Calibres for wild goat?

Capt Blackadder

What's the minimum recommended calibre for wild goat in Ireland?

clivej

Somewhere between .22 and .50 or failing that a 308 should knock them down

poulo6.5

Capt Blackadder wrote: »

What's the minimum recommended calibre for wild goat in Ireland?

I would say a min of .223 my self but there is no legal min as far as I know.

In fairness to the animals I would stay away from Rimfire cals as they just would not have the power needed to give the animal a quick humain kill.

Glanton

Are they classified as vermin?
No min caliber and no season?

Glensman

I don't care what they're classed as.
For kid goats, .223 and up.
If you want to take Billy's it's .243 and up.

My recommendation is stick to deer stalking calibres, goats are the same size and plenty of the time bigger than your average deer.

I use .270; but .243 and .308 would also be ideal.

A lad on here had a post up about hitting a billy well with a .270 and it charging him and needing a second round...

If we shoot to the law, then we are a sport that needs More regulation, if we self-govern then we will require Less regulation... You shouldn't really be looking for the minimum calibre; more the recommended one

garv123

Glensman wrote: »

I don't care what they're classed as.
For kid goats, .223 and up.
If you want to take Billy's it's .243 and up.

My recommendation is stick to deer stalking calibres, goats are the same size and plenty of the time bigger than your average deer.

I use .270; but .243 and .308 would also be ideal.

A lad on here had a post up about hitting a billy well with a .270 and it charging him and needing a second round...

If we shoot to the law, then we are a sport that needs More regulation, if we self-govern then we will require Less regulation... You shouldn't really be looking for the minimum calibre; more the recommended one

lad i know said he shot one (heart shot) from 50 yards with a .243 and the fecker ran at him. he hid behind a tree and had to shoot him from a few feet away in the head as he was running at him

Tackleberrywho

I've shot 20 maybe 25 goats, and I have seen that and more shot.

I dropped 2 with a swift, head shots. I saw a goat take 3 80 grain rounds before it dropped.

Puck goats take a lot to ensure instant kills.

I shot a lot of goats with a 6.5mm and it worked well.

If I was heart lung shot, I'd prefer .223 at a bare min, I'd feel more comfortable with my .308 than a grain less than 60 or so

323

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I've shot 20 maybe 25 goats, and I have seen that and more shot.

I dropped 2 with a swift, head shots. I saw a goat take 3 80 grain rounds before it dropped.

Puck goats take a lot to ensure instant kills.

I shot a lot of goats with a 6.5mm and it worked well.

If I was heart lung shot, I'd prefer .223 at a bare min, I'd feel more comfortable with my .308 than a grain less than 60 or so

Spot on, the more the better

A friend and I were asked by a forester a few years back to try sort out
a problem with feral goats decimating young forest.

Unbelievably tough and reluctant to die.

We walked in to a clearing with 30 plus goats. Both with 270 Win's, hit 2
each before they began to move, could not believe how for some of them went.

Had to put a second and third into some that were walking around bleating, dead on their feet, but not going down, not a nice memory.


Unbelievably, one even got up on a female after taking a .270 through heart and lungs, fell off half way, Ahh well, he died happy!

Final count was 9 it think, next time, I went with shotgun using SG Buck.

poulo6.5

We shot 3 yesterday. 1 nanny threw the neck 1 kid head shot both with .308 and third was hart lung with a .223. They didn't go far.

We could have shot more but they will be there for another day. Plus didn't fancy dragging them off the side of the hill.

4gun

poulo6.5 wrote: »

We shot 3 yesterday. 1 nanny threw the neck 1 kid head shot both with .308 and third was hart lung with a .223. They didn't go far.

We could have shot more but they will be there for another day. Plus didn't fancy dragging them off the side of the hill.

poor little kid I can still hear it crying for its maaaah

poulo6.5

4gun wrote: »

poor little kid I can still hear it crying for its maaaah

150gr quietened it. It had to be done. Can't leave a kid out on it's own.
I drove the whole way home with the window open.

fallowbuck

guys what do ye do with the goats when there gone to the other world, i never shot them before have spotted a few tho are they edible well obviously can be eating but do they taste ok they look smelly , never judge a book by its cover i suppose........... they could pass time for the next deer season

12gauge dave

seen them shot at 327 yards (rangefinder) with a 22.swift dropping one shot no problem!

poulo6.5

fallowbuck wrote: »

guys what do ye do with the goats when there gone to the other world, i never shot them before have spotted a few tho are they edible well obviously can be eating but do they taste ok they look smelly , never judge a book by its cover i suppose........... they could pass time for the next deer season

First couple we kept. I haven't tried it yet but 4gun's father had some and liked it.

The 2 bigger ones we dropped to a game dealer and the small one I have at home hanging and tomorrow I will skinn it.

Tackleberrywho

Even the small ones I don't like the taste of.
I also hate cottage cheese!

I've a few quite close to me.

One that is completely black with nice sized horns

However; i find most die as a result of going lame with footrot and become easy opickings for scavengers

There is a Pub in Ballyboy where there is a seriously big goats head on the wall

dev110

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Even the small ones I don't like the taste of.
I also hate cottage cheese!

I've a few quite close to me.

One that is completely black with nice sized horns

However; i find most die as a result of going lame with footrot and become easy opickings for scavengers

There is a Pub in Ballyboy where there is a seriously big goats head on the wall

I didn't know there were goats up that part of the country.

Say for using a .223 what ammo would be the best? 55gr V-max or go heavier like 70gr rounds?

I say footrot would be a shocking infection if it wasn't taken care of. Wouldn't be a nice way to go but I guess thats what your for Tack

Tackleberrywho

dev110 wrote: »

I didn't know there were goats up that part of the country.

Say for using a .223 what ammo would be the best? 55gr V-max or go heavier like 70gr rounds?

I say footrot would be a shocking infection if it wasn't taken care of. Wouldn't be a nice way to go but I guess thats what your for Tack

They are not near where you live Dev.

Can't say anymore than that

I used to shoot them in the heads mainly.
Never shot them with .223 (I did with a swift and that was a 50 grain soft nose)

I would not used less than 55 Grain, perhaps even 75 grain

They need hard stoneyy soil to wear their feet down, not the soft clay/bog of the midlands IMHO

4gun

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Even the small ones I don't like the taste of.
I also hate cottage cheese!

I've a few quite close to me.

One that is completely black with nice sized horns

However; i find most die as a result of going lame with footrot and become easy opickings for scavengers

There is a Pub in Ballyboy where there is a seriously big goats head on the wall

I never seen a back cottage cheese with horns :eek:

A Country Voice

Ive shot a good few of them, (not in a few years now though, the forest has gotten big enough to withstand their rough treatment).
I always used my CZ527 in 22 hornet, with 45 gr remmingtons. Never had any problem dropping any goat from 100 yds or under with a head, neck, or chest shot. They never managed to run.

I had a few debates at the time with guys on the recommended calibre, and a few lads were saying you'd need a 308 before headin up the hill to tackle them. A mate of mine from South Africa suggested I get a nice hornet for the job, he swore by it, often used it on big enough lumps of animals in Southern Africa, and swore by it in some of the conflicts that happened there during the seventies that he was involved in. He was right in my book. It worked a treat for the job.

A Country Voice

Glensman

I think they taste great. I use the loins in pie's, front legs in stew and roast the back legs!

A good few people have tried the ones I shot and i've only heard good reports, everyone wants more!

4gun

that little kid that Poulo got was only a few weeks old at best, dont think he'll need to put his teeth to any bother to chew him unless he eats bones and all