2022 Colorado Mountain Goat

SwaggyD · Jun 15, 2022

Saturday night I was out with my wife on date night when I got what I figured was a prank call from a Colorado phone number. This fine gentleman, @Oak, told me that I was the winner of the 2022 Statewide Mountain Goat tag from the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society. After I called that number back to verify that it wasn't a prank, the excitement started to set in. Now, this was a very pleasant surprise as I didn't even know I had purchased a ticket for Mountain Goat. I don't even apply for MG in Montana! So this will truly be a once in a lifetime hunt for me. I'm definitely not in MG hunting shape, but working on that started on Monday. I have never put in for MG in Montana and have bought one raffle ticket for a MG tag in my life, and I'm going hunting this fall in Colorado. Not sure how it is so hard for everyone to get a MG tag?? (jokes - I realize how lucky I got)

My niece is getting married in Colorado on September 10th, and my family of 4 is flying down on the 7th and returning the 13th. With 2 young children, my wife is making come back at the same time to help her with them (my 2 year old is a monster). Very shortly after that point I will be heading back down to Colorado to try and find a Billy.

BIG thanks again to @Oak and the Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society, without him I would not have known about the raffle and never would have bought the ticket.

DFS · Jun 15, 2022

Congratulations! Bet you didn’t see that coming.

LopeHunter · Jun 15, 2022

Oak can steer you towards a unit that is a good fit for your goals re access, horn and hair length, etc. Some units have goats that are not only used to people hiking by but will aggressively seek out people for two things: granola to eat and urine-soaked soil. Other units have spooky goats. Good luck!

SwaggyD · Jun 15, 2022

LopeHunter said:
Oak can steer you towards a unit that is a good fit for your goals re access, horn and hair length, etc. Some units have goats that are not only used to people hiking by but will aggressively seek out people for two things: granola to eat and urine-soaked soil. Other units have spooky goats. Good luck!

Thank you!

Oak · Jun 15, 2022

SwaggyD said:
After I called that number back to verify that it wasn't a prank,

It's true, he did. And he did it while I was leaving a message for another MT resident who had won an optics raffle. So when I saw the MT number while leaving the message, I thought it was the optics guy calling back, promptly hung up, and told the guy on the line he had won an optics raffle. Then he REALLY thought it was a prank.

smw110136 · Jul 6, 2022

Following along on this one. Good luck!

Bigbuck454 · Jul 10, 2022

Congratulations

SwaggyD · Jul 20, 2022

Got this in mail today. Should be a good time. Prepping and getting information. Looking to go probably the last week of September. Hopefully don’t get snowed out, but it is the Rocky Mountains!

Irrelevant · Jul 20, 2022

Don't worry Tiger, you got this. Just don't wreck the car in route to CO.

SwaggyD · Jul 20, 2022

neffa3 said:
Don't worry Tiger, you got this. Just don't wreck the car in route to CO.

I will try my hardest to arrive and return safely! More worried about slipping and sliding down a cliff. ha ha

SwaggyD · Sep 23, 2022

Everyone out hunting has me itching to go. I’m hoping to load the crew up from Montana and head south October 5th. Seeing goats killed in Colorado has my adrenaline pumping. Best of luck to everyone. This will be a special year for me.

SwaggyD · Oct 7, 2022

Went to Colorado and shot my rifle.

Oak · Oct 7, 2022

SwaggyD said:
View attachment 243345
Went to Colorado and shot my rifle.

Only once? Hardly got your money's worth.

Dave N · Oct 7, 2022

Had to check zero.

SwaggyD · Oct 7, 2022

We left Tuesday morning at 6am knowing we had a 12+ hour drive. Picked up my buddy (and taxidermist) and then my brother in law a ways down the road and headed south to Colorado. We ended up getting up to camp at 9:30pm that night. Google lied to me on the amount of time it would take. We got camp set up and wound down and were sleeping about 1am. Was slow going in the morning and foggy above camp, so we weren’t in a huge rush to get out knowing we couldn’t see the ridge tops anyway. (Wednesday) We left camp at 8:57. My brother in law spotted him and another billy directly above camp. One was little and not something I was after and the other was laying down and we couldn’t decide if he was a big mature billy or not. We waited and watched and finally the bigger one got up and walked in front of the smaller one and that was an “oh sh!t” moment. A buddy once told me that they aren’t big enough if you don’t have an “oh sh!t” moment. We raced back down to camp and parked and started our climb. We started hiking at 10:30. Went 625 yards and 889 vertical feet. Pulled the trigger at 12:42. Hiked up the rest of the way to start breaking down this incredible animal. The hike back down with weighted packs was interesting to say the least. We all made it safely and got back to camp at 5pm for burgers and couple whiskies to celebrate. (Thursday) Woke up and got camp all packed and headed to get my goat checked in. That all went smoothly and the guy said it was the biggest billy he had checked in thus far. Got back in the pickup headed north. Got home and showered and was in bed this morning at 1am. A quick trip due to some family things going on, but it was a once in a lifetime hunt that ended in a great billy. Thanks to everyone on this site that has helped me out. You all know who you are this never would have happened without all the information you were all willing to share with a big dumb animal like myself.
@Oak
@Dsnow9
@LuketheDog
@Firehead117

PS - if you don’t put rocks on the stove or in the fire to warm them up and then put them in a paper bag or canvas bag and then put that in your sleeping bag for the night, you’re doing it wrong.