So I thought I'd make the most of the good weather this weekend by going out for a goat hunt. One area I always wanted to check out was the Mt Messenger/Awakino/Mokau Doc blocks.
At the entrance to the block there is a Doc sign saying the track and the surrounding areas are closed. However I did not receive any notification from Doc saying so.
On the way back I thought about quickly checking out another small block. Only had my binoculars with me.
2 minutes from the car and I bumped into 2 goats. I sprinted back to the car to grab rifle and ammo. Upon return the goats were still there. I picked a black billy, lined up the 243 to the shoulder, boom, it went stiff before it fell to the ground to the handloaded Hornady 100gr BTSP.
To my surprise, 20 more goats emerged from the bush to check out what was going on. I had a crack at a black nanny on the shoulder, but it made a dash. I thought the shot was a miss, but soon heard a cry of an injured animal. The goat has actually been hit in the gut and ran 100m. Poor shot placement from my part. It was quickly put out of its misery.
On the way home a ginger goat bolted onto State Highway 3, and was almost killed by my Toyota. The car behind was clearly not following the 2 second rule as he almost crashed into me.
Overall a productive day. More practice at the range under non-ideal conditions will improve the chance of humane kills.
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