Another banner year for goats!!

[Kilimanjaro]

Well, I made the trip back home to west TX this weekend to lend a hand for my buddy Kev on our annual pronghorn hunt.. unfortunately, I didn't have a tag this season.. I spent all my moola in Africa this summer and couldn't afford a permit this season!! Anyways, we found several smoker goats on the ranch we were on. We found 2 that were totally different in shape, but would each score about the same. One was a goat that was almost straight up and had very little hook on the end and the other was a more of a classic heart shaped goat. We looked at a ton of others, but these two were the best we could find. So, with that said, Kev decided to try and find the heart shaped buck again. We found him and looked him over once more. Kev then decided this was the goat for him .. And what a hunt it turned out to be! We found them in a bowl on the side of a small hill and put a stalk on them. We had them at around 150 yds, but the ocotillo was just too thick for a shot and the does took him outta there in a hurry. We watched where they were headed, got on another stalk and soon found ourselves being pegged yet again by the does. This time from over 500 yds. We just sat down and watched this 'ol buck chase these does all over the county trying to keep them rounded up. He was being run ragged. Finally, they went over a little rise and that gave us the opportunity to get up on them a third time. this time, we had them below us at about 200 yards. The buck was still busy rounding up the does when we found him. I ranged him right at 200. And the little .223WSSM barked and the buck dropped. After the high fives and such, we realized that the herd had taken us more than 2 miles from where we started!! It was a great goat hunt!

After the goat was taken care of, we tried to find an aoudad ram for me. We went up into the moutains, and saw plenty of sheep, but didn't see any shooter rams. But the good thing is that we can sheep hunt there anytime we like so it wasn't too big of a deal that we struck out this trip. There will another trip this winter for a ram..

All in all, it was a great weekend! We got to hunt some good goats in some great country, chase a few aoudads around and see some old friends... And best of all, I secured me another goat tag for next season with the landowner!!!

 

And here he is...

thanks for lookin'!!

[peloncillo]

Way to go! I didn't even know Texas had pronghorns. I used to hunt by Cotulla and there were some strange animals on that ranch but I never saw an antelope.

 

Keven

[Kilimanjaro]

no pronghorns in that part of TX.. You'll find goats in the panhandle (up north) and out in the the Trans-Pecos area of TX (out west)... And some of those areas are known for producing some gagger sized bucks in good years..

[azcouesandelk]

Very nice buck there Scotty. Sounds like a good ol' fashion hard hunt that turned out successfully. Congrats to your buddy on what looks like an awesome goat.

[DEERSLAM]

Sweet, congrats to your bud. Sounds like you guys had a great time.

[youngbuck]

great lookin lope. I was wonderin what loads you were shootin in the 223 wssm, I have had good results with a 55 gr V-max for yotes, and would like a heavier bullet for small to medium sized game.

[bowhunter4life]

scottyboy. do you know of any good javelina/hogs in that west end of texas. also did you drive there and how many hours away were you. thanks, mike

[Kilimanjaro]

youngbuck, all I know about the loads Kev was using in his .223WSSM were the bullets.. it was those BarnesX triple shocks.. don't know about the actual loads. sorry.

 

bowhunter, we saw a few herds of Javies in the area each day we were out. Plenty of the stinky little boogers out there. there are also some hogs in the areas east of where we were. More irrigated country to the east. I know some landowners out in the Alpine area that have TONS of javies on their ranches.. And it usually takes me right at 6 hrs to make it to this area of TX from here in AZ. I meet Kev in El Paso ( he lives there) and its about an hour east of there. Not too far. Plenty of good goats and muleys in that country and not far from there (45 mins), its good country for sheep.. both desert bighorns and aoudads..

[Guest Ernesto C]

Niiiiiccceeee very nice. I like the spread on that beatifull antelope,congrats to the both of you.

[mikep35]

Great lookin' goat man! I've always wanted to hunt in texas.

[coues4x4]

Nice goat Scottyboy,what does the aoudad tag go for? Sure would be nice to get out as many different places as you,Lucky.

[AZP&Y]

Nice Job Scottyboy!

 

I just got off the the Weatherford trail after my cow elk hunt in 6a north. Hiking in the hi-country on the peaks is beautiful these days .. Been doing any hiking?

 

Looks like hunting ! Great job!

 

Your house must be getting full with mounts ?

 

Doug

AzP&Y

[cramerhunts]

Beautiful buck, thanks for sharing the pictures and story with us.

[Red Rabbit]

Sweet success, again.

 

RR

[Kilimanjaro]

AZP&Y, no hiking yet.. It's still just too hot down here. Supposed to be 96 or 97 down here today.

Is it ever gonna cool off?? It was cooler in the summer around here than it is now. When it does, we are gonna hike Rincon Peak. Its the last major Tucson Peak we have yet to climb!!

I think our next big outa state peak is gonna be Wheeler Peak in NM again. I did it back in '99, and it was a great hike, so we are talking about knocking it out again.. Glad to hear you're still out there pluggling away!! And that the weather is good up there for ya!

 

thanks for looking everyone!!