montana 323

[mthunter22]

Hello all.. my wife drew a goat permit in unit 323 and just wondering if any of you guys who have gotten one in the same unit or had any info to share we would be glad to listen.. we have been scouting and talking to people but always good to have more info..we will be heading in the 28th of september and hopefully be successful that week..and i will follow up with pics and the run down.. thank you

 

[Fire_9]

I'll be hiking in Friday morning and plan on spending three nights. I'll let you know how it goes

 

[StalkandSpook]

I hunted that last year for goats during the opener. Quite the adventure. Good look!

 

[mthunter22]

Been watching a Billy waiting for him to stand up for 4 hrs but it's almost 4 so hopefully not much longer my wife is short on patience

 

[TRS_Montana]

Take some pics through your scope and share them, if you need to kill some time

 

[mthunter22]

Okay so quick update the shot happened last night, but due to the goat not going along with the plan. We looked til dark for a way to get down to him but couldn't find a way so going way around to get to him this morning.. Most frustrating thing I have experienced is seeing the goat dead 500 yds away and not being able to get to it.. Not sure how to post pics from my phone but will update you when I know more. Thanks for following along.

 

[Fire_9]

Good luck and be safe

 

[mthunter22]

Made it home at about 3:30 this morning. Will post some pics when I get rested up.also have some on my Facebook.. So much faster to post there with my phone.. Clifford Egbert

 

[TRS_Montana]

Glad you made it back safely! Looking forward to some pics!

 

[mthunter22]

starting out the gate

help arrives

i see where everyone is using the stump as a prop so i had my nephew captain morgan it.

some of this country is rugged

our water hole.

Goat country

searching..

goat spotted

the shot has happened trying to use the remaining light to find a way down..

camp for the night

 

[mthunter22]

white gold

Making our way to him

Hard to capture the terrain and angles.

Almost there.

She got her goat

 

[teamhoyt]

Mthunter I assume your posting pictures with those captions but their not showing up

 

[mthunter22]

So now that i have the pics up ill give a quick rundown of the story.. We got to the trailhead monday late and were waiting for my hunting partner and nephew who had got a call the night before from a friend that had gotten a goat in an adjacent unit and had went in to help him get it out and then over to help us.. we hiked up the trail and were heading in when we glassed what appeared to be a billy way up the canyon so we changed plans a bit and decided to go take a better look.5 miles later and getting dark we still had a ways to go so we camped for the night.. tues morning we got up before light got packed up and headed his direction thinking we didnt have far to go,but that country has all sorts of tricks up its sleeves and we had to find water that ended up being a nice drip in the middle of some really steep cliffs, after filling up again we continued to climb, getting into goat country we were suprised to get about 20 yds from a cow elk that for some reason thought it was a goat.. on a positive not it was probably safe from the wolves.. anyway onward and upward to finally crest at about 11.. went to glassing and instantly started spotting goats in the distance so we get comfortable and start picking the country apart when my nephew spotted the billy from the day before but now he had a partner and was on the wrong side of the ridge.. we evaluate him and ask my wife what she thinks and she says she would be tickled with him so we start the waiting process hoping they will eventually get up and feed back over..eventually 5 oclock rolls around and every other goat we can see has got up and fed at least twice and these 2 are going nowhere.. but to keep us on our toes they get up about every hour and turn around paw a softer spot and lay back down.. also about this time the wind really picks up and starts howling. at about 6:30 they finally get up and start feeding but in the wrong direction, so we get up to get a different angle on them and decide if we have to we will just wait them out but after getting closer and and seeing how the ridge line turned to possibly unnavigatable rock we decide that it is now or never we are now sitting about 480 yds from them and decide that when the one she liked got above a finger of timber she would take the shot and try to anchor him.a few seconds later the shot is off but not taking into account enough the speed of the wind she ends up spining it but behind the front shoulder he goes down and looks like all is good and he is hung up in the trees when he decides to use his front legs to drag himself out of the trees and starts rolling my wife is upset as she really didnt want to see a beautiful animal tumble and neither did we he was headed to the bottom of the basin and got hung up on a rocky little draw she was ready to put another round in him but no need he had expired.. so i confirmed to her that it was allright and we would find a way to get to him and get him out,we spent the rest of light trying to find a way down into the basin to get to him and get the hide off and meat cooled but couldnt find a way and decided that what we were trying to do and where we were trying to do it was not very safe and better to not get caught out in the maze of rocks and cliffs that we were working our way through after dark so we headed back to safe ground and found a flattish place to camp about a half hour after dark.. was probably the most frustrating thing to endure seeing the goat dead and not being able to get to it worrying about the meat and all the other thoughts racing around in your mind.luckily it died in a cool little draw. well after a restless night we got up planning on making a 5-6 mile trek back down and around to get into the basin he was in ,,we packed up camp and said a prayer that if there was a better way to him that we could find it,we headed back the way we came the day before but kept checking the lip for a spot we could make it down and before long found a spot rolled out the rope hooked it off to a decent tree trunk and started dropping our way in to him got to him about 8:30 and propped him up for some quick pictures where my phones battery finally gave up,, he measured 8 3/4 inches after getting broke off a little bit, my wife was very happy with him..we had to move him a ways to cape him and he ended up getting away from us and busted another bit off of his one side which i felt terrible about,anyway finally got the meat off and packed up and hiked our way back up out of the basin.then back to our gear and a 9.5 mile hike out got back to the truck about 9:30.. very nice to get back and get the packs off.. my wife worked very hard t get ready for this hunt and i am so proud of her, she is also very afraid of heights yet went most of the places we did and when asked if she wanted to drop into the basin to go get him even though it was going to be rock climbing and sliding and steep the answer was an instant yes, she ended up packing out the head and hide and her pack was weighed at 51 pounds when we got home.. very proud of her and thing i may be hooked on this goat hunting thing.. rough country ,,hard hiking ,,very frustrating at times but how beautiful and amazing the country and animals are and how rewarding a hunt..

 

[mthunter22]

well thats not good, i can see them .. what might i have done wrong..

 

[npaden]

It is possible you are able to see them because they have some type of restriction or they aren't uploaded?

 

[mthunter22]

hmm i put them from my phone into dropbox and then linked them to here with the insert image url.

 

[npaden]

Your dropbox must have restrictions on it to not allow it to be publicly viewable.

 

[mthunter22]

second try

going to have to try and resize the others. also if anyone knows how to make dropbox public that would be great.

 

[mthunter22]

more

 

[mthunter22]

final pics