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Thread: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Location
    up the hill
    Posts
    1,513

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    Great pics and read. Looking forward to the rest!

  2. #12
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    We start the descent off our ridge then start climbing through the avalanche chutes and up to our spot. At the steep stuff, we dump Josh's pack and put his food in my pack. A little climbing and we rise over the grassy knob and I can spot the rock I marked where the billy was bedded, 70 yds away. It's 11:20 and the sun is already beating down on us. 12:30 and nothing, Josh is starting to lose patience. What if the goat left? Are we sitting here for nothing? It was a great time to hone and develop the mental side of hunting. Patience is everything when pursuing animals. Our minds start to doubt though and we feel like we might be wasting our time on a goat that's not there. I told Josh this was our hunt for today though. We climbed up here and we would force ourselves to wait it out. 1:30 and just more sun and HEAT. I wet a bandanna and put it under Josh's hat to keep him cool and protect his neck. We are prone waiting for the goat to make his move.


  3. #13
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    At least the views are nice.


  4. #14
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    This is what we watched for 3 hours. We are waiting and hoping the goat appears at the green shrub in the lower right of the pic.





  5. #15
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    Suddenly, the goat is right there, right where we thought. My heart is beating through my chest. Josh is ready on the rifle. The goat is feeding facing right at us. I whisper to wait for a broadside shot. The billy raises his head and I feel like he is starring right at us. "Can he hear my heart beat, I feel like he can" He turns around facing straight away and I fear he is going to walk away. He relieves himself then turns to the right offering a perfect broadside shot. Josh's 7mm-08, a gift from Grampa before heading out west, goes off and the billy takes off and in two bounds jumps off a 20' cliff and out of sight into an avalanche chute. I jump to my feet and watch for any exits, nothing. Then a minute later we hear rocks tumbling and I am sure he is dead and rolling down that chute. Text Mom and Grampa the good news and hang out eating lunch before making our descent. I'm so proud. My smile in this pic is one of success and accomplishment but little did I know we hadn't completed anything yet.


  6. #16
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    Time to get down then head over to the bottom of the chute that the goat went in and look for him.




  7. #17
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    Headed up the chute looking for our "dead" goat.


  8. #18
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    We head up this nasty chute and NOTHING no goat. I am still sure he is dead. Josh is a great shot and he was only 70 yds away.

    I head further up the chute, definitely higher up than where this goat should be. "I must be in the wrong chute". I try to climb up out of the chute to my left but no luck. I tell Josh to wait as I look for a way up. Further up the chute and around the corner I see "the cave". This is the cave I mentioned at the beginning of the thread. The cave was captivating but I need to find a way out of this chute. I try to climb the wall but only make a few feet. The rock is loose and creates a cascade with every movement. Back off the wall and rocks tumble down, I tell Josh to stay out of the way of the falling rocks, he is 15 yds below me. Then I hear more rocks coming down I look up to see some tumbling towards, that's weird I wasn't up there. My eyes follow the falling rocks up to the cave and there at the gaping mouth is the billy starring me down.




  9. #19
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Smithers
    Posts
    176

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    I yell to Josh that I found the goat and "get up here now". By the urgency, in my voice, he knew it was alive but asked "What? is it still alive?" As he was getting to me the goat went to make a move and I yelled and raised the gun, as if he knew what a gun was, it worked and he froze again. Just as Josh got by my side and I handed him the gun the billy moved and sent an avalanche of rocks streaming down at us. I grabbed Josh and pulled him close and turned my back using my pack as a shield. A baseball sized rock slammed into my calf and others pelted the rocks around us. Josh was trying to peek out from around me as he couldn't take his eyes off his goat. Once the rocks stopped Josh stepped out and put a bullet up through the goat's sternum that raised the billy off its front legs. When the billy touched his hoofs to the rock his knees buckled and he lurched forward. Rocks were no concern now as the billy was tumbling directly for us. I grabbed Josh and pulled him out of the way as the billy rolled by us mere feet away. He continued rolling down the chute coming to his final resting place 30 yds below us. WOW, that was intense. Josh and I looked at each other and there were no words.



  10. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Location
    Armstrong
    Posts
    480

    Re: The Cave and the Heartbreak: a 10 yr old boys first goat hunt

    Eagerly waiting for more... Great so far.

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