RugerHawg413
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Very nice! Thanks for sharing!
Beginner-Mountain Goat Hunting
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RugerHawg413
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Thank you for the info!! Agreed!I asked pretty much this same question 13 years ago on this forum.
So I want to go on a goat hunt....
Okay, I've read through the hunts on this forum and am ready to go! ;) The problem is that I'm 42 and have ZERO points in any state. I would like to do something DIY, but unless I somehow got really lucky it looks like maybe I shouldn't even mess with it. Looks like I would need around 15...www.hunttalk.com
Then I was lucky enough to actually draw a Wyoming random tag in 2014 with about 2% draw odds at the time.
2014 Wyoming Mountain Goat Hunt!
I've read and heard said quite a few times that the hardest part about Mountain Goat hunting is drawing the tag. While in many ways that is in fact true with the dismal odds that there are to draw a tag in the lower 48 states, the process of filling out applications and sending money in isn't...
It truly was an adventure of a lifetime and I still think about it regularly. Easy to do when I see it on the wall every day.
2014 Mountain Goat is back from the taxidermist!
Well it has been a while, but my Mountain goat that I shot in Wyoming in 2014 is back from the taxidermist. We hung it on the wall yesterday and I'm very happy with it. We should have put it outside first and took some pictures because where it is in the house is pretty hard on camera exposure...
As has already been mentioned, statistically you have no guarantee to ever draw a mountain goat tag in the lower 48. If you want to be 100% sure you will get to hunt a mountain goat you are going to have to win an auction tag or pay for an outfitted hunt in Alaska or Canada. Or move to Alaska. It's been 13 years of building points in Colorado for me and I'm still have under 5% odds on applying for a tag there but there is a chance!
With the new 10% nonresident limit in Wyoming those odds just got even harder.
It is a very neat hunt and you never know, lightning might strike for you like it did for me drawing a 2% draw odds tag just 3 years after posting about trying to draw. If you don't apply you for sure won't draw.
Busted the tips on the fall but good billy.
ID and WY both run random on goats, no points. That should increase your odds compared to a state that runs a bonus/preference point structure on their goats.
It does make it hard being that far away from goat country to prioritize going on a goat survey for RMGA or just going on a camping trip with a camera( like what was mentioned). Also agree that just joining some one on their goat hunt is a blast as well.
It does make it hard being that far away from goat country to prioritize going on a goat survey for RMGA or just going on a camping trip with a camera( like what was mentioned). Also agree that just joining some one on their goat hunt is a blast as well.
Colorado - Dirty little secret.
Get in the weighted pool, takes 3 years and see what happens. Most of the units don't have enough tags for the real benefit of a weighted draw system to play out like they planned.
Good luck.
Get in the weighted pool, takes 3 years and see what happens. Most of the units don't have enough tags for the real benefit of a weighted draw system to play out like they planned.
Good luck.
buffybr
Well-known member
I drew a goat tag in Montana the first year that I applied. I waited to the later part of the season for them to have longer hair before I went hunting them. When I finally went, the snow was a foot deep where I parked my truck, and over knee deepon the top of the mountain. I saw a nice Billy the first day and made a rookie mistake of trying to get closer. He saw me and bounded down the valley then up and over the next ridge. That year the draw odds in that unit were 1 in 4.
Three years later I drew another Montana goat tag in another area. Again I waited until mid November for the goats to have long hair, and it was -5* F and a foot of snow when I started up the mountain. This time I got a good, old Billy. It was so cold that I pulled the goat skin over my hands while I skinned him. All the while I was skinning him, another billy stood watching me from about 100 yds away.
I completely skinned him out, put the hide and head in my pack, then drug the carcass to a cliff, pushed him off, then climbed down to and repeated that all the way down to my truck. That was in 1978, and I have applied for another goat tag here in Montana every year since then (44 years). I've had maximum "bonus" points and have not drawn another tag.
My only regret on that hunt was that I didn't have him mounted life size. My taxidermist even cut the price of a full mount in half, but at that time I didn't have space in my house for a full mount. I only had a half mount done.
As others have posted, I think that Alaska would present the best and least expensive opportunity to get a mountain goat.
And do it now because as others have also posted, the mountains get higher and steeper every year.
Three years later I drew another Montana goat tag in another area. Again I waited until mid November for the goats to have long hair, and it was -5* F and a foot of snow when I started up the mountain. This time I got a good, old Billy. It was so cold that I pulled the goat skin over my hands while I skinned him. All the while I was skinning him, another billy stood watching me from about 100 yds away.
I completely skinned him out, put the hide and head in my pack, then drug the carcass to a cliff, pushed him off, then climbed down to and repeated that all the way down to my truck. That was in 1978, and I have applied for another goat tag here in Montana every year since then (44 years). I've had maximum "bonus" points and have not drawn another tag.
My only regret on that hunt was that I didn't have him mounted life size. My taxidermist even cut the price of a full mount in half, but at that time I didn't have space in my house for a full mount. I only had a half mount done.
As others have posted, I think that Alaska would present the best and least expensive opportunity to get a mountain goat.
And do it now because as others have also posted, the mountains get higher and steeper every year.
RugerHawg413
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Very cool! Thank you for sharing your hunting experiences, knowledge, and pictures! It is very appreciated! mI drew a goat tag in Montana the first year that I applied. I waited to the later part of the season for them to have longer hair before I went hunting them. When I finally went, the snow was a foot deep where I parked my truck, and over knee deepon the top of the mountain. I saw a nice Billy the first day and made a rookie mistake of trying to get closer. He saw me and bounded down the valley then up and over the next ridge. That year the draw odds in that unit were 1 in 4.
Three years later I drew another Montana goat tag in another area. Again I waited until mid November for the goats to have long hair, and it was -5* F and a foot of snow when I started up the mountain. This time I got a good, old Billy. It was so cold that I pulled the goat skin over my hands while I skinned him. All the while I was skinning him, another billy stood watching me from about 100 yds away.
I completely skinned him out, put the hide and head in my pack, then drug the carcass to a cliff, pushed him off, then climbed down to and repeated that all the way down to my truck. That was in 1978, and I have applied for another goat tag here in Montana every year since then (44 years). I've had maximum "bonus" points and have not drawn another tag.
My only regret on that hunt was that I didn't have him mounted life size. My taxidermist even cut the price of a full mount in half, but at that time I didn't have space in my house for a full mount. I only had a half mount done.
As others have posted, I think that Alaska would present the best and least expensive opportunity to get a mountain goat.
And do it now because as others have also posted, the mountains get higher and steeper every year.
Don't pass up the chance to buy raffle tickets somebody has to win and we've a few HuntTalkers win. The Rocky Mountain Bighorn Society sells tickets online. I'm sure there will be a post about it on here soon. The Colorado goats are doing well and if you wait until later the hair is spectacular.
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RugerHawg413
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Awesome! Thank you for the advice and sharing the picture!
barefoothick69
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Save your money up and go to Canada. Nothing compares
littlebighorn
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If you are dead set on hunting a mountain goat, I agree with barefoot. On my stone sheep hunt my son accompanied me and took this book billy for under 10K. That was in 2017 so I'm sure it's more expensive now, but we saw lots of great goats on our hunt. If you are set on getting lucky I would look at CO and any other place that doesn't require points. Wyoming is a lost cause at this point.
RugerHawg413
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Understood, thank you for the info and picture!
geetar
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I've known people who paid less than $10k in the past couple years on successful goat hunts. I'd say it'd cost you $10-15 k now depending on what you want.
RugerHawg413
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Understood, thanks for the info!
Gerald Martin
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Wyoming NR goat tag costs over $2700.
Idaho tag is over 2600.
MT tag is $1250.
Alaska NR goat tag is $600.
It’s going to cost @$150 nonrefundable every year to apply in each of the states that offer NR goat tags in the lower 48.
Personally, I think it makes better sense to plan for spending $12-15K all in on a hunt that you can be assured of experiencing than who knows how much but at least $3500 to draw in the lower 48.
Idaho tag is over 2600.
MT tag is $1250.
Alaska NR goat tag is $600.
It’s going to cost @$150 nonrefundable every year to apply in each of the states that offer NR goat tags in the lower 48.
Personally, I think it makes better sense to plan for spending $12-15K all in on a hunt that you can be assured of experiencing than who knows how much but at least $3500 to draw in the lower 48.
RugerHawg413
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Understood, thank you for the info!!
Mtnhunter1
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Run a search on this site. There are many great posts that have the experience and photos that you've requested.
To me, there is not another animal that I enjoy hunting more than the Mtn Goat. They just live in some of the grandest places that Mother Nature has to offer!
Good luck with your quest of some day experiencing the high country chasing the white goats.
To me, there is not another animal that I enjoy hunting more than the Mtn Goat. They just live in some of the grandest places that Mother Nature has to offer!
Good luck with your quest of some day experiencing the high country chasing the white goats.
LIK2HNT
Active member
They make beautiful mounts. Got this one in Colorado in 2021 on a NR tag and DIY hunt.
