Goldmine Success

[CopperHead]

I need to post a review once time permits but I wanted to share the picture before then.

If you look in the background you can see an example of the stands that are used at Goldmine. This ram was not taken from a stand but was taken from the ground. As he did not make it by my stand in the morning.

More to follow.

[bud]

That is a fine looking ram you got there and I am sure he will look even better on the wall if that is the idea you have in mind.
look forward to hearing how that animal did after the shot because any goat is tough as nails.

[CopperHead]

Goldmine Hunting Preserve. The bunkhouse is adequate and fullfills the basic needs of the hunter. A place to sleep, prepare meals and wash up. There is a microwave, small oven and sink in the kitchen area. There are two couches in this area as well along witha VCR and a TV. There is one bathroom with toilet, sink and shower. There are roughly 10 bunk style beds in the back with blankets and pillows. The hunting area has been divided into two areas. A record book area and a trophy area. From what I could tell the whole operation looks be running on about 80 acres. There are ladder stands placed throughout the area in general proximity to feeders. Unless you are in what I refer to as the meadows section you can not see the other side of the fences due to the terrain and vegetation.

The available game at this moment is painted desert, merino, texas dall, coriscan , four-horn and black Hawiian Sheep, catalina and new zeland goat, mostly razorback, feral and occasional russian hogs. In addition they also have buffalo, nilgia, eland and Watusi. Off the menu but for your viewing pleasure Fallow deer and blackbuck does and fawns. To sum it all up in the trophy area is almost like a mini safari with the spectrum of animals that will be seen.

Realistically for a gun hunter this place is no challenge in my opinion. Now for the first time hunter.. Ohh yeah.. this is most definitely a target rich environment. But in the end it all boils down to what you like and your prefences. For those of you that do not like high fenced areas don't waste your time. Four those that want a filler in the off season or just a change from what is available locally give it a try your not required to shoot anything and will definitely have several oppurtunities.

The hunt goes as follows. The owner shows up at 05:30 and the standard waiver forms are filled out. Hunters are taken by truck to their stand locations in the dark. The stands are located near road and field edges and are home made ladder stands. They are generally 3X3 ft or larger and pretty sturdy. There will be a feeder in the vicinity of the stand. From what I saw they ranged from 15 to 40 yards away. The animals will randomly come to the feeders looking for a treat. at roughly 9 am the hunters and their game will be collected. For those that did not harvest anything they are given the opportunity to attempt a stalk. After that I have no idea as we never made it past that point and our party was small. We used Sunday as a travel day and hunted Monday so we were the only ones at the lodge. Of the four of us two rams where taken and two hogs where taken. Of the hogs one was a razorback that weighed approximately 130 lbs and the other was 350 lb feral hog.

All in all it was a good experience. I was excited as my step son harvested his first big game animal. I inturn gave him my old trusty 30-06 which should serve him proud until he can pass it along to his kids.

The owner, Gerald Almond is pleasant to talk with and will answer any questions you have.

Closing comments, if you know that you do not like high fenced areas do not go here. You are only asking for disappointment. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would rate this as a 6; mainly because they say they have several hundred acres but in reality its only like 80. On a side note they do have land leased to hunt deer and turkey with that all combined there maybe several hundred acres, I don't know.

Would I go back. Yes definitely. The hog meat from my stepson's hog was very very good and they are always fun to sling arrows at. And the preserve allows me the opputunity to hunt animals that I may not normallly be able to afford to.

[CopperHead]

bud said:

That is a fine looking ram you got there and I am sure he will look even better on the wall if that is the idea you have in mind.
look forward to hearing how that animal did after the shot because any goat is tough as nails.

Bud,
He will be joining three others on my wall. A corsican , a texas dall, a black hawiian, with the mouflon type horns he completes the Texas Slam.
The SpitFire did a number on him. I think he ran maybe like 80 yards before finally expiring. I really should have cleaned him up more I do feel bad about that but next time I wont forget. With all the excitement I did not notice the crimson. He is not the largest of the four but I think to date he is my favorite because of his mouflon heart shaped horns and light coloring.

[Doegirl]

harveycj said:

bud said:

That is a fine looking ram you got there and I am sure he will look even better on the wall if that is the idea you have in mind.
look forward to hearing how that animal did after the shot because any goat is tough as nails.

Bud,
He will be joining three others on my wall. A corsican , a texas dall, a black hawiian, with the mouflon type horns he completes the Texas Slam.
The SpitFire did a number on him. I think he ran maybe like 80 yards before finally expiring. I really should have cleaned him up more I do feel bad about that but next time I wont forget. With all the excitement I did not notice the crimson. He is not the largest of the four but I think to date he is my favorite because of his mouflon heart shaped horns and light coloring.

Those spitfires really do a number on animals. It looks like that ram got doused with a ketchup bottle Congrats on the nice ram

[Greg Krause]

Awesome animal!

yeah, spitfires will do a number on all sorts of critters!

[bowman]

Thanks for the review and that is a great looking Ram. Where is the Goldmine preserve.

[smj]

Great story, great info, great ram! Where is Goldmine???

[red]

smj said:

Great story, great info, great ram! Where is Goldmine???

Ditto...great job on the pic as well.

[CopperHead]

Thanks all! Goldmine is located just south of Concord, North Carolina in Midland, NC. The website is www.goldminehuntingpreserve.com that will have the address and other information. I have some video of my step sons hunt that his father took that I will get posted as soon as I can get it out.