My son took his goat over this past weekend in Idaho's unit 27-2. We glassed the goat for an hour or so at 500 yards with our spotter and determined it was a good Billy. We waited until he bedded.
I then had a long conversation with him about the hair not being great this time of year and that we have time to come back later, but I told him I'm leaving the choices of this hunt up to him so it is his call. He thought long and hard and said he'd like to get a better look, so we did about a 1-1/2 mile loop around and up the scree fields. This took about an hour and a half and when we crested the ridge, he was 140 yards below and still bedded in the shade. I set up the spotter and had my son spend some time looking over him. We quietly discussed the estimated size and age as well as hair of the Billy. I estimated him at 8-9" and maybe 6-7 years old. He just had a face that didn't scream old, but had good horn length but a bit shy on the bases.
I asked him what he thought. "I like him a lot Dad, he is in a great location where we can retrieve him and we made a sweet stalk" "he is within my shooting range and I have a comfortable rest" I mentioned there may be better ones out there and asked if he would be happy to hang him on his wall for the next 70 years. He mentioned he didn't care about a record book goat and he had made up his mind to take this one.
He has been around hunting since he could walk and has killed a couple deer himself as well as small game and countless upland birds. He has a level head and understands many things about being a good, true hunter than a lot of adults I have guided in the past.
We discussed the problems with shooting a bedded animal, also when the shot was this steep and he decided to wait until the goat stood up for a clean shot. In total we waited about 45 minutes. The sun crept up on the goat's shade tree and so he stood up to stretch. I was watching the goat through the spotter, so saw the goat hit hard when the shot rang out. The goat kind of stood there wobbling, so I told him to shoot again. Too much excitement and adrenaline for a quality shot and he missed, but the goat wasn't going anywhere. The goat laid down not 10 feet from where he was hit.
Turned out to be 9-1/4" Billy. I'm taking him to the fish and game this week for check in and will have his age. Great hunt with my son, a bit sad it is over already. I felt proud of him for the way he worked things out in his mind and made his own choices. He will be hunting too soon without his Dad, and hopefully this was another good step in his education. I'm not the best on posting pictures if there is a better way feel free to let me know.
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww216/IdahoRob/Renesgoat1a.jpg?t=1378234398
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/...-097b-45d8-af1a-a9507dcb0a2b.jpg?t=1378234567
I then had a long conversation with him about the hair not being great this time of year and that we have time to come back later, but I told him I'm leaving the choices of this hunt up to him so it is his call. He thought long and hard and said he'd like to get a better look, so we did about a 1-1/2 mile loop around and up the scree fields. This took about an hour and a half and when we crested the ridge, he was 140 yards below and still bedded in the shade. I set up the spotter and had my son spend some time looking over him. We quietly discussed the estimated size and age as well as hair of the Billy. I estimated him at 8-9" and maybe 6-7 years old. He just had a face that didn't scream old, but had good horn length but a bit shy on the bases.
I asked him what he thought. "I like him a lot Dad, he is in a great location where we can retrieve him and we made a sweet stalk" "he is within my shooting range and I have a comfortable rest" I mentioned there may be better ones out there and asked if he would be happy to hang him on his wall for the next 70 years. He mentioned he didn't care about a record book goat and he had made up his mind to take this one.
He has been around hunting since he could walk and has killed a couple deer himself as well as small game and countless upland birds. He has a level head and understands many things about being a good, true hunter than a lot of adults I have guided in the past.
We discussed the problems with shooting a bedded animal, also when the shot was this steep and he decided to wait until the goat stood up for a clean shot. In total we waited about 45 minutes. The sun crept up on the goat's shade tree and so he stood up to stretch. I was watching the goat through the spotter, so saw the goat hit hard when the shot rang out. The goat kind of stood there wobbling, so I told him to shoot again. Too much excitement and adrenaline for a quality shot and he missed, but the goat wasn't going anywhere. The goat laid down not 10 feet from where he was hit.
Turned out to be 9-1/4" Billy. I'm taking him to the fish and game this week for check in and will have his age. Great hunt with my son, a bit sad it is over already. I felt proud of him for the way he worked things out in his mind and made his own choices. He will be hunting too soon without his Dad, and hopefully this was another good step in his education. I'm not the best on posting pictures if there is a better way feel free to let me know.
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/ww216/IdahoRob/Renesgoat1a.jpg?t=1378234398
http://i721.photobucket.com/albums/...-097b-45d8-af1a-a9507dcb0a2b.jpg?t=1378234567
