Рет қаралды 31,591
I'm out on on a local contract shoot today hunting Feral Goats.
The biggest challenge hunting the goats on this property is the steep terrain and dense vegetation.
The goats pass through here occasionally and crossing paths with them is really a game of chance.
Generally, my plan of attack is to send up the drone and see if they are about.
I managed to locate what I thought was a small mob of goats via the drone on the far side of the property in a clearing towards the bottom of the hill.
With the goats roughly 2km away, I quickly got all my gear together and set off on foot as it was way too wet for the vehicle.
Running my Sako .223 topped with the HikMicro Panther PQ50L V2.0 thermal scope.
First obstacle was to avoid the farmers friends and not slip over on the muddy ground.
The walk in was a bit of a challenge with a group of rogue cattle running up the wet track in front of me towards the area that I had spotted the goats. I thought for sure that they were going to ruin the hunt.
Fortunately for me, the goats had moved further up the hillside and away from the crazy cows.
After spooking a couple of the local skippy's I managed to get into a semi reasonable position to have a crack. Goats running in all directions after the first shot struck home. Trying to weave bullets through small gaps in the trees was no easy task.
Seconds later and the mob had dispersed, I managed to put my foot on 4 of the goats I had shot however the scrub was too thick to continue looking so I decided to give chase in the hope of catching back up with the mob.
After a 1 kilometre slog through the dense scrub, I was on them again.
Quickly setting up the tripod, slowing down my breathing and steadying my aim.
A handful of goats now at 200m and slowly walking away.
I sent the first shot into the boiler room of the nearest goat and what happened next was a total surprise. Goats came from everywhere, grouping back up and heading in my direction.
Waiting impatiently for a closer shot I spotted a large mob of billy's appear from my left. They must have come out of the creek. I certainly wasn't prepared for that.
Settling the crosshair on the lead billy, headshot and down he went. Once again goats running everywhere. 4 more took hits on the run with 3 dropping on the spot and 1 goat making it 20m before hitting the deck. Just when the last one disappeared from site and I thought it was all over, I saw a young goat on the far hill trying to catch up with the main mob. I took what I thought was a solid shot and had a total miss. The goat turned and ran away. You get that sometimes I suppose. Grrr
With the weather closing in, I decided to head back to the car and send the drone back up to see how many goat carcasses I could locate.
5 found out of the first encounter and 6 from the second. Pretty happy with that result considering the challenging terrain and I'm certain the farmer will be too.
In Australia, feral goats have been estimated to cause losses to livestock farming of $25 million per year, not including their impact on the environment or pasture degradation. Feral goats also negatively affect conservation values and biological diversity by damaging the vegetation and competing with native animals.
If your'e interested in purchasing any gear or just after some expert advice, contact the Team at "Hunt The Night" via the link below.
www.huntthenig...
Thanks again for watching and I look forward to seeing you back here soon.
RJM