bullet selection for mountain goat

[StopMakingSense]

@farmermail Sorry, what are you referencing? I don’t want something miscommunicated.

 

[farmermail]

"Pick a bullet with good terminal balisitcs i.e. a fragmenting style bullet like an ELDM/X, Berger Hybrid, or TMK. @Formidilosus talks about this a ton in the Exo podcast. Shoot it from a gun you shoot well such as a 6.5 CM or 6 CM, verify your solutions shooting on extreme angles such as 40+ deg, and you'll have a dead billy."

The reference above, "good terminal ballistics i.e. a fragmenting style bullet...".

 

[z987k]

I don't know much about goat hunting, but was under the impression that it was desirable to anchor them on the spot to avoid letting them fall and get busted up and/or impossible to retrieve...

It is, but what that means is a spine or head shot. Not shoulder. The only tough that are as that they have a bit more will to live on average, a shoulder shot is not immediately lethal and they will try to run off with no leg as opposed to lay down and die like a bou. I don't know anyone that aims for heads for something so beautiful you owe it not only the meat as a trophy but the rest of the animal as well.

 

[z987k]

2: “They soak up lead”
B.S. No animal soaks up lead in the vitals and still functions for long. Goat anatomy is different than what most are used to. Study it and look at diagrams. Low and forward. Long hair can make this tricky. So with that fallacy in mind, guys are shooting large calibers with tough bullets.. missing the vitals or just clipping them, and watching them run off. I’ve seen that too.

This is every "tough" animal from bears to moose to dear or whatever. Sub optimal shot placement, usually due to everyone thinking everything has the same anatomy as a white tail.

 

[Don Fischer]

have you used this for goats before? I was leaning toward the large cartridges because all I hear about goats is how tough they and their ability to soak up lead

Somehow I see the saying, "ability to soak up lead", as an excuse for bad shooting. While true some animals have tuffer hide than some others, they can take only so much and sooner or later are gonna fall down. In the early 1800's some people shot them with black powder cartridges. Seems to me somewhere along the line from say 1800 and today our firearms have stepped backwards. back then you had your choice of a couple Black powder cartridges and a round cast bullet! Today you have your choice of a whole lot of cartridges with bullets designed to do every thing but change the oil in your truck! I have never hunted goats but I have no doubt that one of my 6.5's with the proper bullet well placed will ruin a goats day.

Don't know a thing about a 6.5prc but would bet my 260 Rem with a say, 140gr Speer Hot Core would kill one pretty dead at a reasonable distance. I don't believe there is any need for a 300 mag on goats unless the hunter just likes shooting one. In that case, were it me, a 300 mag is the ideal place for a 200gr bullet. That, of course, is much more than is needed I suspect. But then again if you like shooting magnums, pretty much any of them will kill anything in N. America they are used on with a well placed shot!

 

[cornstalker]

I am planning on taking my .270 Win with 140-grain Sierra Tipped Gamekings on a goat hunt this year. In my experience so far, they perform somewhere between an ELDX and an Accubond. I would be interested to hear of others' experiences with the TGK.

My backup rifle will be a 300 PRC with 200-grain NAB or 180 Partitions.

 

[Don Fischer]

I am planning on taking my .270 Win with 140-grain Sierra Tipped Gamekings on a goat hunt this year. In my experience so far, they perform somewhere between an ELDX and an Accubond. I would be interested to hear of others' experiences with the TGK.

My backup rifle will be a 300 PRC with 200-grain NAB or 180 Partitions.

My experience with goats makes my opinion maybe worth what you pay for it! I've had one 270 and it was stolen before I ever used it on game the first time. But I have a theory about bullet's. I think the really heavy for caliber bullet's belong best in the magnum cartridges. At one time in my life I was all for velocity but over time grew away from the super velocity bullet's. Velocity seems to tear up pretty much any lighter weight in pretty much any caliber. Would have liked to see what the 140gr bullet in the 270 would have done. Also did a bunch of penetrating tests years ago firing bullet's into newspaper s at 100yds. Way back then I loved the accuracy I got from Sierra bullet's but other wise discarded them. Then they were much to fragile for me and a hit that clipped meat destroyed a bunch of meat. They may have fixed that. I didn't bother with Partitions back then. Found that the front would explode and the plug of rear core went on through. Didn't care for that either. Other two I tested were 154gr Hornadys and 160gr Speer hot cores. Both were equally tuff out of my 7mm mag. They retained 85% of their weight and mushroomed really well. Bullet I ended up using was the 160gr Speer HC. Reason was it was a bit more accurate than the Hornady and the bullet's I fired, the Hornadys had the core loose in the jackets and the Speer core felt like it was cemented in, no movement after firing at all. If I were to do it today, I'd give the Speer HC first shot followed closely by one of the other inter bond bullet's. You might even try the Hornady 140gr as I've found accuracy with Hornady bullet's more than good enough. I doubt a goat would or could shrug off a Hornady. But truth be known, pretty much any bullet you used will work depending on how you place the bullet. Lighter bullets into smaller more critical areas and heavier bullet's give a larger target and penetrate to vitals better. The best depends on how the shooter use's what he has.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Would have liked to see what the 140gr bullet in the 270 would have done.

My .270 Winchester loves 150 grain Nosler Partitions. Even killed three goats with it, but it still wouldn't be my first choice for mountain goat. But, the rifle/bullet combo has worked really well for me in the past, on grizzly, brown bear, moose, elk, caribou, sheep, goat, deer, etc.

 

[cobrad]

Shot my first with a .243 and 90 grain federal fusion factory ammo. Goat was at the bottom of a big cliff so nothing to fall off of. He went about 10 yards after a shot through both shoulders then tipped over as I was about to shoot a second time. I have a nanny tag this year and using a 6 Creedmore with 108 grain ELDM’s.

 

[buffybr]

... Most people hunting goats are already poor shots...

What do you base this statement on?

Ten of my friends and I have all shot DIY mountain goats with in 100 miles of our home. I don't know the details of all of these hunts, but I do know that there were no wounded and lost animals, and that most of these goats were either one shot kills, or that their first shot dropped their goat then a finishing shot was made when they got to their goat.

My goat was a 100 yd shot with a 180 gr Nosler Partition from my .30 Gibbs. He dropped on the spot.

One friend shot his goat with his .270 Win, a one shot kill.

Friend two shot his goat with his .22-250, another one shot kill.

His son drew goat tags in two years and shot each of his goats with his .22-250, both one shot kills.

Another friend also drew tags in two years and shot both of his goats with his bow.

My previous hunting partner shot his goat with his 7 mm Rem Mag.

My taxidermist shot his goat with his 6.5-06.

The goat that one of my Skeet shooting buddies shot tied the Montana state record goat for many years.

Two of my other Skeet and Trap shooting buddies (who are each about 100 # over weight) filled their goat tags. One used his .257 Weatherby.

And a couple of years my eye doctor's son made a one shot kill on his goat.

 

[Don Fischer]

I don;t think he was meaning to point a finger but i agree with him, most hunters are pretty bad shots, not all of them though!

 

[Wyoming Hart]

My first goat I killed was with a 7mm and a 168gr berger it pile him right where stood. I’m going to use my 6.5 prc this year with the Berger 156gr. Like said about shot placement is the key.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had the same setup on mine. Put it right behind the shoulder. He went downhill for maybe 50 yards before going down for good.

 

[kthomas29]

I shoot a .257 Weatherby, never hunted mountain goats but will be an Alaska resident next year and am hoping to go to Kodiak to hunt, will the 257 be good or should I get a bigger caliber?

 

[z987k]

I shoot a .257 Weatherby, never hunted mountain goats but will be an Alaska resident next year and am hoping to go to Kodiak to hunt, will the 257 be good or should I get a bigger caliber?

It'll be more than fine with an appropriate bullet.

 

[backstrap billy]

I shoot a .257 Weatherby, never hunted mountain goats but will be an Alaska resident next year and am hoping to go to Kodiak to hunt, will the 257 be good or should I get a bigger caliber?

My hunting partner uses a 257 as his primary weapon up here in AK. Ive seen him take sheep moose and black bears. Im sure it'd work great on goats but I sure would hate that long barrel trying to climb into the alpine.

 

[Doc Holliday]

Sounds like a mid to heavy for caliber ballistic tip would be perfect

 

[tylerb4613]

I killed a goat last year with .270 130 grain bullet.

 

[cornstalker]

I killed a goat last year with .270 130 grain bullet.

What kind of bullet did you use?

 

[tylerb4613]

What kind of bullet did you use?

It was a Hornady SP Interlock. Pretty basic. Model 70. Handloads. Amazing hunt!

 

[cornstalker]

It was a Hornady SP Interlock. Pretty basic. Model 70. Handloads. Amazing hunt!

I have had great luck with Interlocks over the years.

If you haven’t already, you should start a new thread and tell your story. I, for one, would love to hear it.