More goats with the 123gn A Max at 2700fps

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  • Von Gruff
    Chieftain
    • Apr 2012
    • 1078

    More goats with the 123gn A Max at 2700fps

    Well it was a one day hunt this time as after the afternoon exertions I didn't think I would be up for another climb tomorrow.
    I was up at 4.45 this morning and got away by 5.30, picked up another chap who was coming for the first time and was on the rabbit face by 7.30 am. I have never seen so few rabbits on all the time I have been shooting this place. We did end up with a few but unfortunately the young feller couldn't hit anything and in fact that was the result for the full day for him.
    It was a cold morning with heavy frost and the track up to the high country was a bit slippy in places with parts of the track having standing water in some of the wheel ruts and in a couple of places there were slips that required a bit of careful negotiation because of the very steep drop-off down to the creek about 900yads below.
    We saw a mob of eight but they were right down on the creek flat and that was a climb too far for me.
    When we got round to the low end (low end that is still 1000 yds down to the creek--ha ha ha) we had a bite to eat and headed down into the bluffs and Glen had a shot (again he missed) that set a few heading down and round heading for safer pastures. I managed to get away around ahead of them but fell twice as the frost on the rocks was treacherous and both times the rifle took a battering, the first time it smacked down on the stock and the rear bell of the scope and the second time I slipped off a rock I was trying to get down and fell a yard or two and the rifle landed on its side with the scope turrets being the point of impact. I though it would probably have knocked everything out of kilter but had no time to stop as I still needed to get into position to get onto the goats as they came round out of the gut they were in. I got two of them and the first one dropped where he was and the second one went off the rock it was standing on and I thought it had fallen away down to where couldn't get it as there was a cliff about 50-70 yds straight down. To get down to them I had to crawl on hands and knees over a couple of flat sloping rocks as they were still far to trecherous to get down any other way. I got the first one headed and gutted but the second one was a slightly more involved process as the goat had fallen between a rock and a mataghouri bush and I had to hold myself against the rock with my hip and grab the only horn visible and nearly lost it over the bluff getting it back to where I was and trying to dress it out on a small patch of tussock grass still on a very steep slope that was only about 2ft y 3ft was a bit of a challenge.
    It was a case of taking the larger animal up aout 20ft and wedging it so I could go back for the other on and the rifle. Ground still frosty and slippery so having taken just over a 1/2 hour to climb in and shoot them it took me over 2 hours of slog and rest to get them back to the truck. When I got back up to the realative flat, Glen took the larger animal and carried it the rest of the way in his pack.
    By then I had decided that I wouldn't be fit to do the same thing the next day in the other basin so we packed up the truck and came back home where I skun and hung the goats and will break them down tomorrow.
    I am a tired boy tonight and will sleep well.
    http://www.vongruffknives.com/

    sigpic Von Gruff



    Grendel-Max

    Exodus 20:1-17
    Acts 4:10-12
  • Von Gruff
    Chieftain
    • Apr 2012
    • 1078

    #2
    This was after the second fall and while it may not look like much there are a few garks just under the comb nose and the turret caps .


    Looking back uphill a bit



    The short vid below starts from down where the pic above is looking up to and pans up to where I need to get to and shows (the young feller) Glen strolling away with the second animal for me. From the saddle he is going toward it is a simple sidling walk round the hill for a few hundred yards back to the truck.
    Note the sound effects of an old feller puffing.
    The light green spikey plants are what we call spaniard and the rest is mataghouri (pronounced mat a gow re)
    http://www.vongruffknives.com/

    sigpic Von Gruff



    Grendel-Max

    Exodus 20:1-17
    Acts 4:10-12

    Comment

    • Von Gruff
      Chieftain
      • Apr 2012
      • 1078

      #3


      This little knife I made here http://www.wedealinlead.net/forum/vi...hp?f=48&t=2502 worked a treat although the sheath shows the result of the falls
      http://www.vongruffknives.com/

      sigpic Von Gruff



      Grendel-Max

      Exodus 20:1-17
      Acts 4:10-12

      Comment

      • Von Gruff
        Chieftain
        • Apr 2012
        • 1078

        #4
        So it is all cut up and away in the freezer now. This was the little billy with a forward spine shot at about 70yds straight down hill with him on the move. Quite pleased with that.

        Even the nanny was a reasonable shot without any real meat loss.

        Ready to bag it up

        Have put a big pot (20 liters) with half the bones to make soup stock so all in all quite a good return for a days outing.
        http://www.vongruffknives.com/

        sigpic Von Gruff



        Grendel-Max

        Exodus 20:1-17
        Acts 4:10-12

        Comment

        • bwaites
          Moderator
          • Mar 2011
          • 4445

          #5
          Nicely done! Pictures?

          Edit: They posted while I was posting!

          Comment

          • montana
            Chieftain
            • Jun 2011
            • 3209

            #6
            Great story and pictures. I have never eaten any type of goat, do you make them into sausage or butcher them like deer?. You did a great job on your knife and the handle looks beautiful. Sounds like you earned those critters , I shot a black bear in the Scape goat wilderness in 1992 and spent more time on my back side falling down and hanging off the side of a cliff retrieving him than standing upright. It was almost midnight and pitch dark before we made our way out with only one mini mag light. I lost my flash light falling down the mountain with my bear. It was a very dignified sight to behold LOL. These are the hunts you remember , especially with a brother and cousin retelling them as the blunt of their jokes at hunting camp. Congratulations on your successful hunt and I hope your hunting buddy gets a little more target practice in.

            Comment

            • Von Gruff
              Chieftain
              • Apr 2012
              • 1078

              #7
              Originally posted by montana View Post
              Great story and pictures. I have never eaten any type of goat, do you make them into sausage or butcher them like deer?.
              Dress it down ad treat it like deer. Backstrap in the fridge for tomorrow nights meal. Roast the hind legs and I boned out the rest for stews and mince but if I often take them to the butcher with one of my sheep and get sausage made as well.
              http://www.vongruffknives.com/

              sigpic Von Gruff



              Grendel-Max

              Exodus 20:1-17
              Acts 4:10-12

              Comment

              • jawbone
                Warrior
                • Jan 2012
                • 328

                #8
                love these hunting stories, but i have to admit, after seeing what you had to go through, i was exhausted. the meat pics revived me, though.
                and kudos on that knife. it's an elegant worker.

                Comment

                • BluntForceTrauma
                  Administrator
                  • Feb 2011
                  • 3897

                  #9
                  So a group of goats is called a "mob"? Nice knife, too. It's got a sheath in the Finnish puukko style. My hunting knife is a Kellam Wolverine. Very nice. Razor sharp (I left a chunk of my thumb inside the bloody body cavity of a deer to prove it!

                  John

                  P.S. And I use "bloody" in the literal, American sense, not the pejorative British sense!
                  :: 6.5 GRENDEL Deer and Targets :: 6mmARC Targets and Varmints and Deer :: 22 ARC Varmints and Targets

                  :: I Drank the Water :: Revelation 21:6 ::

                  Comment

                  • Von Gruff
                    Chieftain
                    • Apr 2012
                    • 1078

                    #10
                    Originally posted by HANKA View Post
                    So a group of goats is called a "mob"? Nice knife, too. It's got a sheath in the Finnish puukko style. My hunting knife is a Kellam Wolverine. Very nice. Razor sharp (I left a chunk of my thumb inside the bloody body cavity of a deer to prove it!

                    John

                    P.S. And I use "bloody" in the literal, American sense, not the pejorative British sense!
                    I googled the Kellam Wolverine and it is a good working design. I have been making my own knives for quite a few years now and have found this shape and size works best for field dressing goat and deer sized animals.
                    I have changed all my hunting knives to convex edges and have found that to give me the best and longest lasting edge.

                    Yes any more than a four or five is a mob, at least in New Zealand.
                    http://www.vongruffknives.com/

                    sigpic Von Gruff



                    Grendel-Max

                    Exodus 20:1-17
                    Acts 4:10-12

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Nice goats and a good hunt. A nice bit of fat on them as well. I have a 1/2 grown kid (goat) in the freezer ready to roast and a couple of back wheels of a larger nanny for a curry. I normally go up the Kanakanaia valley in Gisborne and it takes me 9 hours towing the 4 wheeler. It must be great to be able to duck out the back for a hunt.

                      Kev.

                      Comment

                      • Von Gruff
                        Chieftain
                        • Apr 2012
                        • 1078

                        #12
                        Originally posted by kiwi 1 View Post
                        It must be great to be able to duck out the back for a hunt.

                        Kev.
                        A hour and a half to Bannockburn then another 1/2 hour up to the high country may not be a 9 hr treck but it hardly rates as ducking out the back for a hunt.


                        Have to agree about the good eating though Kev. Right up there in my book. It has been a good run up to early winter feed wise and they were in exceptional condition.
                        http://www.vongruffknives.com/

                        sigpic Von Gruff



                        Grendel-Max

                        Exodus 20:1-17
                        Acts 4:10-12

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Thanks for sharing another great hunting story with us! Love the knife work too. Get to the gym so we don't have to hear your death-knell panting again...sss sss sss sss sss sss

                          Comment

                          • Von Gruff
                            Chieftain
                            • Apr 2012
                            • 1078

                            #14
                            Originally posted by LRRPF52 View Post
                            Get to the gym so we don't have to hear your death-knell panting again...sss sss sss sss sss sss
                            At 62 I thought I was still doing okay, well lucky to still be able to do it and as there isn't a gym within an hour or mores drive so I will have to just keep on struggling.
                            http://www.vongruffknives.com/

                            sigpic Von Gruff



                            Grendel-Max

                            Exodus 20:1-17
                            Acts 4:10-12

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Von Gruff View Post
                              At 62 I thought I was still doing okay, well lucky to still be able to do it and as there isn't a gym within an hour or mores drive so I will have to just keep on struggling.
                              Looks like you have found nature's gym. Congrats on good health enough to carry you up and down those mountains.

                              Comment

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