Would you shoot a nanny mtn goat with a kid?

[Pelican]

If you're trying to justify making an orphan of a kid I must direct your attention to Cushmans' post. That is you in a nutshell.

Not trying to justify anything to strangers on the internet. I just thought it was an interesting question. As mentioned in the post you quoted, I do not intend to shoot a wet nanny. Apparently reading comprehension is not your strong suit.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Question (and i'm not being a smartass, I really don't know jack about mtn. goats), if mountain goat populations are so low, why are we shooting nannies? Are female harvests, or lack there of, not good population mgmt strategies like with deer and elk?

 

[Pelican]

I am not a wildlife biologist, but from what I have learned, survival of adult female ungulates is the most important factor in ungulate population increase vs. decrease. It is also much more difficult to determine sex of mountain goats based on horns or antlers than most other ungulate species (exceptions include bison, caribou, bighorn sheep, and sometimes pronghorn). I think the reason for many goat tags being either-sex vs billy only is that most people don't get a lot of goat tags in there lifetime or even see many goats, so they are not good at determining sex based on physical characteristics. Game agencies also do not want to create a lot of well-meaning criminals so they give out either-sex tags. Just my opinion based on a lot of research from someone who does not get paid to do it.

 

[haiku_rodney]

Interesting poll. Here we hunt feral goats, not mountain goats. We are in essence population control. In that respect we hunters are not doing a good job. The state wants us to shoot everything, but, most of the hunters I know will only shoot billies or dry nannies.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Historically it seems that as goats expand their range or are introduced to new areas the population expands fairly rapidly for several years. This often leads to a concern with increasing competition with other animals that share winter range especially native bighorn sheep. Hence the issue of nanny only tags as a population control and as a way of easing pressure on the harvest of mature billies. Just because a mature nanny doesn’t have a kid with her doesn’t mean she is barren. She may have lost a kid or not have gotten bred the previous fall. You can still accomplish the longtime goal of population reduction without sentencing a kid to starvation because she would have possibly had a few more kids in following years. Most nannies do not breed until at least three years old and will only raise a few kids to adulthood. Any comparison to deer and elk and their young mis not apples to apples. Most deer and elk young of the year will survive on their own when orphaned in the fall or in the case of a hard winter would die in spite of the doe or cow. Bears and their cubs and nannies and kids are more in line with an appropriate comparison of the dependence of the young on their mother for survival.

 

[tjones]

Killing a nanny with a kid is basically killing 2 goats. Doing it because it’s a OIL tag is, well, a poor excuse.

Rocky Mtn Goat Alliance has a great video on learning to ID sex of goats.

 

[Gerald Martin]

As Pelican noted, in most cases,either sex tags are not given out to encourage harvest of nannies but to avoid criminalizing a hunter who makes a mistake. Honestly though, it isn’t terribly difficult to tell the difference between sexes with some education and time observing before a shot is taken.

 

[HighDesertSage]

Got it, thx.

 

[JohnCushman]

Killing a nanny with a kid and then lying about it and saying she's dry is just a dick move.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Thankfully, no one exercised that choice as their preferred option.

 

[tjones]

I voted on the poll but couldn’t find the pole.

 

[Pelican]

I voted on the poll but couldn’t find the pole.[/
I guess I should read my posts before hitting the button.

 

[Gr8bawana]

I don't agree with killing a nanny with a kid. I did however, figure out who the asshole is. mtmuley

Look in the mirror.