Shooting a nanny

[60x]

Assuming you are hunting in an area that the population is healthy, what are your thoughts on taking a nanny. I get a lot of mixed reviews here in Alaska so I'm interested in all different perspectives. Personally I have taken a nanny and I am as proud of it as any other animal I've taken and it's one of my greatest trophies cause quite honestly I worked my ass off for 17 day before I pulled the trigger.

 

[armyjoe]

Hunting is about enjoying the experience and being proud of it. I hunt nannies, ewes, cows, does.... doesn't matter as long as I'm filling the freezer and out hunting.

 

[tipsntails7]

considering I will probably draw 1-2 goat tags in my lifetime. im probably not going to pass on a nannie as long as it is legal. heck someof these photos I cant even tell the difference. to my untrained eye it is not easy.

 

[Brock A]

Wouldn't think twice!

 

[Craig Van Arsdale]

Doesn't bother me either !

 

[60x]

Hunting is about enjoying the experience and being proud of it.

That there is a great statement!!!

 

[Floorguy]

As long as it wasn't with kids and everything else was legal I wouldn't have a problem with it, same with cow moose, caribou with no calves or sow with no cubs.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I personally have no problem with shooting nannies. That being said, I've been on three goat hunts and had opportunities to kill nannies on every hunt, and I have yet to kill a goat. I will be heading back down to Kodiak goat hunting this fall and I'll either kill a billy or I will leave empty handed once again. For whatever reason, I decided a while ago that my first goat would be a billy and I'm going to stick with that.

 

[realunlucky]

Hoping to draw a nannie tag here in Utah. It's an oil tag but really don't want to wait a lifetime for a billie tag

 

[60x]

I personally have no problem with shooting nannies. That being said, I've been on three goat hunts and had opportunities to kill nannies on every hunt, and I have yet to kill a goat. I will be heading back down to Kodiak goat hunting this fall and I'll either kill a billy or I will leave empty handed once again. For whatever reason, I decided a while ago that my first goat would be a billy and I'm going to stick with that.

I like your answer. There are lots of hunts I go on and pass on legal game for different reasons.
For me it just depends I guess. I just don't like when folks give others crap about what they shoot and it seems goats top the list at times. I had a bud shoot one of his first big game critters last year and it was a nanny. I don't ever think I've seen a more happy hunter.

 

[justin davis]

I see nothing wrong with shooting a nanny. With that said when I draw a goat tag in Colorado is will try my hardest to harvest a nice mature billy. Something about billies is cool.
If it came down to the wire I would shoot a nanny because it might be my only time.

 

[pacific-23]

Depends on the politics of the area too. We went to severe nanny restrictions several years ago, with things being broken down by major drainages. (6 billies, 1 nanny etc). With that in mind I have passed on nannies three different years, (two consecutively) and only shot two goats. While legal, I didn't want to be "that guy". That being said, I helped a friend gets his first goat last year, a nanny, and he was (and is) still on cloud nine over it. Any goat is a trophy, anyone who says anything else has either never hunted goats, or is just kind of an azz h$&@.

 

[60x]

Depends on the politics of the area too. We went to severe nanny restrictions several years ago, with things being broken down by major drainages. (6 billies, 1 nanny etc). With that in mind I have passed on nannies three different years, (two consecutively) and only shot two goats. While legal, I didn't want to be "that guy". That being said, I helped a friend gets his first goat last year, a nanny, and he was (and is) still on cloud nine over it. Any goat is a trophy, anyone who says anything else has either never hunted goats, or is just kind of an azz h$&@.

Very good points all around!!

 

[ketchadeer]

60x said:
Assuming you are hunting in an area that the population is healthy, what are your thoughts on taking a nanny. I get a lot of mixed reviews here in Alaska so I'm interested in all different perspectives. Personally I have taken a nanny and I am as proud of it as any other animal I've taken and it's one of my greatest trophies cause quite honestly I worked my ass off for 17 day before I pulled the trigger.

The underlined part is the big part for me, personally.

I agree if it isn't going to change the hunt from a Registration to a Draw, for example. Or shut it down early in some cases(see Sitka, last year or two I believe). The biologist for the Sitka area Mr. Mooney said among other things (like severe winters) that nannies were taken at a high rate from 40% to a high of 62%. There has been some somewhat recent research by Cote-Bianchet that, I am summarizing here, mountain goats are pretty slow at reproduction and breed late relative to other ungulates like deer or elk. If I remember correctly, it is typical for a nanny to be 4 years old or older to start becoming a contributor to the herd.
Alaska Fish and Game also pushes taking Billies with some literature and sex identification.

So in short, I will do my best at never taking a nanny. Will it happen? only on accident, I understand this can happen. Am I offended if others do? No, unless I am not allowed to hunt them in the future due to someone else's carelessness or lack of responsibility. Then I will have a problem with it

 

[mtnclimber]

I personally wouldn't, but don't have a reason to support it.. had a gorgeous long haired (for october) nanny at thirty feet last year and just couldn't pull the trigger. I swear its never seen a human before the thing acted like a curious black lab when it saw us and that could of been part of the reason why i didnt. it started walking towards us and got to about 30 feet and never really spooked off just kinda hung out.

 

[Becca]

Lots of good comments above, and I can respect and agree with both perspectives. In my experience, mountains goats are some of the toughest animals out there to kill, both due to the rugged terrain they call home and also due to their tough and hardy nature. I feel that any goat you can successfully haul off the mountain without getting hurt is a real trophy, regardless of size or sex. My first goat was a large nanny, and I couldn't have been prouder when I returned to Kodiak safely and brought her home. That being said, I set a goal for myself last fall to hold out for a billy, and there was something special to me about setting that goal and then being successful in that endeavor as well.

 

[60x]

I appreciate all the candid responses. It's nice to get opinions from a broader audience. Ketchadeer I put that line in on purpose. I think as hunters we should be responsible. And part of that is to research a hunt and know the health and population. In my case I was in an area that the population was booming and also talked with the bio prior to the hunt. If I were in certain areas that you speak of my thinking would be completely different.


Becca you ain't kiddin about how tough those critters are!! Sometimes I thing we are nuts for chasing them...lol

 

[Rackmastr]

I personally wouldnt WANT to do it, but I do know the desire to harvest a goat is high and some areas having a tag is tougher than others.

I moved to BC 2 years ago and went on what I knew would be a 1-day goat hunt near home. I hiked for hours towards a big Billy and got within 500 yards of him. He started to get spooky and I had a big nanny at about 225 yards all by herself. I had a tough time letting that goat walk, but after doing it I felt a lot better. I knew I'd hunt goats again the following year and ended up shooting a nice 9"+ Billy this past fall.

If an area had a big population and it was a rare occurance or an old mature goat, sure. Would I target one? No. Would I look down the nose of someone who did? Certianly not. For me I'd rather shoot a big Billy and am glad to have one down....from here on in it will be the search for a bruiser now!!

 

[Bighorse]

Not on purpose anymore. I enjoy hunting goats. Shooting nanny goats doesn't help a herd. Billys provide more meat.

Plus I hunt for a challenge. Locating and sucessfully killing a target animal is very satifying to me as a hunter. Whacking a nanny just doesn't do it for me.

 

[Sleepy Creek]

Interesting topic. I was actually surprised by the number of pro-nanny takers. I am lucky enough to live a short distance from the best goat hunting in SE AK. We are allowed one annually as residents and a second goat if we wish to travel south to a different unit. For whatever reason personally I side heavily on the let nannies walk rule. It is legal to take dry nannies here, but everyone I know avoids this. My feelings are based in a mixture of things and are just that, my feelings, others can do what they wish of course. The first is, I witnessed first hand the decimation of local herds by a handful of guys that shot a ton of goats in the 80s and 90s. Nannies, billies, whatever..they shot them. It took YEARS for the population to bounce back. I included a link to the states Goat Quiz where they encourage hunters to take billies if possible. There is also a chart that shows the projected effect on the herd based on the animal a hunter takes.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/hunting/goathunting/pdfs/goat_long_quiz_for_web.pdf

Secondly, due to local guide pressure, we have been put on a quota system in my preferred hunting area. A billie is worth one point, a nanny worth two. When the total reaches 10, the area is shut down. So it doesn't take but a couple irresponsible hunters going out and shooting a couple nannies to crash the hunt for everybody else. This is a tough one to avoid, because nannies are more numerous by far and generally more easily accessible so it is a slippery slope.
Lastly and most importantly to me, I have to agree with Bighorse's comment completely, going for the target animal is where the satisfaction is at.
A winter nanny does have a beautiful hide and a hunter does have to get up into goat country to get one, but it just isn't there for me.

I understand that the thinning of females in certain animal populations is a successful management tool. I personally don't shoot females.