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Thread: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    Kelowna
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    2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    It was in mid June when everyone gets the news that LEH results are out. This year I got lucky and drew an Eastern Region 3 Mountain Goat tag. This would be my first time chasing goats. I got the mountain hunting bug after an unsuccessful sheep hunt in 2016. I have been hunting mule deer up in the high country but I knew I was in for a tough go. Typically all goat hunts are hard.

    I began looking into previous forums, Google earth reading and watching videos of sex identification and getting ahold of the local biologist for recent info on those goats. I had a few friends in mind that might be interested in joining a scouting trip and the hunt so I put the word out, unfortunately, no luck. They were all interested but work would be conflicting. Come end of July I was getting desperate, going solo on my first goat hunt was not exactly what I had in mind. I knew one friend who was interested in hunting and wasn’t working due to the virus. So I figured what the heck maybe he will join. (This I found out later was a stretch. Not everyone wants to be chasin’ goats on their first time out.) I called him and specifically asked “would you be interested in doing something really hard but kind of fun?” and he said sure. So the planning began
    that evening.


    The morning of August 12th came around and we were on the road early to scout out this spot I had looked over dozens of times online and had enough gear and food for 4 days. On our way up an access road we spoke to a local FSR road builder and he gave us a couple pointers before getting in there. Wasn't too far in when we came to our first glassing spot. It didn’t take long before picking out our first goat. He was by himself and well over a mile away and my cheep Tasco spotting scope didn’t give us a great view but either way it was still exciting.
    We put away the glass and continued the climb. I wanted to get to a certain point by that evening. I decided instead of gaining an extra 800 vertical feet we could save the energy and side hill to the creek for about 1 mile and then proceed up the mountain from there. About half way across I realized this was a huge mistake. It took way longer to get across then expected and It looked okay at the start but most of it was no fall zone. To make it worse the vegetation was super lush and slippery. I made it very clear to my friend that its important to have a firmly planted foot with both trekking poles in the ground before taking the next step. He did have one pretty good fall but thankfully was in a spot that wasn’t going to kill him. It was amazing how fast he picked up speed as I stood there helplessly until he dug in his hands and feet to come to a stop. Shaken up with a decently deep cut on the elbow and half a fingernail gone but still wanted to proceed. It was a tough grunt to the top. My poor choice of route had our energy drained and we had to camp just below the summit. (North side past the summit was the initial plan). I learned the hard way on that one. It should really never take 3.5 hours to go one mile.


    Tired and sore we went to bed early. Waking up around 6:30 the next morning to a loud wind like sound. Except the tent didn’t move at all. My friend said, “You think that’s an avalanche?” Frantically trying to get my mummy sleeping bag unzipped to open the tent. I stick my head out to see a chunk of snow rolling at the bottom of the draw... ...and then the whole thing came down. We were safe up on a bench above the draw and got to see this 30ft long 20 feet wide by 4 feet deep slab break loose and come down into the bottom of the draw. Impressive really. That was some good excitement and entertainment for the morning. Kind of cliche, but goes to show mountains don’t give a shit about you.


    We packed up camp and headed down the draw to search for a way up onto the ridge. We found a spot and hoisted the packs up with ropes, as it was too steep to keep them on. We glassed for a bit and re-found the billy from the day before. He was only 1100 yards away and got a decent look at him. Definitely a cool animal to watch do his thing, eat, bed, eat, bed.


    We re-set up camp and did another hike to the west ridge to do some more glassing; besides looking over some incredibly beautiful country we found no four-legged critters beside the screaming hoary marmots and pikas. Either way BC has some beautiful yet dangerous places to check out, especially once you leave the vehicle and strap on the boots and pack.


    Due to the limited area that we could go, the next morning we decided we would take it easy and slowly make our way out. At our final glassing spot we re-found the lone billy but that was it.
    "You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable." -Remi Warren

    BCWF, WSSBC

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    Kelowna
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    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.


    A few days after the scout, I received a call from my buddy that he wasn’t interested in doing the goat hunt in early September. I understood; goat hunting isn’t everyone’s dream hunt lol. (I later made it up to him and took him mule deer hunting in the any buck season and he shot his first deer.) The plus side to this scout trip was the awesome weather.




    Story of the hunt will be posted shortly.
    "You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable." -Remi Warren

    BCWF, WSSBC

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2019
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    2

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    What a great hunt and a huge learning experience. If you're going to start hunting, may as well jump both feet in and do the hardest thing you can so the rest is easy. When you're in a shitty spot wishing you could be at home drinking a beer, it's not until you get home and look back at the experience and appreciate the hardship and challenges you overcame both mentally and physically. If you are able and willing I'd recommend everyone go out and do a goat hunt.
    Last edited by Nykw; 11-24-2020 at 02:25 PM.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Aldergrove, BC
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    4,466

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    So did ya make it out at all for the actual hunt?

    Cool pics! Side hilling is not only harder than it looks, it can also be very taxing on the feet too, especially if not wearing stiff enough boots for it.

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
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    162

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    Super nice pictures.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
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    Kelowna
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    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    Quote Originally Posted by twoSevenO View Post
    So did ya make it out at all for the actual hunt?

    Cool pics! Side hilling is not only harder than it looks, it can also be very taxing on the feet too, especially if not wearing stiff enough boots for it.

    Yeah I did the hunt, just typing up the story now.

    Thankfully I was running a good set of boots (Lowa GTX Evo Extreme) and ankles weren't bad at all. Buddies boots a bit on the soft side though.
    "You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable." -Remi Warren

    BCWF, WSSBC

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
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    1,676

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    Good on you getting out there. Looking forward to hearing about the hunt.
    WSSBC
    CCFR

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Kamloops
    Posts
    183

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    That looks like a great area. I love stories about goat hunts. Looking forward to the rest of the story

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    region 9
    Posts
    11,531

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    Look forward to the rest, great pics so far....

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2019
    Location
    Kelowna
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    114

    Re: 2020 Goat Scout and Hunt - Tag soup, Story and pictures.

    We glassed the other side and surrounding area for several hours but only re-found the nannies and kid from the previous day. And then back across the sketchy snow bowl and back to the south side. I’m honestly glad I never have to cross that again.


    Dad slowly tracing my steps on the traverse.



    Now day five was meant to be a pack out day only based off of something being dead. So with a few hours of light left we made it to the tent and packed everything up. We made it back down to the vehicle 2.5 hours later. 13.5km was a fairly long day. A much deserved beer at the bar later that night billy or not was a good way to end it.

    It was an epic experience overall and I would definitely do it again. Goats are tough ass critters and so is the habitat of which they reside in. I do believe its meant to take more than one hunt to capitalize on a billy and I will definitely hunt them again. For those of you who can get it done first time or solo kudos to you that’s some hard work. I’m not that good yet but I am looking forward at the adventure to improve.

    Thanks for reading.
    "You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable." -Remi Warren

    BCWF, WSSBC

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