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Goat Hunt

TBinKodiak

Member
Joined
Sep 22, 2005
Messages
575
Location
Kodiak, AK
GOATHUNT2.jpg



Well I said I would give details on the goat and sheep pics that I had posted in a couple other posts. Here is the goat hunt.
I got this billy last fall. I flew into the head of one of the bays here on Kodiak the Friday before Labor Day weekend with a buddy if mine. We hit the trail at 9:30am and made it through the river valley by 11. We spotted 7 bears(only one kind of bear on the island and it ain't black), the closest one walked by about 60 yards from us. The hike up through the alders, salmonberrry bushes and devils club has to be experienced to be appreciated. We made camp at 6pm and spotted 4 goats on a ridge about a quarter mile away. We also spotted a total of 90-100 goats on the surrounding mts so we were very hopeful for the morning hunt.
We were up and on the trail at first light (6:30) and headed to where we last saw the goats the night before. After glassing the nearby ridgeline we thought the goats had moved to the far mt side. My buddy walked back to get his pack and just about walked into the bedded goats at 30 yards. I made it to where he was and we set up shop just out of sight at 40 yards. I could have belly crawled to within about 10 yards of the closest goat. After about 10 minutes one finally stood, but it was staring right at us and we couldn't tell if it was a billy or nanny. It finally turned and dropped out of sight and we made our way toward the edge of the cliff. The other 3 spotted us and took off running. The first goat was at about 50 yards, but we still couldn't get the right angle on the horns to tell the sex. Finally at 150 yards I saw that it was probably a billy and as it turned to look back I fired an off hand shot. At the shot I knew I had missed and it took off running. Having only two shells left I opted not to risk wounding it at farther distances. Well the other 3 had gone around the end of the point about 600 yards away and all the sudden 2 came back up to the top. They must not have known where we were because they came at a dead run back our way. Having only two shells left I ran back to the pack and got another 4 shells. We took off in the direction we had last seen them and my buddy decided to check the top to make sure they weren't going to slip past us. He hit the deck and waved me up so I knew they were close. I made my way up to where he was and he told me it was about 40 yards away. I stood, saw it was billy and drilled him through the front shoulder. He collapsed at the shot, which is good because there was a 1500 foot cliff about 20 feet behind him. We knew he was a billy, but were not prepared for how big he was. He is a 4.5 year old and measures 9 3/4" with 5 3/4" bases. I rough scored him for B&C and he's a little shy of making the all time book, but he'd be eligible for an Award (after a year of drying he’s still 48.5).
Anyway we decided to get it cut up and try to make the beach for an early pick-up Sunday morning. We hit the trail at 3:30 and pushed hard to get out of the river bed by dark. We just made it and only spotted 4 bears on the way out, the closest one was a big boar about 100 yards away. Thankfully he walked off the other way when we hollered at him. We walked the last hour in the dark and made it back to the beach at 11pm. After carrying 85lb packs for over 8 miles we were absolutely burnt out and didn't even eat before hitting the sack. Sunday morning we called in an early pick up flight and had a whale swim by 100 yards out from our camp while we waited. We were unloaded and eating breakfast at the Diner at 11am. It was a great hunt and a great trophy.
As a side note the guy that went with me on that hunt shot a billy last weekend that is 9.75" with 6" bases. He hunted hard for that billy and looked over 60+ goats to find that guy. So it looks like I may have to go find a bigger one next fall. :D
 

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Sounds like you had a great hunt. Nice goat... Thanks for sharing..

enrut
 
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