Nanny

[sniper61]

Would you use your points and put in for a nanny only tag and why?
If I get a billy this year in Ak. I might think about it . I would like to use my points , be for I can't climb up to them. I turn 55 in a few days. Good luck to all.

 

[realunlucky]

I've been applying my wife for a utah nanny. Main reason for me is odds and only being able to apply for a single OIL tag a year here. I've started to apply myself for cow bison tried of point creep

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[Jacob_Outdoors]

I think you would need to ask yourself what's important. The hunt, or the trophy?

I recently took a doe antelope in a state where most buck tags take 8-10 years minimum to draw (and that's for mediocre units, good units can take 20+).

Some scoffed at my choice, at the end of the day I am a hunter of opportunity. Spending more time in the field and a freezer of wild game are what matters most to me.


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[AK Troutbum]

Would you use your points and put in for a nanny only tag and why?
If I get a billy this year in Ak. I might think about it . I would like to use my points , be for I can't climb up to them. I turn 55 in a few days. Good luck to all.

Not to derail the thread but, where and when are you hunting sniper?


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[sniper61]

I will be in Cordova sept 22 and hunting with Dennis Zadra. Do you live near there?

 

[AK Troutbum]

No, not really, I'm about 20 miles north of Anchorage. I go down to Kodiak every year and goat hunt, usually in Oct. Goats are probably my favorite animal to hunt. Good luck on getting your billy.


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[Cliff Gray]

Nannies are beautiful animals, represent a similar challenge and make fantastic trophies. Hair beats horns if you are talking goats, in my mind.

I'm not a fan of nanny harvest in the least bit because localized populations are so adversely affected by the over harvest of nannies on either sex tags. However, if it's a nanny only tag there is hopefully a good biological reason. I say go for it.

 

[Cindy]

My take on nanny hunting is this.
If you are going to hunt nannies, use the "DO NO HARM" method.
Do no harm meaning, take an old nanny that is past her prime, one that has contributed all she is going to to the population.
I see many nannies in the spring that are too old to produce young. They have done all they will do, and they are set on a course to die of old age.

Those nannies are the perfect ones to harvest with a nanny tag.
Why let them die of old age? Why let opportunities to hunt these animals pass?

On the other hand, too many times young nannies are taken. This is legal, but a shame to see.
A young nanny in her prime, still producing young, or about to start producing young takes more than one animal out of the system.
If a nanny is going to produce 4 or 5 young, and those young are going to produce t hat many young, harvesting nannies can be detrimental.

So, I say, if you get a nanny tag, congratulations.
Hunt hard, find an old goat, and enjoy the experience and the trophy.

But thats just my opinion.

 

[Yellowknife]

On the other hand, too many times young nannies are taken. This is legal, but a shame to see.
A young nanny in her prime, still producing young, or about to start producing young takes more than one animal out of the system.
If a nanny is going to produce 4 or 5 young, and those young are going to produce t hat many young, harvesting nannies can be detrimental.

So, I say, if you get a nanny tag, congratulations.
Hunt hard, find an old goat, and enjoy the experience and the trophy.

Where did you get this information? I'm not a goat expert, but have gotten the impression from the research documents I've read that older nannies are actually higher value to the population. The "experienced" nannies have kids more often and stand a better chance of raising them to adulthood. Younger nannies are basically taking up space in the habitat, and in "nanny only" areas a percentage can be harvested with little impact to the overall population, presumably because they will be quickly replaced?

Typical quote from an Alaska bio, speaking about a certain population of SE AK goats:

Managing Mountain Goats in Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

“Research shows that when a population is in decline, if you continue to harvest nannies, and especially older nannies, you can lose the whole population,” Mooney said. “Since the average age of breeding females is four, and some females don’t breed until they are five or even six, you lose a lot of your recruitment.”

“We’ve hit nannies pretty hard for the past 16 years,” he said. “We had an expanding population and the average age of the harvested nannies was 3 years of age, and that’s the only way we could have handled that.”

I am NOT a biologist, so maybe I'm misinterpreting. Very possible actually. But I believe nannies live to be 12+ yrs old, and it's going to be near impossible to tell a 7 yr old prime breeder from a dried up 12 yr old, yes?

 

[AK Troutbum]

I think that Cindy was just referring to old barren nannies. But yeah, I hear you, trying to distinguish an old barren nanny from a possible nanny in her prime at 7 or 8 year old could be very difficult, if not impossible.

 

[Yellowknife]

I think that Cindy was just referring to old barren nannies. But yeah, I hear you, trying to distinguish an old barren nanny from a possible nanny in her prime at 7 or 8 year old could be very difficult, if not impossible.

I'm looking for an education here. Every document I've read indicates that populations are highly dependent on mature females. I'm not sure how to interpret that, since young goats are required to make old goats. I have yet to read anything that indicated that they become barren after a certain age, although it may very well be possible. Certainly a 10+ yr old goat will have less future potential than a 6 yr old goat, so that seems reasonably valid. Not sure how you could judge that in the field though.

I've also read someplace that introduced populations can maintained higher than normal reproduction rates indefinitely if a percentage is being harvested. The reason I presume for the nanny only hunts in some places?

And back to the original subject.... I'd have zero issues shooting nanny of any age if they were being managed that way. Goat is excellent table fare and the hunt is fun regardless. Seems a perfectly fine way to burn points to me.

 

[freebird134]

A young nanny in her prime, still producing young, or about to start producing young takes more than one animal out of the system.
If a nanny is going to produce 4 or 5 young, and those young are going to produce t hat many young, harvesting nannies can be detrimental.
.

The problem with this argument is that it assumes the mt goat population is entirely controlled by top-down processes (i.e. Predators/hunters). This is very unlikely. I'm an ecologist, but not a mt goat expert, so maybe I'm wrong. But rarely are populations limited by the top-down. Instead, herbivores are usually limited by resources (eg, food). Killing a nanny---and removing her potential offspring from a population---may actually have 0 effect because the resources those animals would have consumed are now available for other individuals.

Game managers are not perfect and I often disagree with them. However, they probably 1) know more than we do about what is affecting the population and 2) hopefully have a long term objective in mind. That being said, follow the rules and let them manage the population.

 

[MBrown]

I think Freebird is on to something... The article below highlights some of his points.

Redirect Notice

 

[Colby Jack]

I will be in Cordova sept 22 and hunting with Dennis Zadra. Do you live near there?

How was your hunt? Details of your experience would be greatly appreciated!!!!

 

[sniper61]

How was your hunt? Details of your experience would be greatly appreciated!!!!

All I could dream for and then some. I posted photos and a few details in a post in Oct. title Ak. goat I think it was.

 

[sniper61]

Well I did it. I put in for a nanny tag. The meat was top of the line from my Ak. billy. I am having him live sized, if I get a nanny I'll have a shoulder mount done. Good luck to all. Sniper

 

[Bowhuntr64]

I put in for a Nanny here in CO, just because they are easier tags to draw and it is pretty hard to even tell the difference in a mount...unless you know your business. Thankfully, I drew it this year and am hoping to score in Mid Oct.