mt_archery_guy
New member
Curious if anyone has spent much time in the 314 goat area lately that knows if the numbers of mature Billys is on a downward trend?
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Contact julie at fwp, she'll get you lined out. There's a few billies in there.Curious if anyone has spent much time in the 314 goat area lately that knows if the numbers of mature Billys is on a downward trend?
I tried to contact Karen Loveless for weeks, who is the biologist for that area and finally found out she was leaving the position. So I was told to contact Julie Cunningham, and when I talked with her, she said it wasn't her area, and didn't know anything about it. The reason I was asking about the billies , was in the midst of all this, I was told the number of younger billies being taken over the last few years has been going up.Contact julie at fwp, she'll get you lined out. There's a few billies in there.
The reason I was asking about the billies , was in the midst of all this, I was told the number of younger billies being taken over the last few years has been going up.
I live in ButteWhere are you located
Well, I'm going to wait later in the season, so I'm not looking for a record book Billy. I would be satisfied with a nice mature Billy with very good hair.There's lots of goats, lots of area, lots of access, not a high quality Billy unit. Like Greenhorn said, "My guess on the young billies is the disproportionate number of hunters who don't have a clue of what they are shooting at. Roughly 1/3 of the goat harvest long term in all the units, including the best ones are nannies - which sorta proves my point."
If you find a 9 inch older goat I wouldn't be passing..... older meaning over 7 or 8.
Sure, if I get any decent photos during scouting I will post.Sounds good. Good luck to you share some pictures and the story when you connect!
Well, hopefully we don't have an early snow year which will allow some decent access.That is a great goat unit and I’d guess has as many mature billies as any other unit in the state.
I’ve spent a ton of time in the unit although only 1 day goat hunting. We saw a lot of goats and a big, mature billy came home with us.
In some cases boots on the ground information is better than someone flying around in a helicopter 1 time a year.Does anyone beside me see the trouble with this?
When hunters know more about the unit than the biologists, who are making the decisions on harvest numbers, etc...Houston, we have a problem.
Same thing when a friend drew a tag years ago in the Bitterroots. He called the local biologists/fwp and wanted to know about the populations, etc. similar to what the OP is asking. He was told to contact Duncan Gilchrist as he "probably knows more about the goats than we do".
Gee, I wonder why we're down to 1 goat tag in the 'root?
To answer the OP's initial question, I hunted goats there a long time ago and any information I have would be out of date. Judging by the number of goats I saw way back then, and knowing they have spread out more, I would think there are good mature billy goats to be had.
In some cases boots on the ground information is better than someone flying around in a helicopter 1 time a year.
Hunters are required to bring in their goat within 10 days of harvest to FWP. Pertinent information is gathered at that time.Right, because its so difficult to contact the handful of hunters that draw tags each year...I mean, its only their job to manage our wildlife.
Hunters are required to bring in their goat within 10 days of harvest to FWP. Pertinent information is gathered at that time.