Rocky Mountain High

[Irrelevant]

I've only been on one hunt, but we deferred to shear body size as the ultimate decider. A giant white buffalo was good for us. Ended up being 8.5 yr old billy. But only 8.75" or something like that.

 

[kiwi hunter]

Like any good nerd, as soon as results were posted and I realized I drew the tag books were ordered.

1. A Beast the Color of Winter
2. Life on the Rocks

I also scoured the internet for anything I could find to try and understand goats better. After reading these books I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought I did about these animals.

From a conservation standpoint, I found it interesting that goats weren’t native to this area. Transplant efforts started in the 1940’s and though natural range expansion they colonized into the surrounding areas. One being the mountain range my tag is good for. So, all things considered, they’re relatively new to the area.

I learned Nannie’s will carry their winter coats longer into the summer. This ended up being a very helpful trick for determining nanny vs. billy on some of the early scouting trips. Anyone that’s wrangled young kids knows it can be a lot of work; the theory is the billies have more time to tend to their coats because they're not dealing with the duties of raising kids.

Early on, determining Billy vs Nanny during the hunt was another concern of mine. After months of scouting and observing goats I feel like I’ve got a decent handle on this. I've been fortunate to stumble across a dozen plus billies thus far and after a couple minutes of observation, their tendencies/behavior patterns are pretty distinguishable. I've had multiple dry lone nannies observed from miles away cause me to burn a lot of boot leather but after getting in close It was obvious I was fooled.

Dry/old nannies play a critical role in the dynamics of the heard. The matriarch females help pass down knowledge to the up and coming nannies.

My goal is to find a mature billy with quality hair. Ideal timeframe is now through the end of the season.

Determining a mature billy can be a challenge to a novice like myself. One of the books mentioned a young Billy will already have 90+% of its horn length by age 3 to 4. You can imagine when you're dealing with only 8-9" of horn the challenges that could present. A small face with large horns can make them look exceptional. Through talking with people more knowledgeable and reading I'm learning that body size and behavioral habits are far more important than horn length when trying to target an older age class billiy. I'm also realistic on size expectations. The unit is not known for high scoring goats, not a top priority of mine anyways. Here are a couple photos the rocky mountain goat alliance had on their webpage. I thinkg they highlight the challenge of judging. Ideally I get in close enough to see rings, but to be honest as shown below I'm not sure I could even accurately determine what counts as a ring.
View attachment 418682View attachment 418683View attachment 418684View attachment 418680

I am liable to still screw this up but with the time I have and the billies I've seen I think there will be an option that will fit the bill just fine. The more mature one's ive seen are hanging in groups. I'm hopeful if I get in close enough and having the ability to compare the decision will become clear.

My little cheat sheet from a stock google image:View attachment 418681

We're starting in May lol...giving you a little insight to the way my brain operates.

i thoroughly enjoyed a beast the color of winter , with all the travelling and shifting between here and there ive now lost it.

 

[cgasner1]

Love it when someone gets a tag and takes full advantage of it

 

[Nick87]

Love it when someone gets a tag and takes full advantage of it

You just wait til I draw Montna general deer again.

 

[brownbear932008]

That D goat really intrigues me. He looks like a tank. Rookie thoughts!

 

[PoleX]

Last couple days, some last minute chores:

500 cold bore:
500yd 5 shot group


Looks like the weather is moving in. Seam sealed the tent.

 

[elkduds]

One looked okay till he turned his head and half his driver side was broken off.

Sometimes bad luck is good luck.

 

[Jbotto]

Last couple days, some last minute chores:
View attachment 418870
500 cold bore:View attachment 418871
500yd 5 shot group
View attachment 418872

Looks like the weather is moving in. Seam sealed the tent.View attachment 418873

Looks like you’re dialed! What rifle, scope, and load are you using?

 

[cgasner1]

Looks like you’re dialed! What rifle, scope, and load are you using?

This is one of those if you gotta ask you can’t afford it. Or at least I can’t

 

[PoleX]

This is one of those if you gotta ask you can’t afford it. Or at least I can’t

You and me both lol.

Looks like you’re dialed! What rifle, scope, and load are you using?

It's a Viking armament in 7 saum 1:9 twist with he Razor HD LHT 4.5-22x50. 175gr Burger Elite Hunters, N165 62.5 gr. 2.945 OAL. I can't outshoot its capabilities which is great.

 

[Nick87]

This is one of those if you gotta ask you can’t afford it. Or at least I can’t

This is why I didn't ask...but I was curious.

 

[Jbotto]

This is one of those if you gotta ask you can’t afford it. Or at least I can’t

Now I know! Lol. Definitely not one I’d be able to put on my short list!

 

[Jbotto]

You and me both lol.

It's a Viking armament in 7 saum 1:9 twist with he Razor HD LHT 4.5-22x50. 175gr Burger Elite Hunters, N165 62.5 gr. 2.945 OAL. I can't outshoot its capabilities which is great.

I like it! Good cartridge choice too!

 

[Gerald Martin]

I bet that rifle has crisp lettering on the barrel too!

 

[wvhunter304]

This is great! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[Hem]

Hopefully @PoleX isn't twisting off in a tent up on the mountain.

 

[cgasner1]

Hopefully @PoleX isn't twisting off in a tent up on the mountain.

He isn’t man enough to ride that storm out

 

[PoleX]

He isn’t man enough to ride that storm out

You’re spot on!

 

[PoleX]

I’ll keep itshort and sweet cause I’ve got the post tag blues.

This hunt turned into a 36 hr sprint. Left the truck with 4 days of gear and a hot tent setup incase we needed to weather the storm that was supposed to start Saturday afternoon around 3pm…6 miles, dropped off camp. ~2pm we start to climb the ridge to see if we could find goat D I shared above…Spotted the small billy in the group…sweet, the others should be right here. Nope…an hr later another one popped out 800 yards and 500 feet above the small one with about 1.5-2 hrs of daylight. He looked big compaired to the small one we were watching…let’s make a play and see what happens. Climbed another 4-500 feet to hit the ridge line, and run the ridge for about 3/4 miles, Pop over the ridge and he’s broadside at 98 yards with about 10 minutes of shooting light left. Wind is blowing 20ish mph and it’s hard to study him. Body looks good head is behind a tree. He’s definitely not the small one and he looks nice. Boom, 1:30am back to camp. Sleep in, about noon we start the 6 mile packout with 100 and 110lb packs. Last 2 miles were an absolute ball buster of a hike climbing 1500 out of the creek bottom as the storm begins to roll in. Cold beers and pizza. Like the two goat hunts I’ve been on, nothing went to the plan, we were rushed and tired and by the end we decided we’d never do that chit again and I’m considering selling all my hunting stuff in FB marketplace.

Lifetime memories made for sure!

Goat hunting is tough, humbled by the opportunity. Thankful and proud of this goat.

If you draw a tag good luck, I’m not going

 

[El Jason]

That’s a beautiful coat!