After over 20 years of applying I finally drew a MT goat permit. With the help of a great hunting buddy, we were able to get within range of this billy. Made a great shot and followed it up with a paniced miss and a poor shot only to watch my goat tumble about 300 yards down a brutal rock face. He ended up breaking about a 1/2" off his left side but am still beyond excited to have another archery billy!
Not sure I'll ever be able to repay my buddy for the effort he put in helping me! We hiked over 30+ miles in 2.5 days and the majority was with over 50 lbs on our backs. The pack job of getting goat back to camp was the most difficult thing I've ever done! It was carrying about 80 lbs apiece for 4 miles up about 1400' over the worst deadfall, brush covered crap imaginable! I had to leave my pack with full cape and front shoulders about 3/4 miles from camp and return the next morning because I just physically had reached my limit.
We also cleaned up a mess left by a couple of clowns too. Not only did they have a camp fire in wilderness area when they were prohibited, they also left a pile of garbage for us to pack out, and as if having fire wasn't bad enough, they left without getting their fire completely out so we had to drain our water supply and then bring back more water to get it completely out! Why people think the rules don't apply to them sometimes is beyond me!
All in all it was an amazing adventure, and I hope that I can repay a great friend with the same effort and enthusiasm on a future hunt of his!
James
