Goat judging..

[mntnguide]

Since there seems to be quite a few experienced goat hunters on here, i just wanted to throw up a picture of a Billy i found this past weekend to see what you guys might think of him, as im a goat newbie!

As a sidenote, i really am not hunting for size. This unit is being considered a very tough hunt and just the possibility of harvesting a Billy is being considered very tough by biologists etc, So im more than happy to have found him all alone after covering nearly 25 rough mountain goat country miles the past 2 weekends... not going to lie, it's been driving me crazy not to be scouting big muleys in the highcountry, but I'm starting to understand the mountain goat itch.. cause it's been a pretty incredible time in amazing country finding them. I'll be going in with my bow this weekend and starting off my 2019 season after him.

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[Jimss]

Boy, that's a tough one! I've spent a great deal of time around goats here in Colo and Alaska. It looks like the goat has a body similar to a billy but sometimes that can be discieving with a lone goat. I've seen old, mature lone nannies before and the goat in your pics horns look like the confirmation of an old nanny to me? The horns look like they are straight and bend towards the top? The horns also look thin like a nanny. It's a little tough to tell from the photos but that's what I see.

I spent around an hour on one of my Alaska trips trying to figure out a lone goat. It's horns were around 10 1/2" long but it turned out it was a nanny.

Billies are usually the first to loose all their winter coats and it's obvious this goat has lost it's winter hair. All of the nanny's I've seen recently in Colo still have last year's scrag. Mature billies usually tower over nannies and usually are way taller and heavier. Did you happen to see balls or female parts when you looked at it through your spotter?

 

[zpooch]

That's awesome, glad you're getting after it

 

[mntnguide]

Boy, that's a tough one! I've spent a great deal of time around goats here in Colo and Alaska. It looks like the goat has a body similar to a billy but sometimes that can be discieving with a lone goat. I've seen old, mature lone nannies before and the goat in your pics horns look like the confirmation of an old nanny to me? The horns look like they are straight and bend towards the top? The horns also look thin like a nanny. It's a little tough to tell from the photos but that's what I see.

I spent around an hour on one of my Alaska trips trying to figure out a lone goat. It's horns were around 10 1/2" long but it turned out it was a nanny.

Billies are usually the first to loose all their winter coats and it's obvious this goat has lost it's winter hair. All of the nanny's I've seen recently in Colo still have last year's scrag. Mature billies usually tower over nannies and usually are way taller and heavier. Did you happen to see balls or female parts when you looked at it through your spotter?

Yes..i saw his undercarriage. 100% Billy. He dwarfs the few other goats in body size that i saw in the area including an older nanny with long horns. Pictures don't really do him justice. Right when i saw him i had very little doubt that he wasn't a Billy, but i watched for long time until he gave me the real proof underneath

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[mntnguide]

This picture might show the mass at the base of his horns a little better in comparison to the width of his eye

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[TC406]

Looks like a Tank in that last picture. He'd look great with his full winter coat, but if you've got him dialed, I say get after it! Good luck!

 

[Jimss]

I thought it was a little odd that he had no scruff it was a nanny. I'm pretty sure you can see part of a ball between his legs in the last pic. Go get him!

 

[mntnguide]

Looks like a Tank in that last picture. He'd look great with his full winter coat, but if you've got him dialed, I say get after it! Good luck!

Id love to wait till October/november to punch this tag, but with how hard finding mature Billy's is expected to be, i feel like i need to take my opportunity now. If it doesn't work out, I'll switch to muley mode then come back in October. But i can't not go in after him now that i found him Haha

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[cardbender1]

Go for it! I think you would be very happy with him,
Good luck this year

 

[hikenhunt]

Sorry to jump into your thread, but I have the exact same question. My buddy drew a WA state goat tag and we found this billy just below the highest peak in the unit. We saw several goats, but this was the best look we had at a billy. We've never hunted goats before and wanted to see what more experienced guys thought. Does anyone know if this is an average/above average/etc billy for WA?

We noticed that the nannies were still shedding their winter scruff in this area as of last weekend. We did find a huge nanny nearby too!

His season starts October 1st, so we have time to keep scouting. Will he move between now and then or do they tend to stick to the same areas? Should focus on this guy or keep looking for more options?

 

[cardbender1]

Hikenhunt, that 1 looks very nice. With Heavy bases. Good luck

 

[mickeyelk]

Sorry to jump into your thread, but I have the exact same question. My buddy drew a WA state goat tag and we found this billy just below the highest peak in the unit. We saw several goats, but this was the best look we had at a billy. We've never hunted goats before and wanted to see what more experienced guys thought. Does anyone know if this is an average/above average/etc billy for WA?

We noticed that the nannies were still shedding their winter scruff in this area as of last weekend. We did find a huge nanny nearby too!

His season starts October 1st, so we have time to keep scouting. Will he move between now and then or do they tend to stick to the same areas? Should focus on this guy or keep looking for more options?
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View attachment 112903

I also have a goat tag for Nevada Ruby mountains starting Sept 1- Oct 31. My son and I are going up during early September to check it out. We know the area but judging these goats is a challenge. I've looked over lots of pictures and the one posted at the beginning of this article I thought at first glance he was a billy. The one below is a billy about 7-8 inch long, my quess. What do you thing he goes for length?

 

[hikenhunt]

I'm a newbie at goat hunting, but I will say that length seems to be deceptive if you don't have a level-side view of the horns. This photo was a somewhat steep angle down. My guess is closer to 9". The lines in the photo are the same length.

 

[mickeyelk]

I'm a newbie at goat hunting, but I will say that length seems to be deceptive if you don't have a level-side view of the horns. This photo was a somewhat steep angle down. My guess is closer to 9". The lines in the photo are the same length.
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Ok!

 

[mntnguide]

Was able to ground check him this past Saturday. Beyond happy with the experience and to get it done with my bow. My green score puts him around 46" gross and 44" net.. which should put him in P&Y not that really matters. My hope was to harvest a mature Billy and i was able to. Appears to be around 6-7 years old looking at annuli rings

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[204guy]

Outstanding.

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[Buck Naked]

Good you sealed the deal, but looks like a different goat..)...j/k
Nice long face, thought he would prove to be older than that.

hikenhunt, I think that is a younger goat, short face long ears, horn bases look bigger than they are

my first go-to rough measure is the dark inside of the ear generally is 4", and doesn't change much with age.

 

[zpooch]

Congrats man, glad you found one up there!

 

[Nick Muche]

Hell of a job man! Congrats!!

Goats are damn hard to judge, not as hard as bears, but certainly up there with being one of the hardest. Nice work again!

 

[PNWGATOR]

That is FANTASTIC!!!!!! Well done and thanks for sharing the experience.