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Thread: MU 423 Mountain Goat - any advise?

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Vernon
    Posts
    1,573

    Re: MU 423 Mountain Goat - any advise?

    I put in for Goat LEH this season unsuccessfull. Haven't ever been on a goat hunt, but based on what I've seen & heard, solo is going to be a real challenge. Highly recommend at least 1 if not more folks to accompany. Back country ski touring in the Boulder Hut Adventures tenure (4-20) we spotted a group quite high on a ridge in the middle of February. The ridge they were on was close to Mt. Lindsay. We were skinning to the col below the peak of Mt. Lindsay, then ski back down to Berglein Lake.

    From our vantage point it would have been quite a job to get below the cliffs, let alone up without being noticed. Without proper gear, skis, skins or snowshoes etc. there's no way a hunter is going to close the distance for a shot. Better be in damn fine physical condition.



    Zoomed in. If I had to guess I'd say they were a good 600 yards from us when photos were taken, possibly farther.



    A ski guide I know who's also a climber related a story of being hired to retrieve a goat shot by hunters. The animal ended up on a rock shelf below a cliff, inaccessible. Once he roped down to it he decided there was no way to get it up, so shoved it down. By the time the group got to where it lay, there wasn't much left. Of course there are many success stories too I'm sure, but there's some real challenging terrain in that part of the province & you're gonna need some luck. Local knowledge & scouting definitely a bonus. I mentioned Berglein Lake earlier, a biologist had hung some goat hide close to the lake, wrapped in barbed wire in hopes of getting a wolverine hair sample. Both elusive critters, wolverine & goat. One of the reasons wolverine roam up high even in winter is in hopes of finding a goat kill, they do get buried by avalanche on occasion or fall off a cliff.

    Here's the GPS track of our ski tour from Boulder Hut to the col at Mt. Lindsay. It was a big day, 14 Km. Highest elevation almost 3,000 meters, the goats were at or slightly above that elevation.



    Panorama of photos stitched together. The goats were on the ridge on the left of the twin peaks.

    Last edited by mike31154; 10-28-2021 at 11:53 AM.

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Posts
    6,437

    Re: MU 423 Mountain Goat - any advise?

    I have only gone once...the strategy I was shown was to find a peak with goats on it and go up where access is good (and you are unseen)...go up until you start crossing goat paths and then keep going up until the terrain scares you then take the trail that is one down from "too scary"...work your way around on that trail till you find the goats...range find them and take a billy….

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    N. Okanagan
    Posts
    14,182

    Re: MU 423 Mountain Goat - any advise?

    Quote Originally Posted by mike31154 View Post



    Zoomed in. If I had to guess I'd say they were a good 600 yards from us when photos were taken, possibly farther.
    tracks in the snow look like maybe you pushed them up from somewhere way lower and way more friendly
    seems a goat can travel in a few minutes what takes us mortals a full day
    Never say whoa in the middle of a mud hole

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Location
    Vernon
    Posts
    1,573

    Re: MU 423 Mountain Goat - any advise?

    Quote Originally Posted by boxhitch View Post
    tracks in the snow look like maybe you pushed them up from somewhere way lower and way more friendly
    seems a goat can travel in a few minutes what takes us mortals a full day
    Good eye! I hadn't noticed the tracks. Will have a closer look at original photos in full resolution. Thx!

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    British Columbia, Canada
    Posts
    606

    Re: MU 423 Mountain Goat - any advise?

    Quote Originally Posted by wideopenthrottle View Post
    I have only gone once...the strategy I was shown was to find a peak with goats on it and go up where access is good (and you are unseen)...go up until you start crossing goat paths and then keep going up until the terrain scares you then take the trail that is one down from "too scary"...work your way around on that trail till you find the goats...range find them and take a billy….

    about sums it up. I had to go straight up and then I hit a massive 100ft cliff face. Goat was above me and I made goat like sounds to convince him to come down to me. Fortunately he did. No freaking way I was going any higher.

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