Mountain goat 4-35B

[llloyd]

First lottery I ever won! Now what the heck have I got myself into.

Me and my buddies are all new hunters so any info on goats would be much appreciated.

What is the right caliber for a mountain goat?

Also are they hard to find or relatively easy? Guide has crossed my mind I'm not ashamed to admit, obviously we all want to make the most of this opportunity!

[oclarkii]

4-35B are you nuts? I'm not sure there's goats there at all. Good luck with that.


As far as being hard to find, not a big deal. If you had a tag with any goats in it that is...

[kootenayelkslayer]

I've never hunted that area, but am familiar enough with it to know that you shouldn't have too much trouble finding some goats in any of those valleys east of the Columbia River. Just start studying Google Earth, and find some logging roads that will take you as far back into those valleys as you can get, and start glassing. LOTS of glassing. Bring good optics, good back pack, and good hiking boots.
Any relatively flat shooting rifle with a premium bullet will handle a goat no problem. If you're new to the game, might also want to start studying up on how to tell between a billy and a nanny...but that's a whole other topic!

[Skinny]

I took my goat one shot with a 30-06. If that helps at all

[GoatGuy]

Beaverfoot has a road closure but you will find goats back there and the odd muley.

Do a scouting trip and you'll figure out where to look come hunting season.

Look for rocks and you will find goats. Lots of goats in that country.

[6616]

You can access 4-35B both from the Beaverfoot side and from the Columbia Valley side.

[BCrams]

Not sure of the road closures mentioned on the Beaverfoot.

If you go late season (November) you'll want to do most of your glassing off the highway into the timbered rock bluffs. You'd be surprised how low the goats will go.

Going early, you're most likely going to want to go higher up but don't overlook the low rocky bluffs. There's excellent access onto the one mountain when you take the first right after the Beaverfoot bridge and go down to where the switchbacks go up. Always saw lots of goats when scrambling around that mountain.

Another area had a couple huge mule deer bucks when hiking in August so they're around.

[bucket]

Would you guys recommend doing a scouting trip now, or closer to the LEH dates ? The dates we got are early sept -> end of nov so its a pretty wide window. Just wondering how different the goats will behave / where they'll go between (july) and (sept) ?

[ve7iuq]

Goats in June could be many miles from where you might find them in the fall. June is the month they wander. They go through bush and thickets to get rid of the old hair. I've seen them fifteen, twenty miles from the closest mountain.

[GoatGuy]

Goats in June could be many miles from where you might find them in the fall. June is the month they wander. They go through bush and thickets to get rid of the old hair. I've seen them fifteen, twenty miles from the closest mountain.

They don't wander, they're actually very poor colonizers and tend to stick 'close to home'. In june if you see them away from mountains they're going down to licks. Lick use is highest between mid may to mid june and falls off on both sides rather dramatically. The trails usually look like highways once you figure things out.

You will still find many goats 'in the mountains' as they travel back and forth.

[GoatGuy]

Would you guys recommend doing a scouting trip now, or closer to the LEH dates ? The dates we got are early sept -> end of nov so its a pretty wide window. Just wondering how different the goats will behave / where they'll go between (july) and (sept) ?

Hunting later (mid Oct) is preferred as they 'usually' move down and the capes have thickened up.

Go scouting whenever you can find time. In the EK if you find a couple spots that look like they should hold goats and don't see any, go back during hunting season look at those spots again and you will find goats. Most of the EK is pretty high density goat country.

[bcrawford]

Anyone got info on goats in region 5-04 zone E?? My brother(23) and I (21) will be backpacking in there in september. No clue where to start haha

[BCrams]

GG is correct. The billies tend to utilize the licks earliest and are usually the first to quit using them while lick use by the nanny / kid / young billy groups will increase after the kids are born and have high lick use through June and July and start tapering off through August / September where there's a drastic drop off in lick use. Have seen some huge group use of licks in August / Sept!

They'll travel quite a ways from their 'home' range to the licks and back. At least thats the case in one area I know and probably only varies slightly within other areas and also likely dependant on disturbance factors present.

[BCrams]

Anyone got info on goats in region 5-04 zone E?? My brother(23) and I (21) will be backpacking in there in september. No clue where to start haha


Go late as you can and hunt the south facing slope / bluffs above the Tchaikazan R. In-law took a good goat in Oct from that country.

[Ghost Stalker]

i have GLASSED this area extensively. many goats. easy to get to if you don't mind sleeping on the hill. seen a few good billies(hell big billies). there are a few roads but not as many as you'd like. if ya can hike you can have a great hunt there.

[bcrawford]

Which area are you talking about ghost stalker?

[Ghost Stalker]

Ummm. 4-35B

[llloyd]

Is four too large a group? Obviously we can all camp together but should we be breaking into pairs when we are actually out looking?