Nevada goat pic

[Petersen]

I went out scouting yesterday and spotted this little guy about a mile off. With the heat waves I couldn't tell exactly what he was so I went back this morning to get closer and hopefully take some pics. I am guessing his good horn (right) is 13"+. His left is missing about 1.5"+ as near as I can tell. What do you think?

This is actually a decent buck for the area. Bucks that are 13"-15" are typically shooters and I have never seen one over 15" in the area.

[remingtonman_25_06]

Looks pretty small to me... I'd say hes no bigger then 12" on his right side.

[jimbo300]

He looks small to me also. I have hunted antelope in WY several times and have looked over quite a few animals during those hunts. The ears on antelope in WY average 6" in length, which makes a good reference by which to judge horn length. I not sure if the antelope in your part a NV have ears that average 6", but if they do I don't believe this guy will measure up. FWIW, you can also use the antelopes eye ball to aid in judging his horn mass. Good luck hunting.

[esshup]

Could you clarify the "eyeball" guide to 'lope horn judging to me? I'm going out West for the first time this year and that's one of the critters that I'll be looking at.

Thanks

[jimbo300]

Esshup,

I guess I should clarify myself and say eye-socket instead of eyeball. When looking at an antelope, especially at long range the eye appears large due to black hair/skin which encircles the eye itself. While the eyeball is about 1.25" wide from a side profile, this black area from front to back is roughly 2". To accurately judge the mass on an antelope, you really need to get a view of the bucks side profile, and also a frontal view.

To judge mass using the eye/black area included--from a side profile, if the bucks horn appears as wide as his eye he's probably under 6" of mass.
if the horn appears to be 2.25"----mass should be 6"
2.50"----mass should be 6.5"
2.75"----mass should be 7"
3"-------mass should be 7.5"

If he looks good to heavy from the frontal view mass can be even greater, however if he appears to have thin frontal mass the circumference could be about .5" less. How he carries that mass through the quarter measurements is also important. If the buck looks heavy above the cutters that's icing on the cake.

The eye can also be used to judge length of the cutters.

Hope this helps

Jim

[esshup]

Thanks!

[royinidaho]

From my view point I'd say he's a keeper because:

1) You have him patterned really well as evidenced by the pics.

2) If you are a LR hunter you can arrange your shot for your longest shot braggin' rights. That's important around here;) (Yards are more important than inches......) It's kind of a new concept but rapidly catching on.

3) His horns are quite recognizable allowing you to identify him at distance so you can start out far and work up as close as you need.

4) The flesh looks to be tender enough for good eatin' which is high on 'my' list of considerations.

Let us know what you decide and don't forget the white paper plate with info in the pic.