at camp I rested besides the spring closest to camp were 13 kingfishers drank, it was quite peaceful. Returning back to the Homestead I showed Ben the horns from the goats I harvested. Next trip he’d tell me more about some of the goats that reside in the hills, there’s some bigger spreads then that he says.
Well that was a hunt using the old ways and a bit like the old days.
Enjoy the hunt
Adam Greentree
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