Thread: when is a goats head worth keeping?

Here is my 29 it will always be special, it was the first animal I shot and one hell of a story to go with it, sometimes it's not just the size that dictates a trophy...

That's why I kept the 29 inch one I shot in Whareino Forest way back in the early 70's, it was a good stalk and my old mate "Top of the South" he was taking pictures with an old instamatic camera right up to when I shot him. It has real nice curls too which helps with the score. Nowadays I think it is harder to shoot a big billy than a decent Red Stag.

All the time... waste not want not...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goats_Head_Soup

A Benneydale special

1st one not quite 33”


2nd a local one,just a 26”....



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I shot a old Billy on Waitangi day with a 32 inch spread from tip to tip. He was a very old boy with not much meat on him (muscle condition was going backwards), and the thing that surprised me the most was the lack of dirty old billy smell. His coat was in beautiful condition and was thinking maybe he was past looking for nannies to root so didn't bother pissing and ejaculating over himself anymore???

I got one in the rimutakas, just over 32". Went back to the same spot a couple of weeks later and pigs have dragged the body off and eaten him.

He will only just fit above the stairs. Just need a nice mount for him now.

Dogs eaten what meat i took from him. He stunk and was with a nanny. She gave me an earful from about 20 yards away while I was dealing with the head. She had the good sense to do one before I'd finished otherwise she'd have been turned into spicy patties.

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Originally Posted by aetchell

I got one in the rimutakas, just over 32". Went back to the same spot a couple of weeks later and pigs have dragged the body off and eaten him.

He will only just fit above the stairs. Just need a nice mount for him now.

Dogs eaten what meat i took from him. He stunk and was with a nanny. She gave me an earful from about 20 yards away while I was dealing with the head. She had the good sense to do one before I'd finished otherwise she'd have been turned into spicy patties.

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Hey Ash still got one offset mount if you want it.
Are you busy on Sunday? Wan't to kill a pig, and there are a few goats floating around the back too again. @aetchell

Originally Posted by Boar Freak

Hey Ash still got one offset mount if you want it.
Are you busy on Sunday? Wan't to kill a pig, and there are a few goats floating around the back too again. @aetchell

pm'd you

Now that's impressive!

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

Now that's impressive!

He was about 100yards down a hill from a service road track. I would expect the older ones to be a bit deeper into the bush.

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I've posted these two on here before, but... for the record... again. The first one is on the wall in the shed at the hunting block, the second one is here in the shed at home. I forget how wide they are, and if I gave a figure it would probably be different to what I said before and one of you buggers would point that out! (I think the first one was 33" and the second one I've just gone and measured again... 29").

I totally agree with some of the comments about how hard to find these bigger billy heads are. If you're up for a challenge, a great area for big billies is the margins of the Wanganui National Park, all sides. If you can get access to some of those farms, and spend some time out in the field, you'll eventually spot some big old boys on the bush edges, usually alone... they are hard to get at (which is why they are so big of course).

There's an enormous pure white billy I've seen twice in my primary hunting grounds that has alluded me due to a finely developed sense of danger. He's the only white one I've seen in that area, and I've seen thousands and shot many hundreds of them, his colouring is very unusual compared to the dominant genetics. I am determined to get him, I've had a second opinion on his head (also only through long range glassing) and we both agree he'll be in the mid-40s minimum, potentially pushing high-40s. And thick. I'd be stoked to post that head on here, gonna have to work for it though.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I've posted these two on here before, but... for the record... again. The first one is on the wall in the shed at the hunting block, the second one is here in the shed at home. I forget how wide they are, and if I gave a figure it would probably be different to what I said before and one of you buggers would point that out! (I think the first one was 33" and the second one I've just gone and measured again... 29").

I totally agree with some of the comments about how hard to find these bigger billy heads are. If you're up for a challenge, a great area for big billies is the margins of the Wanganui National Park, all sides. If you can get access to some of those farms, and spend some time out in the field, you'll eventually spot some big old boys on the bush edges, usually alone... they are hard to get at (which is why they are so big of course).

There's an enormous pure white billy I've seen twice in my primary hunting grounds that has alluded me due to a finely developed sense of danger. He's the only white one I've seen in that area, and I've seen thousands and shot many hundreds of them, his colouring is very unusual compared to the dominant genetics. I am determined to get him, I've had a second opinion on his head (also only through long range glassing) and we both agree he'll be in the mid-40s minimum, potentially pushing high-40s. And thick. I'd be stoked to post that head on here, gonna have to work for it though.

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Did u end up getting that big billy..?


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Originally Posted by tiroahunta

Did u end up getting that big billy..?

Nope. You’d have seen it if I did! Never saw him again and who knows what happened to him. None of the people I know down there have spoken of a very big Billy head. There’s only 4 or 5 guys that get to go in there, which tells me he’s maybe still out there, or died of natural causes and consumed by the pigs. Maybe poached, who knows. Really big Billys usually get recovered and wall mounted by my mates.

when is a goats head worth keeping?

When it makes you happy, or means something. I have one on my stairwell. Horns aren't particularly wide, but long enough to impress visitors.

Nice bullies Flyblown, be nice to see that big one.