TBinKodiak
Member
Hey MtMiller you should have been here last weekend... 
A couple weeks ago a friend invited me out for drinks with a buddy of his that lives on the mainland. The discussion turned to hunting and he said his wife had drawn a goat tag for the north roadsystem area. I tell him I can show them some goats and to give me call when they get into town and I'll see if I can go. Tim showed up on Friday and took us out to lunch. I told him the valley I've deer hunted in might be a good area, since of the 6 times I've been in there I've seen goats 4 times. Leona his wife flew in Saturday morning at 8am and could only hunt the weekend so I knew it was going to be a long shot.
Well it was a tough hunt, but pretty easy as far as goat hunts go. Leona's flight made it in right at 8 and we hit the trail at 8:50. Tim and Leona were in pretty good shape and we made decent time. We made it up to the point that allows you to see up in the valley at 10:15. I about shat when I crested the hill and counted 47 goats at the head of the valley, the most I'd ever seen in there before was 14. We were about a 2 mile hike from them and things really slowed down at this point. Leona runs every day and has finished a few marathons, but the steep sidehilling really messed with her ankles. Luckily most of the goats fed over the mt leaving about 18 bedded at the head of the valley. I say luckily because we were out in the open for most of the stalk and that is way to many eyes. By the time we got back there only 9 were still bedded and 4 of those were up on the knife edge. We knew the 4 bedded below were 3 nannies and a kid, but the one up above might be a billy. We actually walked past 2 billies bedded at about 300 yards on our stalk but they were in the cliff face on the backside of the mt and there was no way to get them if she did shoot one. At about this point I asked her if she had her heart set on a billy or if she'd take a nanny. Her reply was she'd shoot the first goat within range, because she wasn't about to hike back in there again tomorrow..
Anyway we crested over and spotted the nanny group at about 60 yards. We saw the kid nudge mom to get her up for a quick drink of milk so we knew that one was the mother and off limits. We were trying to gain a little elevation to get a look at the other goat but the wind was swirling bad and the nanny group winded us. It was now or never as they started to trot for the top which was about 100 yards up from them. Leona made a great shot taking out the vitals and the far shoulder. That was followed up with another to stop the upward movement and start the downhill role.
It's pretty crazy that she flew in at 8am and had a goat on the ground at 1:30. It was a nasty hike out with heavy packs, but a really nice day and fun as heck. The goat is a 9" nanny but has the horn shape of a billy, just not quite as thick. A beautiful day to be up in the mountains and great people to share a hunt with.
Me, the hunter, and her trophy
These eleven came around the mt after we shot the nanny.
Another shot of the goats with the happy couple in the picture
A couple weeks ago a friend invited me out for drinks with a buddy of his that lives on the mainland. The discussion turned to hunting and he said his wife had drawn a goat tag for the north roadsystem area. I tell him I can show them some goats and to give me call when they get into town and I'll see if I can go. Tim showed up on Friday and took us out to lunch. I told him the valley I've deer hunted in might be a good area, since of the 6 times I've been in there I've seen goats 4 times. Leona his wife flew in Saturday morning at 8am and could only hunt the weekend so I knew it was going to be a long shot.
Well it was a tough hunt, but pretty easy as far as goat hunts go. Leona's flight made it in right at 8 and we hit the trail at 8:50. Tim and Leona were in pretty good shape and we made decent time. We made it up to the point that allows you to see up in the valley at 10:15. I about shat when I crested the hill and counted 47 goats at the head of the valley, the most I'd ever seen in there before was 14. We were about a 2 mile hike from them and things really slowed down at this point. Leona runs every day and has finished a few marathons, but the steep sidehilling really messed with her ankles. Luckily most of the goats fed over the mt leaving about 18 bedded at the head of the valley. I say luckily because we were out in the open for most of the stalk and that is way to many eyes. By the time we got back there only 9 were still bedded and 4 of those were up on the knife edge. We knew the 4 bedded below were 3 nannies and a kid, but the one up above might be a billy. We actually walked past 2 billies bedded at about 300 yards on our stalk but they were in the cliff face on the backside of the mt and there was no way to get them if she did shoot one. At about this point I asked her if she had her heart set on a billy or if she'd take a nanny. Her reply was she'd shoot the first goat within range, because she wasn't about to hike back in there again tomorrow..
Anyway we crested over and spotted the nanny group at about 60 yards. We saw the kid nudge mom to get her up for a quick drink of milk so we knew that one was the mother and off limits. We were trying to gain a little elevation to get a look at the other goat but the wind was swirling bad and the nanny group winded us. It was now or never as they started to trot for the top which was about 100 yards up from them. Leona made a great shot taking out the vitals and the far shoulder. That was followed up with another to stop the upward movement and start the downhill role.
It's pretty crazy that she flew in at 8am and had a goat on the ground at 1:30. It was a nasty hike out with heavy packs, but a really nice day and fun as heck. The goat is a 9" nanny but has the horn shape of a billy, just not quite as thick. A beautiful day to be up in the mountains and great people to share a hunt with.
Me, the hunter, and her trophy
These eleven came around the mt after we shot the nanny.
Another shot of the goats with the happy couple in the picture
