Mountain goat round?

[Mallards]

I'm going goat hunting this here in Oregon.. I have a 270 and a 300 win mag, both I shoot well, but I've heard the 300 win is better.. Now my question is their a difference in how the bullet will fly from where I have shot here locally to where I'll be in the Hell's Canyon at 8k feet?

 

[TheGrayRider]

.270 Winchester, 140 grains, 200 yards uphill. Have fun on your hunt. I want to go again!

 

[Mallards]

Nice! Where did you take that one?

 

[TheGrayRider]

Kodiak, Alaska. 2017.

 

[MTGunner]

They are pretty tough animals, but that should do the job. Do yourself a favor and use a good bonded bullet, and choose your shots carefully. They usually give you the time to be a little selective on your shots. The trick with goats is to anchor them where they stand... otherwise they can become EXTREMELY tough to retrieve.

I used a .300 WSM with 180 grain Acubonds and dropped this one in his tracks with a high shoulder shot. Unfortunelty gravity still worked against me and he rolled for a long ways before coming to a stop just short of 1000ft drop.

Good luck!

Yep, used my old Rem. 700, 300WSM with 180 grain Accubonds. One and done. But, I missed the first two shots. When he was hit in the heart lung area he was dead before he hit the ground.....and tumbled 500’ down.
A 270 will indeed do the job if you put the bullet in the right place. Take the firearm you are comfortable with and is accurate. MTG

 

[YoungGun]

I'm going goat hunting this here in Oregon.. I have a 270 and a 300 win mag, both I shoot well, but I've heard the 300 win is better.. Now my question is their a difference in how the bullet will fly from where I have shot here locally to where I'll be in the Hell's Canyon at 8k feet?

Short answer- Yes, but negligible for practical hunting ranges.

Longer answer- Just like all "external" forces acting on the bullet, altitude will play a part due to the density, or lack there of, of the air. Temperature is also impacted with altitude, so if you sighted in at sea level on a 100 degree day and you're hunting at 8k in 40 degree weather, there will be a difference. Not knowing what you're shooting, I'll use my 7mm Rem Mag shooting 168 Bergers to give you the difference and look only at the elevation. Sea Level @ 40 degrees = 49.9" of drop at 600 yards. 8K @ 40 degrees = 45.7" of drop at 600. So a touch over a half MOA difference at 600 yards based solely on elevation, with less air density giving you marginally less "drop" the higher your elevation, everything else being equal. At 300 yards, my rifle would have 0.4" of elevation difference- So again, for practical hunting purposes, I wouldn't worry about the elevation much. JBM ballistics should give you a good idea of what your set up will or won't do. (https://www.jbmballistics.com/cgi-bin/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi)

Ultimately, Your lungs/legs will feel the elevation far more than your rifle. Good luck on your hunt!

 

[winmag]

Goats a pretty slab-sided (not thick from left to right…opposite of barrel chested), so penetration isn’t a big concern. 270 Win is plenty, so take whichever you shoot more accurately.

If you like lung shots, and your goal is to anchor them, then you’ll need a fast expanding projectile like a Berger or ballistic tip.

If you’re going to high-shoulder one, then shoot whatever projectile you want.

The high shoulder shot is a very reliable way to anchor one. And a slight miss high is a spine shot, slightly toward head is a neck/spine shot, low is a lung shot, back is hopefully the top of the lungs…or no mans land.

 

[kodiakisland]

Well, I guess you could call a 300+lb goat slab sided, but that's one pretty thick slab. Shoulder and front leg bones are more dense than most animals it's size. You still want a good bullet that will penetrate bone, even if the goal is a lung shot, which is not my choice. I want to break bone before going into the heart/lung area. The actual cartridge and caliber doesn't matter much, but a premium bullet does. I've shot most of my goats with a 7mm-08 and it was plenty. I've shot one with a 358STA and it wasn't overkill. Seen plenty shot with everything from a .257 Roberts to a .338. Bullet placement and quality bullet trump everything else.

 

[Desert Sheep]

No pictures, but shot my goat with my 300 win mag with a 180 grain Nosler Partition at about 100 yards. It managed to pick the only gap in the brush to roll through all the way to the bottom of the mountain. Didn't break anything, but the taxidermist commented the it was a "bloody mess". (from the fall)

 

[Khunter]

I have found Hoyt Alphamax, at 68# to be efficiently deadly. Actually have video evidence... Went maybe 10 yards.

 

[ChasingBugles]

Easton axis tipped with a muzzy 125 3 blade. I kept shooting until he was down, ended up with 4 arrows in him.

 

[buffybr]

I used my .30 Gibbs with a 180 grain Nosler Partition for my goat.

In the next few years my hunting partner killed a billy in that same unit with his .270 Win, and another friend killed a billy there with his .22-250 and his son killed two billies there with his .22-250.

 

[BigHornRam]

180 gr nosler partition from a 30-06. Down hill @ 70 yards. Turned around took a couple steps and died.


120 gr barnes from a 7-08. 50 yards down hill. Broke shoulder bone and exited far side. Turned around and walked about 30 yards out in the steep stuff to die. Layed down and rolled onto a ledge making retrieval exciting.


Moral to the story is, bigger is better for mountain goats if you want to anchor them in place.

 

[kodiakisland]

I don't know that I'd draw that conclusion from a sample of one each, but it could also be the difference in bullet selection as well as bullet placement. A partition loses much of the front end and creates secondary projectiles while the barnes retains almost 100% and creates a more narrow wound channel. Both are great bullets. Both have their uses in my hunting.

In my 7mm08s, I use the 120gr TTSX almost exclusively. Dropping an animal in their tracks is more about hitting the CNS than the diameter of the bullet.

Beautiful looking goats.

 

[Panda Bear]

My apologizes . I was asked to respond to this thread, but we are very busy right now and it slipped my mind. We do hunt them each year and use the same rifle and bullet on goats that we do on sheep

I use a 275 H & H with a 160 gr Woodleigh and my husband uses a 270 Weatherby with a 150 gr Swift or Nosler

 

[Highcountry Hunter]

Might be too late to be helpful but I just took my first mountain goat in Colorado yesterday morning with a Kimber .280 AI throwing 150 gr Hornady GMX bullets. At just over 250 yards, it broke both shoulders and dropped where it stood. I put another into the should just to make sure it stayed anchored and both rounds passed through with great bone blasting performance.

 

[Brian in Montana]

A friend of mine shot a mountain goat some years back with a .243. I've hunted deer and elk with him and know he's deadly accurate with that .243. in fact it's the only rifle he owns. The animals I've seen him take, he always shot through the spine right above the shoulder and they went straight to the ground. I wasn't along on the mountain goat hunt, but I understand that one was the same.

 

[Car_walk]

Love the pics in this thread! Good luck with whatever you decide