2014 beaver nanny

Springlaker · Jan 18, 2015

Hey guys
I haven't seen many posts on here about the goats so here's one for ya! 2014 turned up a beaver nanny tag for me! I thought about it long and hard and decided to go for it with 11 points in the bank thinking I had 100% chance at drawing the tag. Well, the numbers came out and I discovered that they had dropped the tag numbers down from 22 to 8. There went my 100% way of thinking. Long story short I was one of the lucky ones that ended up with a tag! It was a tough hunt. I've spent a lot of time down there with goats in the past and this year was different. The goats were scattered out and hard to find on the opening, and the weather was not our friend either. We spent the first three days trying to get above the fog and out of the rain and snow. After hours of glassing and miles of hiking we turned up nothing. We decided to go home and wait it out for a couple days. We got back to hunting on day five, the weather was perfect by then and I ended up taking this awesome nanny on day six! It was definately a once in a lifetime hunt and I would like to thank everyone involved! Good luck to everyone in 2015

gznokes · Jan 19, 2015

Springlaker, Great field photo. Let me just go on record that that is a big nanny. The horns look like 10+ inches with more mass that you usually see on a female. Maybe I'm just big eyeing it, but I'd be willing to bet that nanny outscores a lot of billies (including the 6 1/2 year old billy I got in ID a few years ago!!) Not sure if you ever measured or aged it, but I'd be curious to know some of the specs if you are willing to share.

On a side note, do you have any background about why they are cutting the tags? I was thinking maybe it is because they took a bunch of goats and transplanted them over in the La Sals. I hope it isn't because the population is having problems.

Springlaker · Jan 19, 2015

gznokes

Thanks for the comments! I think the picture makes her look a little bigger than she is but I don't know.. I never officially scored her but I did measure her at just under 10 inches in length and 6 inches around at the base of each horn. As for age, I think she is an older nanny but I haven't heard back from the dnr yet. I am going to contact them to see if they have any info from the teeth I sent them.
As for the tag numbers.. Not exactly sure... I haven't heard of any problems. The goats thrive on the beaver unit. They have transplanted a bunch off there like you said to la sal and I believe Nebo as well. I'm sure that has something to do with it. I think they are getting close to their goal in the numbers and wouldn't be surprised if the nanny hunt goes away in the next few years but I could be wrong. They may just keep the nanny tags right there with the billies from now on.

sticksender · Jan 20, 2015

Congrats on your Goat.

Mature nannies on average have bases measuring about 4 inches. In extreme rare cases, a few will approach 5 inches. If your Nanny Goat truly has 6" bases, it's probably the biggest Nanny in modern history!

gznokes · Jan 20, 2015

Springlaker, You can usually get a good idea of the age by counting growth rings just like sheep. Typically more than 90% of a mature goat's horn grows in the first 3 years. There after, you might be lucky to get 1/8" of additional growth each year. The pic I poste up isn't that good for counting growth rings but it gives you an idea. Anyway, what the other guy said is correct. It is very rare for nannies to have much mass and yours seems to have exceptional mass. Scoring these animals is not easy and you have a cool enough one that you might be interested in it. If your goat is close to making the book it might be worth getting it scored. I think in the history of B&C there are only like 2 nannies to ever make the all time book (52"). Even the awards book (50") would be very rare. Here is a hypothetical score on your goat based on what you have shared
L=9 6/8
M1=6
M2=5
M3=3
M4=2
=Total X 2 =51 2/8

Anyway, forgive me if I'm taking you down a path you don't want to go by getting into a discussion about score. I know sometimes participants on MM complain that people just want to talk about score when they just wanted to share a picture about the hunt. In this case, I just thought I'd mention it because my first reaction when I saw the picture you posted is that you have a very unique and exceptional trophy.

nfh · Jan 20, 2015

Beautiful goat!!!

Springlaker · Jan 20, 2015

Wow thanks for the info guys! I'd heard they were hard to score and It didn't really matter much to me as long as she was a good mature nanny. When I seen her I knew she was a good one but didn't look into it much further. We all thought she was an older nanny by the looks of her horns.

Gznokes
Thanks for the great info on the scoring! I'm almost positive on the measurements but I think I need to go and double check. It would be cool if she scored a little higher than average! Been looking at these pics I took of her back at camp and she does seem to have a lot of growth rings. Sorry about the tag taped to her left horn.

sticksender · Jan 21, 2015

That's a 3 yr-old as best I can tell.

Even when glassing a solo Goat from a distance, you can get a general sense of the age class of the Goat by the size and shape of the face. The younger ones (less than 3 or 4 yrs old) have a shorter-looking snout, with a flat to slightly dish-shaped face. As they get older, they become more "horse-faced". The snout gets noticeably longer, and the bridge of the nose becomes slightly humped up in the middle, with a "Roman-nosed" appearance.

Congrats again on a fine Goat.

tthorpe13 · Jan 23, 2015

>Springlaker, You can usually get a
>good idea of the age
>by counting growth rings just
>like sheep. Typically more than
>90% of a mature goat's
>horn grows in the first
>3 years. There after, you
>might be lucky to get
>1/8" of additional growth each
>year. The pic I poste
>up isn't that good for
>counting growth rings but it
>gives you an idea. Anyway,
>what the other guy said
>is correct. It is very
>rare for nannies to have
>much mass and yours seems
>to have exceptional mass. Scoring
>these animals is not easy
>and you have a cool
>enough one that you might
>be interested in it. If
>your goat is close to
>making the book it might
>be worth getting it scored.
>I think in the history
>of B&C there are only
>like 2 nannies to ever
>make the all time book
>(52"). Even the awards book
>(50") would be very rare.
>Here is a hypothetical score
>on your goat based on
>what you have shared
>L=9 6/8
>M1=6
>M2=5
>M3=3
>M4=2
>=Total X 2 =51 2/8

If memory serves me right, you are off on your all time and awards minimums. I believe 50 will get you in the all time book and awards is 47 or 48.

pushin_30 · Feb 3, 2015

Beautiful Goat! Congrats on a great nanny! I had that tag last year and took big mature nanny that was aged by the DWR at 7.5 years. Your length and mass is almost identical to the one i harvested.

As for the tag cuts to the beaver unit. It is not due to the herd struggling. In fact the herd is doing so well that the DWR has transplanted over 100 goats in the last 2 years. Sounds like they will continue to transplant more goats off the unit for the next year or 2 more.

Zeke · Feb 5, 2015

Fine trophy Springlaker!
Ya dun good man!
Goats are a fabulous trophy and I love the terrain visited in the quest for the white beast.
Thanks for sharing,
Zeke

Springlaker · Mar 11, 2015

Hey guys been a while.
Well I talked to the taxidermist and turns out i don't have the biggest nanny in history lol! I had the length right but the mass was about 4.5 in. NOT 6 like I origanally thought. Not sure what I was thinking. I still may get her scored though just for fun.

Sticksender
You must know your goats! Her age came back at 3 years. Surprised me... I thought she was older. Either way I couldn't be happier with her.

Thanks again for the comments guys