sherpa-Al
01-15-2011, 06:27 PM
My first post, been lurking for a while now, time to contribute!
When have you been out hunting/scouting and least expected to take an animal, but did anyways? Here's mine.
My co-worker and I planned to do some goat hunting one fall after he drew a Leh tag near Terrace. It took some time to nail down a weekend to go but mid september was the plan. Not wanting to go in blind I suggested we do a quick evening scouting trip to figure out the best way into our chosen spot.
Thursday evening had us glassing a tight steep valley for goats with tags in hand. We found what we figured was a decent billy feeding at the top of a long slide that started at the top of the ridge. We made a plan to start in Saturday morning and try for him, hike out Sunday eve. We turned the truck around and started out. Since we were 3000ft below and a mile or so away from the goat, I suggested we have a look at trying to get him from the top. I knew of a logging cut that was very close to the alpine, maybe we could hike from there. I put the toyota in 4L and we crawled up the steep mountain road. As we entered the logging cut I noticed that to my left was the alpine ridge and to my right the cut ended and then gave way to the steep bluffs that we had been at the bottom of 1/2 hour before.
Things happen fast when you least expect them to. 100 yards out 2 billy goats crossed the logging road from left to right. I couldn't believe what I'd seen, so I kept driving. Cold montain air snapped me out of it as the passenger side of the vehicle was wide open and my buddy nowhere in sight. Now I stopped. Out of the truck and onto the goats with the bino's. I didn't know where my buddy was but assumed he was ready to shoot, I said "They're both billies, bigger one on the right"....KaPoW the goat humped up...Kapow the goat stumbled. Both goats made their way to the edge of the cut and dissapeared over the edge. We took off after them, no knives or packs. When we got to the edge there were 2 tracks, one heading left and one going straight down, we followed this one. A few feet later revealed fresh blood but no goat. Tracking the goat through the very steep mature timber was easy and soon we spotted him. Another shot and the goat lept into an alder slide. The slide was so choked with alders that it was difficult to see into. I found an opening, saw loose gravel and jumped in. My landing wasn't so gracefull, after a slide and tumble or two I was nearly face to face with a wouded billy goat who was I'm sure quite suprised to see me. I started yelling to my buddy to jump in the goat was right here, he finally found a way to CLIMB down and put the final shot into the goat.
It was a nice billy. Large body, 10 1/8 horns, and nice hair, beauty. The first shot had hit him low and he was quartered away, the second shot was through the right front leg, low, the third through the lungs and the fourth in the neck. We had left everything at the truck in our haste and the goat had travelled 400m down the slope. 4 hours later and way past dinner we were back at the truck with full packs and a memory to last a lifetime.
Al.
When have you been out hunting/scouting and least expected to take an animal, but did anyways? Here's mine.
My co-worker and I planned to do some goat hunting one fall after he drew a Leh tag near Terrace. It took some time to nail down a weekend to go but mid september was the plan. Not wanting to go in blind I suggested we do a quick evening scouting trip to figure out the best way into our chosen spot.
Thursday evening had us glassing a tight steep valley for goats with tags in hand. We found what we figured was a decent billy feeding at the top of a long slide that started at the top of the ridge. We made a plan to start in Saturday morning and try for him, hike out Sunday eve. We turned the truck around and started out. Since we were 3000ft below and a mile or so away from the goat, I suggested we have a look at trying to get him from the top. I knew of a logging cut that was very close to the alpine, maybe we could hike from there. I put the toyota in 4L and we crawled up the steep mountain road. As we entered the logging cut I noticed that to my left was the alpine ridge and to my right the cut ended and then gave way to the steep bluffs that we had been at the bottom of 1/2 hour before.
Things happen fast when you least expect them to. 100 yards out 2 billy goats crossed the logging road from left to right. I couldn't believe what I'd seen, so I kept driving. Cold montain air snapped me out of it as the passenger side of the vehicle was wide open and my buddy nowhere in sight. Now I stopped. Out of the truck and onto the goats with the bino's. I didn't know where my buddy was but assumed he was ready to shoot, I said "They're both billies, bigger one on the right"....KaPoW the goat humped up...Kapow the goat stumbled. Both goats made their way to the edge of the cut and dissapeared over the edge. We took off after them, no knives or packs. When we got to the edge there were 2 tracks, one heading left and one going straight down, we followed this one. A few feet later revealed fresh blood but no goat. Tracking the goat through the very steep mature timber was easy and soon we spotted him. Another shot and the goat lept into an alder slide. The slide was so choked with alders that it was difficult to see into. I found an opening, saw loose gravel and jumped in. My landing wasn't so gracefull, after a slide and tumble or two I was nearly face to face with a wouded billy goat who was I'm sure quite suprised to see me. I started yelling to my buddy to jump in the goat was right here, he finally found a way to CLIMB down and put the final shot into the goat.
It was a nice billy. Large body, 10 1/8 horns, and nice hair, beauty. The first shot had hit him low and he was quartered away, the second shot was through the right front leg, low, the third through the lungs and the fourth in the neck. We had left everything at the truck in our haste and the goat had travelled 400m down the slope. 4 hours later and way past dinner we were back at the truck with full packs and a memory to last a lifetime.
Al.