Goat hunting in an Echo

[Flavius Maximus]

Hello, long time between drinks. Was in NZ last week, only for the yanks cut my holiday short at the border on my way to Idaho, so here i am, back home, & i still have the rest of the month off. I'm wanting to hunt goats, & since i sold my gun months ago, it'll be a bowhunt.
My new church thinks Cumbine state forest is a guaranteed winner, but as the title says, i have an Echo, so i don't want to get bogged. I can walk pretty far, but i don't want to run into trouble just a few metres into the forest.
There's also Sunny Corner & Pennsylvania state forests, which are a bit closer & also have a lot of goats, plus i'm talking to a lovely lady who loves to eat them, so there's that problem solved.
Anyone been to these forests? Would any of youse risk it in a 2wd? Which one is best for a 2wd? What should i do differently compared to deer? Because in march, i accidentally got within 14 metres of 2 massive does before spooking them at Vulcan, but i doubt i could do that with goats

[Flavius Maximus]

Also, i'm open to other suggestions about where to hunt goats. I hear they're quite active this time of year

[Fester]

The main forest roads are maintained for logging trucks to roar through at great speed; any car can traverse most of the forest if you stick to them, and walk.

Some forests have goats, including Sunny Corner, but it can be one of the less productive forests for those who don't know any good spots.
Gurnang has some goats. Pens, Hampton.

Further west, and places like the Pilliga are goat hunting hotspots.

I see more deer than goats or pigs, but hard enough with a rifle.
The fridge would be empty if I took the bow.

They love rocky steep high places, so head for those places and you may hear a bleat.
They can make good ground when they want to get somewhere.

[Fester]

Severn, up north, was a smaller forest goat hotspot, but YouTube made it so popular that you would now be lucky to book a spot.

Qld hunters come down to hunt those places so it would be popular.

Some blokes would see goats and try and shoot as many as possible for some reason.
The more that do that, the less for others.

[Flavius Maximus]

The main forest roads are maintained for logging trucks to roar through at great speed; any car can traverse most of the forest if you stick to them, and walk.

Some forests have goats, including Sunny Corner, but it can be one of the less productive forests for those who don't know any good spots.
Gurnang has some goats. Pens, Hampton.

Further west, and places like the Pilliga are goat hunting hotspots.

I see more deer than goats or pigs, but hard enough with a rifle.
The fridge would be empty if I took the bow.

They love rocky steep high places, so head for those places and you may hear a bleat.
They can make good ground when they want to get somewhere.

Forecast says rain for wednesday, meaning bulldust would sink that car fast, so Cumbine's out. Looks like i'll have to stay closer. Alas i stink with a rifle, with 5 inch groups at 20 metres as opposed to 2 with the bow, while at 40 it's 3 inches, but with the rifle i couldn't hit the side of a barn! So bow it is

[Flavius Maximus]

Ah, if only i still had my little vtr....

[Flavius Maximus]

Ok, so, i went to book, & decided upon Vulcan & Gurnang, focusing on Gurnang, as it apparently has as much goats as Vulcan does deer. Sunny Corner has been 1080'd, while Cumbine needs a 4x4

[Wapiti]

Mate cos you asked about whether they are different to deer, I would say that on foot, you have to be really conscious of spooking them with movement. Especially if they are under pressure from shooters who go out and numbers are important to their personality.
When they do move, they move fast. And can go far.
But when busted in the open and guns go off, they can really get a shock and will mill around, or run in circles. That's how the people with the short-circuited personalities get to "bomb them up" and kill a good many. Usually, wound more than kill.
I have good mobs of them up the back in the mountains on my joint and ask hunters that they take one meat and one trophy animal each visit. If they are the type to not listen, they don't come back.

Similar to deer, liable to quickly learn from the stress of previous encounters with the short-circuited personality, and have great eyesight.
If you do find a nice quiet spot where you can harvest a few young meat animals for your lady friend and perhaps a trophy, and be able to come back again to do it all over again another day, keep it quiet is my advice.
Obviously, a suitable rifle, 243 with non-varmint bullets and upwards.
On the car, you have what you have. On a nice dry weekend, drive to where you can carefully, and park and walk.

[bigrich]

Some blokes would see goats and try and shoot as many as possible for some reason.
The more that do that, the less for others.

how f@cken wasteful . they are a resource the way i see it , unless they're impacting negatively on someone try to make a living and they need to go. same with deer . i only take what i need for the freezer , but i do regret not taking a triple curl horned billy years ago

[Flavius Maximus]

Well, i just hunted both forests. Shot a hare but barely missed it with the blunt at Vulcan, & saw a mob of at least 10 goats at Gurnang. I also snuck real close to a fluffy white kid goat, hoping there'd be billies nearby, but alas, it was alone, & i couldn't bring myself to shoot the poor thing. I just slowly shuffled past - i just can't kill a baby even if it's a pest.
Also, i saw 1080 signs east of Drogheda Road (Gurnang), & blackberry spraying's going on at Vulcan. I met a bloke who lost his, ahem, member after touching that poison before taking a leak, so, maybe i missed for the best

[Fester]

Yeah, better a plain weather hunter than stuck in mud.

I was driving back from hunting the Vulcan when a young bloke on foot was having no success waving down cars at a back entrance to Hampton; I knew he would have been stuck in mud, in that place.
Worse, he slid off and put one side of his Amerok in a ditch.
He suggested pulling him back out from the rear, reverse of how he went in.
No recovery gear at all, and I had no winch or experience.
I said that I could end up bogged, but the ground beside his car was good, and there was some room.
I gently built up until I could reef his front end out sideways, then get an angle and both cars driving out.
My car has got some grunt, as he put it, and I had a load of firewood in the back to help it grip.
My first and only recovery.

Pity the young goat wasn't a bit bigger, just the ticket for eating.

If you watch that Kiwi rough character," Hunting Horsepower", It shows how goat hunting with a bow is not that hard.
He hunts the Pilliga, where the numbers are good.

If goats are seen along the roadside at places like Bourke and Cobar, the forests will likely hold some good numbers,

[Flavius Maximus]

Yeah, better a plain weather hunter than stuck in mud.

I was driving back from hunting the Vulcan when a young bloke on foot was having no success waving down cars at a back entrance to Hampton; I knew he would have been stuck in mud, in that place.
Worse, he slid off and put one side of his Amerok in a ditch.
He suggested pulling him back out from the rear, reverse of how he went in.
No recovery gear at all, and I had no winch or experience.
I said that I could end up bogged, but the ground beside his car was good, and there was some room.
I gently built up until I could reef his front end out sideways, then get an angle and both cars driving out.
My car has got some grunt, as he put it, and I had a load of firewood in the back to help it grip.
My first and only recovery.

Pity the young goat wasn't a bit bigger, just the ticket for eating.

If you watch that Kiwi rough character," Hunting Horsepower", It shows how goat hunting with a bow is not that hard.
He hunts the Pilliga, where the numbers are good.

If goats are seen along the roadside at places like Bourke and Cobar, the forests will likely hold some good numbers,

Hunting Horsepower? I know about him! He did that video on Cumbine! That was my original choice as my church raves about that place.
Anyway, i hope my technique on the baby works on the bigger ones - got within 12 metres before it knew what was going on, & when i got closer, the thing froze. Poor thing. Hope that means i'm closer to my first catch - that was thrilling!
Oh, & on my way back i met a bloke who actually trusts the government, which was not so thrilling....

[Flavius Maximus]

Ok, so, i discovered in one of those community maps that Piliga East has tonnes of goats, & the HuntNSW booking thing says nobody goes there, so if i can get my little car in, why not give it a try?
Edit: Wait, never mind, 1080 again. Why are they so obsessed with poison?
I'm also reluctant to go to pennsylvania & Hampton as there's rarely any spots. There might be nothing left for me there. I'm suprised Vulcan hasn't been stripped bare already, but i'm probably not gonna keep trying that same old spot all the time. I'm starting to get bored with that place, i want something fresh, but i don't want any poison

[tuknal]

If goats are seen along the roadside at places like Bourke and Cobar, the forests will likely hold some good numbers,

yeah goats are fairly common on the roads in these areas
im seeing more recently since its drying up
goats are just another feral pest have no shame shooting a few for whatever reason you want just dont go nuts ,,,
BUT !!! just realise that ATM they are worth good money so locals in these areas wont like people shooting/hunting them because most surrounding farmers/goat chasers think they near own them even if coming from a park or forest next door ,and they are also partial to going in there mustering them themselves on the sly
me ill shoot as many as i can (where i can) if they stand there but i do have a use/income from it
im not saying dont do it but just keep it in mind ,
hope you get onto a few