Mountain Goat with a 6 Creedmoor or 6.5 Creedmoor?

[IDVortex]

I hope your billies don't do a death dive off a cliff and you are patient enough to wait for a shot to shoot him when he's not surrounded by cliffs. If he breaks or loses a horn and ends up with a red coat while tumbling down the mountain you may wish you used a 30 cal. What happens if the only shot you are presented with has a giant cliff below? Are you going to shoot?

Mature billies are built like miniature buffalo. They have extremely thick, dense bones, thick hide, thick hair, etc. I've been on several goat hunts where hunters wished they used a 30 cal.

But... all of your scenarios you gave can also happen with a 30cal... a cartridge isnt going to control animals reflex once its shot.

Even the claiming of 'anchoring' an animal doesnt guarantee it to not fall.

 

[z987k]

I hope your billies don't do a death dive off a cliff and you are patient enough to wait for a shot to shoot him when he's not surrounded by cliffs. If he breaks or loses a horn and ends up with a red coat while tumbling down the mountain you may wish you used a 30 cal. What happens if the only shot you are presented with has a giant cliff below? Are you going to shoot?

Mature billies are built like miniature buffalo. They have extremely thick, dense bones, thick hide, thick hair, etc. I've been on several goat hunts where hunters wished they used a 30 cal.

Goats launch themselves off cliffs for one reason. The hunter can't shoot worth a crap and doesn't hit them in the vitals or the hunter has no idea where the vitals are on a goat and doesn't hit them there. No 1 to 2/10ths of an inch in wound diameter makes up for a bad shot. They die real quick when shot in the heart and lungs with 22's.
They die real slow when shot in the diaphram, stomach, intestines with a 458.
The bullet diameter is so beyond irrelevant.

I've shot all my goats and sheep with a 26 cal bullet. Next one will be with a 22cal.

 

[BCDJR]

I'm hoping to go after a mountain goat in 2026 using my 6.5 CM and my buddy is looking to use his 6 CM.

I'm pretty sure either cartridge has enough for the goats but I'm hoping to hear some accounts from those that have hunted one with either of these cartridges. Good or bad, how did it perform?

I'm told goats are pound for pound one of the toughest of the North American game animals and can soak up a good amount of lead. Being able to drop it relatively on the spot is important so that it doesn't take a nose dive off the side of the mountain. A guide told me typical shot distances could be in the 300-400m range.

I'll be using a Sako 6.5 Creedmoor with a 20" barrel. Should I go for the 143gr ELD-X? Barnes 129gr LRX? Something else?

I noticed in your post you say you are hoping to go? You are not booked? Where would you go? Alaska? Youkon ?

 

[AK Troutbum]

I killed one a few years ago with my 6.5cm. One shot kill using 120gr Barnes TTSX bullets. If I remember, I think he went maybe 10 yards or so after the shot.

 

[Banana_Horn]

I’ve been in on 5 mountain goat kills, and they really aren’t that big or that “tough”. But their instincts tell them to run for cliffs when danger is present, and those are STRONG instincts.

It doesn’t matter what you use, just cause as much internal damage as you can as quickly as possible. Tough bullets punching straight through, in any caliber, are not ideal. My next goat hunt I go on will be with either a 6.5 CM or 6.5 PRC, depending on how much bushwhacking I am expecting.

 

[Bado20]

I took my goat this year with a 20” 6.5CM shooting a 129 ABLR. He made it about 2 yards from the first shot but I have seen some rodeos goat hunting so I shoot until they’re down. Two shots went behind the shoulder through both lungs and exited, one went through both shoulders and was on the offside hide, 55 percent weight retention. Lots of good fragmentation on all wound channels. Shot distance was 315 yards.

 

[Mammoth Steppe]

I noticed in your post you say you are hoping to go? You are not booked? Where would you go? Alaska? Youkon ?

British Columbia.

 

[Maverick1]

Well, I used a 30 cal on the only goat I have taken. I guess I should note that it was a 10” 30-30, so it didn’t have nearly as much wallop as a 6CM or a 6.5CM. If I ever draw another goat tag, I wouldn’t hesitate to use either of those cartridges.

You speak about wallop with such authority! With your 10” bang stick , you must also have some serious down-range, knock-down power, too!

 

[Decker9]

My caliber is the last thing I think of when determining to pull the trigger or not on a Billy.

Either or will do just fine in killing a goat. I would grab whichever is more compact.

 

[BCDJR]

British Columbia.n

British Columbia.

I hunted goats and sheep and last stop was Watson Lake. Then another flight into the back country. I packed a .300 win mag. Back when I hunted the guide was not permitted to carry a rifle. During my hunt I had two encounters with grizzly bears.