BC mountaingoat adventure

[Kevin L.]

Wow!! This is going to be a good one!

[Bert Frelink]

Hey J,
I reconize that name,  Troy Wolfenden, he was just a boy when his dad guided me to a goat back in 1989.
Have fun and relax, those guys know their goats, I am confident you will be succesfull.
Hunt hard, Bert.

[J from Denmark]

Ok, thanks guys and sorry for the delay, didnt mean to "lamb" it this much, there is just so much to do, been away for 2 weeks and all.

Well, I guess I pretty much knew allready what was in store for us, but somebody had to find out what was at the tent...
I went over to chek it out.
At 15 yards the tent came into view and so did the silvertip of a grizz !!!
I snug back to Troy and whispered `Grizz..we better back out of here´ Troy looked at me like he was thinking ´this Danish guy must be loosing it, mountain sickness allready..´
But we backed up 75 yards or so, still not able to see the tent or the bear and Troy tried yelling `Hey Grizz, get the .... out of our tent !´  
The huge grizz ( it seemed huge at the time, but was proberly only around 6,5 foot ) came up over the hump in front of the tent, looked us over and slowly went back to the tent to finish our
lunch !!
Well, that was not the way Troy expected the bear to behave so we quickly agreed to move farther away and try to get to a high point, from where we would be able to see the tent and the bear.
Walking away kind of pissed that this guy was eating our food and quietly talking about our next move and the fact that we had NOTHING, no bow, gun or knife... everything was at the tent, even troys hiking shoes !
We were about 130 yards away when suddenly Troy says `Oh ohh, here he comes´ I turn around and see the grizz come running at us in a straight line from a 100 yards away. He was coming for us, no doubt, and he was coming fast...
We picked up some big rocks ! and I convinced Troy to open up our fleece jackets, and stand next to each other to look as big as possible..
It came to a stop at about 10-15 yards and stood there wawing its big head huffing and puffing, pissing and drooling. Seriously, it was drooling all over the place !
Troy said not to look it in the eyes, but I did anyway..trying to convince it that we were the biggest..we didnt shout at it though, as some people say not to do that with grizz.
It went around us in a half circle, trying to get our wind I guess, still huffing and puffing..

Finally it disapeared

We did not know if it went back to the tent though, so it was an erie walk back.
We got to the tent and I stood guard with my bow  ( Troy didnt bring a rifle in the first place ) as Troy QUICKLY packed our stuff and we started hiking back over 3 mountains.
We were supposed to stay for 2-3 days but just changed our plans !!
Troy was in front and I was second. Its a strange feeling walking down in the dark looking over your shoulder all the time waiting to see two yellow eyes in the light of your headlamp !!
We were back around midnight. I fell/slided 12 times, going back the slippery slopes in the dark.

[J from Denmark]

Day 3 we went to pick up a rifle !
We also did a little blackbear hunting in the valley, no luck though.
I also called my pregnant girlfreind back home...didnt tell her about the grizz..

Day 4
Back in action !
We went on horseback into a GORGEOUS valley
 
And finally came to the first cabin
 
Some of the pics are bad, I know, those are the ones taken either with my videocam or taken out of actual video.
We loaded of our gear and went on, first on the horses and then we hiked for a while.
Troy spotted some goats
 
and I tried stalking them.
When seeing the video and pics I am very pleased with the camoeffect of both the asat leafy jacket and the sitka pants.
 

[Jack Shanks]

Oh Man Jacob!!  It just keeps getting better!

[Whip]

WOW!        
This is great!  Keep it coming  

[beachbowhunter]

That valley picture is fantastic. You need to keep that one for your grandchildren. Holy smokes, what a trip!

[J from Denmark]

Thanks guys

Yes mr Schulz, I really like that valley pic too !
 
Tom, I would rather just use the pics, they are actually better the the video, I think.

Brent, the actual hunting was from 6500 to 9000 feet

Jack, Troy was great, you wont be sorry booking a hunt with him !

[snag]

Evidently your bow was ok after the bear incident? That was one hungry bear. Good thinking on looking larger and holding your ground...hard to do in the heat of the moment I bet! Did you hit him with any rocks? That would probably just p!$$ him off. Love the story!

[J from Denmark]

Well, I managed to get inside 30 yards of a goat but the situation didnt lend itself to getting of a shot.

Day 5
We went farther into the valley and spotted goats on 3 different mountain sides. So we had to pick between tough, tough and tough.
We picked tough !
First the alders
 
Then the most scary cliffhanger action of the whole trip. ( the pics are not even from the bad parts, as you tend not to think about pics when you fear for your life !!!! )
 
 
We finaly reached the alpine.
 
We should be right above the goat but we just couldnt find it. Glassed intensely
 
Troy always a little closer to pure AIR then me !
 
We didnt find the goat until several hours later when we saw it from the valleybottom just where we had been !

[J from Denmark]

Snag, no we didnt throw rocks as Troy said not to provoke it.
My bow was ok from the grizz, but got a few nicks from banging into rocks on the climbs !!

[J from Denmark]

We went to a second cabin to spend the night. saw a black bear and a 40" moose on the way there. wasnt able to put in a stalk though
I shot a spruce grouse on the way. Got a ruffed grouse on day one too. Those birds just aint afraint huh !?
Day 6
We woke up with goats, muledeer and grizz all visible from camp
Grizz with two cubs
 

[Tim Fishell]

Man keep it comming.  This is a great story!!

[mmgrode]

Man, that's my kind of hunting. And the grizz encounter... holy moly!! This is turning into quite a trip. I'm loving this!  Keep it coming!!

[Noelkman]

Thanks for sharing your trip! Fantastic story and photos!

If you can, give us areview of how the Sitka pants held up in the rocks.

Thanks again!

[Jack Shanks]

Man Jacob! I thought the place in Alaska I just returned from sheep hunting was steep but Troy's area looks like it might have it beat.

 Friend of mine was successful on two goat hunts with Troy and highly recommended him also. I contacted him last year and the year before and he was already booked for the season each time. I guess if I want to hunt with him I need to plan a little further ahead.

[ksbowman]

Super pics and story! I bet you still wake up at night sweating thinking of that griz encounter!You must have been in great shape to climb that stuff every day.  Ben

[knife river]

I'm looking forward to all the photos and stories you care to post, Jacob.  And when you're done with all that, I'd bet a lot of us here would enjoy hearing about your job as a gamekeeper in Denmark.  Tak nemlig den stor handling og foto!    

[J from Denmark]

Noelkman, I am kind of divided on the sitka gear stuff. I REALLY like the mountainpants, mostly because I bought them several sizes larger then my normal pants, and that, together with the nice wide fit in the legs makes for a great climbing pant that doesnt bind. they are really tough, breathe well, fairly wind"resistent" and dries quick. I have the downpourpants too but havnt used them much yet. BUT.. I must admidt I dont understand why everybody rave about the quality, its fine allright, but nothing special compared to my other clothes in the same pricerange. The sewings in my sitgagear ( espesially in the mountainpants )are quite "rude" "homemade" kinda of sewings and with loose threads allover.
BUT, I have used the mountainpants in my daily work for about a year now and they DO hold up fine !

Jack, Oh yeah, a guy really got to book way ahead on the good outfitters. How did you do in AK ?

Ben, I have been getting in shape several months before this trip and actually did better then I thought. I could keep up with Troy on the regular uphill climbs but not on the really rocky stuff ( Troy said " just trust your boots !" when he spidermanned his way over the rocks ) Couldnt keep up with him on the the climbs down either !

Woody, thanks   :D   Nice Danish

[J from Denmark]

Well, day 6 we rode a little bit, climbed for several hours, got busted by the goat we were stalking
 
Climbed for several hours, rode for an hour or two and slept very well ! ( even though we think we heard some grizzlies figthing in the dark ! )
 
Day 7
We started on our way back out of the valley
 
With the usual narrow horsetrails on steep hills !
 
Saw the moose again, this time with 2 cows
 
We had a looong hard climb after a goat we saw. I managed to find the exact bed were we had seen him, but now he was gone. I kept on stalking around a STEEP mountain side and suddenly saw a goat 50 yards away. Troy came up to me and we waited for a long time hoping it would feed its way closer. By now I really wished I didnt leave the rangefinder at the first cabin ( didnt want the ekstra weight ) normally I dont use one, but in this case It would have been just the ticket. I have point-on at 45 yards and are able to make pretty good shots at that range IF I know the exact distance. The goat started moving away and I decided to try for a shot. Misjugded the yardage by about 5 yards and shot right over its back ! Overadjusted on the quick second shot which went about 3 inches under the goats chest, right il line with the heart..Darn it
I will never hunt again without a rangefinder, traditional or not, this is hunting !
Then we rode for 4 hours out of the valley and drove back to the main camp, arrived there really late, ate, and slept like a dog !