After our scouting trip, Ed was in the area in October and conditions were good for the actual hunt. We were in there about five days, only saw one average "Billy" and five goats total. We hunted hard that entire time, climbed the mountain every day from various directions, walked across snow covered granite boulder fields (we're talking large truck sized boulders) that we should have broken a leg in but didn't. Crossed snow drifts on 70% slopes in snow up to our chests, while driving our uphill arm into the packed snow to keep us from sliding a couple hundred yards down the mountian. Climbed up an 80% slope on a loose, muddy slide as a shortcut to avoid having to cross the snow covered boulder field so we didn't break those legs. Took our horses in as far back as we could in boulder fields and snow drifts that I would never have attempted without Ed leading the charge. In other words we put just about all we (well, maybe I) had into this goat hunt. It was dissapointing, but it just was not in the cards to fill a tag on that first hunt. We got out of camp as the snow started flying and the plan was for Ed to keep an eye out for goats when he was in there over the next week or two on an elk hunt.
Ed was to call me as soon as he started seeing better numbers of goats on the mountain,which meant it would be time for me to load up my gear, load my gelding "Mac" up and get our butts n there ASAP the next morning. Ed made the call about a week later and said the goats were back so I loaded Mac up and I drove the 50 miles to his place early the next morning.
We got to the trail head late morning and made the three hour ride into camp. We unloaded our gear and Ed suggested we had enough time to ride into Crystal Basin, which was a good vantage point to check a lot of slopes to see what had moved into the area. This would give us a good idea to form a game plan for the the next days' hunt. It took us about an hour and thirty minutes to two hours to ride in and just as we were coming out of the timbered trail where we could see some bare slopes we immediatey started to see fresh goat tracks down low and not too far off the main trail. As we continued up, Ed spotted goats at the end of those tracks.
They were only four to five hundred yards ahead of us, so we continued on the horses up the main trail through timber that hid our approach for another hundred to two hundred yards. We tied the horses up, I grabbed my rifle and we moved through the timber in the direction we last saw them. As Ed got to the edge of the timber he spotted them all, about twelve or thirteen ewes, lambs and one mature billy. Ed and John were both excited by his body size, his great hair, since it was late in the season (Nov), but they were just a little unsure about his horn length. I think I had already made up my mind that he was the one, regardless of horn length. Like Steve, in the earlier hunt, I knew what I had already gone through in the first hunt and I wasn't too sure that I wanted to go through it all again in the hopes of getting another inch.
OK, here's where I have to admit failure, but all's well that ends well, and this did. The excuse: I used my best long range rifle on the first hunt, a Remington 700 Sendero, 300 Weatherby fitted with a 6.5x20 Leupold with a custom "Premier" reticle. But you know what? That setup weighs close to 11 pounds and after five days of packing it to the tops, I decided to pack my old, "usually trusty" Mauser 98, 300 Weatherby. In hind sight, I should have taken my "most trusty" 300 win mag. My son had borrowed the old Mauser and while I had sighted it in, three inches high at 100 like I like, I did not check it after I got it back. The billy was only a bit over 200 yards away, piece of cake right? Wrong. I was standing and using a large boulder as a rest. It wasn't a great rest, being a bit too tall and awkward, but we'd been spotted and the goats were starting to move out. And after all, 200 yards?
Ed was looking through his binos and on my first shot said, "high, five inches over this back!" That flustered me a bit, but the billy just stood there and I needed to get the second shot fast before he got smart and took off. I dropped the reticule to low under the lungs where his heart would be, took the shot and Ed said, "high, just over his back!" Ed could see it all as the bullets were smacking a rock cliff right behind the billy. This was turning into a worst case hunt real fast, especially since I could feel the blood running from my forehead, down my nose and across my lips. Between the angle of my rest, a quick second shot and the recoil of that light 300 Weatherby, I had also managed to do a pretty good job of scoping myself. I lined up for another shot on that billy that still hadn't moved, put the cross hairs on "air" just under his chest and let loose with another round. And then, the billy went down.
Once it was over and the high fives and hoots were completed, it all seemed just a bit anti-climatic. I was expecting another four, five, six or seven more days of hard hunting to fill my tag and now it was over on the first day of scouting. But, you know what? It did not bother me one bit. He wasn't the biggest goat on the mountain, but he was my goat and had just average 8 3/8th long horns. It would have been great if he'd had nine or ten inch horns, but in my opinion it's the hair on a Mountain Goat and the mountains you find them in that makes them a special trophy. If I remember right, I believe Ed mentioned that my goat was the latest in the season he'd ever guided in his 20 successful hunts and the hair certainly proved it.
If you ever go on a goat hunt try to hunt in an area that allows you to get in and take him as late as possible and be prepared to pay the expense of a full body mount because nothing shows a goat trophy like a full mount. Do some shopping around for your taxidermist unless you've got one you like and are willing to pay whatever he charges. Ed and I used my taxidermist, Justin Sabol of Bridger Taxidermy in Bozeman, MT for our full mounts and paid $1500. My brother in-law used his taxidermist in ND and paid around $3000, but we are all happy.
Tip of the Day? You guessed it, double check that your rifle is still hitting where you expect it to..
Hunt hard
Ron
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