Any place to hunt goats in USA

[Ryan]

Is Aoudad a goat? I don’t think so, it is a sheep and that is the only free range Goat/Sheep I know of in Texas.
Bow hunted a number of different species during the years I lived in Texas and it was all high fence.
I may be wrong but I don’t think so.

Actually Aoudad is neither. It is an intermediary species between goats and sheep. But it's closer to goat than sheep. As one book I read put it, it's a goat with sheep traits. All true sheep have the scientific species name of Ovis. And a common name that includes the word sheep doesn't mean much, there's a whole list of fish with the word cod in it that aren't remotely related to a true cod. And on and on with common names. Pronghorn antelope-not an antelope, rocky mountain goat-not a goat.

 

[JES Adventures]

We also offer several species of Antelope, Deer and Wild Sheep, of which the meat can be excellent table fare.

Trans Caspian Urial

Blackbuck venison is excellent and they offer a great hunt.

An Axis of course, my personal favorite! The rut will be kicking off in about 60 days and we expect to take some outstanding trophies.

 

[JES Adventures]

Is hunting these goats a challenge? I am asking from pure personal ignorance here, I have never hunted them or been on a place that had them. I have seen videos where they might as well have been in a petting zoo. What is the allure to hunting them, just something different?

Specifically asking about behind high fences here in Texas. I don't have any issues with high fences either, just to head that discussion off.

They can be challenging if hunted in a sporting fashion on foot spotting and stalking in a large area. Obviously, they are not as wary as many of the deer and antelope species but a nice hunt nonetheless. The allure I would say is a nice, economical hunt that has the meat value as well as a different hunting experience.

BTW - The Catalina Goat was the first big game animal I collected back in 1979. Thats what started me down the path of big game hunting that has taken me all over the world!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I’ve always felt that goat meat is criminally underutilized in the Western world (both the domestic and wild varieties).

We have serow here in the hills of South Bengal, and I usually hunt one or two every season with my 7x57mm Mauser.

A whole serow bathed in wild honey, yogurt & tandoori spice mix before being pit roasted on a bed of lump charcoal is a real sportsman’s delicacy here. The meat is so tender that you can cut it with a fork.

If you gents are really serious about wild goat/antelope hunting… then, Pakistan offers some great urial hunts.

In the United States, I’ve hunted aoudad. It was a fantastic hunt, but the meat of the trophy ram tasted atrocious. Definitely not trying that one again. My outfitter told me that the ewes make for better eating (if prepared the right way).

 

[buck wild]

This Nubian is still out there somewhere.

View attachment 594399

You surely haven't "lost" that Nubian

 

[tward1604]

They can be challenging if hunted in a sporting fashion on foot spotting and stalking in a large area. Obviously, they are not as wary as many of the deer and antelope species but a nice hunt nonetheless. The allure I would say is a nice, economical hunt that has the meat value as well as a different hunting experience.

BTW - The Catalina Goat was the first big game animal I collected back in 1979. Thats what started me down the path of big game hunting that has taken me all over the world!

Thank you for the reply. That makes perfect sense. @Hunter-Habib I agree with goat being under appreciated here.

 

[JES Adventures]

You surely haven't "lost" that Nubian

I saw him last in late February while our cruising in the pasture, so I hope I haven't lost him!

 

[SStomcat]

I’ve hunted goats in Texas several times. Make for good eating. The Nannie’s are best but even a tough old Billy will make good table fare if ground or slow cooked. I enjoy tacos made with a slow cooked backstrap.View attachment 594166View attachment 594167View attachment 594168

Good for hunting, meat wise probably little too tough.

 

[Elkeater]

Good for hunting, meat wise probably little too tough.

The Nannie’s are excellent table fare. A younger nannie makes excellent goat chops and a roasted quarter is fun at a larger gathering.

 

[Daktari]

@Hunter-Habib is it possible for non-citizens to hunt in your area for Serow?

 

[Hunter-Habib]

@Hunter-Habib is it possible for non-citizens to hunt in your area for Serow?

Daktari, it's possible in Pakistan.

 

[buffybr]

My Montana Mountain Goat was an old billy and he stunk of goat. I had all of his meat made into sausage and luckily the freezer that I had him in quit while I was out of town and he went to the county landfill.

I don't remember any objectionable smell from my Texas Aoudad, but we didn't bring any meat home from that trip, and I don't know what the outritter did with any of the meat from any of the animals that we shot.

The Dagestan Tur that I shot in Azerbaijan stunk like an old goat as soon as I walked up to him. The camp staff boned out all of the meat, and one of them pounded all of it into a mush that they took home in zip lock bags.

The Arapawa Ram that I shot in New Zealand was the only animal that I shot that they did not bring the meat back and cook at the lodge. We ate the Chamois, Tahr, Red Stag, and Fallow deer.

On one of the episodes of the TV show "Dropped" they shot and ate a goat in New Zealand and after he ate some, one of the brothers spent the next 5 minutes throwing it up.

I don't like domestic mutton or lamb, but the meat from my Bighorn rams and Dall ram was excellent, and some of the best wild meat that I have ever ate.

 

[Firebird]

I’ve always said that I will know when I am rich and happy when I have killed a bighorn sheep and am eating his tenderloins over a fire on the mtn where I killed him.
I had lamb shank for the first time in a South Africa game park and it was excellent.
Sorry to deviate from goats. . .

 

[dchum]

Is Aoudad a goat? I don’t think so, it is a sheep and that is the only free range Goat/Sheep I know of in Texas.
Bow hunted a number of different species during the years I lived in Texas and it was all high fence.
I may be wrong but I don’t think so.

It’s neither Capra nor Ovis! The last of its kind.

 

[Philip Glass]

Interested to know details. Anybody like goat meat?

Lots of variety of goats from around the world available to hunt in Texas. Old Billy goats are sadly inedible to most.

 

[fourfive8]

Makes me think of Tommy Lee Jones' line- "Goat ropers and brush poppers", from the movie Space Cowboys.

Even small cabritos are a struggle for me to get down. Older "goats" of any kind are nigh-on impossible to attempt much less to keep down, IMO. At yearly get togethers we always had wild game of some variety or several varieties. One year someone sneaked in a Persian Ibex billy and did the whole slow cook, pit BBQ thing using some secret Texas recipe. Yousa! Gack! Conversely, most wild sheep are fair/middlin to excellent. That quality of good table fair plus lung worm are two of the reasons for the demise of the wild sheep in most of the Western US during settlement. Young domestic sheep (lamb) is pretty good but seem too rich to my taste- that may be the reason for small bites along with the mint jelly tradition. Mutton stew on a cold day is almost ok... until the 1/2 inch thick fat on top cools and hardens.... YUM... shudder....

 

[fourfive8]

I don't know anything about "hunting" goats other than many years ago it became a "thing" to hunt feral domestic goats as an added attraction/diversion while on vacation in Hawaii. Unless they are a distinct species of one of their native ancestors living in their native land of origin, the "goats" referenced here are all going to be feral domestic crosses or breeds of some variety. In TX likely they are just another animal that roams around some ranches that the owner might be able to charge something for and act as bonus or loss leader for dropping real bucks on more expensive game like blackbuck, nilgai, African whatyoumaycallit or some other activity while on the ranch. In other areas/states, feral domestic goats are generally viewed as feral pests to be gotten rid of. I know that any feral goat or old world sheep or other similar hybrid of any kind that roams on public land where there are bighorns will have a price on their head as a pest to be gotten rid of. To me, if they are feral, out roaming around on public land where the jurisdiction deems them as a non-game, non-protected pest, they would be a simple target of opportunity and not really a game animal anyway. I've occasionally seen them while out and about and they didn't strike me as much of a game animal to hunt at all. I also see that a ranch on Catalina Island has feral goat hunts for $1250 trophy fee and $150 daily rate ...oooohhkay! Who knows.... to each their own.