Bowhunting big billies in Outback NSW

After missing a few years of my annual bowhunting trip with my dad Wayne and brother Tyler in Central New South Wales, I couldn’t wait to again be chasing big billies on the remote station, despite temperatures reaching above 50C.

Wayne and Tyler got up there two days before me and managed a couple of nice billies between them. Because the days are that hot, we start hunting the goats before daylight. We position ourselves around different tanks on the station and sit for the morning, allowing the goats to come to us instead of us pushing ourselves in the extreme heat trying to find them.

My first morning, Tyler and I set up on a small tank where we had a good look over the flats to the south and the bush to the north-east where we thought the goats would come in from. It didn’t take long for a small mob to appear on the other side of the clearing, and they didn’t waste any time making their way to the tank. I’d say there was a nanny on heat, which makes the billies push them along a bit quicker. Being my first time up there in a while I was keen to get an arrow in the air. There was a respectable billy in this mob, and if he presented a shot, I’d take it. Bow at the ready I watched them charge over the bank and down for a drink before they started to make their way back up the bank to retreat into the bush to bed up for the day.

The target billy turned broadside and after a quick bleat from Tyler he came to a halt at 45m. I sent an arrow on its way, entering in behind the shoulder and he made it 20m before piling up under trees behind the bank.

We watched on for a few hours as different mobs of goats funnelled in and out of the tank area. Nothing massive appeared that morning but I did manage to put a shot across the dam on a curly white billy as he snuck in behind a tree. If it wasn’t for Tyler getting a quick glimpse of white though the trees he probably would have come and gone without us knowing. A short stalk to close the gap a bit and a 50m shot saw him down for the count and the first trophy-class billy for the trip.

The extreme heat meant the afternoons were spent cleaning goat skulls, yabbying and driving to different tanks to assess the goat traffic to work out where to sit the following day.

The next morning came and we were off again, this time to an old favourite of mine where on my first trip to the property I shot a monster billy over the magic 40″ mark. This time I was with Wayne, and we were straight into the action watching mob after mob work their way out of the sandhills toward the tank we were positioned at. There seemed to be a hell of a lot of smaller goats compared to previous years and the big billies just weren’t there.

It took a couple of hours, but I finally got a glimpse of a shooter, a big black billy making his way in with his nannies. I quickly grabbed my bow and got into position where it would be a comfortable 35m shot to the opposite side of the tank. When he eventually popped over to present a shot, I had my second trophy-class billy for the trip.

A little bit later that morning Wayne managed to sneak in and slip an arrow into a respectable billy that came in with a large mob that went just shy of trophy class.

The following day was an absolute scorcher with temperatures reaching well into the 50C range with horrendous wind, making it near impossible to get within range for an ethical shot.

The heatwave and wind the night before blew a bit of rain and some cooler weather through for our Friday morning hunt. The three of us decided to head back to the same tank I had sat on with Wayne two days earlier. We had shot the biggest goats we saw there but were hoping for a few more animals to wander in. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case, the cooler weather meant they didn’t need to come to water. It was a slow start to the morning but eventually, after an hour or so, a loan billy made his way in. He was nothing special, but I decided I’d take him as I didn’t know if that morning was going to be my last for the trip. I snuck into the dam and made a broadside shot from 35m, watching him expire a few moments later.

Wayne was yet to take a trophy-class billy this trip so when a bigger model made its way in shortly after, it was his turn to fling an arrow. We were unsure whether it would make trophy class, but he was a decent billy and well worth a stalk. Wayne made his way over the fence and down to the little hide we’d made earlier in the week, making it a perfect spot to sit and wait for the billy to pop over the bank and down to the water. A perfect 30m shot and he was down for the count. A quick measure confirmed him a trophy-class goat after all.

The goats this trip just didn’t seem to be as big as the previous years. We’d been hunting for five days and hadn’t seen a record-class goat between us, which was unusual for the time year. When a massive one-horned billy came in from the sand hills, Tyler just couldn’t resist the urge to see if he might have gone 40″ with both horns, so he slotted an arrow into him from 45m. He would’ve gone just shy of the magic 40″ with small bases. Still a quality goat and if he had both horns would be by far the biggest one for the trip.

The decision was made to stay for one last hunt and head home that following afternoon, so that afternoon was spent boiling and cleaning up skulls ready for the road trip home the next day.

Before we knew it the final morning was upon us and we were set up waiting before the sun came up. Another cool morning had the goats few and far between, but we finally spotted a decent billy making his way out of the thick scrub and into view. He was the best out of a bachelor mob with four or five other billies. Not massive but a respectable billy.

He made his way in quickly, not giving me much of a chance to get close so a longer shot was on the cards. At just shy of 60m, I let an arrow fly, and he hit the deck just over the dam bank.

After shooting a trophy-class goat the morning prior, Wayne had the urge to bring the longbow for a run. After a few failed stalks with the goats on high alert he finally managed to work his way around and close the gap on a small mob of billies. He positioned himself as they came back out of the tank after a drink. He had a broadside shot at 20m and made it count, securing his first kill with his new bow. A perfect way to wrap up a great trip away with great company.