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

[Flavius Maximus]

I should probably mention that i also own a big adventure bike. That could eliminate any issues that would leave me stranded in the Echo, & get me into Cumbine. Key word, "could". Not a guarantee. If i strip the good bits off my catch & bury the rest, i might just be able to throw on my saddlebags & take the bike instead. Trophies just don't interest me. Just one slight problem - the bike weighs 230kg

[Fester]

Most of those forests have very good deer numbers, Fallow at least.
The hunters that talk about shot out deserts are just busted before they ever see the wary deer.
They are not stupid, apart from ones that been not as switched on, and shot.

The good forests will always get booked heavily but I won't even go out on weekends.
I want to see animals, not blaze orange.
Blokes used to say, just go further, like out to Pens, it has all the species, but a big forest, and not easy to suss out.

I only hunted it once, pre-rut, the other year.
Seen a few does, and a good buck. My original plan to sit and watch from a hillside near there should have been carried out, the sun was not good for viewing into, I was in the car when I seen them.

Met a good bloke that was dogging for pigs but keen and shot a good buck there.
Gave me a tip about another more local forest.
I tried it once, but so much logging that most was closed off.
Seems they may have pushed the deer into this finger of huntable new growth.
Bumped some and car sightings, about 6 plus one typical forest sized buck, 3yo or so.
Not gone back to try that productive area tip.

Great talk, and bloke, no weirdo Slim Jim, or Button man, govt lover, that was a crack-up.
They reckon some city dwellers like to be told what to do, and take no responsibility for themselves, weird fkers, eh.

Every forest I have been to has had fine big main roads; Profty started hunting in an Echo or car like that.

Have you seen goats in Vulcan, as I just see deer where I hunt. It's a big place.

I just say places here, as it's a small group and likely less than a handful of NSW SF hunters.
Say nothing on FB or YouTube-type places, or you may then find 40 blokes at your spot.

The booked-out forests are often empty on weekdays; lots of theories why they just book the places out.
The booking scam thing didn't happen when I started, and I would just watch the weather patterns and book the day before.

I actually took some roo leg meat yesterday morning from the private farm access.
Never eaten it before, and a young one, so why not.
The meat looks fine, and it smells less than venison, really.

I want to try goat as well.
The most I would ever shoot is 2, a meat and a trophy, if they both presented.
I would just hate to walk in, or smell the results of those cowboys that try and shoot them all.
They likely carry tactical tank guns, with 10-shot mags, oversized rulers, to send dick pics to their Brokeback buddies for comparison photos with the 8 goats they shot, and left.

1080 is just a forest thing now, and the more they spray the roadside blackberries, the better.

Even thin bits; I have ended up on my ass, trying to carry out, and get back onto the walking track.
If left, you end up with an impenetrable section of weed wasteland.

[Flavius Maximus]

I just say places here, as it's a small group and likely less than a handful of NSW SF hunters.
Say nothing on FB or YouTube-type places, or you may then find 40 blokes at your spot.

The booked-out forests are often empty on weekdays; lots of theories why they just book the places out.
The booking scam thing didn't happen when I started, and I would just watch the weather patterns and book the day before.

A lot of these forests are heavily booked even on weekdays at the moment. Oh, & i'm not even on those platforms

I want to try goat as well.
The most I would ever shoot is 2, a meat and a trophy, if they both presented.
I would just hate to walk in, or smell the results of those cowboys that try and shoot them all.
They likely carry tactical tank guns, with 10-shot mags, oversized rulers, to send dick pics to their Brokeback buddies for comparison photos with the 8 goats they shot, and left.

Brokeback buddies? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6dALp4VPU8
But in all seriousness, i just want to help with the pest problem & get a good meal out of it. Most hunters i've met never tried goat until they shot one

1080 is just a forest thing now, and the more they spray the roadside blackberries, the better.

Even thin bits; I have ended up on my ass, trying to carry out, and get back onto the walking track.
If left, you end up with an impenetrable section of weed wasteland.

I'm not saying don't take care of the weeds, i'm saying i don't want to die a horrible death because a rabbit, goat, or deer ate poisoned berries

[Peter988]

I must be missing something here. 1080 baits are used for dogs and foxes aren’t they. Maybe pigs. Certainly not something deer or rabbit would eat? You also want to be careful about taking Roos if you or the farmer don’t have a permit. That’s certainly the case up this way.

[Flavius Maximus]

Peter, there's been many cases of deer getting poisoned by that stuff. A quick search & you'll see tonnes of kiwi hunters & conservation groups complaining about this. Rabbits? I'm not gonna take the risk. I stand by my statement about not wanting to die horribly, so i'm not gonna chance it. I'm not remotely interested in roos, so i got a cheap little telescope to check my target first. Best $7 i ever spent

[Fester]

What happens here on state forest public lands, and things are changing with them not wanting to admit that rec hunters do most of the feral control. They now keep their corrupt usless chopper bomber contractors busy but dropping lines of 1080 for dogs and foxes.
The whole practice is wrong, according to the 1080 instructions, and these fools who are lucky to shoot more than a couple of deer, at huge taxpayer expense, would no doubt be dropping 1080 baits into creeks.

The SFFP blokes have totally exposed these idiots emptying their excess .308 ammo into the dirt, in a gully with no animals.
They had just hunted it.
The cocky also witnessed the whole show.

I have only ever found 1 carcass after chopper bombing, and way better hunters than I have also smelt nothing.
All they do is push the deer around the forest.

I think he was talking about the Blackberry poison being a bit toxic.
I would love to hear the story of the bloke who touched his pecker with the poisoned blackberries.

They only poison the roadsides that quickly become overgrown.
If you want to eat the berries, they just walk in a bit and pick in a creek line when in season.

[Fester]

The first deer I saw at shooting distance were a couple of does who popped their heads up over what they had for cover.
The first thought was a shocked one: they ain't roo heads.
It was about 3 times bow range at about 100m, and I then just watched the does run across the logged area to get back to their pine cover.

When I was shooting the bow regularly, I tried to stalk in on a rabbit, but 44m was as close as I dared.
It was sort of like slow-motion watching that arrow drop in and smack the bunny.
Getting within 30m of forest critters like deer and pigs was nearly impossible; it could be done when the stars align.
I just gave in and used a rifle.

[Flavius Maximus]

Fester, interesting you should say that about the chopper bombers. I remember reading a crazy blog post from well over a decade ago on the "fat canyoners" website, calling us "yippee shooters", making all these baseless arguements about how public land hunting doesn't work, that we're the ones who drive them deeper into hiding, how it should be banned outright, & that aerial shooting is the only effective method. The guy was the webmaster & outed himself as a chopper bomber!

As for berries, no, i don't want to eat them, i'm just worried about possibly eating rabbits that ate the sprayed berries.

Anyway, the story about the dude losing his pecker? Ask & you shall recieve my boy.
This guy was doing a common method of blackberry control up in the Blue Mountains in the early 2010's, which involved cutting up the bush & smearing poison on the stumps, when he somehow got some on his fingers. Not thinking, he needed do a piss & didn't take his gloves off, & got it on his manhood. It started doing horrible things to his member, & he had to get that part cut off.

After hearing that, i tend to wash my hands very thoroughly wherever i see those signs. Now you know why i'm afraid of herbicide.

[Fester]

Yeah, that story has me thinking about it.
Lets hope deer, rabbits, and goats smell the chemicals and don't touch those vines.

Now that the gloves are off, proper evidence-based reports are out in Vic and NSW showing the combined govt efforts are next to nothing, compared to what rec hunters take off the land.
In NSW, a new boss was put in charge of LLS, and he controls everything, including DPI Hunting.
He is pest control-oriented, and we can see the changes now as the good DPI people have to do what they are told.
Hunting zone maps are going downhill; hunter numbers are being cut.
The booking-out scam can't be fixed, and blokes just join in and book everything out but don't hunt.
The decisions will be made from the ex-greenie Jack Gouth ISC, giving false reports.
The logging is off the charts, and the pine supplies have been flooded.
My guess is wind farm preparations. Let's hope it all fails, and the companies pull out.

A great report was the one about Vic deer numbers per square km or whatever.
About 2 deer in hunting areas. About 8 in areas where hunting is not allowed.

From what I can pick up, the vic chopper bombers were effective.
The NSW ones are just useless.
Qld private operators on pigs would be skillful pilots and shooters, or out of a job, I reckon.

There is a good woman uni doctor type from Dubbo uni, I think, doing great research and reports to help us.
Not heard much of late.

[Flavius Maximus]

Also, people, i know this is mostly a gun forum (look at what it's called), but we've all complained about the laws & the rules & the dodging & all the bloody paperwork involved with owning a gun. A lot of gunowners look at a compound bow (even fellow bowhunters do this) & say "that's too hard, i just use a rifle", but as a suburbanite who knows absolutely no one in the bush, i look at all of that bureacratic bleeding heart rubbish & say "that's too hard, i just use a bow".
Sorry for the rant, but i do get tired of hearing it. Don't get me wrong, guns are awesome, that's why i wanted to get into firearms. That's why i'm here. But please understand that from a procedural & ownership perspective, it's not hard to see why someone would choose a compound bow.