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Original Ink:
" Billygoat Head " |
This was done from a photograph of an Old English Billy Goat. He was all black, and there are many like this in the feral goat herds in New Zealand.
I had a very personal experience with an identical goat to this and I have his horns on my wall to prove it. In 1981 I took part in a goat culling exercise on a back country station in Tolaga Bay. It was a big, organised, 2 day hunt hosted by the station, and I spent the days with a couple of hunting mates much more experienced than I.
In those days I had a .308 and did some target shooting, so I managed to be of some use on the job. This powerful black billy was my third goat for the first day, and when I fired I knew I had hit him. But he took off. We had to find him, so off we went too - through hilly bush and scrub. I asked one of my friends to finish him if we came across him, because I didn't want the job not well done if he was wounded.
Surprisingly, given the terrain, we did find him, still on his feet and moving fast enough, and after he had been despatched we discovered I had hit him in the jaw, so I was very glad we took the trouble to hunt him down.
His horns are a reminder of that day.
Pencil drawing 10in x 10in.
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