Another Idaho Goat tag holder

[Ron Wright]

It's a little better looking through, but not much. There is not enough detail to have seen balls from that distance. I'm looking somewhat towards the sun in the afternoon, which doesn't help. I would get cloud cover once in a while that helped with the heat waves.

 

[bkondeff]

Hey Ron any more scouting trips? I have seen a total of almost 30 goats in my small 1 tag unit, not all close enough to judge well, but I feel more comfortable judging sex now. Seems if you can watch them long enough they all will scratch their ear eventually with their hind foot and give the ultimate confirm. I have found no bruisers, but have a few more to get close to to judge before I start to hunt on Oct 3rd. You still taking the bow early? I'm finishing up load work on a .280 Mountain Rifle to save a few pounds on the stalk. I'm going in to scout some fresh country in next week, and then maybe one more to try and judge some I didn't get a close look at the weekend before I plan to hunt. Going to try and have the will power not to take my rifle until Oct, but it will be hard with a season already open.

PS I spent some time with a friend looking at bighorns that were fairly large last weekend, they were much easier to judge!

 

[Moosie]

Ron, that looks more like the Middlefork country then the Sawtooths. I've hunted the Tooths for about 20 years now. Love seeing goats !! Good luck on yer tag Amigo !!!

 

[Ron Wright]

BK, I have been archery Elk hunting off and on since the season started. Been on Bulls everyday and lot's of close calls but no harvest with the longbow. As long as the weather holds, I'll probably head out for goat later in the month. Looks like rain next week. Still undecided on the bow, as I don't want to give the goat a chance to make a leap with a marginal shot. Then again I only have about one chance to take a goat with a bow in my lifetime

Moosie, It's the tooths!
I've spent some time in the middle fork too though, they look and hike the same in lot's of areas along the tops.

 

[Ron Wright]

Went in on Monday with the bow to see if I could get a shot on the billy I videoed in early August. Spent the first day in the basin and never saw him. I hiked up to the top and found a set of tracks leading out over the saddle.





I packed up camp and hiked into the next basin over and again nothing. It was now the 3rd day and no goats, so I packed up camp once again and hiked out of the drainage and up the next one. That took all day, but that evening I saw my first Goat. The horns looked the same but the shoulders sort of didn't? Maybe it's because the hair is longer now.

http://vimeo.com/107301812




This goat was on one of the highest peaks in the area and it didn't look like a place I could get him out. The next morning I left my spotter in camp to lighten my load and go after him anyway if I saw him. I glassed the whole area where he was that morning and no Goat again. I did however see a nanny and adolesent in a side canyon and then a billy off to the side of them. I headed over to make a stalk on the billy. I got below him and was able to spot him through the timber bedded in a small rim above an open slope. I picked a route and started hiking up out of the bottom. On my way up I looked back across the canyon I was now in and could see a Goat out feeding about 500 yards away. This canyon was steep and tight. I set up my tripod and binoculars to get a better look and caught the tail end of another goat going over the top. I was able to watch the one 500 yards away for a while and got pics with my camera. It was hot that day but he fed out in the sun til about 10Am. I was able to see his glands and he looked like an 8"+ Billy.



I decided to keep going with the stalk and kept watching the other billy along the way. I was a little off on my landmark and got busted at about 80 yards. It would have been an easy rifle shot as the goat just stared at me broadside for a while before moving away. I opted to not harass the other Billy that was feeding in the sun and come back for him with my rifle next week

 

[Mica Man]

Looking forward to the rest of the hunt!

 

[havgunwilltravel]

Good luck with the hunt, enjoying this thread, be a great tag to draw those goats in Idaho.

 

[Ron Wright]

2014 Idaho Goat

These OIL Goat hunts are a well balanced trifecta of fun, stress, and gratification. This is one the apex hunts for a Backpack hunter, it will take you to a new level of fitness, both mentally and physically.

The first evening I relocated a nice Billy I had seen the week before about a mile from camp. He was now a ways up a side canyon. I had about an hour of daylight left so I opted to wait until the next morning.



The next morning, I had a little trouble finding him. These Billy Goats always seem to be on the move like a Buck. Finally at about 9:30 Am I spotted him bedded even farther up the canyon.



I started the climb, got above him, and made my way down. He must have moved or detected me because I never saw him again. The country was really broken, with lots of trees and I could have been 50 feet from him and not knew it. This was really humbling and I started to get concerned. I only knew of 1 more Goat in that canyon and it was twice as far up the mountain.

I got back to camp around 1 PM, ate, refiled on water, glassed the canyon below camp and then headed out again for the evening. I decided to hike up the main trail even farther which would take me to the unit boundary after about 2 miles. By the time I got to the top of the drainage, I had completely re-evaluated my hunt. I thought I would need 2 days to get everything out, so that left me with 1 more day to hunt. I had previously used half my hunt/scout time to try taking a Goat with a longbow. I didn't regret this, but I was now getting down to the wire. The season was open for another month, but it was time to get back to being a father and husband in 3 days. It takes a day to get in and at least a day to get out, so weekend hunts are out of the question. If I didn't fill the tag, I would have to wait 2 years to start applying again. I would be 40 by then, but more importantly my twins are currently 8 months old and the next decade will be more about family and less about hunting. Taking a bunch of time to Goat hunt in the future would not be as easy. So I swallowed my pride and decided the first decent lone Goat I see, nanny or billy, I'm happily taking.

About half a mile from the unit boundary, I looked up the slope and saw a lone Goat standing out in a scree slope. I didn't look at it through the spotter as I could tell it was a Billy through the binoculars. He bedded down out in the sun as I watched him. His hump was not as pronounced as the one from that morning, but he was mature and in a good location for a shot. I had 3 hours of daylight left when I started the climb. When I got into position, he had got up and moved. I looked around and didn't see him anywhere on the slope. I moved a little closer and continued scanning the slope. Then I saw him about 200 yards away at the edge of the scree slope. One shot with my 270 and he collapsed where he stood. All was well until he went completely limp, then he started to roll. He rolled about 20 feet and stopped, then another 50 feet and got hung up on some stunted pines. then he rolled another 20 feet and got hung up in a thick patch of stunted pines again.



With about an hour and a half of daylight left the real challenge begins.



I tied his foot off to the tree and did my best with pictures. His horns seemed small when I walked up to him, maybe around 7 inches for the long one. The tip of the other one looked like it had broke off during the roll. Overall he was a nice Billy Goat.



It was dark by the time I got him caped and boned out, and there was not as much meat as I expected. I loaded everything up and started the hike off that slope via headlamp. It was slow going, but I made it all the way back to camp without any mishaps.

The next morning I was refreshed and decided to load everything up and try to make it out in one trip. I took a few more pics first.





The EMR2 expands nicely and swallows up camp, goat cape, and meat. There is no way I would have been able to do this with a smaller pack, and I would not have been disappointed with the even bigger prototype EMR2.



The load was manageable, it felt like between 80-100 pounds, and it took me about 5.5 hours to make the 7.5 mile hike out. The Goat got bigger and bigger with every mile. By the time I got back to the trail head he had grown to just over 8".....

 

[Nameless Range]

Congratulations on an awesome hunt and critter. Thanks for sharing

 

[Mica Man]

Thanks for sharing your hunt and congrats on your goat!

 

[kansasdad]

Lots of good mountain goat stories this year and you have soloed your way to success as well. Congratulations.

 

[Gerald Martin]

Congratulations on a rewarding hunt!

 

[duckhunt]

Great adventure

 

[rjlefty3]

Great goat and story!

 

[T Bone]

Congrats!

The smell of your pack will bring back goat hunting memories for a long time!

 

[MT_elk]

Congrats on a great hunt!

 

[----]

That's awesome! Great Billy!

I cant imagine doing a goat hunt solo.

 

[Bwana]

What an adventure!

 

[npaden]

These OIL Goat hunts are a well balanced trifecta of fun, stress, and gratification. This is one the apex hunts for a Backpack hunter, it will take you to a new level of fitness, both mentally and physically.

I started the climb, got above him, and made my way down. He must have moved or detected me because I never saw him again. The country was really broken, with lots of trees and I could have been 50 feet from him and not knew it. This was really humbling and I started to get concerned. I only knew of 1 more Goat in that canyon and it was twice as far up the mountain.

It was dark by the time I got him caped and boned out, and there was not as much meat as I expected. I loaded everything up and started the hike off that slope via headlamp. It was slow going, but I made it all the way back to camp without any mishaps.

Congrats on the goat. Any billy is a great trophy in my limited experience.

I really liked a few of your comments and they really struck home to me and really corresponded to my experience on my hunt. I had a lone goat disappear on me as well after a stalk that left me scratching my head. I shot my goat about 15 minutes before shooting light was up and ended up caping and boning him out in the dark plus the rain. That rock with the moss on it gets slicker than snot on the way down!

I was also amazed at how small the hindquarters were on my goat. There was more meat on the front shoulder than on the hindquarter. Seemed to be all chest and belly and not much meat at all for the size of animal. Not that I'm complaining too much, haven't eaten any yet, but a friend ground it for me and it took them 5 hours to grind it for burger when they said it normally would have taken 20 or 30 minutes for that much meat.

Congrats again. Looks like he had pretty decent hair as well.

P.S. - I also laughed out loud on TBone's comment on the goat smell on your pack to bring back memories. Very true!

 

[Ron Wright]

I couldn't imagine undressing that Goat in the rain at night. That must have made a heavy cape to pack out too.

Goats are about half hair it seems like. How does the burger taste? I was thinking about going that route with some.

My pack and sleeping bag still have distinct aromas from that hunt