Dale Furze
03-10-07, 06:04 PM
I was sitting around the other day thinking of the the hunt where I took my largest Billy Goat to date. A mate of mine Anthony (Killer) had been out for a hunt a couple of weeks before and scored his biggest Billy Goat so far, being a cracking 125D.P.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Killersbiggoat.jpg
This being one of the few times he has been out for a hunt without me, a little bit of 'ribbing', and the start of withdrawal symptoms was all the motivation I needed to get out for a hunt. Between the both of us, after looking at work schedules it was decided that the following weekend would suit us both.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Carryoutgoat.jpg
Killer dropped into my place mid morning, and loaded me and my gear up. Whilst on our way out to our hunting property Anthony retold a story a young friend had told him during the week. Dave, one of our hunting mates had been out to the same property the weekend before, the same time Anthony and I had been dwelling over an appropriate time for us to go! Dave said that he had seen around 80 goats of varying shapes and sizes and had a shot at a good Billy that he thought would score about 110D.P. He thought he may have 'clipped' him high, though as the Billy ran off he showed no real sign of being hit. This story gave me some hope for a decent sized Billy as Anthony had also seen a couple of other good trophies when he shot his good one. Things were looking good!
We parked the ute at the usual haunt, donned our camo', grabbed the bows and set off for a few hours walk. About 20 mins. from the car (it was bloody hot, so we weren't too far from the car) I spotted a few white specks through the Ironbarks. Casually I sat down, grabbed my bino"s and started to check out what may be on offer. The Goats were feeding from the left to the right and the specks that I had initially noticed were the tail ender Nannies. I crept forward to get a bit better view and further investigation revealed some medium Billies, Nannies and Kids in the middle and some big Billies at the forefront, which I just caught in the binoculars as they crested a small rise through the trees.
As everyone else does when there are two of you, we hatched a plan where we would wait until they all fed past, circle around them and get a better view of the bigger Goats from above, where I would hopefully 'get a crack' at one of the bigger fellas if they were better than what I had. Killer already had a big one and declined any shot that would offer, instead he said he would take some 'live animal' or action shots with his new Digital Camera.
On our way to full fill our plan we came across the mob a bit earlier than we thought (like us, they too were a bit casual in the heat) as they had stopped to chew on a bit of shaded green pick. This gave us a very good opportunity to check the mob out as they had bunched up and were all very visible.
After some time and deliberation, both Killer and I had decided that a nice tan and black 'Saddle-back Type' Billy was the best of the bunch. We also noticed an out of place white patch high on his shoulder, we couldn't tell what it was from where we were sitting, but we knew it didn't look right. While we sat there in the shade quietly talking to each other, the goats decided that they would move on, pity, I was very content just sitting there talking and taking some photos. Ah well, it was back to the old plan of getting in front of the mob and setting up an ambush. I had decided that should the biggest Billy present a shot I would take it, he looked around 115D.P. which was bigger than my biggest at 113D.P.
Anthony and I found a great place to set up, it consisted of some sparse Ironbarks and fallen timber (that our 3D camo' blends in nicely with) on the edge of a small clearing, right in line with the feed/travel line of the Goats. Killer set up about 40m. from me to the rear and above thinking this would be a good place for some photos. We waited patiently and shortly after I heard the soft sounds of the moving mob. They slowly came into view, and as before, the Billies were leading the way. I scanned the front runners and noticed my chosen target was on the outside of the mob, and unlike normal scenarios he was actually on my side!
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Feedinggoats.jpg
I let them feed into about 15m, then slipped a Satellite 3 blade broadhead tipped CarbonTech shaft into him between his neck and left shoulder. As the arrow exited his hind quarter, he did 'an about face' and trotted back through the mob, over a small rise and into the clearing. The rest of the mob sensed something was 'fishy' and thought they should follow.
Killer had seen what had happened as he had full view of proceedings, and decided that he would leave me to go and claim my Trophy while he would go and try for a couple of smaller 'meat goats' as both our freezers were nearly empty. I wished him luck as I sat there eating a muesli bar waiting for the effect of my arrow to take over.
Some time had passed when I finally decided to get of my backside and look for my Billy, the shot was very good and I knew that my trophy wouldn't be far away, so there was no real rush. I crested the small rise and saw one of the horns protruding from a small depression, he had only gone 50m from where he had been hit. Whilst standing there admiring my trophy's skin and horns I noticed that Anthony had returned, where he then said that he decided that he didn't really need any meat (read between the lines, didn't catch up with the mob again) and had returned to help me find my trophy and take some more photos. Whilst setting the Billy up for a lengthy photo session we ran the tape over him, confirming our guess that it was bigger than my previous best.
During the photo session we checked out the white patch on his shoulder, upon close inspection it revealed a nice two blade through and through cut from a broadhead above his spine in the fatty tissue. Killer and I both looked at each other and simultaneously had a little laugh at each other, realising that this had been the Billy that Dave had 'clipped' the week before.
Later that week I rang Dave and got him to come around and have a look at the new Goat that I had scored myself, the look on his face when he realised that the Goat in the photo was the one he shot at was worth a thousand bucks, when I told him it scored 119 6/8 D.P, the look was priceless!
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Dalesbiggoat.jpg
The equipment I use consists of a Darton Maverick bow set at around 63lb, with adjustable single pin sight and CarbonTech arrows with Satellite broadheads, Although it isn't the fastest bow on the planet, it is very reliable.
Cheers. Dale
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Killersbiggoat.jpg
This being one of the few times he has been out for a hunt without me, a little bit of 'ribbing', and the start of withdrawal symptoms was all the motivation I needed to get out for a hunt. Between the both of us, after looking at work schedules it was decided that the following weekend would suit us both.
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Carryoutgoat.jpg
Killer dropped into my place mid morning, and loaded me and my gear up. Whilst on our way out to our hunting property Anthony retold a story a young friend had told him during the week. Dave, one of our hunting mates had been out to the same property the weekend before, the same time Anthony and I had been dwelling over an appropriate time for us to go! Dave said that he had seen around 80 goats of varying shapes and sizes and had a shot at a good Billy that he thought would score about 110D.P. He thought he may have 'clipped' him high, though as the Billy ran off he showed no real sign of being hit. This story gave me some hope for a decent sized Billy as Anthony had also seen a couple of other good trophies when he shot his good one. Things were looking good!
We parked the ute at the usual haunt, donned our camo', grabbed the bows and set off for a few hours walk. About 20 mins. from the car (it was bloody hot, so we weren't too far from the car) I spotted a few white specks through the Ironbarks. Casually I sat down, grabbed my bino"s and started to check out what may be on offer. The Goats were feeding from the left to the right and the specks that I had initially noticed were the tail ender Nannies. I crept forward to get a bit better view and further investigation revealed some medium Billies, Nannies and Kids in the middle and some big Billies at the forefront, which I just caught in the binoculars as they crested a small rise through the trees.
As everyone else does when there are two of you, we hatched a plan where we would wait until they all fed past, circle around them and get a better view of the bigger Goats from above, where I would hopefully 'get a crack' at one of the bigger fellas if they were better than what I had. Killer already had a big one and declined any shot that would offer, instead he said he would take some 'live animal' or action shots with his new Digital Camera.
On our way to full fill our plan we came across the mob a bit earlier than we thought (like us, they too were a bit casual in the heat) as they had stopped to chew on a bit of shaded green pick. This gave us a very good opportunity to check the mob out as they had bunched up and were all very visible.
After some time and deliberation, both Killer and I had decided that a nice tan and black 'Saddle-back Type' Billy was the best of the bunch. We also noticed an out of place white patch high on his shoulder, we couldn't tell what it was from where we were sitting, but we knew it didn't look right. While we sat there in the shade quietly talking to each other, the goats decided that they would move on, pity, I was very content just sitting there talking and taking some photos. Ah well, it was back to the old plan of getting in front of the mob and setting up an ambush. I had decided that should the biggest Billy present a shot I would take it, he looked around 115D.P. which was bigger than my biggest at 113D.P.
Anthony and I found a great place to set up, it consisted of some sparse Ironbarks and fallen timber (that our 3D camo' blends in nicely with) on the edge of a small clearing, right in line with the feed/travel line of the Goats. Killer set up about 40m. from me to the rear and above thinking this would be a good place for some photos. We waited patiently and shortly after I heard the soft sounds of the moving mob. They slowly came into view, and as before, the Billies were leading the way. I scanned the front runners and noticed my chosen target was on the outside of the mob, and unlike normal scenarios he was actually on my side!
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Feedinggoats.jpg
I let them feed into about 15m, then slipped a Satellite 3 blade broadhead tipped CarbonTech shaft into him between his neck and left shoulder. As the arrow exited his hind quarter, he did 'an about face' and trotted back through the mob, over a small rise and into the clearing. The rest of the mob sensed something was 'fishy' and thought they should follow.
Killer had seen what had happened as he had full view of proceedings, and decided that he would leave me to go and claim my Trophy while he would go and try for a couple of smaller 'meat goats' as both our freezers were nearly empty. I wished him luck as I sat there eating a muesli bar waiting for the effect of my arrow to take over.
Some time had passed when I finally decided to get of my backside and look for my Billy, the shot was very good and I knew that my trophy wouldn't be far away, so there was no real rush. I crested the small rise and saw one of the horns protruding from a small depression, he had only gone 50m from where he had been hit. Whilst standing there admiring my trophy's skin and horns I noticed that Anthony had returned, where he then said that he decided that he didn't really need any meat (read between the lines, didn't catch up with the mob again) and had returned to help me find my trophy and take some more photos. Whilst setting the Billy up for a lengthy photo session we ran the tape over him, confirming our guess that it was bigger than my previous best.
During the photo session we checked out the white patch on his shoulder, upon close inspection it revealed a nice two blade through and through cut from a broadhead above his spine in the fatty tissue. Killer and I both looked at each other and simultaneously had a little laugh at each other, realising that this had been the Billy that Dave had 'clipped' the week before.
Later that week I rang Dave and got him to come around and have a look at the new Goat that I had scored myself, the look on his face when he realised that the Goat in the photo was the one he shot at was worth a thousand bucks, when I told him it scored 119 6/8 D.P, the look was priceless!
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c105/DAZOOL/Dalesbiggoat.jpg
The equipment I use consists of a Darton Maverick bow set at around 63lb, with adjustable single pin sight and CarbonTech arrows with Satellite broadheads, Although it isn't the fastest bow on the planet, it is very reliable.
Cheers. Dale