SDBugler
New member
I got very lucky this year and drew the only NR tag for the second season G17 mountain goat hunt. Many of you will hate me, but I drew this tag on only my 3rd year of applying with only 2 points!! I had been watching this unit with its success rates going down every year and the quality of billys also declining. I applied for this tag hoping that most guys with lots of points would shy away from a unit with only 50% sucess rate and below average quality last year. My hunch paid off and I had the hunt of a lifetime!
After drawing the tag, I was originally planing to hunt the first week of the season with my bow and then if unsuccessful, I would pull out the rifle for the second week of the season (I really wanted a goat mount and would resort to the rifle if necessary). However, soon after drawing this tag, our family hit the drawing jackpot including unit 76 archery elk tags in CO for dad and me, NM muzzy antelope tags for my 15 year old son Spencer and I, a NM unit 16D first season rifle elk tag, a youth ibex tag in NM for Spencer, and a CO early season high country deer tag for Spencer. Because of conflicting dates and limited time, we returned the unit 76 tags and the early deer tag in CO.
Since Spencer's ibex hunt started the same weekend as my two-week goat hunt, I decided to just stick with the rifle since I probably wouldn't get to my goat hunt until the second week anyway.
I was able to get 5 weeks in a row off from work (and from home) for the ibex, goat, and elk hunts, and I was able to scout for three days about a week before my season started. However, in those three days I was able to locate 15 goats, including two really nice billys. One of those billys stayed within a half mile of my bivy camp for two days.
Although it had snowed about a week before I arrived, the weather was great. This was some of the most beautiful country I had ever hunted.
One evening on the way back to camp I came across this nice buck.
I spent the rest of that first week scouting for Spencer's ibex hunt. The scouting paid off and he was fortunate to harvest a nice 38" billy on the afternoon of the first day of his hunt. He made a perfect shot at 305 yards dropping the billy in his tracks. Since we had already pulled him from school for a week (and since he was getting good grades), my wife and I decided to let Spencer accompany me for the rest of the week on my goat hunt.
On the return trip to my goat hunting area we hit the changing of the aspens perfectly and they were in brilliant shades of yellow and red. Although we were hunting at elevations well aboe the aspens we spent some time down low and took some photos before heading to the higher elevations.
Monday afternoon we hiked back into the area where I had seen the nice billys and got our tents set up just at sunset. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday searching for the two nice billys but couldn't find either of them. We did find a group of 3 goats just a quarter mile from camp (9"+ nanny, 7"+ billy with a broken horn, and a kid). These three goats stayed in that same spot all week and didn't move 300 yards the whole week.
We spent a lot of time behind the glass. Each day we would hike to the top of a different ridgeline or two and spent hours searching for goats. The DOW estimated only 50 goats in the entire unit and it was a big unit, but we knew they were out there........somewhere. It was just a matter of covering gound with our feet and eyes.
Spencer has always had an eye for finding game. I'm sure glad he was along on this hunt!!!
Notice the bare feet? It was fairly warm during the hunt and nice to air out the feet and boots after climbing to top of the mountians!
On Thursday (which was Spencer's last full day he could hunt with me) we decided to head farther west to see if we could find either of the two billys. While hiking up the mountain west of camp, we looked back to find a 7.5" - 8" billy on the ridge line just above camp. He was covering a lot of ground so we weren't sure if he had seen us and was moving out of the area. I told Spencer that we would let him go and maybe try locating him Friday morning before we had to hike back back out on Friday afternoon.
We had already spent about 3 - 4 hours behind the glass on Thursday when Spencer says "Dad, I got two goats way off to the northeast". I got the spotter on them and we watched them on Mt Oklahoma for a while deciding that they were probably a couple of medium sized billys but just too far away to make a move on that day. They eventually worked their way over the ridge and into Halfmoon Creek drainage. A little later Spencer again says "Dad, I got two goats way off to the west". I scrambled to get the spotter on them. These goats were about 4 miles away in the Williams Mountains. Even from that distance we could tell they were billys by their size (probably 300 pounds) and we could see plenty of "black" on their heads which meant good mass or swollen glands. We watched them until they bedded at the top of the mountain on a snowbank. Spencer then grabbed the spotter and checked out every snowbank that was within sight. It only took another 10 minutes and "Dad, I got another big bodied goat off to the west". He had found another even larger bodied goat about a mile north of the previous two goats. This third goat was also laying in a snowbank to stay cool.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to make a move on those goats that day and we had to hike out the next day to get Spencer back to Colorado Springs and get him on his flight home Saturday. I could tell Spencer was disappointed, but I told him we would spend Friday morning and try to locate the billy we had seen on the ridge above camp earlier that day.
(The big billys are located on the far mountains on the right had side of this picture. It looks really close in the photo!!!)
Friday morning we hiked up the mountain behind camp and glassed north into the upper Frying Pan and Martin Creek drainages but couldn't locate any goats. That afternoon we pulled camp and headed back to the trailhead.
I was really dissapointed that Spencer wasn't with me for the entire hunt (and especially the eventual harvest). It was a great father/son experience.
I think Spencer enjoyed this hunt more than his ibex hunt. It was his first true backpack hunt. It was probably my my favorite to date as well. This is the camp we shared together for the week, recapping each day's events over a cold MRE entree and a Wilderness Athlete bar every night before climbing into our bags.
After dropping off Spencer at the airport on Saturday, I hiked back into the Williams Mountains area and got to where I wanted to camp just as the sun was setting. I woke up Sunday to a clear cool day and headed up the mountain in search of the three billys we had located Thursday. It didn't take long and I located a billy bedded a little over a mile away.
I decided to wait a little while to see if he would get up and feed again before bedding for the day. I didn't have to wait long, as he got up 15 minutes later and started feeding up the mountian. He worked his way up the mountain for about 30 minutes before bedding under a large rock overhang. I figured he would stay there for the day since it proveded shade during the rest of the day.
Here is the view from where the goat was first spotted.
Although he was staring in my direction, I was able to crawl within 265 yards of him and got set up for the shot. Because of the position he was bedded, I could only see his head and one front leg from behind the rock. Through the spotter I could tell he was a mature billy. He had a huge horse shaped face with a roman nose and some of the largest glands I had ever seen. I could tell one horn was broken off about 1" but the other horn was about 8" - 9" long and they both had great mass that I estimated to be above the 5" mark. Best of all he had a huge body (over 300 pounds) and had great hair which is what I was really looking for in a trophy.
I had to wait over three hours for him to stand, but I took that time to range every rock within 40 yards of his bed.
Here he is at 265 yard through the spotter....
When he finally got up he took a couple steps away from the rock and stood broadside and looked back in my direction. It only took a split second to get the shot off. He began to wobble after the shot and I quickly bolted in another round and was settling in the cross hairs when a red spot appeared through his white coat right in the sweet spot. Just before I pulled the trigger on a follow-up shot he tipped over.
I had misjudged the steepness of the terrain, and he began to tumble down the hill. He picked up speed and was soon doing complete somersaults in the air between bounces. He tumbled 150 - 200 yards through the rocks before coming to rest in a rock slide. I thought for sure both horns would be broken after that fall. however, I was plesantly suprised to find both horns scratched up but still intact when I finally got up to him.
He was the trophy I had dreamed about all summer - 8.5" long - 5.5" bases - 10 years old - 300+ pounds and great hair. One of the biggest goats in this unit since it opened in 2007.
Here is a close up of the goat.
This was a very unique and wonderful experience. I am grateful for getting to spend some of this unique hunt with my son. We will cherish the memory
After drawing the tag, I was originally planing to hunt the first week of the season with my bow and then if unsuccessful, I would pull out the rifle for the second week of the season (I really wanted a goat mount and would resort to the rifle if necessary). However, soon after drawing this tag, our family hit the drawing jackpot including unit 76 archery elk tags in CO for dad and me, NM muzzy antelope tags for my 15 year old son Spencer and I, a NM unit 16D first season rifle elk tag, a youth ibex tag in NM for Spencer, and a CO early season high country deer tag for Spencer. Because of conflicting dates and limited time, we returned the unit 76 tags and the early deer tag in CO.
Since Spencer's ibex hunt started the same weekend as my two-week goat hunt, I decided to just stick with the rifle since I probably wouldn't get to my goat hunt until the second week anyway.
I was able to get 5 weeks in a row off from work (and from home) for the ibex, goat, and elk hunts, and I was able to scout for three days about a week before my season started. However, in those three days I was able to locate 15 goats, including two really nice billys. One of those billys stayed within a half mile of my bivy camp for two days.
Although it had snowed about a week before I arrived, the weather was great. This was some of the most beautiful country I had ever hunted.
One evening on the way back to camp I came across this nice buck.
I spent the rest of that first week scouting for Spencer's ibex hunt. The scouting paid off and he was fortunate to harvest a nice 38" billy on the afternoon of the first day of his hunt. He made a perfect shot at 305 yards dropping the billy in his tracks. Since we had already pulled him from school for a week (and since he was getting good grades), my wife and I decided to let Spencer accompany me for the rest of the week on my goat hunt.
On the return trip to my goat hunting area we hit the changing of the aspens perfectly and they were in brilliant shades of yellow and red. Although we were hunting at elevations well aboe the aspens we spent some time down low and took some photos before heading to the higher elevations.
Monday afternoon we hiked back into the area where I had seen the nice billys and got our tents set up just at sunset. We spent Tuesday and Wednesday searching for the two nice billys but couldn't find either of them. We did find a group of 3 goats just a quarter mile from camp (9"+ nanny, 7"+ billy with a broken horn, and a kid). These three goats stayed in that same spot all week and didn't move 300 yards the whole week.
We spent a lot of time behind the glass. Each day we would hike to the top of a different ridgeline or two and spent hours searching for goats. The DOW estimated only 50 goats in the entire unit and it was a big unit, but we knew they were out there........somewhere. It was just a matter of covering gound with our feet and eyes.
Spencer has always had an eye for finding game. I'm sure glad he was along on this hunt!!!
Notice the bare feet? It was fairly warm during the hunt and nice to air out the feet and boots after climbing to top of the mountians!
On Thursday (which was Spencer's last full day he could hunt with me) we decided to head farther west to see if we could find either of the two billys. While hiking up the mountain west of camp, we looked back to find a 7.5" - 8" billy on the ridge line just above camp. He was covering a lot of ground so we weren't sure if he had seen us and was moving out of the area. I told Spencer that we would let him go and maybe try locating him Friday morning before we had to hike back back out on Friday afternoon.
We had already spent about 3 - 4 hours behind the glass on Thursday when Spencer says "Dad, I got two goats way off to the northeast". I got the spotter on them and we watched them on Mt Oklahoma for a while deciding that they were probably a couple of medium sized billys but just too far away to make a move on that day. They eventually worked their way over the ridge and into Halfmoon Creek drainage. A little later Spencer again says "Dad, I got two goats way off to the west". I scrambled to get the spotter on them. These goats were about 4 miles away in the Williams Mountains. Even from that distance we could tell they were billys by their size (probably 300 pounds) and we could see plenty of "black" on their heads which meant good mass or swollen glands. We watched them until they bedded at the top of the mountain on a snowbank. Spencer then grabbed the spotter and checked out every snowbank that was within sight. It only took another 10 minutes and "Dad, I got another big bodied goat off to the west". He had found another even larger bodied goat about a mile north of the previous two goats. This third goat was also laying in a snowbank to stay cool.
Unfortunately, we didn't have time to make a move on those goats that day and we had to hike out the next day to get Spencer back to Colorado Springs and get him on his flight home Saturday. I could tell Spencer was disappointed, but I told him we would spend Friday morning and try to locate the billy we had seen on the ridge above camp earlier that day.
(The big billys are located on the far mountains on the right had side of this picture. It looks really close in the photo!!!)
Friday morning we hiked up the mountain behind camp and glassed north into the upper Frying Pan and Martin Creek drainages but couldn't locate any goats. That afternoon we pulled camp and headed back to the trailhead.
I was really dissapointed that Spencer wasn't with me for the entire hunt (and especially the eventual harvest). It was a great father/son experience.
I think Spencer enjoyed this hunt more than his ibex hunt. It was his first true backpack hunt. It was probably my my favorite to date as well. This is the camp we shared together for the week, recapping each day's events over a cold MRE entree and a Wilderness Athlete bar every night before climbing into our bags.
After dropping off Spencer at the airport on Saturday, I hiked back into the Williams Mountains area and got to where I wanted to camp just as the sun was setting. I woke up Sunday to a clear cool day and headed up the mountain in search of the three billys we had located Thursday. It didn't take long and I located a billy bedded a little over a mile away.
I decided to wait a little while to see if he would get up and feed again before bedding for the day. I didn't have to wait long, as he got up 15 minutes later and started feeding up the mountian. He worked his way up the mountain for about 30 minutes before bedding under a large rock overhang. I figured he would stay there for the day since it proveded shade during the rest of the day.
Here is the view from where the goat was first spotted.
Although he was staring in my direction, I was able to crawl within 265 yards of him and got set up for the shot. Because of the position he was bedded, I could only see his head and one front leg from behind the rock. Through the spotter I could tell he was a mature billy. He had a huge horse shaped face with a roman nose and some of the largest glands I had ever seen. I could tell one horn was broken off about 1" but the other horn was about 8" - 9" long and they both had great mass that I estimated to be above the 5" mark. Best of all he had a huge body (over 300 pounds) and had great hair which is what I was really looking for in a trophy.
I had to wait over three hours for him to stand, but I took that time to range every rock within 40 yards of his bed.
Here he is at 265 yard through the spotter....
When he finally got up he took a couple steps away from the rock and stood broadside and looked back in my direction. It only took a split second to get the shot off. He began to wobble after the shot and I quickly bolted in another round and was settling in the cross hairs when a red spot appeared through his white coat right in the sweet spot. Just before I pulled the trigger on a follow-up shot he tipped over.
I had misjudged the steepness of the terrain, and he began to tumble down the hill. He picked up speed and was soon doing complete somersaults in the air between bounces. He tumbled 150 - 200 yards through the rocks before coming to rest in a rock slide. I thought for sure both horns would be broken after that fall. however, I was plesantly suprised to find both horns scratched up but still intact when I finally got up to him.
He was the trophy I had dreamed about all summer - 8.5" long - 5.5" bases - 10 years old - 300+ pounds and great hair. One of the biggest goats in this unit since it opened in 2007.
Here is a close up of the goat.
This was a very unique and wonderful experience. I am grateful for getting to spend some of this unique hunt with my son. We will cherish the memory
? My wife would have killed me...
