Early Season Goat Hunt Reg 4 ***update post 17***

That is a really nice billy. Congratulations, you deserve it.
I can relate to most of your incidents, so much so that I just have to relate another place to it, and I have been there! Including the draw you can't get down and how hard it is to get steepness to show in a picture. I still have bad dreams about a draw that looked Ok to get up, turned out I couldn't top out and no way was I going back down it. It was in the real wilderness of the northern rockies with a partner a couple of miles away on another mountain!
The best goat area I have ever seen is above Tesla Lake, in s-w BC, now covered by ecological reerve. Beautiful high mountain plateau, loaded with goats, and lots of grizzlies lower on the mountain. Had seen it from my flying days. Even landed on the lake twice, to try out the trip up the forested, alder infested, n-w slope. Impossible to go up and down in one day.
Idea. Packed up a couple days of grub, frying pan, tea pail, old blankets all wrapped up in a tarp, with a home made parachute on it. In my flying days with foresters working in remote areas with no place to land, we parachuted supplies to them. This pack we landed about ten feet from a tiny stream in a grassy meadow.
It was October, too late for goat hunting, except the weather was great. That night as we slept by the lake, a storm blew in. Next morning there was snow clear down to lake level! Look up the mountain and see snow blowing.
Wow. If that storm would have come one day later!!
I didn't mean to way lay your thread, but I saw so many similarities that I couldn't resist.
Sorry again, Amphibous.
 
Friggen awesome! :rockOn:

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Congrats Amphib! Glad to see you found some goat country ;)
 
To get an idea of your billy's age, you count the horn rings, the significant breaks (lines) on the horn surface caused by nutritional deficiencies during winter. Some lines are easy to determine, some others not so easy. The first winter's growth (6 months old) is a swelling or rough area on the first 5-6" of horn, then each successive winter is recorded as a indented line.

You should be able to get a rough idea anyway. Not sure who is doing your inspection, but a buddy had a CO inspect his (clearly a 3 y/o) and told him it was 7 y/o ?!?! Some quality harvest data there....
 
H4831 said:
Sorry, but I don't really see any goat country in your pictures. The vast majority of BC mountains do not have a goat population. Goats are pretty fussy on what they like.
All bands of goats have a home mountain and this home mountain must have the following qualifications. Most important is a winter range. That will be a s-w facing slope, just above timberline. The winds will blow this clear of snow in the winter, exposing the lichens and mosses they feed on.
The home moutain must also have a very rugged area, where goats can go to escape all their preditors, except eagles. And yes, they can go where hunters can't!
It would gratly pay you to contact the Game Branch before going on a goat trip, if you do not know where they live.
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You describe perfectly an area I remember, near Mt. Ptolemy(?) near Coleman BC. Right on the BC/Alberta border.
I am unaware which side of the border, the goat-paths are within. My best guess is BC, but I would not put money on it.
If one 'climbs' through Cleft cave, (at around 10,000 ft, after a two day mountain walk, upward) on the other side of this cave crawl (no ropes needed) But here is a tough crawlspace, {like 12 inches} no cave climbs, or decents though, about a one hour dark wander, through bat-s**t. The view one is rewarded with, is an opposing, southward facing, above tree-line mountain slope, #####-crossed with goat paths.
I wish I took picutres now.
 
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great job man. Im a bit more confident now that I could go with you and you wont get us killed! maybe someday we will hunt the goatz
 
H4831: no need for the sorry. I can never get enough high-county hunting tales. they have fascinated me since childhood. your advice is always welcome.




Thank you for all the praise. I'm still running on adrenaline, never had a hunt like this before, my body feels like it was hit by a truck, but a long day in a deck chair with some cold ones and I'm feeling much better. Talked to my taxidermist today, I'll be sending it up to her as soon as I can get the mandatory inspection out of the way. She does some very nice Euro mounts and the outfitter I work for has been using her for some time.

dropped the meat off at Sundowner Meats in Winfield today. 40lbs of Smokies on the way. I wanted stew meat and grillers, but after talking with the boss and his inspection of the meat, he figured it would be pretty tough. I love BBQ'ing smokies anyways, so not disappointed.

The Edge will be here for the spring. if my math is right I'll have a 6lb even rifle then, bullet was a 165gr Hornady BTSP. I recovered one, it is a nice mushroom with a retained weight of 123.5 grains.

Archie, the stock will be for sale in the spring, although it has a few dings in it after this trip. my poor barred is scarred up proper. poor little rifle....

I think goat will become the focal point of my fall for as long as my legs are up to it.... unless sheep get in the way...
 
H4831 said:
Brutus, you sure did find a home mountain for goats!
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True, but I wish in my younger days I had more appreciation for it H4831.
The only time in recent memory that I've visited comparable ruggedness, with a home range compatable for mountain goats, was near Juneau, in May 2000.

Cheers!
PS: How could I forget, thank you for the beautiful vistas fellas!
Reminds us how lucky we are in North America, to have all this natural beauty around us.
 
Great looking goat. Congrats on your animal. The taxidermy can fix that horn with no problem. Anyway you can kick back now and enjoy yout trophy.
 
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