Best Goat Hides?

[Brian Jackson]

I am planning a goat hunt in South East and was wondering when a person can be confident that he would be hunting goats with their shaggy coats? I was hoping that the end of September would be late enough?

Thanks
Brian

[icb12]

October would be better. But you are really pushing your luck weather wise in October. Even late September holds potential for serious weather.

If I were you I'd shoot muskeg a pm and see what he thinks.. or wait for him to reply here. He's got a ton of experience out there and can probably give you a better idea of what a good time for coat/weather compromise might be.

But.. basically.. the later you go, the shaggier they are. But the later you go, the worse the weather.. See the dillema??

[Brian Jackson]

The lake I want to fly into freezes up in early October so the weather is a real predictor of when I can and can't go to this particular spot. But if the hides are not real shaggy at that time I will probably start looking for another potential spot that might let me in a little later.

Thanks

[muskeg]

October Goats

Depends on your definition of 'shaggy' .... Primo Ed told me that the Goats can grow as much as 1 + or - inch of hair length a week.

Also it is an individual Goat thing. I have seen longer haired Goats than others in the same group. And that applies from August thru October.

This is an early Oct Goat .... not really 'shaggy' but a nice Goat. Would he be 'shaggy' in a week or 2 more weeks? But it's nothing like a late November or December Goat.



We have taken longer haired goats in September and shorter haired Goats later in October.

This was the view on the morning of Oct 8 '08 ....



Good thing DocDon took his Goat on the 5th .... they had hunted for Wolf, Wolverine and Brown Bear around camp and on the carcass on the 6th and 7th. But when they woke to this it was time to call the plane and it wasn't easy getting down to the lake. The plane couldn't get in for 2 more days.

But it's not snow that usually makes late Sept or Oct hunting difficult. It's the fog / clouds and no visibility days.