CB11WYO
Well-Known Member
Took a day off work to hit the Speed Goat opener. Made it a 3 generation ordeal... my dad, myself and my 3 yr old boy.
Our day started at sunup and we saw dozens and dozens as the day went on. Interestingly, there weren't alot of BIG bucks to be seen. There were a good number of young bachelor groups as well as some quite large herds that we sorted through. We were just lacking those "wow-factor" jump-out-at-ya-on-the-first-glance type of bucks. Me and dad pretty much wore out the phrase "just another buck."
This was only compounded by the other problems we faced - wind and skittish animals. A 20 mph wind was our constant companion throughout the entire day... dawn til dusk. Quite annoying. The goats were crazy spooky, like they'd already been rifle hunted for a month! The average distance to which we were able to close the gap was 700-800 yards. And after that they made known the origin of the nickname "speed goat."
700-800 yards ain't no problem at all but that darn wind was just miserable, didn't really want to go long with that at my 3 o'clock.
Finally about 5:30 in the evening we got on a pair of herd-less bucks along the top of our last ridge for the day. We'd bump 'em and they'd run farther down the ridge in the direction we were going. Then we'd bump them again, and so on and so forth. Finally after so many looks I decided that I'd take the larger one, and got my "game face" on. We got on him at 400 yards, 20 mph wind from 1 o'clock. By the time he stopped long enough for me to get steady, dad called out "489 yards!" He was facing right, quartering to me. I dialed the elevation, noted the wind, put the crosshairs on the front shoulder and let 'er fly.
Whilst I was recovering from the recoil I heard the "thwwaaap" through my earplugs and thought "good deal, good deal." When I got back on him he was jogging right packing an awfully limp right front leg. He made it 50 yards, stopped and folded, placing him conveniently next to the road.
I'll post carnage pics on another thread later... the 7mm 180 gr Berger Target VLD shattered the shoulder blade, blew a golf ball sized hole going into the rib cage, made mush of the top half of the boiler room contents, and put a nickel sized hole in between the last couple ribs going out. He was dead on bullet impact, his 3 good legs just took a second to catch on.
Remington 700, 28" Fluted Broughton, Shrewd Brake
Leupold VXIII LR 8.5-25x50mm, HS Precision stock
7mm Remington Magnum, 180 gr Berger Target VLD, 68 gr Retumbo, 2900 fps
Our day started at sunup and we saw dozens and dozens as the day went on. Interestingly, there weren't alot of BIG bucks to be seen. There were a good number of young bachelor groups as well as some quite large herds that we sorted through. We were just lacking those "wow-factor" jump-out-at-ya-on-the-first-glance type of bucks. Me and dad pretty much wore out the phrase "just another buck."
This was only compounded by the other problems we faced - wind and skittish animals. A 20 mph wind was our constant companion throughout the entire day... dawn til dusk. Quite annoying. The goats were crazy spooky, like they'd already been rifle hunted for a month! The average distance to which we were able to close the gap was 700-800 yards. And after that they made known the origin of the nickname "speed goat."
700-800 yards ain't no problem at all but that darn wind was just miserable, didn't really want to go long with that at my 3 o'clock. Finally about 5:30 in the evening we got on a pair of herd-less bucks along the top of our last ridge for the day. We'd bump 'em and they'd run farther down the ridge in the direction we were going. Then we'd bump them again, and so on and so forth. Finally after so many looks I decided that I'd take the larger one, and got my "game face" on. We got on him at 400 yards, 20 mph wind from 1 o'clock. By the time he stopped long enough for me to get steady, dad called out "489 yards!" He was facing right, quartering to me. I dialed the elevation, noted the wind, put the crosshairs on the front shoulder and let 'er fly.
Whilst I was recovering from the recoil I heard the "thwwaaap" through my earplugs and thought "good deal, good deal." When I got back on him he was jogging right packing an awfully limp right front leg. He made it 50 yards, stopped and folded, placing him conveniently next to the road.
I'll post carnage pics on another thread later... the 7mm 180 gr Berger Target VLD shattered the shoulder blade, blew a golf ball sized hole going into the rib cage, made mush of the top half of the boiler room contents, and put a nickel sized hole in between the last couple ribs going out. He was dead on bullet impact, his 3 good legs just took a second to catch on.
Remington 700, 28" Fluted Broughton, Shrewd Brake
Leupold VXIII LR 8.5-25x50mm, HS Precision stock
7mm Remington Magnum, 180 gr Berger Target VLD, 68 gr Retumbo, 2900 fps
