Big Stinky down! West Australia goat hunt

[slivrslingr]

This hunt started a couple months ago when TG member Clint Thomas, aka. Clingish, posted a story about hunting feral goats in Western Australia.  At the end of his post he said if anyone wanted to come down, he would make a hunt happen.  Well, as it turns out, I was planning on being in Perth at the end of June anyway, so I contacted him.  Plans were made, a plane ticket purchased, and before I knew it, the plane was leaving Narita Intl. with me and my bow aboard.  

June 26th arrived and I stepped off the plane in the land "Down Under".  Customs was a breeze, so easy in fact, I was headed out the door before getting a chance to dig out and put on my boonie hat, which was how Clint was going to find me.  Luckily, he was waiting right out the door and picked me out immediately.  We introduced ourselves, I made a stop at the ATM for money, and we hit the road.  

It was going to be a long drive up to Koonmarra Station, about 850 kms. taking about 8 hours.  Good thing after about knowing each other for all of about 15 minutes, we were getting along like we had known one another all our lives.  Amazing how a simple thing like a bow can make instant friends out of complete strangers.  We stopped for groceries, gas, and a bite to eat a couple hours north and kept on driving.  About 4 hours into the drive we started seeing mobs of goats along the Great Northern Highway.  It was time to get in some stalking!

As my bow and arrows were safely still in my backpack, Clint loaned me his Fox recurve and the hunt was on.  It was more stalking practice than hunting but getting out in the sunshine with a bow in hand felt great.  We hunted out way up to Cue, a little mining town, put more gas in the Ute and kept driving.  The closest town to Koonmarra is Meekathara and we pulled in for some dinner.  At the pub I met a aboriginal guy who explained how to cook kangaroo tail in a open fire, an interesting conversation!  

Leaving Meekathara, we got off the chipseal and onto one of the many gravel roads crossing the outback.  The washboard was very severe and the only way to drive it is either at 20 kph or 90 kph, we chose 90 as it was still another hour or so to the station.  Pulling into Koonmarra at about 9:00 pm, we stopped and checked in with Mick the owner, had a beer, then went to bed in one of the old houses.  

 

Our accomodations and the Ute.

At the crack of dawn, we got up grabbed out gear and headed out.

 

An Outback sunrise, amazing!

[slivrslingr]

From Clints previous trip up there, he knew the place to start looking for goats was Radio Tower hill, the highest point around.

 

We pulled up on the hill, parked and started looking around for the goats.  Hiking to the east showed us nothing but bush.  We headed back to the Ute and while Clint was looking for something in the car, I wandered off to the west and immediately spotted a mob.  The wind was gusty, but we got into a stalkable position and it was on.  The gusty winds turned out to be fickle as well, a throaty sneeze telling us we had been winded.  The goats milled around then started moving off.  Clint tried getting around them to move them my way but the billys didn't cooperate and they moved off down the hill.

 

The quarry!  An average sized WA billy.

We watched the mob move off into the scrub and regrouped back at the Ute.  A plan was hatched to drive back to the north and try to find the mob out on the flats.

 

Clint overlooking the area.

 

A look at the terrain.  The white rocks are quartz, rough on boots and ankles!

[ozy clint]

good stuff mate. where's the rest.  

[slivrslingr]

We drove off the hill and circled around, seeing lots of kangaroos and wallabys, but no goats.  After and hour or so of driving, we finally ran across a mob of billies, the same ones we stalked earlier.  They were quite wary of the vehicle and headed deeper into the trees.  They headed back in the direction of the hill and as we couldn't drive any further, I was dropped off and Clint drove back around to meet me on the hill.  I dogged the mob all the way back to the hill, a couple hours worth of walking, but with no shots.  As the mob made its way up the hill, they ran into Clint who couldn't get a shot.  At this point, Clint had decided to try and get a small one for eating and had brought a noise maker instead of his bow.  They dropped off the hill and two were collected the easy way.

We headed back up the hill to the Ute as it was getting on towards dark.  As we got just about to the car, I looked up and there was another mob of goats just on the other side of where the Ute was parked.  I nocked an arrow and slipped up along the fence of the radio tower to get a better look.  As I reached the end of the fence, a white colored goat stood out and I decided to take what looked like about a 30 yd shot!

Concentrating on the shoulder crease, I drew and released.  The arrow was visible for about half the distance then lost sight of it.  The shot felt good and the billy took off running, taking the rest of the mob with him.  Clint was behind me a little ways and tried cutting them off on the other side of the hill, but the goats were spooked and soon out of sight.  As it was now dark, I looked for my arrow for just a few minutes to no avail.  It was going to be a waiting game!

[slivrslingr]

The morning broke with me nervous and excited to find outcome of the arrow I had released.  We headed up the hill again and immediately spotted goats.  A plan was hatched to stalk these billies, then look for the one I shot at.

 

Clint stalking the mob bedded on the knob ahead of him.

 

Busted!  At about 40 yds, the wind swirled.

This mob took off and we headed back to look for the goat I shot at the previous evening.

[slivrslingr]

Getting to where the goat was standing, I paced off the distance.  Worry set in when I got to 30 steps and still had a bit to go.  At 37 steps I was back to the corner of the fence where the shot was taken.  OK, so looking around where he was standing, no blood was found, but neither was my arrow, so either I shot low and the arrow was further down the hill or I hit him in the shoulder and he wasn't bleeding very much.  We decided to just start walking in the direction they ran and see what transpired.  After walking around the hill, maybe 75 yds, I cut a blood trail, hurrah!  Things were looking up!  We started following the sparse but constant drops and while it was tough going, every now and then a good sized pool would be found.

 

Blood!

We were thinking the arrow hit the shoulder, high chest or maybe neck.  After about 2 kms, I was going through every emotion immaginable, happy, sad, excited, discouraged, but ultimately determined to see this through to the end.  Looking up from a track and blood spot, I spotted a white blob across the draw, maybe 100 yds away.  Looking through my binos, it was my goat!  The arrow had hit low in the front leg and was still embedded.  He was looking pretty worse for wear, but mustered the strenght to get up and start slowly moving away.  Not wanting to drag things out, I gave my pack to Clint and took off running to try and cut him off to finish things.  Fortunately I had done a lot of training and needed every bit of it.  It turned into a bit of a rodeo, with the billy running around the small knob then disappearing over the edge out of sight.  As I crested the knob, he was no where to be seen, until I looked down and there he was, laying under a tree about 10 yds away, looking at me.  He had had enough, the fight was gone and I ended it with a finisher through the chest at 5 yds.  My first trad kill!

 

 

 

My bow is a Pronghorn T/D, 62" 58# @ 28".  Arrows are Arrow Dynamics HammerHeads, full length, with 150 gr. 4 blade Stingers.

[Guru]

Very cool , congrats on a great goat!

Great looking place to hunt    

[saumensch]

Thanks for sharing those great pics and the adventure

[Clinglish]

It was an absolute pleasure to hunt with Chris AKA Slivrslingr , to be present when he took his first ever trad kill was an honour and a memory I will treasure .I imagine that this won't be the last hunt we share as I am already talking to the wife about a trip to the USA as I hear there are a few things to chase with the bow over there.
Well done again mate .
Clint

[bloodyarrow]

       

[JoLo]

Way to go!!

[tradtusker]

congrats great pics

[Gatekeeper]

WOW…That was a heck of a trip and great hunt for your first traditional kill!    Congratulations Chris that’s a great looking goat.    

[straitera]

Good stuff Chris! Heck of a billy for your first trad kill! Pick of the litter Clinton for your generous hospitality.

[caleb7mm]

thats awesome!!

[Wallcrawler]

Good story and I appreciate your candor and ethics displayed in this your first traditional kill.

[Chris Surtees]

   

[JC]

Great story! I'm salivating over every story I read about hunting Down Under...can't wait to make it there someday.

[vermonster13]

Congrats and nicely told with great pics!

[wtpops]