Matt/VT
New member
Great write up and an excellent adventure! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Colorado Mountain Goat.... A novel in the making....
- Thread starter sneakem
- Start date
T Bone
Well-known member
I see what you did there. Goats push us two-legged critters to new limits.
Nice work!
Nice work!
Art Vandeley
Well-known member
Way to stick with it. Congrats on the goat and thanks for the fantastic pictures and write up.
npaden
Well-known member
Congratulations. Thanks for sharing.
Mason326
Member
I may start putting in for a goat tag now... This was awesome, congratulations and job well done. I love/hate that victorious trudge back to the truck!!!
Devil Diver Down
Well-known member
Great pics, great write up, great hunt! Thanks for sharing and hope your knee mends well.
Joe Hulburt
Well-known member
Outstanding write up. Congrats on the goat!!
I can sure relate, I spent 21 days last September trying to kill a bull on a once in a lifetime elk tag with a knee that wouldn't cooperate. It's tough!! Good news is its doing well this year.
I can sure relate, I spent 21 days last September trying to kill a bull on a once in a lifetime elk tag with a knee that wouldn't cooperate. It's tough!! Good news is its doing well this year.
kmf
Member
- Joined
- Aug 23, 2010
- Messages
- 206
Thanks for that write up and all the pictures. Excellent work.
redwoood
Well-known member
Congrats. Good stuff!
sneakem
Well-known member
Thank you all for the kind words of encouragement.
Really in retrospect, I don't think of this hunt as my greatest achievement as a hunter. It was certainly was my greatest personal hunting adventure and was many things that I can't begin to describe. It was humbling, not because I was ill prepared. I've done many hunts well into the backcountry, packing for days. I think that it would test any person in peak physical condition, almost certainly. Our bodies weren't made to thrive in that environment. I think the injury certainly threw me off my game plan with a sense of urgency to get it done and quickly. The injury felt like a scapegoat reason for things not happening. In the end it certainly wasn't my hunting prowess that got it done. I ended up with a blessing falling in my lap. Most certainly I kept pushing, its in my character, I'm tough and stubborn and never give up. I learned I'm not indestructible and still have to face the challenges that every aging person faces... I'm just a man, vulnerable like every other... I got discouraged because I couldn't do it like I would normally and patiently... I would say that I learned a lot about myself and maybe changed my outlook on life a bit... I definitely have a greater respect for that animal in particular, what they live in and what they live through...they're a lot tougher than I am...lol
There was a particular goat that I watched this summer, I named her "Stumpy". This nanny was missing the lower portion of one of her hind legs. She would hop through the cliffs up and down the mountain on 3 legs. As she would stop to feed she'd stick the stump down for balance, eat then continue hopping through the cliffs. Pretty amazing that she could live through this kind of injury. She is there living just like the rest of the goats high on the mountain, not content to live at the bottom because she's only got 3 good legs. I decided there was no way in good conscience I could hunt her after all she's been through...
Here's a little clip of the iconic goat..
https://www.facebook.com/kelly.fender.7/videos/10208961900638662/
You can see where I'm going with this one.... This is what I got from this hunt...Things don't always go as planned.. sometimes you just got to hop along and go with it and be who you are... if you're a mountain goat, you're a mountain goat, doesn't matter how many legs you've got or how many obstacles are in your way... I just needed to remember it wasn't my knee holding me back, it was my attitude towards the situation more than anything..
When I started my success hinged on getting a goat, and the in the end I was ready to quit. But just relax and breath, everything will unfold the way its supposed to, go about it your own way at your own pace, just be a 3 legged mountain goat...
I'm sure that everyone's goat hunts are a little different, I'm not here saying every goat hunt is some giant life revelation.... just the way mine went.
I look at all that transpired. I look at the huge sacrifices everyone around me made, the time my family gave to doing my thing, the conditioning, scouting trips etc. Months loosing sleep, excited to do this. The thousand of little things that happened, the hunt itself, the tragedy on the mountain. It is a memory I will look back on the rest of my life and smile... and be thankful for!
Hopefully my knee gets better, I have a few more good hunts this season... Maybe there will be a Coues deer version of this thread later this year...
Really in retrospect, I don't think of this hunt as my greatest achievement as a hunter. It was certainly was my greatest personal hunting adventure and was many things that I can't begin to describe. It was humbling, not because I was ill prepared. I've done many hunts well into the backcountry, packing for days. I think that it would test any person in peak physical condition, almost certainly. Our bodies weren't made to thrive in that environment. I think the injury certainly threw me off my game plan with a sense of urgency to get it done and quickly. The injury felt like a scapegoat reason for things not happening. In the end it certainly wasn't my hunting prowess that got it done. I ended up with a blessing falling in my lap. Most certainly I kept pushing, its in my character, I'm tough and stubborn and never give up. I learned I'm not indestructible and still have to face the challenges that every aging person faces... I'm just a man, vulnerable like every other... I got discouraged because I couldn't do it like I would normally and patiently... I would say that I learned a lot about myself and maybe changed my outlook on life a bit... I definitely have a greater respect for that animal in particular, what they live in and what they live through...they're a lot tougher than I am...lol
There was a particular goat that I watched this summer, I named her "Stumpy". This nanny was missing the lower portion of one of her hind legs. She would hop through the cliffs up and down the mountain on 3 legs. As she would stop to feed she'd stick the stump down for balance, eat then continue hopping through the cliffs. Pretty amazing that she could live through this kind of injury. She is there living just like the rest of the goats high on the mountain, not content to live at the bottom because she's only got 3 good legs. I decided there was no way in good conscience I could hunt her after all she's been through...
Here's a little clip of the iconic goat..
https://www.facebook.com/kelly.fender.7/videos/10208961900638662/
You can see where I'm going with this one.... This is what I got from this hunt...Things don't always go as planned.. sometimes you just got to hop along and go with it and be who you are... if you're a mountain goat, you're a mountain goat, doesn't matter how many legs you've got or how many obstacles are in your way... I just needed to remember it wasn't my knee holding me back, it was my attitude towards the situation more than anything..
When I started my success hinged on getting a goat, and the in the end I was ready to quit. But just relax and breath, everything will unfold the way its supposed to, go about it your own way at your own pace, just be a 3 legged mountain goat...I'm sure that everyone's goat hunts are a little different, I'm not here saying every goat hunt is some giant life revelation.... just the way mine went.
I look at all that transpired. I look at the huge sacrifices everyone around me made, the time my family gave to doing my thing, the conditioning, scouting trips etc. Months loosing sleep, excited to do this. The thousand of little things that happened, the hunt itself, the tragedy on the mountain. It is a memory I will look back on the rest of my life and smile... and be thankful for!
Hopefully my knee gets better, I have a few more good hunts this season... Maybe there will be a Coues deer version of this thread later this year...
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npaden
Well-known member
It is hard to put the pressure of hunting one of these "once in a lifetime" type tags into perspective when you are out there doing it. That was about the only thing I didn't enjoy about my Wyoming goat hunt. Then again if they were common it wouldn't be nearly as special, although even if they were common I think it would be one of the top hunts for me.
Hatchie Dawg
Well-known member
"I ended up with a blessing falling in my lap. Most certainly I kept pushing...."
Damn man you keep doing it to me. Great look into the heart of the matter.
HD
Damn man you keep doing it to me. Great look into the heart of the matter.
HD
Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 9,643
Wow! What an inspirational thread. Congrats on overcoming struggle and adversity that would have caused most of us to throw in the towel. I know I wouldn't have been able to pull that off. Well done!
IdahoBugler
Well-known member
Great read Sneak. Congrats on a very well earned trophy.
OpenCountry
Well-known member
Great job with the story and pictures! Glad you got to punch your tag and stay safe at the same time. That country looks awesome. Congratulations on a well deserved goat!
sneakem
Well-known member
I was just rambling through pictures and thought I might throw a few more out there...
The first goat meal. Great flavor, not nearly as tough when cooked in the crock pot.
When summer and winter meet...
The first goat meal. Great flavor, not nearly as tough when cooked in the crock pot.
When summer and winter meet...
sneakem
Well-known member
Awesome hunt, and you can start applying again in only 6 years.
A few weeks ago I would have laughed at you and said you're crazy, now it seems like I might consider dangling myself off the side of a mountain again...
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