How to assess mountain goats sex

How to assess mountain goats sex

Mountain goats are the ultimate trophy and will require the best of you not only on physical strength and hunting skills but also to differentiate a male of a female goat, something critical when you are looking for a world class trophy.

From the distance and with not enough experience, differentiate a male from a female mountain goat is not an easy task considering that both sexs have almost the same size and body shape, then paying attention to tiny, little details is critical to choose the game you wish take home with you.
Sex differences among mountain goats


First thing to do is pay attention to the hornes. A mature bull will have robust horns curved from the base up to the end while nannies horns are thinner, so they grow straight and get curved only on the last third.

Still on the horns, a mature male goat horns practically touch each other on the base because they are thick and robust; so if you see some hair between horns bases, you'll probably seeing an immature male or a nannie.

Regarding body shape, even when almost identical, mature billies show a hump over their shoulders and have a thicker body than female goats but it's not always easy to see such difference.

Perhaps the easiest way to make the difference is by seeing the black, donut shaped gland located on the horns base that only mature billies have.

Finally, for an expert sight, the coat color will be a good sign of what you are looking at. Female goats tend to have a shining, white hair while mature billies tend to have a darker color, something like ivory or light khaki.

At the end you will be able to differentiate one sex of another, but at the very beginning is always useful to climb with an expert who will teach you how to see such subtle differences on an easier way.

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