GOAT hunt story from last week.

[Andrewh]

Aaron arrived at my place the night before our departure and just like our sheep hunt a few weeks ago, we were like kids on Christmas morning. I could hardly contain my excitement for the goat hunt as I have yet to harvest a goat. With a few more looks at Google Earth and few beers, we hit the sack with an 11hr drive ahead of us the next day. We arrived at the trailhead in the early evening without any major holdups and we set up camp as the plan was to hike in the next morning.

Day 1 – The hike in...

Well the hike in was supposed to be about 15km and not too difficult but of course things didn’t go as planned. At about the half way point, the rain started. It wasn’t raining too hard but just hard enough for us to need to put on our rain gear. I am sure a lot of your guys know how comfortable it is to hike in rain gear...not a great second half of the hike!!
At about 18km in we broke into the alpine and finished off the hike at about 20km from the truck.

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That evening the clouds came in and the temperature dropped to freezing. With a little bit of snow falling on August 31, I had crossed my fingers for a weather break for the next day. It was opening evening and socked in, not a great way to get yourself jacked up for the next morning.

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[Andrewh]

Day 2 – Opening day

We woke up at a decent time and poked our heads out of the tent to see, well, not much. It was pretty socked in and visibility was terrible. We stayed dry and somewhat warm and waited out the clouds. In the early afternoon the sun started to poke through the clouds and we were able to get a little bit of visibility so we made a solid effort to check out the crags all around us. With little seen from our camp, we headed up the closest mountain to check over the backside and try and get a higher vantage point of the crags that surrounded us. At this point we still hadn’t located a single goat but we were in good spirits as we found a good amount of track, sign and beds. We hiked up and down and across many draws until the light started to dim. We made our way back to camp before dark and got the stove out for our bag meals.

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[Andrewh]

Day 3 – The snow comes

On day three we were hit with a blizzard all night howling wind and blowing snow. We had to unload the tent often during the night as about 8-10” fell before midnight. Once we got out of the tent in the morning we had high hopes for the day as we saw a clearing in the sky. I was really excited to get up the mountain and start looking for goats and we wasted no time in doing so. With our breakfast and coffee in us, we packed the bags and started our 2000ft climb to the top in sub zero temperatures.

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We had about 2 hours of clear visibility and after that more snow and wind came. It became very tough to see over 150 yrds and we decided to hunker down on the summit of one of the mountains until the storm passed. It took the majority of the day and we were forced to layer up with all our clothes as the temperature dropped to at least -15C with the wind chill. I am talking 50+ mph winds, the ones that are tough to walk through never mind see through with blowing snow. We had small windows of clearings throughout the day but nothing that lasted more than 30 minutes. As the day moved on, we spotted our first set of tracks, we followed them with our glass and within 20 seconds we had our first goats in sight. It was a nanny and two kids but encouraging nonetheless.

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With the last sighting we started to lose visibility for the evening and we made our way back to camp. It was a tough walk back as we were pretty far from camp and the lack of visibility made it a little bit of a guessing game to find the spine that we originally climbed up from camp. Once we got back to camp we set up the siltarp and hunkered down for the evening. My buddy Matt was coming up solo the next day so I sent him some last minute Inreach directions while making a hot NUUN/scotch for a treat.

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[Andrewh]

Day 4 – The goats appear

The next day proved to be eventful once again and right off the bat we were spotting goats in the morning. It seems as thought the goats timbered up for the storm but them moved back in over night to the crags just above our camp. We spotted several little family groups, which really got our hopes up. We were a little concerned that the goats had moved out of the area for some reason but we quickly got over that idea. We spent the day running ridges at 8000+ft spotting and looking for a billy. The weather would come in for short periods of time but still didn’t force us back down the mountain for shelter. All in all it was a great day with some sunny periods and lots of goats spotted. Matt arrived at 7pm just as Aaron and I were summiting yet another 9000ft peak for what seemed like the fun of it. We just climbed up the mountain to see what was on the other side...

One of the best things about Matt coming in was he was bringing his dog Leo. At this point we new there was a heavy Grizz population in the area as we were seeing snapped trees on the trail coming in and lots of track/sign but we had no idea what tomorrow would bring. After our bag meals, and of course, Leo making sure every drop was gone, we turned in for the evening. Anyway we slept easy that night with Leo on guard under the siltarp.

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Leo on the hike up.
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[Andrewh]

Day 5 – Some mountain friends came for a visit...

The next morning, now with three of us and a dog under the siltarp waiting for the clouds to disperse, we caught up with Matt and his hike in. He told us about what he had seen and we were patiently waiting for a clearing to start glassing. After about an hour or two under the tarp we were starting to get a little visibility when all of the sudden Aaron jumps up and says “Grizz!!!” They were on the other side of the drainage about 800 yrds away when they disappeared into the bottom out of sight. We were on our feet at that point with our cameras in our hands waiting to see if they would reappear. It was a Sow and 3 cubs and in a matter of minutes they had travelled about 600 yards and were now 200 yards from us. Shit, we traded our cameras for our rifles at this point and then once again Aaron yells out, “Matt, call your dog!!!” Leo must have thought we he was in the dog park as he ventured up to check out the Grizz. “Wow what cute friends,” he must have thought. Now the Sow had jumped out in front of the cubs and Leo was at about 40 yards from the bears and the bears were about 120 yards from us. As we all chambered a round thinking that the Sow was going to give Leo a chase and in turn Leo would bring the Sow right back to us, we were yelling at Leo to come back. He came to his senses and wandered back to us and the situation de-escalated just as fast. The Sow turned and wandered up the drainage with the 3 cubs in tow. Wow we thought, that situation could have ended very differently. Leo was now tied up on leash even when under the siltarp.

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Now with the ceiling lifting nicely it was time to start glassing from camp. Right away we saw goats and lots of them. They were all over the cliffs just above our camp but at about 7000ft. We could easily count 8 right off the bat including a young 3-4 year old billy. We were jacked! It was like the goats waited out the storm down in the timber then as the nice weather was forecasted to come in, the goats came back. As Matt and Aaron were glassing the goats, I took a short walk up the drainage to get a different perspective to see into some hidden crags and around a large hill that was partially blocking our view. I couldn’t believe my eyes, I said to the guys over our Garmin Rinos, “I think I found my Goat!!!!”

He was totally hidden from camp and I found him all alone on a snow slope, with the nannies and kids all on one side and this lone goat with a couple others about 100 yrds away I figured pretty quick that he was worth taking a closer look at. I took out my spotter and got him glassed up pretty quick and started the sex/age process. As soon as Aaron and Matt arrived we had plenty of eyes on the goat. He moved around a bit to different spots to bed but for the most part he stayed pretty close.

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[Andrewh]

After about an hour or so of watching it and comparing it to the Nannies that were about 500 yards away, the call was made to head up the mountain 1200ft to have a better look at him. Matt and I made our way up the hill blind to the goat and just as we were about ¾ of the way up, we spot a little movement coming over the top of the ridge right above us. Damn I thought, a belly dragging boar Grizz coming over the saddle... he was heading down the mountain and was on course to pass us by about 100 yrds but then as luck would have it, he changed his course just slightly and avoided us by about 300 yards.

With Matt and I about 500 yards away from the goat, it was time to get out the spotter and glass him up again. We had some great looks at him and we were set on taking him. I was planning my next route when all of the sudden Aaron radioed us from down below and told us to abort the shot. He has been on over 8 goat kills and I was not going to question his knowledge at this point. I took some more pics to show him from a different angle and we headed back down the mountain to talk it over.

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We talked it over with Aaron when we got back to him and he said that he just wasn’t 100% sure it was a billy and that he needed more time. Based on the horns curvature and the fact he was alone from others not to mention the space between the horns I was convinced but didn’t want to push a shot just to ‘harvest a goat’. He told Matt and I to wander up the valley and glass some other areas and he was going to stay back and watch the goat from down below to see if he could better determine what it was. He glassed it for about 2 hours as Matt and I went up the valley in search for more. We were 100% doing our dew diligence on this one.

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[Andrewh]

When we got back it was 6pm and the decision was made to go after it once again. It showed all the characteristics of a billy and I was pumped. Aaron estimated it to be around 8 ½” and he turned out to be very close. The goat had moved to a different location by this time and the three of us made our move. Aaron and I went up one side and Matt went up the other, the first group to get a clean shot was to take it. Aaron and I made the perfect stalk up the mountain once again and I was beat at this point. We climbed up another 1000’ in the snow to come up perfectly in line with the goat about 270 yards away. The goat was standing broadside on a cliff as perfect as a silhouette shoot. He wasn’t moving and just staring down the mountain not having a clue we were there. Aaron pulled the spotter out once again so we could both confirm and once that happened it was time to chamber a round. With the perfect rest on a rock face, I squeezed off a round and it was a perfect shot through both front shoulders. I quickly chambered another and hit him once again just above my first shot and the goats feet were in the air. There was no running away with this goat, but rather falling...

He fell about 75ft off the cliff onto a ledge and then fell another 75ft off that ledge to the rocks below and then slide down to end up about 2-250 feet from the original shot location. Aaron watched from behind me through his glass and said it was a hard hit and hopefully the horns are still attached. From the location that the shot was taken, we only new he was going to fall 20ft, the rest of the cliff was totally blind to us. It was all over that fast, my first goat was down and now it was time to get to work. Out of respect for the animal, I didn’t take any pictures of it as we found it. It was pretty beat up and bloody. It was missing both horns and half of one of the horn cores was even broken off. You can see in the picture below where the goat fell from, it was basically the top of the cliff to a ledge that you can see in the picture and fell to the ground and slid/rolled down to the bottom.

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I will fast forward to the next day, I went back up to the ledge and searched all over for the horns and to my luck I was able to find them on the first ledge where the goat landed. They double ejected and were about 10ft apart! I was excited beyond belief. Total length was 8 5/8” and 6 yrs old.

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[Andrewh]

Day 6 – the quest for another

The next day we went out in search of another goat for Matt as he also had an LEH for the area. We put in a solid day and glassed many new areas only to find nannies and kids and another Sow grizz with 2 cubs. A few great pictures were taken but we ended our hunting that evening with a great fire and a bunch of memories talked about in our relatively short trip.

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[Andrewh]

Day 7 – time to pack out.

Pretty long hike out in the dry conditions and we had smiles on our faces with another very successful trip behind us.

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Thanks for reading,

[bangbangkhan]

congrats on the goat!

[A killer]

Even though I was there, it was very exciting to read!!! Congrats on your well deserved billy, Andrew!!! You soooo earned it!! Looking forward to our next adventure/hunt!!!

[Ohwildwon]

Wow, epic adventure, awesome photos!!

Thanks for sharing!

[ducktoller]

Congrats on the goat and trip. Great looking pack dog too ;)

(Matt if reading this?) Mind if I ask what kind of pack your dog has.? Haven't found a good one to fit mine and yours looks the same size.

[luckofthedraw]

Congrats you guys. You're turning out to be quite the mountain slayer. I think last year was your first sheep hunt? You are always posting great reads/pics. I enjoy reading them, keep it up.

[kayjayess]

Congratulations on a great hunt boys. Way to get her done. Great pictures and story Andrew. Beauty billy

[bc-hunter]

Awesome adventure! Thanks for sharing.

[Brambles]

Fantastic write up, that's a long pack in for a goat......

[.264winmag]

That is a ways in, and some pretty nasty weather! Congrats on a beauty, well earned Billy. Awesome country! Thanks for sharing.

[Backwoods]

That looked like one heck of a hunt!!!! Congrats on your goat, thank you for sharing your storey and pics just looked amazing!!

[SR80]

Great story bud. Congrats again!

[Buck]

Great story Congrats on the Goat.Any chance of getting a gear review ? Looks rather chilly just wondering how the gear worked for you in those conditions?

[spear]

This was an epic. Fantastic pictures and story bud. Glad you found those horns!

[Bear Chaser]

Great pictures and looks like a nice adventure for you guys.

Thanks for sharing it with us.

[ydouask]

Great hunt and write-up, thank you and congratulations on your goat. Good to see folks well prepared to withstand the rigors of mountain hunting. Lots of G bears, eh?

[jessonml]

Ducktoller - The pack is $35 POS from Tisol that I expected to last for a couple hunts but it was just retired after this trip 4 years later. I had to nurse it along with several repairs (some trailside work to keep things interesting). Let me know if you find a good one and I will do the same!

[coach]

Definitely "thread of the year" material. Awesome goat, exceptional pictures, outstanding write up! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

[rcar]

Awesome adventure and a great goat. Thanks for taking the time to post the story and photo's. It gives me great inspiration for our goat hunt in a few weeks.....hope for a lot less snow than you ran into though!

[ElliotMoose]

Some beautiful scenery up there. Congrats on your first goat!

[goatdancer]

Great goat. Awesome scenery. You dealt with some pretty crappy weather and that will make the hunt more memorable. Congratulations.

[wideopenthrottle]

incredible story...no mention of the fear factor under those slippery conditions?...heheheh well done

[bangbangkhan]

i was really surprised how the weather changed and how well you were prepared to handle it. impressive!

[Stroodle]

Congrats! Love the write up and photos. Sounds like a trip you'll never forget.

[BigfishCanada]

Man thats one amazing story and pictures, wow, id rather read and look at your pics over any online or TV show out today

Thanks for sharing the great adventure!

[untilthelastbeat]

Nice goat! Looks like you guys had a tough hunt and a well deserved goat. I'm already itching to get back up there

[decker9]

Well done guys!! Great job on toughin and roughen it out with the weather, goat huntin is tough, then add a bunch of wind fog and snow, my hats off to ya! Great story and excellent photos, thanks for sharing!!

[A killer]

Gear worked great! Kuiu and sitka. lots of layers and down jackets were key. The sil tarp saved us from having to sit in tent. getting out of the wind is a life saver. sil tarp will be on all my pack ins from now on

[Rattler]

Great story and pictures. One of the better threads of the year so far...

Congrats and thanks for sharing.

[Eastbranch]

You earned that one! Nice work!

[mulerider]

Might this be the Vallhallas?

[Brez]

Definitely "thread of the year" material. Awesome goat, exceptional pictures, outstanding write up! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience.
Coach said it all. Congrats.

[jessonml]

Might this be the Vallhallas?

Not the Valhallas... I guess you would call it Eastern Coast Mountains?

A short 11 hour drive from White Rock including 3.5 hours on dirt plus a nearly 20 km grind through rain then sleet then snow with 4" of slush in the valley and 8" of snow up top with buck brush over your head and tangling your feet with every step - plus grizz tracks at every corner on the valley "trail" - made for a great day. I was just glad that the goats showed up at the same time as me.

Great write up Andrew. I'm coming over to eat some of that meat tonight since Aaron and I packed it all out for you because we didn't want you to be overloaded with that beauty hide and skull! 8)Good thing I had your Mystery Ranch bag to really handle the load...

Can't wait for the next adventure and I'm glad my dog remembered that he wasn't at the dog park before it was too late.

Matt

[Getbent]

Awesome adventure guys... Big congrats on getting it done.
Thanks for taking the time to post it up... Love to read these stories.
Really liked your part about respect for the goat, great character by you.

Thanks,

Guy

[Ardent]

Just lurking with no intention of posting at present but was very impressed with your thread here. Damn well done and what really got me was your photos, nice work. I admire you for "getting in there", good hike, what BC hunting is all about. Curious note, was just chatting over a 4 year old 9 3/4" billy- how's that for growing up fast!

[Steeleco]

Great read, excellent hunt. Congrats and thanks for sharing

[swampthing]

Great adventure men. I always want my money back if I don't have at least one grizz encounter during a goat hunt. They like the same country in the fall.

[604ksmith]

Awesome story and pictures. Thanks for sharing, it's these kinds of threads that make this site what it is.

[Blainer]

Fantastic share!

[Andrewh]

Thanks a lot guys, I really had a fantastic time and glad I was able to share such an awesome hunt with some great people.

Thanks for the complements regarding the write-up, I enjoy sharing my experiences with you guys.

I hope some others will step up and start sharing stories too, I enjoy reading and seeing pics just as much as the next guy.

Gear wise, I am a big Sitka fan and it proved to be a lifesaving kit on this trip. We went in with mid 20s weather and then it turned very sharply. Can't say enough about layering and being prepared.

Andrew

[todbartell]

great pics - congrats on your goat! thanks for posting up

[Smiley]

We have had excellent results from dog packs made by RuffWear. Vallhalla Pure sells them. They come in different sizes.

[Pinewood]

The third photo is phenomenal, it should be framed and hung on the wall. I thoroughly enjoyed your journal of the trip. Thanks for sharing.

[wiggy]

Congratulations on a great goat. Thank you for sharing the adventure. Absolutely a great effort. Pumps us all up.

[markomoose]

Love the pics and story Andrew.Tough hunt but good partners make all the difference!

[ElectricDyck]

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

[Husky7mm]

Aces man, Aces !!! Thats allot of snow already!

[Ohwildwon]

Ducktoller - The pack is $35 POS from Tisol that I expected to last for a couple hunts but it was just retired after this trip 4 years later. I had to nurse it along with several repairs (some trailside work to keep things interesting). Let me know if you find a good one and I will do the same!

Being a Dog owner, I've searched high and low for top quality dog gear..

The quality of Hurtta products I've found to be awesome! They are based out of Finland.

You can find many of their products on Amazon.

It might take a return or two to find the best fit for your dog, (they have so many sizes) but its worth it in spades...

Here is a link to their Trail Pack; http://www.hurtta.com/EN/Products/Harnesses/Trail%20Pack/

[jaeger]

Great story how it unfolded and great pictures!
Congratulation!

[Banks]

Great story and pictures you deserved that goat for sure

[Salty]

Hardcore. thanks for bringing us along Andrew great pics and write up :cool:

[Dre]

Great story and pictures, tough hunt, perfect reward.

[kitnayakwa77]

Nice work! Tchaikazan?

[jimzuk]

Thanks for taking us along. That was a tough hunt in beautiful area

[Jagermeister]

Very entertaining and interesting read Andrewh.....an epic tale.
I have a question though. In the 6th photo, one of you took a picture of the other in the siltarp. In the background one can see some sizeable trees, why would you not have used the trees as a shield for your camp? It seems to me that the trees would have bore more of the snow load that fell on the tent.

[Andrewh]

Very entertaining and interesting read Andrewh.....an epic tale.
I have a question though. In the 6th photo, one of you took a picture of the other in the siltarp. In the background one can see some sizeable trees, why would you not have used the trees as a shield for your camp? It seems to me that the trees would have bore more of the snow load that fell on the tent.

Hard to tell from the pic, but the trees are growing on a SIGNIFICANT slope. No flat areas around other than the partially flat one we found.

Andrew

[kennyj]

Great story and photos. Awesome Billy.
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
kenny

[shanevg]

Thanks for sharing the story! Looks like an epic hunt with a great goat to boot! Congrats!

[ishootbambi]

Now that's how ya share a hunting trip. Well done and congrats on the success.

[JustinG]

Awesome! One of the best post I have seen. Thanks for sharing. Didn't think possible, but, looking forward to my first LEH goat hunt in 3 weeks even more!!