Indeed, my thoughts exactly. In a day and age in our world where there’s really no telling what can happen next, it’s just comforting to know that nature is still healthy enough to continue to produce pristine specimens from the animal kingdom.Good to see records broke. Not for ego or bragging rights but to show that mature animals and large horn or antler genetics are still in a population.
I looked around a while to try and find out how old the goat was but gave up. And of course, you have to be a member of the B&C club to view the score card which I am not. But anyway, I found another story about the hunt:Interesting that the goat only looks like 5-6yrs old (looks 5 to me). With goat measurements, there's a fine line between losing mass around the bases and not having the tips broken.
Looking at that last story you posted, maybe he's 7? You can count the rings and it's a good picture. Either way, length isn't the only component of a scoring. The D1 measurement (around the bases) reduces as they get older because they're constantly rubbing away the material. And the older they get, the higher the chance they break the tips on their horns. So there is a sweet spot that's likely going to generate the best score. As I have heard, any goat is a trophyI'll keep looking, but if anybody finds out how old he was I'd really like to know as well. If he's only 5 or 6 the habitat to create genes like that must be incredible in that area. From the pics I saw of the area it didn't seem that special, but who knows. Many years ago, an old friend of mine killed a goat in Alaska that was close to, or right at 12". That's all I know about it. Can't even remember if it was a billy or not. Another friend picked up a winter kill here on the Kenai not long ago that "supposedly" was 13". I never saw it so don't know if it was a billy or not as well. With all the hunting restrictions on goats in AK. I'm sure many die of old age that are potential world records too.
Yes, good mass on any horned or antlered animal is a great way for an animal to score high. As far as a trophy goat, imo, any goat with 9” horns is a nice representation of a goat. But for me the trophy is in the hide. Ever since I went on a November hunt with a taxidermist friend who’s goal was to life size a November goat, and I saw what they looked like at that time of year, (I call them cotton balls with legs) I always hunted the latest in the season that I could. You take a big chance on getting weathered out, and I did a few times, but it was a chance I was willing to take. The goat I killed was on October 9th, had 9-5/8” horns, and even though it could be far better, the hide on it was still amazing. I would post a picture but it says it’s too large and I don’t know how to make it smaller for the forum.Looking at that last story you posted, maybe he's 7? You can count the rings and it's a good picture. Either way, length isn't the only component of a scoring. The D1 measurement (around the bases) reduces as they get older because they're constantly rubbing away the material. And the older they get, the higher the chance they break the tips on their horns. So there is a sweet spot that's likely going to generate the best score. As I have heard, any goat is a trophy![]()