11lbs? Reminds of the infantry... and that beautiful rifle known as the FN!
The perfect Mountain Goat Gun ??
- Thread starter Cole
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11lbs? Reminds of the infantry... and that beautiful rifle known as the FN!
Iron Sighted
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Peace Region
Very good advice. For the life of me, I cannot fathom why our B.C. government discourages the shooting of nannies but doesn't actually ban it, makes no sense at all to me.
I agree with others, you need to bring more gun than the .243. A lightweight in something .30 cal would be best. Kimber, T3 lite, Finnlight....in 30-06 or 300 win.
An idea; use this as an excuse to lighten up one of the 30-06's. Wildcat stock would be good.
I'd load it up with a decent soft that expands well, but will hold some weight for the off chance you need to break something. That would mean a Fusion (DeepCurl), Accubond or Interbond to me, and I'd probably just split the difference and choose the 165gr.
Enjoy the hunt!
I'd load it up with a decent soft that expands well, but will hold some weight for the off chance you need to break something. That would mean a Fusion (DeepCurl), Accubond or Interbond to me, and I'd probably just split the difference and choose the 165gr.
Enjoy the hunt!
Good advice from C FBMI and H4831.
Although stainless is certainly not necessary (people hunted goats and sheep for decades without it) I certainly wouldn't call it hype. If ordering a rifle for the specific purpose of goat hunting, it would be silly not to get it, given all the options out there and the very modest cost increase. Definitely less maintenance, which is very nice when you're drained after a day of chasing creatures in the hills. Just my opinion having used both for backpack hunts in the Rockies in all sorts of different weather.
Let's take this all in another direction for the OP. What do you think the perfect Goat gun would be? Factory, fancy or custom?
I see a sub 6# rifle alone as a requirement. A good standard cartridge is sufficient and it needs to be able to tactfully place a bullet out to 400yds.
I'd probably say a NULA in .284 Win would be bang on. Sub 6# with a 6X42 Leupold and the magazine filled with 150gr LRABs at 2900fps.
I see a sub 6# rifle alone as a requirement. A good standard cartridge is sufficient and it needs to be able to tactfully place a bullet out to 400yds.
I'd probably say a NULA in .284 Win would be bang on. Sub 6# with a 6X42 Leupold and the magazine filled with 150gr LRABs at 2900fps.
I would agree almost exactly. Sub in a 6x36 instead of 42mm and 160 grain ABs instead of LRABs.
What about the 6mm Remington?
Sometimes it is all about regional preferences....
If I where inclined to chase them goats I would be thinking about a 308...Short action and some version of the 700 action.
Thats just me though, Union Thug and all.
FLHTCUI
Most of the stories about goats being tough to kill arise from them being shot with calibers and bullets that are too tough for the goats! Anyone who has taken a goat apart will tell you that one of the most impressive things about them is how slab-sided and narrow they are. The biggest billies are barely a foot from one side to the other. Mine was killed with a single 150 gr soft point in the lungs from a 280, and dropped instantly.
I have seen quite a few goats, and often thought a 22-250 or a 243 with quick-expanding bullets would work just fine. Nothing goes far with shredded lungs.
Ted
I have seen quite a few goats, and often thought a 22-250 or a 243 with quick-expanding bullets would work just fine. Nothing goes far with shredded lungs.
Ted
I can be in there 3 hours from leaving my doorstep in Cranbrook !
I have zero goat experience, but of the choices given I'd go with the M70 and 165gr AB's. I did cross paths with a Grizz in 4-22 last year, and a 243 would not be my first choice.
If none of the rifles are a "favorite" of yours, it sounds like a new purchase is in order to commemorate your lucky draw! Maybe a nice new 280 or 280AI?
The Yukon pondered this briefly and it was determined that there is not significant enough differences between males and females to support a charge in court. Let's face it, most judges aren't hunters and if you show him a picture of a lone nanny and that of a lone billy at say 100 mtrs..........He ain't gonna convict anyone.
Iron Sighted
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Peace Region
I get that perspective, but still don't fully agree with it. I know a guy who went out goat hunting with one of his good friends and they encountered some crappy weather they weren't prepared for. Ultimately it resulted in them shooting two nannies because "we were freezing our asses off but weren't going to come home empty handed". This attitude is completely wrong imo, they were both well aware of what they were shooting but didn't care because they were uncomfortable and unwilling to work hard climbing back up that mountain a second or third time to actually try to find a billy. That is exactly why I'd like to see the law changed. People have a hell of a time determining what an 8 year old sheep looks like and that is precisely why most people prefer to look for horns that break the plane of the nose instead of counting annuli, because they know they will be charged if they screw up, I think goats should be the same. I'm probably somewhat preaching to the choir here though, I know you would have no issue telling billy from nannie and would also probably have no interest in shooting any goat that was not a mature billy.
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This is the same as BC came up with. It was given a lot of thought, fifty years ago, but nothing they could do to make it compulsory, males only.
Over the years they have tried a lot of educating hunters to be selective.
Bruce
Iron Sighted,
I completely agree with you, however counting growth rings on goats is far from easy, even at close range. The only goat I took personally was just six years old, but scored 56 1/8, making it the largest goat ever officially scored in the Yukon. That was 1973, and although encouraged to do so by many up here, I never submitted it to B&C simply because that was not why I hunted. Never hunted goats again for myself. Sheep taste better, weigh much less, and are far easier to pack off a mountain.
It was mounted by a hunter I guided in 1974, Mike Simpson, the owner of Conroe Taxidermy in Houston Texas. I received it back from him in 1976. c-fbmi, SuperCub, medvedqc, Northmann999 and several other others on here have seen it. It was scored again by the Game Branch two years ago, and would still be in the top 25 if it were entered in B&C.
My point in all this is that looking at the goat from 250 yd, it did not appear to be exceptional. There was nothing to relate to to compare the size, and I just thought it was an average animal. As you know, one inch in length and half an inch in bases in goat horns makes a huge difference. In my experience, the easiest way to tell the difference is that nannies almost always have "skinny" horns. Even the longest ones, are only slightly tapered. Any billy with skinny horns is too young to shoot
Good luck on your next hunt!
Ted
I completely agree with you, however counting growth rings on goats is far from easy, even at close range. The only goat I took personally was just six years old, but scored 56 1/8, making it the largest goat ever officially scored in the Yukon. That was 1973, and although encouraged to do so by many up here, I never submitted it to B&C simply because that was not why I hunted. Never hunted goats again for myself. Sheep taste better, weigh much less, and are far easier to pack off a mountain.
It was mounted by a hunter I guided in 1974, Mike Simpson, the owner of Conroe Taxidermy in Houston Texas. I received it back from him in 1976. c-fbmi, SuperCub, medvedqc, Northmann999 and several other others on here have seen it. It was scored again by the Game Branch two years ago, and would still be in the top 25 if it were entered in B&C.
My point in all this is that looking at the goat from 250 yd, it did not appear to be exceptional. There was nothing to relate to to compare the size, and I just thought it was an average animal. As you know, one inch in length and half an inch in bases in goat horns makes a huge difference. In my experience, the easiest way to tell the difference is that nannies almost always have "skinny" horns. Even the longest ones, are only slightly tapered. Any billy with skinny horns is too young to shoot
Good luck on your next hunt!
Ted
You must be in ridiculous physically condition if your contemplating huffing a 11lbs rifle on a goat hunt. With scope I believe my kimber 30.06 is 6.5lbs . Bugaboo mountains are rugged and I did see lots of G bear sign there this spring. Good luck cutting your tag. I'll be out there trying to do the same !
LordEvilPepper
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Under a rusty barge in BC
I went sheep hunting with a savage LRH in .338lm it was well over 15lb..... tge biggest issue wasnt the weight... it was how ungodly long it is. I snagged on tree branches all the time.
But nan once you get that beast up the mountain... its hard to beat having the ability to take ethically take game at the better part of a klick.
That said... next time i hump up a mountain after one of the critters that play on them: .300 wsm ... and i hope to locate it in the form of the unicorn: a savage lightweight hunter.
Amazingly, thirty years ago we fudds hunted with 10-11 pound rifles all the time, even in the mountains! A light rifle weighed 8 pounds.
The Chadwick ram, the largest sheep ever shot in North Ameriaca, was taken in the BC mountains in 1936 by a 61 year old hunter with a 404 Jeffrey rifle that weighed over ten pounds.
Ted
