Muzzy goats!

[LoonWulf]

Got to go muzzloading for a couple hours today, and filled the tags I bought.
Last weekend me and one of my buddies made it out as well, but we were shooting horribly.
It wasn't untill I tried to reload my rifle that I realized I'd forgotten to lube the bullets/sabots I'd prepared the day before. Vince had alot more trouble than I did with loading the unlubed bullets, and I think he was short seating them, causing his accuracy issues.
After lubing the bullets he hit his next two shots and we called it a day.....12hrs later


This afternoon was much more successful.
The goats were much closer to the access road, and both Vince and I shot better.
I took the big brown Billy at about 40yds kneeling, as he walked thru a crack in the lava rock. I had to shoot over the ridge of rock, and the bullet hit him high, breaking his spine.


After we got him back to the truck we drove down a bit more and walked in one of the crossroads.
It was almost 6 with sunset at 6:20, but we got on a herd about 10mins into our walk so we're well within legal limits.
We initially started stalking a black Billy, but as we came out of a shallow depression I spotted another small Billy about 40yds in front of us. Vince decided to take it and dropped it in it's tracks.
On his shot a pair of nanny's ran up onto the bare lava at about 100yds. I held high spine and hit about 3" lower (which puts them around 120 I think).
We split up to retrieve our goats and get out before dark, and I forgot to get a picture of Vince's little Billy.




Fun time as always, and much less frustration than last weekend lol.

Now that muzzleloader is over, I'll get back to my projects

 

[alsaqr]

Great post. Congrats on the goats.

 

[LoonWulf]

Thanks!

 

[Captcurt]

I bet that last one would disappear when it was standing still on lava rock. Great hunt.

 

[Patocazador]

Good hunt.
It surprises me that you have to buy tags for feral animals. I never ate a goat because of the smell but hear from others that Mexicans can make their 'cabras' taste real good.

 

[FL-NC]

Always interesting to hear hunting tales from Hawaii.

 

[LoonWulf]

I bet that last one would disappear when it was standing still on lava rock. Great hunt.

Yeah, the black ones can be a little had to spot. They are a shade darker than the lava tho, and goats are pretty fidgety so if you watch for a while they will move.

Good hunt.
It surprises me that you have to buy tags for feral animals. I never ate a goat because of the smell but hear from others that Mexicans can make their 'cabras' taste real good.

We don't have any natural populations of game mammals, so they are trying to do a decent job of game management on the goat and sheep herds in a few of these places we hunt.
You only need to buy tags for these "special" hunts, general hunting your license is it. The tags are only 10 bucks a pop, so I really don't mind.

I actually know quite a few guys who won't eat the goats, but there's just as many non hunters who will.

I also know quite a few people who can do a good job of making them taste good
My friends wife is Mexican, and she makes some awesome goat stew...which I can't remember the name of....
I've got some tricks to make them edible as well and I'll make verde without trying to de-funk them.
The Filipinos can make them taste delicious, but then they do a pretty good job of that on anything.

Honestly I had more issue early on with the sheep, because instead of getting less gamey the longer they cook they get more gamey.....nothing's worse than over cooked sheep.....

 

[Mn Fats]

Good job. I've never had goat meat before. What's it taste like? Lamb-ish?

 

[Captcurt]

The only goat that I have had was on a hunting trip in Mexico. Our host killed a kid and cooked it over mesquite coals. Absolutely fantastic, but I must admit, I am a carnivore.

 

[LoonWulf]

Good job. I've never had goat meat before. What's it taste like? Lamb-ish?

Kinda, it's got a sharper ...uhh...funk? Than sheep/lamb does. The difference between a kid and an adult, even a small one like we've been getting is pretty substantial.

My process for dealing with any of the gamey, funky tasting stuff, is a bit more work but makes them useable for almost anything besides grilling (if grilling keep em rare).
Cut the meat into pieces no more than 1/2" thick, soak for 15-20mins in baking soda.
Then rinse and soak in some form of acidic solution (vinegar, lemon/lime, red wine) to rebalance the meat (baking soda makes it slimy when cooked, the acidic solution fixes that)
Next lightly season (or not, I don't like cooking unseasoned meat), and cook in oil till a funky smelling froth forms, takes about 10-15 mins.
Once it's.not frothing any more, dump the meat in a colander and rinse.
Then make what ever you want. I do curry pretty regularly, or stew. I've fed it to people who thought it was pork or chicken. The look on the HR ladies face when my buddy at work told her it was goat was hilarious.

 

[mustanger98]

Hey LoonWulf, I was wondering if the HR lady liked the goat meat after finding out what it was.

 

[LoonWulf]

Hey LoonWulf, I was wondering if the HR lady liked the goat meat after finding out what it was.

yeah, once she got over the initial shock, she was fine with it.
Shes actually a really nice lady, and very tolerant of most of our stupidity, but also one of those people whos face tells you EXACTLY what they are thinking.

She was much less amused about the half a sheep we served at one of the company gatherings.....not the sheep itself, but that my buddy kept moving it around site from freezer to freezer for 6 months before we finally did anything with it.
And it really was half a sheep, whom ever butchered it lopped of the head, and split it straight down the spine.

 

[Bama59]

When I was a kid visited my uncles farm up in Missouri ,he had BBQ Goat and Raccoon cooked in a big smoker for several ours ,all I remember is a lot of peppered red meat

 

[MidRoad]

Couldn't help myself and may have gotten into the makers mark a bit too much tonight. But all I could think of when Mn Fats asked about your goat meat...


Sorry...lol


Congrats on the hunt. Always find it interesting reading about the critters you folks can hunt in Hawaii.

 

[LoonWulf]

Couldn't help myself and may have gotten into the makers mark a bit too much tonight. But all I could think of when Mn Fats asked about your goat meat...
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Sorry...lol


Congrats on the hunt. Always find it interesting reading about the critters you folks can hunt in Hawaii.

I use sheep for that ....really.....

Thanks!

 

[mustanger98]

LoonWulf, I can see every bit of that happening. Sounds funny unless you're in the middle of it.

Now, thinking of Hawaii goat vs Bama59's Missouri goat, I'm remembering different deer I've eaten... some was gamey tasting like they ate a lot of acorns. We marinated it in buttermilk and that fixed it. Other deer tasted fine without the marinade.

 

[troy fairweather]

looks like u guys had fun. i never eaten goat but looks good they sell for about $250 around here to the island people. at lest your buddy shot the goat in the front lol. u used a maxi ball ?. get that gun nice and clean i clean them in the bath tub. the use 90% water to 10% ballistal to clean them 100% for the barrel after its dry. u should make a powder horn from them goats or steam the horns and press flat makes a nice knife sheath.

 

[LoonWulf]

LoonWulf, I can see every bit of that happening. Sounds funny unless you're in the middle of it.

Now, thinking of Hawaii goat vs Bama59's Missouri goat, I'm remembering different deer I've eaten... some was gamey tasting like they ate a lot of acorns. We marinated it in buttermilk and that fixed it. Other deer tasted fine without the marinade.

Ive heard about using buttermilk, and have tried canned milk which does work. Ive had similar experiences with deer. Our axis taste completely different than the mulies my uncle gets on the mainland. His deer changes flavor depending on where and when he got them.
The goats seem to change in how strong the flavor is, but generally the ones ive tried from a few different places have all tasted similar.

looks like u guys had fun. i never eaten goat but looks good they sell for about $250 around here to the island people. at lest your buddy shot the goat in the front lol. u used a maxi ball ?. get that gun nice and clean i clean them in the bath tub. the use 90% water to 10% ballistal to clean them 100% for the barrel after its dry. u should make a powder horn from them goats or steam the horns and press flat makes a nice knife sheath.

I used to make side cash selling head shot goats to some folks when i was growing up, i got 75 for decent sized one. Live some buddies got 125-150 for nannies and 100 for billies, but nanny goats are slippery and will kick the crap out of you before you can get them tied up if you make a mistake.

Year before last i actually brought a kid home in my back pack, after i found it upside down in a crack after we scattered the herd.



We had a blast, both days, even if we didnt hit a lot on the first outing.
I learned the hard way to clean the crap out of my gun. My normal method is to take it apart and hose the whole thing out in the yard, on a hot day, then shoot it out with brake cleaner or 91% alcohol and let the parts sit in the sun to dry.
Then the action gets hosed out with clp, and the barrel gets more attention if needed. I use clp in the barrel also, but clean the gun with alcohol before using it the next time....gun really comes out once a year.

 

[Patocazador]

Cute kid. (Pun intended.)

 

[MCgunner]

My buddy raises goats for market. He fed me some ground goat burger when I went up there for our annual dove hunt this year. I didn't find it objectionable at all, almost like beef. I've eaten Cabrito in Mexico, so long ago, don't remember the flavor, only that it was tough as nails.

 

[Bfh_auto]

Kinda, it's got a sharper ...uhh...funk? Than sheep/lamb does. The difference between a kid and an adult, even a small one like we've been getting is pretty substantial.

My process for dealing with any of the gamey, funky tasting stuff, is a bit more work but makes them useable for almost anything besides grilling (if grilling keep em rare).
Cut the meat into pieces no more than 1/2" thick, soak for 15-20mins in baking soda.
Then rinse and soak in some form of acidic solution (vinegar, lemon/lime, red wine) to rebalance the meat (baking soda makes it slimy when cooked, the acidic solution fixes that)
Next lightly season (or not, I don't like cooking unseasoned meat), and cook in oil till a funky smelling froth forms, takes about 10-15 mins.
Once it's.not frothing any more, dump the meat in a colander and rinse.
Then make what ever you want. I do curry pretty regularly, or stew. I've fed it to people who thought it was pork or chicken. The look on the HR ladies face when my buddy at work told her it was goat was hilarious.
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View attachment 804572

View attachment 804571

View attachment 804573

I always put meat in a cooler with ice and a pint of vinegar for a day or two depending on how gamey it is. It tenderizes it at the same time.

 

[MidRoad]

My buddy raises goats for market. He fed me some ground goat burger when I went up there for our annual dove hunt this year. I didn't find it objectionable at all, almost like beef. I've eaten Cabrito in Mexico, so long ago, don't remember the flavor, only that it was tough as nails.

So would so say it's not to baaaaaad?

Tell ya what there's a Mexican restaurant in Albany called El Mariachi's. Authentic Mexican joint. They make goat tacos and they are pretty dang good. I'm not big on lamb/muttony things but they do a good job with them tacos.

 

[LoonWulf]

They make good Chile Verde straight off the hoof also.

So would so say it's not to baaaaaad?

Tell ya what there's a Mexican restaurant in Albany called El Mariachi's. Authentic Mexican joint. They make goat tacos and they are pretty dang good. I'm not big on lamb/muttony things but they do a good job with them tacos.

One of the greatest things about all things goat, is that you can make baaaaaaad jokes....