trouthunterdj
Member
Hello all,
I just got home from a Crazy Mountain Goat hunt. It was a wonderful and beautiful hunt.
My brother in law and I flew into Bozeman last Thurs. We stayed with family and woke up on Friday to a haze across the Gallatin Valley from the fires. From Belgrade you couldn't see the Bridgers.
We met the Outfitter at the Clyde Park Tavern with a trailer full of horses for our hunt. Friday was filled with fitting saddles, sighting in rifles and a steak dinner.
Saturday morning we left camp for the ride up into the Crazies. The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular. The Crazies were more rugged than I had imagined. It was evident as well that they were exceptionally dry.
We made camp around 9000 feet in a small high pasture after crossing a 1/2 mile of rockslides and shale. Leading horses across that area was something that adds to the adventure and I will always remember.
We watched a Nanny and kid dance on the cliffs right from camp. Watching the kids play amongst the rocks I just struggled with is truely humbling and impressive. We saw another group of 7 nannies and kids and tried to put a stalk on them but they got nervous and moved to higher ground. We went to bed watching another group of 7 nannies and kids.
In the morning we went after the group of 7 nnanies and kids we had seen the previous night. After hiking a mile across rockslides we watched the ease into the next basin and knew we would never catch them. We stopped to take a break and saw a billy watching us from the cliff above the bowl we were in. He was 800 yards away watching us. The decision was made to stalk this goat. The billy saw us the entire time. My hunting partner and guide thought that the goat would stay because he felt like he had the upper hand, which in fact, he did have. We stalked within 350 yards when another goat stood up which looked larger. I went the last 5 yards to a rock, threw down my pack, leaned tmy 270 across my pack and found him in the scope. I shot and heard the 130 gr Accubond hit and the goat went stiff legged. I hit him again and he just stood there. Just as I was about to shoot again, he lunged but didn't have any power and fell into a rock slide. As we heard the rocks fall, we waited for a rolling goat to exit the chute and hit the bottom but it never happened. He was hung up in the cliffs. The only option was to go get him. We used toe holds to climb up to him. It was something my wife and mother would have been very angry to see me do.
When we reached him, I couldn't have been happier. He was a beautiful goat and in great shape. He had fallen about 20 yards after the final shot but hadn't broken anything up and was on a little bench that was perfect for skinning him.
The game fish biologist has him aged at 8-9 years old and the horns were 9 5/8" with 5 1/2" bases. His hair was very good for this early in the season. It was a wonderful adventure and I have memories to last a lifetime.
ddj
I just got home from a Crazy Mountain Goat hunt. It was a wonderful and beautiful hunt.
My brother in law and I flew into Bozeman last Thurs. We stayed with family and woke up on Friday to a haze across the Gallatin Valley from the fires. From Belgrade you couldn't see the Bridgers.
We met the Outfitter at the Clyde Park Tavern with a trailer full of horses for our hunt. Friday was filled with fitting saddles, sighting in rifles and a steak dinner.
Saturday morning we left camp for the ride up into the Crazies. The weather was perfect and the scenery was spectacular. The Crazies were more rugged than I had imagined. It was evident as well that they were exceptionally dry.
We made camp around 9000 feet in a small high pasture after crossing a 1/2 mile of rockslides and shale. Leading horses across that area was something that adds to the adventure and I will always remember.
We watched a Nanny and kid dance on the cliffs right from camp. Watching the kids play amongst the rocks I just struggled with is truely humbling and impressive. We saw another group of 7 nannies and kids and tried to put a stalk on them but they got nervous and moved to higher ground. We went to bed watching another group of 7 nannies and kids.
In the morning we went after the group of 7 nnanies and kids we had seen the previous night. After hiking a mile across rockslides we watched the ease into the next basin and knew we would never catch them. We stopped to take a break and saw a billy watching us from the cliff above the bowl we were in. He was 800 yards away watching us. The decision was made to stalk this goat. The billy saw us the entire time. My hunting partner and guide thought that the goat would stay because he felt like he had the upper hand, which in fact, he did have. We stalked within 350 yards when another goat stood up which looked larger. I went the last 5 yards to a rock, threw down my pack, leaned tmy 270 across my pack and found him in the scope. I shot and heard the 130 gr Accubond hit and the goat went stiff legged. I hit him again and he just stood there. Just as I was about to shoot again, he lunged but didn't have any power and fell into a rock slide. As we heard the rocks fall, we waited for a rolling goat to exit the chute and hit the bottom but it never happened. He was hung up in the cliffs. The only option was to go get him. We used toe holds to climb up to him. It was something my wife and mother would have been very angry to see me do.
When we reached him, I couldn't have been happier. He was a beautiful goat and in great shape. He had fallen about 20 yards after the final shot but hadn't broken anything up and was on a little bench that was perfect for skinning him.
The game fish biologist has him aged at 8-9 years old and the horns were 9 5/8" with 5 1/2" bases. His hair was very good for this early in the season. It was a wonderful adventure and I have memories to last a lifetime.
ddj
