White suit for goats?
Mountain Goat
How many guys have tried the white suit for mountain goats? I've been getting some pretty good info that it really helps getting in close!
Didn't someone get shot recently after being mistaken for a goat?
I'm hunting in an archery only area. if someone stalks me in a white suit it must be working lol.
Give it a try. Can find cheap coveralls for 30 bucks at bass pro
already ordered a white painters suit, they were the lightest thing I could find
There's 2 potential ways the white suits will work. One...look and act like a goat. I would suggest angling towards them rather than crawling straight at them. Also, pay attention to how they are responding. They may give you a stare-down when they first see you. Once they get used to you and start feeding or chewing their cud..angle closer...and repeat. This is fairly easy to do with undisturbed goats even with street clothes on..especially in units where goats are used to seeing people.
The other way white works great is if it snows. Obviously regular camo sticks out like a sore thumb against snow! Goats can see you from a couple miles away in camo against snow! Goats have about the keenest eyes in the animal world and that plus smell are their best defense! Keep both of these in mind on stalks! I stay out of sight as long as possible and often times let the see me sitting on a rock...waiting for them to get used to me before trying to get closer. They often immediatedly spook if you attempt stalks.
White tyvek suits are light weight, compact, somewhat waterproof, and are easy to pack...although tear apart on brush.
It worked for me here in Colorado. Crawled in to 25 yards on a big group. I would venture to say anybody goat hunting is analyzing the horns a bunch and you have to be a moron to shoot a hunter in a white parka with a hood.
"you have to be a moron to shoot a hunter in a white parka with a hood. Mathews Man"
It depends on whether the goat imitator was doin yer wife earlier in the week.
A few years back a guy got shot in the neck with a scoped .308win by his "buddy" when he went out in the bushes to heed natures call. Later we found out the dead guy was having an affair with the shooters wife....
Mike
I shot my goat while wearing a plain white tee. I kinda just popped out in to her view which stopped her at 12 yards,drew and shot. I'm not saying she would of bolted had I not been wearing it. But it just might have bought me that 2 seconds.
Another species that white may work on is dall sheep. My BIL and I had trouble getting within 800 yards of a group of dall rams in Alaska. My BIL decided to put on a tyvek suit and crawled to 100 yards and got the best FC ram with rifle. He may not have gotten a ram if we didn't bring the whites.
You will likely find with mtn goats (anyway, many units here in Colo) that once they get used to seeing you and you don't pose a threat they'll let you get pretty close with or without whites. Mature billies (5+ year olds) are often a lot spookier than nannies and young billies...especially if the billies have been hunted very hard.
I killed my goat wearing a white painters suit also. I would recommend wearing one.
I shot my billy wearing a white suit and white hat. I spent 10 days hunting with my recurve and couldn't find a goat in stalkable position to get within 25 yards. All the goats where in big open shale slides.
On day 11, I went home and bought a white suit. I went back up and found a billy bedded in a 300 yard open slide. I put on the suit, haunched over and started acting like a goat from 200 yards away. I slowly meandered around, zig-zaging back and forth while slowly closing the distance. At times, I would lay down like a goat for 10 minutes or so. The billy watched me for 2 hours and never got nervous. After 2 hours, I had that billy feeding next to me at 50 yards, not paying any attention to me. I slowly closed the gap to 25 yards and closed the deal.
I am not sure if it would always work that good, but it couldn't have worked any better for me. I believe the key was going SLOW!!!. Lay down, kick rocks, move away then angle back in. Don't go directly towards the goat. GO SLOW and act as if you are paying no attention to his presence.
I used a white Tyvek suit with hood and foam/black tape horns. Was able to stalk within 32yds of three bedded billys. They could see me for several hundred yards and only thought something was wrong when I stood up from behind a boulder to take my shot. This was an archery only unit in Colorado. Had my bow stapped to my pack with some red marking tape steamers tied to it. Dropped the pack and pulled off streamers at about 100yds. (Someone poached a goat with a rifle in this unit several years ago) It worked great.
I really admire anyone who can make a stalk like that in the open. Takes some good discipline.
Badass. If I ever draw a tag. This will be in my arsenal
Been thinking of hiding behind one of these guys if the terrain allows. Do goats know how many feet a llama has?
Last summer "Goat Man" was up on Willard Peak above my house.
Goatman what happened to him Jman great outfit
A man who dresses up like a goat changes the game!
--Jim
Hahaha.....whatever Jim!
Like setting out decoys and hiding in concealed blind doesn't change the game. Or putting out bait and sitting in a tree doesn't change the game. Or unleashing the dogs and following the GPS doesn't change the game. Or sitting in a tree on scrap line with your trail camera mounted below doesn't change the game. Or using a rangefinder doesn't change the game. Or using the latest Cam & 1/2 technology doesn't change the game....I could make this list a mile long.
Glad to know you and Nick and never attempted anything that would potentially "change the game".
Good Lord.
It works, I killed my goat in Colorado at 15 yards. Here is a picture at home.
Here it is in the field. Notice two things: 1) The weight loss in this picture compared to being at home after receiving the tag. (a MUST for goats) 2) The damn wind blew my horns off during the stalk!! (another MUST for goats)
Good luck, stay safe. I was in a rifle unit, but didn't care.....
PS- I made the bow, and it was my 5th animal taken with it..
Mtnbikeit,
I am sorry that you do not get the joke... No worries.
"They may get agitated. They're territorial. They are, after all, wild animals," he said. "This person puts on a goat suit, he changes the game. But as long as he accepts responsibility, it's not illegal."
Phil Douglass of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Stalking in plain sight with the intention of being seen, but fooling your prey, actually sounds like it could add an element to the hunt that would make it extra exciting.
Add to it not knowing if at any moment a bullet is going to rip through your chest and you could have a real nail biter!
Nick, Sorry, I don't keep up on everything Phil Douglass says for the Utah DWR. How was I suppose to know there was some inside joke attached to Jim's comment?
Muskwa, Beautiful goat and sheep. Did you take your sheep with a recurve as well? Well done.
Yes, with risk of sounding like an "elitist", I only hunt traditional with wood arrows. To each his own tho... I hunt with some very good non-traditional guys. I've taken a lot of nice animals, but the last 5 were with the bow I made myself, including 2 P & Y. The goat hunt was a great memory forever in my life. Every bowhunter should experience a goat hunt IMO.
John,
No need to be sorry. Truthfully, I don't keep up on everything he says either, but came across it just recently and it's been stuck in my mind. Then this thread appeared and it just seemed "right" to mention it. I am sure Jim is sorry if he confused you.
Muskwa great going but no shoes on the goat hunt yikes :> congras on the goat with your bow way to go !!!! i just noticed that sheep its a dandy !!
This thread is great, got the suit, did a few mods and added a face mask.
City- funny about the bare feet. I am built like Fred Flinstone, but I recommend boots...
Thanks for the message about the sheep. It was a hard hunt, and I just wanted to get one after so many people told me I couldn't do it with the stick. I actually missed (shot over back) a barely legal half curl a few days before, and redeemed myself with this ram......
Back to the goat, I made the suit for this hunt and tested it throughout the summer. Hikers thought I was nuts, and then the "goat man" stuff came out and my phone rang off the hook from family and friends. Hahaha, they thought it was me.
On my final stalk, I even urinated, as well as layed down for over 20 minutes in plain view. It relaxed them, and a young billy walked by me laying down at 6 yards! It was awesome!!! I took this big nanny at 15 yards, in 45 mph winds.
Not to hijack this thread, but I would love to see pics of your sheep. That is a beauty. Killing a sheep with a stickbow is not something that happens very often. I hope to give it a try, if I can draw a tag.
Cool...got a goat tag thjis year and am gonna give it a try. Can't bleive one the high and mighties did'nt give you safety lecture on wearing the suit in a rifle unit...
Nice Ram....
Squirill I thoguth that the white one was a goat....
Muskwa, Congrats on the goat. I drew a rifle unit (G-3) this year and plan on doing it with my recurve. What unit were you in? I'm thinking about trying the white suit but a little leary about it with rifle hunters in the area. I'll decide whether or not to put it on based on the circumstances I guess.
I was in G16. There was some thought about rifle hunters, but depending on the location, I think it would be impossible for someone to judge that poorly. Goats are usually looked at with quality optics for a long time, unlike a quick decision/ oppurtunity for deer or elk.
Here is a pic of the day before I killed my goat. This was a storm that surprised us, but was melted by the next day. The following picture was taken less than 24 hours apart
Weather changes quickly up there. I talked to "jims" on here last year before my hunt, and he mentioned they would be hard to find if it snows.... boy, he was right. Day before season I saw 27 goats, then the snow hit and only found 5, in the cliffs, un reachable with ice and snow.
Day 2 was obviously a better day. The blizzard really tore up my goat suit and ripped off the horns, but worked just fine.
When you are finished, use it to set the meat on to keep clean while deboning....
here is the ram you asked for, I don't have feild photos on this computer at work. It might be blurry, sorry.
I made the base myself, as my bow. I am a carpenter by trade and I make custom bases for all the area taxidermists here in Colorado. Obviously I am not a bowsite sponsor, so I can't advertise, but PM me if you are intersted. I do A LOT of bases.
I do only custom bases and plaques ranging from pedestals with inlayed hide (zebra, etc), cabinet style bases with doors and drawers and smaller items as well. This base for my ram is oddly shaped because it spins 360 degrees on an old tractor axle/ housing. When I build my dream room, it will be motarized in the center as an island.
Didn't mean to hijack, but you asked... Now, about them goats.....
Since this isn't debate free......What do the elitist, purists, trad bow users think of this tactic? Just curious? Not being smart.....very sincere.
How does this fit in and where do you cross the line? White painters suit is ok, considered same as camo maybe? Black tape horns ok?
Where do you draw the line?
i would personally think that useing a suit to fool the animal as opposed to a clean stalk where you are unseen until the arrow strikes would be against 'pure bowhunting' imo a clean undetected stalk is the pinnacle of bowhunting. whatever works for you though. i know many have done it on dalls.
