Montana Mountain Goat Hunt

It wasn't my tag but fortunately I was able to tag along. My friend Jason who held the tag wasn't able to start his hunt untill the end of September. The first picture shows my horses packed and ready to hike in 6 miles to our planned camp. It would have been nice to ride in but most of the trail is kind of rough and it was just as easy to walk and let them carry the gear.

Sorry about not giving up the zone but I still need to draw a tag some time and don't need any more competition. The second picture is the only clue to where we were .

So after making it past the the wilderness boundry and three hours of hiking we broke out of the timber into goat country. With a skiff of snow and bright skies with wispy clouds it was just stunning.

Looking down on our new lake front home made the couple thousand foot climb well worth it. We made it down to the lake and set up camp. We Highlined the horses in the meadow on the right hand side of the lake. WE did a little fishing ( the lake is FULL of cutts) and prepared for an afternoon scouting trip.

We continued UP!!!! From camp and glassed untill dark but found no goats. Jay had been in here a few weeks earlier and found 9 goats. But there was no snow and no there was. They could have been beded in the rocks and we just glassed over them. Anyway we made it back to camp at dark. Cooked up some cuttthroats from the ealry fishing and some packed inmule deer bratwurst. I checked on the horses and turned in around 9 pm. At 11 I heard the horses.

They were highlined about 200 yards from camp. My young gelding was really carrying on so I bailed out of my sleeping bag and headed out to them. I found the mare was off the line and feeding out in the meadow and the gelding was still carrying on. I shined the light on him and there was blood pouring down his front leg. The highlined was stretched about two extra feet and hes had almost gotten his rope off. I found he had about a 9 inch gash that was ripped with a couple tears off the sides. it looked about an inch or so deep and blood flowing pretty good. I went back to camp woke Jay up and grabbed the first aid kits we had. We used gause pads and about 20 bandaids to get the bleeding stopped. We tied them each two seperate trees but close together and went back to camp.
We think that a moose or bear came into the meadow and the horses freaked out. The gelding must of tried pulling off the line and ripped himself open on a broken branch from one of the trees it was tied too.

We got a few hours sleep and at day light started walk the horses back to the trailhead. So much for our planned 5 days in goat camp. After a trip to the vets and a 150.00 bill the horses were back at my house and we were making plans to try to get back in.

I left the pictures big because the seem to really show the scene better.

These pictures are from two weeks after the accident. That horse hasn't limped once he walked the six miles back out before the vet visit and still was in better shape then me when we got back.

Well of course the weather turned to crap. Jay hiked back into camp with his father in law a couple days later. I had somework that came up and was going in two days later. I left the truck at the trailhead early in the morning. It was clouded over. The first mile and a half is UP HILL all the way about a couple thousand feet. About 30 minutes in it started to snow. I had topped out in elevation an was just pitching down the otherside when I saw Jay and his father in lawcoming up the trail. They had spent the whole day before glassing and couldn't find a single goat in the entire drainage. With the snow and fog that was blowing in it was not worth staying in. So I turned around and hiked out with them. Of course I had to meet them after I made it through the hard part of the trail.

After a few more days we decide to try a differnt drainage. Still not an easy hike and an unmarked trail. Jay found the trail after some phone calls and went in on his own for a day hunt. HE made it in and started to glass immeaditaly spotting 12 goats. 5 minutes later it started to snow and the clouds closed in the mountains again. He hiked back out with the weather killing the hunt.

Well Monday we decied to give it a try again. It was raining at daylight when we parked at the begining of the trail. The cloud level looked pretty high So we threw on the raingear and headed out. After an hour we were at apoint were we could glass into the drainage. We glassed for 45 minutes before I found a goat standing on a rock outcropping. We apcked up and headed farther in. After another hour and a half we came out into an avalanche slide. We set up and started galssing again. We found 7 goats working aound the ledges and trees. We still couldn't tell how good they were so we kept hiking along the opposite side of the drainage from the goats. The trail didn;t go past the avalanche shute so we had to bushwhack the last mile. We came out on the next shute almost opposite from the goats. But we could only find three. It appeared to be a nanny with two kids. Then we found one in the trees. That one turned into 13 as they feed out of the trees into the open.
The pictures are crummy as I was trying to take them through my spotting scope.

We watched them for about 45 minutes and decided to try to get close to them. With the way things were going Jay was going to take a billy or Nanny as long as the hair looked good and the horns were nice. We thought there was maybe one Billy in the group. This zone holds about 20 to 25 goats total and we had 16 of them in front of us.

We dropped down a 1000 feet to the creek and started up the otherside. The wind was constantly changing and we kept altering our course to try to intercept them. Finally we just picked a route and stuck to it. We were sidehilling along a game trail and we were getting close when a Mule deer doe stood up about 30yards up hill from us. We tried not to make eye contact and just kept going. Amazingly she just stood there. She kept rubber necking and watching us but never spooked. 100 yards past the doe we spotted a goat up head through the trees. We crawled ahead to the edge of the clearing and set up behind a log. We now had one of the Goats 150 yards away in the wide open with no idea we were there. We could see the other goats but they were behind brushy shrubs and offered no chance to judge their size. The goat in the open had a great coat and nice horns that looked over 8 inches long. So we started to wait. One other goat feed into the open and it didn't look any bigger then the first. Suddenly that second goat turned and ran back behind the brush and the first goat hopped up into some rocks about 20 yards. Something had spooked them. Jay turned and looked at me with panic in his eyes and I heard the safety snap off on his gun. It was now 2pm and we had first spotted the goats at 8 am. We had covered about 6 + miles and up and down a couple thousand feet in elevation. We were tired and so close finally to a legal goat and we might loose our chance.
Jay whispered to me " I am taking this goat" I looked him strait in the eyes and old him I sure as hell would if it was my tag. After watching the goat for about 15 minutes broadside we were no looking at it's ass. After a minute or so it turned braodside and took a 7mm bullet right in the front shoulder. The goat stumbled, fell backwards rolling about 50 feet down the hill. Jay was physically shaking at this point he was so excited. I let out a war whoop and the rest of the goats took off.

We had done it. No guides, no flying, just good oldfashioned hard work and we had killed a mountain goat in or own backyard.

I caped it out for him for a lifesize mount. We boned out the meat (that wasn't blood shot as both front sholders were hit pretty hard) and by 4 pm we were hiking out. We made it back to the marked trail about 30 miuntes before dark and were back to the truck by 9 pm. One heck of a long day but man did it feel good to be that kind of tired. We stopped once when we hit town for a celebratory beer but we were both to tired to finish them.

So here it is Final chapter. Goat in hand and lucky ( Transalation as badass and hardworking) hunter with a big smile. This picture is worth all the miles hiked vet bills and the trip I have to make in tomorrow to get our camp out worth it all.

Now for those of you thinking why in the world did he take a nanny that measured 8 1/2 inches, there was some real pressure on us to get this tag filled. The hunter who had the tag last year went without.
And also we leave Thursday next week because the lucky ( this time it really means Lucky) SOB also drew a Missouri Breaks Bull elk tag and that season starts on the 21. So hopefully I will have another great story to post after that hunt. Thanks for hanging on and reading all this and I hope it was entertaining.

I was fortunate??? I guess thats the right word...to hunt goats in the Bitterroot with my brother. He drew a tag for kootenay Creek in I believe 1989.

Seeing those photos brings back some memories.

Doesnt matter what drainage you hunt them in on the West Side of the Root...they're all tough, steep, and beautiful and any goat taken in those drainages is not easy.

Congrats to you both on a great hunt you'll remember for a long time.

Thanks for the story and pics. Sounds like a tough hunt! Congrats you your partner and you for sticking with it and ending up with a great looking goat.

That looks like some STEEP country. Congratulations on the goat!!

Sounds like a fun time was had by all... except the horse.
COngrats and Good luck with the elk tag!

Awesome goat. Congrats to you and your buddy.

Great story and pics! Looks like a sweet hunt. Congrats to the hunter.

Congrats to the hunter, can't wait to do that myself, whether it be with a buddy or for myself!

That is one nasty cut on that pony.

Great goat and really good kill pic.

Thanks for sharing such a neat hunt.

Thanks guys. I went in yesterday and packed up the rest of camp and brought it out. When I got there there were three goats in the rocks 500 yards from camp . Anyway 4 , 12mile roundtrips in that country and my legs are really starting to feel it. Time for some road hunting

Congrats to you and your buddy for staying after it! Tough country there for sure and nothing wrong with not holding for a billy especially after what you guys went through. Good luck in the Breaks.

Congrats! I was able to tag along on a goat hunt last year, they sure are work, but it is one heck of a rewarding hunt.

Real nice goat! Congrats.

Nice, glad I read this post. Good job and taking a nanny is not a slight. If you have gone on a goat hunt you know what I am talking about.