weekend day trip for goats pics

[Kitimat Killer]

hey guys well went up for the our first trip last sunday the night before me and nichole spotted a couple of nannies with kids plus one billy so sunday morning my uncle JR went up after them me and jr both have tags for the area i went with my bow and jr with rifle so i told him he was only aloud to take a billy but if i had a chance i would take a dry nannie with my bow so up we went getting to the alpine we spotted right away teh nannies right on top. so having a snack off we went to go look for the billy
getting to the top he was no where to be found so my uncle and jr stayed were we were to glass and i went off by my self to go look for the nannies
after about an hour walk i found them looking them over there were 4 nannies and 2 kids, i could not tell which kid belonged to which nannie so i passed not wanting to make a mistake and take the wrong nannie well guys here are the pics
the first pics is of the nannies the night before
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879306_2255.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9975&size=big&cat=500)
this one is of the billy
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879308_2845.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9976&size=big&cat=500)
this is the waterfall we have to past up on the left to start up the mnt
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879309_3133.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9977&size=big&cat=500)

[Kitimat Killer]

the next is of my uncle and Jr in the timber
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879311_3757.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9978&size=big&cat=500)
getting close to the top now
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879318_5950.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9979&size=big&cat=500)
me half way up
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879323_7571.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9980&size=big&cat=500)

[Kitimat Killer]

on the way back down at about 7 at night
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879325_8225.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9981&size=big&cat=500)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/n615940112_3879327_8899.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=9982&size=big&cat=500)
well to me it was a sucsesfull trip we went up seen some goat and came back down all to gether plus the weather was awesome good day to spend some time with family

[TIKA 300]

That is some steep terrain,holy cra& ........ Looks like fun.Hope you getum next time round. TK

[Avalanche123]

Looks good. It's great to see local pics too. Sunday was a pretty warm day so you must have been sweating bullets. Are you guys planning on going back?

[Kitimat Killer]

Looks good. It's great to see local pics too. Sunday was a pretty warm day so you must have been sweating bullets. Are you guys planning on going back?

ya we are it was warm thats for sure my good buddy has a tag too so me might go back to the same mnt or try a diffrent one that i know holds lots of goats

[dana]

Looks like a blast. I sure would love to be hunting right now. Sept can't come fast enough. Hope to get my son on his first goat before the nasty weather nails the highcountry.

[Kitimat Killer]

Looks like a blast. I sure would love to be hunting right now. Sept can't come fast enough. Hope to get my son on his first goat before the nasty weather nails the highcountry.

ya thats what where trying to do for jr trying to get him one before the weather turns nasty i don't care for my self i know it's goign to take some time to get one wiht my bow but going to give it my all

[hunter1947]

KK you shot some very nice pic thanks for posting them up.

How long did it take you to go up and how many feet did you go up ???.

[guest]

K K,
Nice pic's sounds like you had a good day.
I admire the fact that you want your uncle to take only a Billy, and if your taking a nanny good on you to take a dry one. That said, sounds like your educated on goats, lots of guys don't realize just how sensitive to harvest they are. The older Nannies are the leads of the entire group, the boss's to some extent. Many areas in the province are close to going all LEH or closures are to come, by selecting Billies we can avoid this.
Nice area, your hunting, I'm off for my LEH come Sept. 1st.
Good luck with the bow!
C/T

[jml11]

Not sure that I would ever purposely harvest a nanny, dry or not, for two reasons. The biggest is the whole population dynamics debate and the fact that goats are extremely sensitive to harvest. I understand that management may assume a small nanny harvest and that most populations can probably accomodate the loss of a nanny or two. I'm not an expert on goats but who's to say that dry nanny will be dry next year? I just wouldn't want to be a cause of any future closures. I would also be a little embarrassed to bring it in for inspection and get a lecture from them (don't know if they would actually do that).

The other is that in my mind goats are a pure trophy animal and IMO a nanny is not a trophy, so why shoot one on purpose. Same reason I don't understand why people have a desire to take ewe cali's in the fraser canyon....boggles my mind.

I have taken two nice billies in my short hunting career and found it quite easy to tell them apart from the nannies (could have taken both with a bow as well). I think there are enough billies out there that we can easily avoid taking nannies.

Just my two cents on the topic, nothing personal.

[Orangethunder]

Thanks for the pics and story. Glad to here you guys had fun. I would only take a billy myself but each to their own. Best of luck next time out.

[Kitimat Killer]

KK you shot some very nice pic thanks for posting them up.

How long did it take you to go up and how many feet did you go up ???.

it only took us 1 hour to hit alpine then a couple after that to hit the top we could made to the top in less but of course lots of time glassing for that billy i was just shy 7000 ft but i did not hit the very top of the mnt.
in the lat pic of me and my uncle a few years ago my and a buddy got a 10 inch billy across the valley in that steep mnt it was tuff going but worth it all the way

[GoatGuy]

Not sure that I would ever purposely harvest a nanny, dry or not, for two reasons. The biggest is the whole population dynamics debate and the fact that goats are extremely sensitive to harvest. I understand that management may assume a small nanny harvest and that most populations can probably accomodate the loss of a nanny or two. I'm not an expert on goats but who's to say that dry nanny will be dry next year? I just wouldn't want to be a cause of any future closures. I would also be a little embarrassed to bring it in for inspection and get a lecture from them (don't know if they would actually do that).

The other is that in my mind goats are a pure trophy animal and IMO a nanny is not a trophy, so why shoot one on purpose. Same reason I don't understand why people have a desire to take ewe cali's in the fraser canyon....boggles my mind.

I have taken two nice billies in my short hunting career and found it quite easy to tell them apart from the nannies (could have taken both with a bow as well). I think there are enough billies out there that we can easily avoid taking nannies.

Just my two cents on the topic, nothing personal.

This is good feedback.


There's a couple problems with goats. Low reproductive ability, maturation and birthing ages are high (sometimes as high as 5yrs old) and they aren't good colonizers. Generally, in a small population (>50-100) little to no nanny harvest can occur (1 nanny every year would probably be too much). Being poor colonizers you can sometimes have goats who only live within a couple mountains and it's a totally different population. That and access are generally the reasons why MU's are so chopped up when it comes to goat GOS and LEH. Generally populations under 50 are not hunted.

Harvest varies anywhere from 3-5% of the population, although a couple of papers have shown a sustainable rate is less than 3%, sometimes closer to 1%.

A dry nanny may be dry for several reasons, not just because of age; making the assumption that a nanny is dry because she is old is nothing more than an assumption. Yearling mortality is generally somewhere between 20-35%. Predation and mortality are extremely high in the first year (like most species) and the fact that goats often don't give birth until 4-5 years old should be at the top of every hunters mind.

So, you're right, nanny harvest will lead to more closures of GOS if hunters are not harvesting billies.

Ewe harvest can happen in some populations as sheep are a fair bit more productive and have very select and small winter ranges. When the population gets high disease and severe winter kill are much more likely with high populations. That's why there are ewe seasons.

[jml11]

Thanks for the input Goatguy. that should clarifiy some people's opinions and supplements my input.



Ewe harvest can happen in some populations as sheep are a fair bit more productive and have very select and small winter ranges. When the population gets high disease and severe winter kill are much more likely with high populations. That's why there are ewe seasons.

As for the sheep ewe harvest, I understand why it is allowed, I just don't understand why people would waste their time and LEH application on them when they can get a nice trophy ram tag instead. As already stated...to each their own I guess.

[Avalanche123]

GoatGuy, I have to ask, where do you get this info? Very informative. I'll make very sure I take a Billy if the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks again.

[GoatGuy]

As for the sheep ewe harvest, I understand why it is allowed, I just don't understand why people would waste their time and LEH application on them when they can get a nice trophy ram tag instead. As already stated...to each their own I guess.

You're exactly right; to each their own. Some people don't want 'trophy' rams, some want meat and some just want to hunt. A trophy's in the eye of the beholder.

[GoatGuy]

GoatGuy, I have to ask, where do you get this info? Very informative. I'll make very sure I take a Billy if the opportunity presents itself.

Thanks again.

Osmosis.:razz:

There are several papers published each year and a lot of research that goes on particularly when it comes to goats and sheep.

There is also a biennial goat and sheep symposium where researchers meet and present research, findings - the there's a report that's published from it that's available for a cost $$, can't remember what it is. A google search should turn something up. It's kinda like a party for researchers. Exciting, I know.

[Avalanche123]

You should post the links to these papers. I am sure others would find the info infornative as well.

Time to go google this stuff!

[GoatGuy]

You should post the links to these papers. I am sure others would find the info infornative as well.

Time to go google this stuff!

Most of them aren't on the internet or they have to be purchased via the net. I'm sure there's some that are available on the net.

Here's a link to the NWSGC


http://www.nwsgc.org/symposia.html


They have their books for sale anywhere from $20-35 - kinda like a readers digest version. There's a lot of high level stats and models but the writing's usually clear enough to get the just of things.

[Avalanche123]

Thanks! I added it to my favourites.