Early season mountain goat tactics

[GROOTSKY]

I plan to chase goats early season-mid August into early September. The range that I will be hunting has two access points, one on the south side that pops out below kilometres of gradual south slopes getting steep on the top third of the mountain with the backside having large snow patches /mini glacier field. The other access point is on a ridge overlooking many north facing bowls of which many will be inaccessible due to the terrain. Scouting the southside last week I saw a herd of 5 nannies and kids but I’m thinking the billies will be alone on the north side until later in the season. Should I stick to the north side and hope to catch a Billie feeding on the top or go south where I can cover a lot more ground ? Thanks

[BCbillies]

I’d stick to the south side where you can reasonably hike and cover ground and look into the various bowls. Generally in socked in/wet weather and in very hot weather the goats will be tucked in those north facing bowls. Some may even be accessible but you need to see it up close to really know. The goats will often bed near the ridges and feed on the south slopes and even bed in the scree slopes. Can be a gamble taking a goat right near the top of a ridge where those nasty cliffy bowls exist. Best to find a billy on a grassed slope or a scree slope or better yet at the bottom of an accessible bowl beside a creek! Best wishes on your hunt.

[GROOTSKY]

Thanks, I’m going to hike the north side this week, I’ve only explored the south side and was told about the terrain by some friends who have logged the north side. They are not bikers so maybe the terrain is not as bad as I’m thinking, at least I’ll be able to make a decision before the season opens.

[decker9]

I’ll echo BCBillys, I’d concentrate on those northern facing basins, and the top of that southern slope, if there is feed near that top, good chance billys will feed there then head back into the northern basins for night time. Ime, billys will often be found bedded on the top of a ridge on the southern/western side at day break to catch first sun, but generally move to the shaded northern basins for the day.

Accessibility is defiantly key, it’s a hard call when looking down a gnarly basin at a goat, always try’n keep out of sight until you have a plan in place for retrieval. Sometimes a white suit can help with this, if you need to poke over a ridge in a few places for accessibility inspection, a goat will sometimes ignore the white suit.

Good luck snd be safe! Looking forward to the rest of this story!!