LongBomber
CGN Regular
- Location
- Fernie, bc
I took this fine goat in the Whiteswan area of the East Kootenays. My partner and I went out for a weekend hunt, we got our camp set-up in the dark Friday night after work, in a basin that we had been scouting most of the summer. As we were eating a little breakfast in the dark I jinxed us by joking around about finding a goat by 8am, climbing to him by 10, and being back in camp by 2...
Sometimes the hunting gods smile one you. We spotted a few nannies at first light in a high basin across the valley. About 830 we spotted two billies moving out into a grassy slide to eat, one young billy and one that looked pretty good. We loaded up our gear and ran across the valley, and started the climb into their slide. We got to within 550 yards and got a really good look at the goats, the "decent" goat looked more like a book candidate and had a huge body.
They started up a sharp draw, headed for the steep cliffs at the top of the mountain, and we started up 4 draws over, sure they would either cross above us of possibly bed down on a shelf. After an hour of grinding up cliffs, and scrambling up some icy scree we reached the top of the draw. I was ahead and crawled over a shallow ridge to get a good look up the mountain. There they were bedded down in the sun, just above us. I flipped out my bipod as my partner slid into position, and he called the shot as the big billy stood up. He took three shots in rapid fire to the shoulder, I was trying to anchor him on the ledge. He stiffened up and tipped off the ledge, fell about 20 feet into some perma-snow, then tumbled down beside us. He looked a little rough, and needed some serious repair at the taxidermists.
Here he is on the side of the mountain.
And no the rifle is not pointed at my head... although it looks bad in the photo.. Just to put the size of the goat into perspective I am just over 6' and roughly 260. The goat is pushing 330-340 pounds on the hoof.
It took us 3 hours to skin, and pack him down the mountain. My partner got a rock in the head as we climbed down the cliffs, and I slipped once and got a rock in the thigh, I had a bruise that went from my knee up onto my side. I had tough knots in my thigh muscle for a few weeks from the fall. All told we were back in camp by 4. Pretty much wiped out, but with one heck of a goat to show for it.
And here is the mount I just got back.
Phillip at Apex Wildlife art did the mount. It is an amazing piece of work, I wish I had better light and a decent camera for pics. He had to get another cape to repair the face damage, and repaired the horns. Before the horns got fixed the goat scored 47 2/8, with 2 inches missing on one side! The bases are just under 6" diameter after drying, and the rebuilt horn is 9 7/8"
It was a hunt of a lifetime and a fine piece of wildlife art.
Sometimes the hunting gods smile one you. We spotted a few nannies at first light in a high basin across the valley. About 830 we spotted two billies moving out into a grassy slide to eat, one young billy and one that looked pretty good. We loaded up our gear and ran across the valley, and started the climb into their slide. We got to within 550 yards and got a really good look at the goats, the "decent" goat looked more like a book candidate and had a huge body.
They started up a sharp draw, headed for the steep cliffs at the top of the mountain, and we started up 4 draws over, sure they would either cross above us of possibly bed down on a shelf. After an hour of grinding up cliffs, and scrambling up some icy scree we reached the top of the draw. I was ahead and crawled over a shallow ridge to get a good look up the mountain. There they were bedded down in the sun, just above us. I flipped out my bipod as my partner slid into position, and he called the shot as the big billy stood up. He took three shots in rapid fire to the shoulder, I was trying to anchor him on the ledge. He stiffened up and tipped off the ledge, fell about 20 feet into some perma-snow, then tumbled down beside us. He looked a little rough, and needed some serious repair at the taxidermists.
Here he is on the side of the mountain.
And no the rifle is not pointed at my head... although it looks bad in the photo.. Just to put the size of the goat into perspective I am just over 6' and roughly 260. The goat is pushing 330-340 pounds on the hoof.
It took us 3 hours to skin, and pack him down the mountain. My partner got a rock in the head as we climbed down the cliffs, and I slipped once and got a rock in the thigh, I had a bruise that went from my knee up onto my side. I had tough knots in my thigh muscle for a few weeks from the fall. All told we were back in camp by 4. Pretty much wiped out, but with one heck of a goat to show for it.
And here is the mount I just got back.
Phillip at Apex Wildlife art did the mount. It is an amazing piece of work, I wish I had better light and a decent camera for pics. He had to get another cape to repair the face damage, and repaired the horns. Before the horns got fixed the goat scored 47 2/8, with 2 inches missing on one side! The bases are just under 6" diameter after drying, and the rebuilt horn is 9 7/8"
It was a hunt of a lifetime and a fine piece of wildlife art.
