Goat stalking?

wildfowler.250

Well-Known Member
What’s everyone’s opinion on feral goat stalking?

My main concern is not so much the difficulty of it,(I’m assuming that will depend on the type of ground and how often they’re shot) but more in the using of the carcass.


I’ve heard the bigger billys stink and are essentially inedible,(dog and bird of prey food)? Nannys being a different story.
If it was skinned there and then, would it be suitable for transport without stinking out the car and usable for curry etc? Bearing in mind I’ve never smelled these things before.


I’d be keen to give it a go but I need to be able to justify the meat use as well as the horns at the end of the day.


Anyone with experience of them?
 
Billie's stink, the sort of smell you could bottle and sell to tourists. Don't take any part of it home in the car, unless peroxide is involved. Don't know about females, but broken down and vacuum packed might be ok.
 
Well then, seeing as you asked…
Feral Goat i.e. NOT the beasts that run wild in the Antipodes - I have found are very easy to get in to for a shot so never much of a challenge really. Generally the herd will bunch up and mill around letting you shoot a few more - especially if you are well concealed and they cannot source the danger point.
Billy goat will be in your car just the once - absolutely unique bouquet, think WMDs on steroids - first one was my passenger for a 65 mile trip home - never forgotten - all windows open in January, jeep still stinks! Mrs FB has very fond memories of skinning and butchering one; strangely her main recall centres on the size of their testicles……
Nannys are ok but do make sure of your shot - the bleating of a poorly hit beast is dreadful in the extreme.
Kids are fine but as with Nannies make sure you drop them dead.
In terms of cooking - pretty skinny animals with a taste “of their own” - it is easy to understand why they are usually curried! But they do take the flavour well and young ones can be quite tender, occasionally.
Overall - interesting experience but not one I would rush to do again, primarily because of the poor stalking element however if they are a problem and you are asked to cull them try to find a nearby Portuguese family and just tell them where they are lying - I found this worked very well!
🦊🦊
 
Make sure you are paid to do so, and arrange for land owner to extract, avoid contact unless wearing rubber protective attire imo.
 
I thought I would never get rid of the smell from my knife, clothes, hands and truck. Ticked off the bucket list but likely never again.
 
Cheers gents, and appreciate the feedback.

I’d goat once in Portugal but I think that will be a very separate event from an old Billy on the hill,(it was basically a lamb chop).

If you’ve got any further experiences on stalking or cooking,(or how best to transport..) id be glad to hear it.

At this stage it’s an unbooked paid stalk so just gathering ideas.


Cheers!
 
I thought I would never get rid of the smell from my knife, clothes, hands and truck. Ticked off the bucket list but likely never again.

You posted as I was typing. Maybe one to leave the nice knife behind then..

Maybe it’s similar to Chinese water deer. I did it once, haven’t rushed back though
 
Have never stalked goats but have eaten a fair few over the years, it is very nice in a curry, long time ago there was a Billy goat on a local farm that committed suicide by head butting the steel girder he had been tided too to give the cows chance to eat the silage . We did eat him. It did not smell the best but tasted ok 😊.
 
I've shot and eaten goats in Oz, young, between 1/2 and 2/3 size. Always ate them curried and enjoyed them (warning; my wife asserts that I have the constitution of a wheelie bin!) I would avoid a Billy like the plague, a smell never to be forgotten. As Foxyboy43 says not very difficult to stalk, when one goes down the others tend to mill about while gazing curiously at the recently deceased. They were traditionally used in this part of the world to keep the furze and gorse under some sort of control, they were reasonably effective.
 
Nanny’s Shoot and walk away, unless you want dog food, Billy’s unless you want the head, keep walking.
 
I had goat curry in Rotorua last week, tasted ok, but as we have our own beef and lamb, would not waste my time, If the goats are close to my truck, which is not often, I run them in to the dog food man, but the price is hardly worth it.
 
Hmmm.
The best goat recipe I ever had was handed down to me by a mildly odd but interesting old jamaican chappie many years ago. Strange cove muttered “hey mon” a lot. Pretty simple recipe but the results are great.
Sooo - put your cubed goat meat into a deep pan on high heat, brown and remove from pan. To the rich meat stock add 1 bottle of the finest full red wine you can afford and bring to the simmer, then add a quarter bottle of best port and bring back slowly to the gentle simmer. At this point gently stir in a bottle of madeira and a litre of the finest jamaican dark rum you can find and bring ever so slowly back to the simmer. Finally and the secret ingredient - add a 1/4 bottle of good Ricardm this really brings out the flavour - bring back to the simmer gently and then set the contents of the pan aside to cool. Once cool drink the lot and give the sodding goat to your dog!
🦊🦊
 
Shot a few Billy’s off coastal land didn’t smell too bad and tasted good perhaps a location problem regarding the smell I mean you could smell billy but in my opinion it wasn’t as bad as farm billy and tgg he a taste is as good as any lamb or at least the ones we’ve eaten
 

K
 
i think you either want a trophy or a meal. i shot a nanny with about 6 inch horns. didnt smell too bad but the meat tasted like it was marrinaded in a used sock. even when i trimmed all the fat and silver skin from the meat, simmered in stock for couple of hours then curried. it was edible but still very very goaty.
i wouldnt shoot one that was over a year old
 
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