Late Season Goat Success

[Kopper]

Just before 10 the doors on the truck were shut. The hike begins as usual hiking up a creek bed for 15mins or so. I needed to gain just over 600 vertical meters. This would get me above the goats and to the only place that looked like a feasible crossing; a spot just above the confluence of 3 chutes. Upon leaving the creek it was 20mins in a disgusting alder slide. Thanks to a goat trip into 7-18 7ish years ago I bloody well hate alders. It had been raining since I started this hike so I was soaked clean through at this point. I debated turning around...Maybe it was just some nannies and kids? That rubbish quickly left my thoughts as I proceeded up.

Once clear of the slide the hike was real steep. Back again to using 4 limbs to climb but the wet snow made it especially slippery. Just to give you an idea..... Looking at the mountain, I'm going up a treed ridge on the right which angles towards the goat bluff. Wind predominantly runs left to right. Below the goats is cliffs then a band of scree and sparse trees that looks accessible from above. Below that band is another inaccessible cliff..... This part of the hike was quite the thigh burner but it didn't take long. In the mature trees it was easy to gain 150+ vertical meters in under 15mins. The total hike was just over an hour to gain the 600+ vertical meters to where I wanted to cross the chutes. I use a GPS app on my phone to watch the contours.

The 3 chutes weren't as intimidating as I'd thought. They had enough snow to solidly hold your steps in place. As with all hikes the terrain is surprisingly different than how it appeared from the bottom. I did my best to recognize where I wanted to be as I headed into the timber. This bluff was relatively flat but had a few minor dips in it. Goat tracks, trails, beds and sh*t everywhere. The place even had the glorious goat musk lingering in the air. Glassing as I would if still hunting mulies I scanned the timber but nothing. I made my way through a dip and slowly stuck my head over, but binos weren't needed. I could see the back end of a goat sitting on the edge. I ever so cautiously got up to a tree, straddled it and sat down in wait. The goat was a mere 56 yards away, I was completely crosswind and a slight drizzle dulled their senses. I had them.

[Kopper]

Before long two more goats materialized. A nanny followed by an old roman nosed billy. My heart was racing.... I was positive this was billy B. For 5 minutes I watched him court this nanny. Such magnificent beasts goats are; I simply admired him as I watched him strike out over and over. I could've snuck a shot through but I knew he'd head for the cliff if I didn't anchor him and I had yet to determine if I could recover him below the cliff. With the thick timber and multiple goats around any follow up shots were out of the question for fear of shooting the wrong goat. But this was not a problem as it was 11:30ish, wind was right and I had all the time in the world. Right?

Wrong! The billy and nanny jumped up unexpectedly fast and left my view. Huh, that's weird but I didn't fret as the first goat was still lying down. Half a second later that goat picks up an exits with haste. I'm not sure how I was busted, maybe a swirl that I didn't catch? This is when the flight or fight response kicks in. Having dropped my pack on the last dip, with rifle in hand I book it to the cliff edge as quickly as possible. Once there I watched the last nanny disappear on my left. Carefully I made my way there. With no goats in sight I assessed the area. The bowl below was steep but certainly doable; with access coming from a ledge off the ridge I ascended on just a bit lower down. Now facing into the valley I figured the goats would appear to my right as that's more cliffy.

Realistically I had lost sight of them for no more than 10 seconds before the lead nanny appeared jogging away 100 yards below me on the right. Binos came up as I watched them appear one by one. Lead nanny (my nemesis), kid, billy, nanny, kid, nanny. This was that group I had seen previously I was certain. The mass of the billy just dwarfing the rest. In one fluid motion the binos were dropped and the gun came to my shoulder. As soon as the glass left my eyes I let out the loudest Baaaaaaaaa I could muster. First it was the lead nanny, she stopped and turned her head in my direction (gotta love mothers instinct), the kid followed suit and in sequence the whole herd had stopped and turned.

[ditch donkey]

kopper you have a talent for writing your adventures. this is ine of the best huntbc stories latley. even better for those who have spent time in goat country where you can pull images from memories past to visualize the story as you read.

[Kopper]

kopper you have a talent for writing your adventures. this is ine of the best huntbc stories latley. even better for those who have spent time in goat country where you can pull images from memories past to visualize the story as you read.

Thanks ditch donkey. Not everyone hunts goats so it's nice to let those people live vicariously. Horn porn coming ASAP.

[Kopper]

The time was now. No more procrastination and no more doubts. The light mountain rifle comes to my shoulder as I'm looking straight down the cliff. It magically comes to the shoulder with the crosshairs just above the big goats shoulders. I immediately lower the crosshairs and once on the goats back I began to squeeze. A bit lower and the trigger breaks. I'm infamous for super fastcrack shots and this was no exception. The roar of the boom stick echoing off the canyon walls. The goat immediately buckled, flipped a couple times and slid down the hill until it came to rest against a pine. Not taking any chances I sent another accubond on its way.

I was very ecstatic, there is 3 things I had desperately wanted and to have them all occur was overwhelming. I took breather then a quick selfie and a pic down the cliff before I headed back for the pack. Look closely and you'll see the goat on a tree. Now, pictures are misleading and despite how it looks you would not be able to merely walk down that cliff; it's more vertical than it looks. It would be a full rope/harness rappel operation.

[Kopper]

It was now only 11:40, thank god it was early as skinning goats on steep stuff sucks but alone it would be even more difficult. Once at the pack I had to back-track back across the chutes and drop some elevation onto this ledge. Once down to the ledge I threw the crampons on for safe measures. It was only a 10ft section but a phuckup here would send you into bye bye land. I could hear the metal grinding on the solid rock face as I crossed; not too bad now but the reverse trip would suck. I wasn't sure exactly where I wanted to be but I start working my way around the cliff I had stood on when I notice a fresh slide, and sure enough a goat in the bottom. Guess he wasn't that secure on the tree. I quickly make my way over and found this.....

[Kopper]

I had to diagonally pull him while he slid to get him to a semi secure place to skin. Man was he a tank, surely close but more likely surpassing 300lbs. Upon skinning it was obvious the accubonds had did their job. Been using them for 8 or so years and have yet to recover a bullet. Both shots punched through the shoulders, turning bones on each side to crumbs, one destroying his vertebraes. Hope you enjoy the pics! but the story isn't done yet....

[Kopper]

I get excited even typing this. This was the first place I was introduced to goat hunting when I was a kid. I've put in more than a few years here but never taken a goat in this drainage. To be fair, I've hunted them all over BC but this specific valley ranks as one of the harder places to successfully harvest a billy IMO. Over the years many goats have been passed up here with the common theme being recovery concerns.

This was especially important being my first solo goat, being taken a mere 1.4km away from my dad's first goat all those years ago and that it was taken in a special place to which so many memories have born. But I really would of gave anything for my oldman to be up there with me.

[Kopper]

It took a rather long few hours to cape and debone all the meat. Maybe longer because I'd have to take a break every so often and take in the moment. What a moment it was...Even the weather was cooperating. A nanny and two kids graced the moment as they looked from above.

Ughhh, and with all goat stories they're not done when the animals down. I had the cape off and all the meat laying in the snow except the tender loins. I went to sharpen the knife with one of those cheap V sharpeners with the plastic guard. I'm not sure if it was fatigue or the odds finally caught up with me but... I looked away and the knife jumped out and ran right over my index finger. It didn't really hurt but I could see I had cut through a good portion of the tendon.

The hand was basically useless as trying to move any finger sent a chain reaction thru my hand. I bandaged it up and proceeded to slowly finish up and pack up. Once everything was in the Stone Glacier 6900 I went to put the pack on. As a force of habit I shouldered the right side but grabbed the left strap with my left hand. A very audible pop came from that hand was accompanied with plenty of pain. The tendon had completely snapped and judging from the stretched wound that the finger wasn't in place either. Firmly planting my left arm on the tree I forcefully use my right hand to push the finger back. Musta worked because the wound got smaller.

[the wall]

Great story and nice pics. No bickering either, this site seems to have less of that than most. This out of provincer might have to post more stuff here. Good work