Full Circle- Montana Mountain Goat Video

[MinnesotaHunter]

Something I find very interesting about this hunt is the goat Ross killed was the first goat that he saw during his summer scouting. Out of over 200 goats seen during scouting and several dozen during hunting, he ended up tagging this billy.

For anyone thinking that his friends did the scouting and told Ross where to go, it was exactly the opposite. He did the research and picked the spots. Well, I guess that's technically not completely accurate. We did make the first scouting trip in June into an area that I suggested and we all wanted to explore. Unfortunately, we didn't see any goats on that trip. I wonder why he didn't ask my advice for where to go in the other units.

I found the billy the first night of my July scouting trip. I got into town around 5pm from MN and the next day I had planned to scout a different area, but figure that evening I had time to make a quick climb and try and put my eyes on some goats. By the time I had made the ridge it was after 8pm, and I started picking things apart, while working my way along the top of the ridge. It was just about dark and I poked my head over the top of one last set of avalanche chutes, and three billies were feeding/bedding maybe 80yds over the top. I was able to sneak a little closer, and tried to get some pics, but it was too dark to make much out in them. Two were clearly really big body wise, and one was smaller. I saw the billy again in that same place in August, and when we found him during the hunt he had dropped down into the next basin likely due to weather.

Also, to be fair, to say I did everything by myself might not be completely accurate. I talked to a lot of people about the areas I was looking at, and I was fortunate to gain a ton of great insights. One of the hardest things I had to do was narrow down the areas I wanted to scout. There were so many cool spots I wanted to hike and scout, but I knew if I wasn't able to focus in, I would not scout anything effectively. In the end I physically scouted 4 units, and that felt like too many....

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

That basin was one of the coolest places I've been in Montana, and I'm very thankful that I'll never see it again.

The highlight of that trip was definitely Ross's sloth impression though.

View attachment 136166

That was a long hike in soaked boots, but to be fair, everyone's boots were just as soaked by the time we made camp. That hike definitely made be a believer in those new Crispis....

 

[ewludwig]

Fueling up and making plans

Gerald the mountain goat.
On the hoof.
Gerald doing his thing. To say he’s a good dude is an understatement. Hunting above the clouds may not always be productive, but def picturesque.

 

[Gerald Martin]

The only thing better about this hunt would have been if that six point bull would have taken a couple more steps for you.

 

[ewludwig]

The only thing better about this hunt would have been if that six point bull would have taken a couple more steps for you.

Still haven’t figured out how a carpenter heard that bull chuckle. You must be good about using hearing pro.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Huh? What did you say?

 

[geetar]

Incredible video work @Gerald Martin and congrats @MinnesotaHunter on an awesome goat and thanks for spending your money in a way that conserves the species. An honorable thing for sure.

 

[HONEYBADGER]

Good video, congrats on the goat, looked like a good time.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

Well done Gents! Awesome video depicting an adventure that most will not ever experience. Unbelievably GREAT photos as well!

@MinnesotaHunter, "Very nice goat", congrats......you did it right!

I give thanks to all that contributed to this thread. I enjoyed it immensely!! This is the reason why I visit this site from time to time.

 

[Muleyhunter78]

Great video, thoroughly enjoyed it and good job to all.

 

[AggieHunter]

Amazing video production! I can't wait to hopefully do a hunt like that of my own someday. I also wonder how many Governers tag holders have actually done self-guided?

 

[geetar]

Absolute stud of a billy Ross! Awesome!

 

[MTLabrador]

Outstanding! Thanks for sharing.

 

[LukeDuke]

Wow! What a great story and thanks to all of you for sharing. Congrats on a great billy!! Video and pics are awesome.

 

[kansasdad]

I've said it before, I'll say it again......Ross picks good friends.

Congratulations to all of you, glad you made good use of the Governor's tag, and made a fantastic film to commemorate and celebrate the whole process.

 

[Highlands Hunter]

No one can tell a cat story as well as Randy.

There is a lot more to this hunt than I could convey in the time I allowed myself with this video. Every medium has its strengths and weaknesses and telling the story in video is a bit different than print.

I hope Ross will come on and share a bit of the back story of how he came up with his plan and how he was able to follow through with it because of his amazing wife.
I will say his humility and lack of desire to draw attention to himself is inspiring and apparent to anyone who spends much time around him.

That chapter of the story is his to share so I won’t say much more about it.

There are several more memorable episodes that punctuated the time we spent scouting and hunting together that I may expound on later in the thread. I have a lot of pictures to share as well.

I hope Randy 11, Theat, J.R.Young, Ed, and Zach all feel free to add pics and their stories to this thread. This was all of our story and even though Ross was the one who took home the goat, I took home trophy experiences for my memory wall.

Great video Gerald, I think I've watched it 5 or 6 times! Congratulations Ross, you put in a lot of time and effort and came away with a stud Montana mountain goat and memories to last a lifetime. What an adventure! I am thankful I was able to be apart of the hunt but bummed I wasn't able to see the end.

I'm not sure I have any photos that haven't already been shared, but I attached a few more.

Gerald capturing the moments.

Ross's billy with a younger billy.

A billy Ross passed on.

Climbing to the top.

 

[Gerald Martin]

A bump back to the top to light the fire for all the lucky guys who drew this year. Something to remind all the rest of us what we won't be doing this fall...