Idaho Mountain Goat - When Dreams Don’t Do Reality Justice

[stik&string]

   

[SAM E. STEPHENS]

A dream hunt , I'm in...

,,Sam,,

[DarkTimber]

The goats were coming up the side that we’d climbed earlier that morning headed toward the top.  They were moving quickly, much too quickly to allow us to get ahead of them and they were soon out of site.  Between where we stood and where the goats went out of sight was a small saddle in the mountain.   At this point the rain was starting to pick up and we quickly decided it would be best to set up the tent in the saddle and spend the night there.   We’d try to work in on the goats we’d just seen that afternoon, then glass from the peak the next morning and if nothing worked out we’d drop down to the lake and set up camp later the next day.   We had about a liter of water left in each of our bladders and another liter left in our reservoir from the night before.  We could make that last for half a day.  There wasn’t really any level ground for the tent but we found an area up against a few trees that was good enough for one night and quickly set up the tent and dumped our gear inside.

 

With shelter set up and our gear in the dry we wasted no time heading toward where the goats had topped the ridge.  As we crested the ridge I could see the hillside they went onto was covered sporadically in small trees and had numerous small cliffs and boulders throughout, perfect stalking terrain.  Mark eased up above me to a point to watch and I slipped slowly ahead, side hilling about 100 yards down from the peak.  By now the intermittent rain had stopped and it was dead calm.  I’d gone maybe 150 yards and just crested a small rise when I spotted the goats bedded down maybe 80 yards in front of me.   All I could see was white hair so I had no idea if I was looking at nannies or billies.   Above me about 10 yards I could see a few small trees lined up with the goats that would give me cover to move in closer so I backtracked a bit, climbed up in line with the trees and slowly started advancing.   The loose gravel and rocks made it difficult to be quiet but I moved slowly and within about 30 minutes I’d closed the distance to about 30 yards, although all the goats were still completely blocked by trees.

I looked above and could see the head of a goat sticking out from behind a group of boulders.  Instantly, I could tell it was a large nanny. She was facing the other way but would periodically turn my direction.  I decided if I tried to move any further forward I’d spook the goats and my odds were best to stay put and see what unfolded.  Maybe 15 minutes went by and I could hear rocks sliding and could tell a goat was moving toward me.   I readied my bow, but when he stepped in the clear at 25 yds I could quickly see once again it was a young billy.  Not what I was going to put my once in a lifetime tag on, so I sat there and enjoyed the show.  After a few minutes he noticed my form and wouldn’t stop looking at me.   Like the previous small billy, he climbed up on top of the boulders and stared a hole through me for what seemed like an hour, in reality probably another 15 minutes.  The other goats paid him no attention.

[TIM B]

I'm enjoying this!!
Keep on....
Tim b

[ozy clint]

They’ve always been my number one dream animal to hunt. For a lot of guys it’s wild sheep but for me it’s always been mountain goats. Maybe it’s because they’re not flashy like sheep. Their horns aren’t much to look at, only a couple inches separates an exceptional goat from an average goat. Maybe it’s the terrain they live in, as I’ve read goat country begins where sheep country ends.  Maybe it’s their beautiful white hair with long chaps and goatee.  Or maybe it was just the thought of the adventure.  Whatever the reason they’ve always stood out to me as the pinnacle of bowhunting.

I know the reason.

It's; because they're there.

             

[RedRidge]

This is great!

[mikolay87]

Great writing, this is excellent!

[DarkTimber]

While the small billy was standing on the boulder staring at me, I could hear another goat down the hill walking toward me in the rocks.  It was moving slowly and it sounded like it was feeding because it would move a bit then all was silent for several minutes before it moved again.  It was blocked from my view by the tree between us so once again I couldn’t tell what it was.   After about half an hour the nanny bedded at the base of the boulders stood up and started feeding away from me.  The small billy followed.   The goat down the hill feeding was getting closer and closer following the same path as the small billy directly toward me.  I began to see white hair between the branches of the tree.  My right hand gripped the bow string.

The goat moved forward and was now at about 25 yds but the outer edge of the tree’s branches were still preventing a shot.  I needed him to take about 3 more steps forward to be in the clear.  At this point I could see he was a nice billy.  Not as large as the huge billy we’d spotted across the basin earlier, but a nice mature animal I’d be perfectly happy with.  I put tension on the string anticipating him to maintain the forward progress he’d been on for almost an hour.  As too often happens in bowhunting, instead of taking those last 3 steps forward, he turned directly away from me and started feeding away.   When he finally stepped in the clear I hit full draw but my brain quickly said “too far”.   It ended up being 48 yards.  The goats were now up and moving in the open and I decided rather than pushing forward I’d back off.  With only about an hour left until dark we headed back toward camp to finish the day glassing from the saddle.    

The goats were bedded in the trees on the far ridge above the small peak the goat is standing on.  Camp was in the saddle between the two ridges.
 

[DarkTimber]

Back at camp, we inflated our sleeping pads, pulled our sleeping bags from their stuff sacks and organized our gear.  We decided since we were low on water, instead of eating a freeze dried dinner that required boiling water we’d just eat lunches we had ready for the next day and eat the freeze dried dinner for lunch once we reached the lake.  By the time we finished eating it was close to 9:00.  It had been a long but great first day and we fell asleep to the sound of a gentle rain hitting the tent.    

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night and the sound of rain hitting the tent had changed to the sound of snow.  It was my biggest fear and I had a hard time going back to sleep.  I knew spotting goats was about to get infinitely harder and just hoped the snow would stop and not enough would stick to completely cover the ground.  It didn’t stop.  When my watch alarm went off the next morning snow was still falling.  I unzipped the tent door and not only was everything covered in snow but the fog had set in so thick visibility was limited to about 20 yards

 
 

With snow continuing to fall and virtually no visibility, our options were pretty limited.  We damn sure couldn’t spot goats and trying to make it to the lake seemed foolish so we did what I’ve read so many other goat and sheep hunters do in these conditions.  We sat in our tent.  We used the last of the water in our reservoir for breakfast and now had about half a liter of water between us for the rest of the day.  Luckily I’d brought a titanium wood stove so we were able to melt snow.   Most of the day was spent with me sitting in the tent feeding the stove small branches and while our small 3 cup titanium pot sat on top filled with snow, slowly melting into water.  Mark was outside bringing me branches to feed the stove and filling the pot with snow.  All the while snow continued to fall.  I was amazed how little water you got from a pot full of snow.   Each full pot yielded maybe 4 ounces of water.  By dinner time we had melted enough to fill a Gatorade bottle for each of us to drink and enough for each of our freeze dried dinners.  When we went to sleep that night snow was still falling and had been for at least 18 hrs straight.

 

At one point I looked down at our empty Gatorade bottles and saw this.  Ha, no kidding!  
 

[Keith Zimmerman]

Why do u guys keep saying its getting good?  Its already great!!  Best thread in a long time.  Whats ur bow of choice for this adventure?

[DarkTimber]

Before going to sleep that night I had checked the weather on my inReach and it called for 2 days of clear weather followed by at least 4 days of snow / rain. The snow stopped sometime in the middle of the night and when we woke up the next morning and unzipped the tent everything was covered in snow but the skies were clear. After a quick breakfast Mark and I headed out in different directions to glass. I’d go toward where I’d stalked the goats the afternoon before and glass the lower end of the basin and he’d go toward where the small billy had stood on the peak and glass the upper end. We’d meet back at the tent around 10:00 and move camp down to the lake if nothing was spotted.

 

The morning was absolutely beautiful but despite my best efforts I couldn’t find a goat anywhere. The snow wasn’t helping and I could only laugh as the rolls had now been reversed. The goats now had the camo and I was the one that stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb. I hoped for a warm sun to melt it as quickly as possible.

 

I walked the entire spine of the ridge stopping to glass and making sure I wasn’t missing any small pockets a goat might be hiding in, but by 10:00 I’d turned up nothing.

 

When I met back up with Mark at the tent, he had seen exactly the same amount of goats as I had. Time to pack up camp.

[DarkTimber]

We packed up camp and made the trek around the side of the mountain again toward the lake, this time fighting the scree and the snow. It wasn’t fun but the thought of the fresh lake water and a flat spot to sleep was enough to keep our spirits up. It took an hour or so but soon enough we were at the lake and had a camp spot with much better accommodations.

 

We wasted no time filtering some fresh water
 

[DarkTimber]

It was already around noon so we ate a quick lunch, grabbed our packs and headed down the middle ridge to glass. Mark would glass back toward the mountain we’d just come from and where the goats had been the previous day, I’d glass the opposite mountain, the one where we’d spotted the huge billy on day one. There was also an entire new section of mountain open to our view that we hadn’t been able to see until now. By about 2:00 the sun had started melting off most of the snow on the exposed slopes and I was hopeful we’d soon spot some goats. I could see trails in the snow where the goats had come out of the basin and crested the ridge into the next basin. The ridge line was the border of my unit, so anything on the other side was off limits. All I could do was hope they came back over. I must have looked at the peak 100 times waiting to see a goat crest the ridge, but none appeared.

Elk were bugling throughout the drainage and a very nice 6x6 was pushing cows in a lower meadow below me. For someone who was missing their first elk season in 18 years it made me wish for an elk tag, but I knew I couldn’t afford to waste any time or burn my legs out packing one out. Still, every time a bugle let out I jerked my head around and had to remind myself I wasn’t elk hunting.

By dark neither Mark nor I had seen a single goat all day. I tried to keep a positive attitude and told Mark they’d be back tomorrow, although I was trying to convince myself more than him.

Now with unlimited water supply we boiled enough for 2 dinners. A warm meal has never tasted so good. With a flat place to lay and not sliding down hill all night we both slept like logs that night. I was a bit anxious the next morning. I knew it was going to be the last decent weather for several days, possibly for the remainder of my hunt. I hoped to make it count.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Oh man, I've been following this thread all day. It's got the makings of a classic! Thanks for taking pictures every step of the way. It makes the story that much more enjoyable.

[Warden609]

       

[Bvas]

Great read his far!!
I'm waiting for more    
PS I don't think Dwight could've told it any better.

[JakeD]

This is a fantastic read! Can't wait for more!

[akaboomer]

Outstanding story, well written. Aaron, when Mark told me you had been successful in the drawing for this tag I knew it would be an epic hunt. Thanks for taking the time to document and post your once in a lifetime goat adventure.

Chris

[kennyb]

This is awesome Aaron! Love the great pics to add to the good story telling!! Thanks for taking us along!

Kenny

[JR Williams]

Thanks for this post, this is awesome! Thanks for sharing.