Colorado Mountain Goat.... A novel in the making....

Just got back from the boys lacrosse tournament, it was a busy weekend but I managed to sneak off and do an hour or so of touring. Still tons of snow and inaccessible, which I had no delusions of sneaking off scouting. I was just wanting to lay eyes on a few routes that were questionable as to access. Maroon road was surprisingly open, so we made a quick drive to the lake as well. In all honesty there will probably be little effort to actually find goats until August, but I will spend some time hiking in the area, just to search routes and spend time at elevation.

Beautiful country, already a three ring circus at the lake even though there is really no where to go yet. This is the area that I will most likely try to avoid as much as possible, but it is a very good central access to get to some key goat areas.

A few of the views...
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Once again not a scouting trip... but I might of accidentally found some a ways from where they'll be this fall...:D
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Honestly, the wait is going to be tough. As much as I plan for a hunt, 4 months is a long stretch to think and rethink. I'm sure the "plan" will change a thousand times before now and then, but I want to have thought through most everything. I am pretty dead set on hunting near the opener for a number of reasons. First the hair... call me weird but I actually prefer the shorter hair goats. This is actually an ideal situation for weather as I do not want to be scrambling around on snow. Secondly I would love to have the opportunity to take mine with a bow. I would assume as the season moves along and more and more goats are shot at they are going to head to the stuff I do not want to be on chasing goats. Its hard not to forget that these mountains have claimed several lives over the years, not too recently a successful goat hunter. I can't think of a better way to go out doing what you love, but I would like to have a few more adventures in my short life, and I don't think a fall is the way I would want to do it.

The bow hunting aspect brings in its own challenge. Its just another thing to bring in, as I plan on carrying the rifle. My pack is heavy and I'm too cheap to buy something newer and lighter. I've put many miles and animals on it and I'm comfortable with its dependability in the worst of situations. I am planning on having some company with me as I hunt, and I am hoping to make those guys "bear the weight of my burden" or bow for that matter.:D I just have convince them to use my bow to hunt on their elk tags...lol I plan on using my .257 roy if needed, some may disagree with that choice, as "you have to anchor them to the hillside". However, I know fully well what this gun is capable of doing, it drives tacks at 400 yards and is capable of making a high shoulder shot with a good bonded bullet to drop them in their tracks. Besides that I am not too worried because if I use the bow they will most certainly jump off a cliff anyways, so if they jump off with the rifle... so be it!

I am hopeful that I am able to attend the orientation in June. I am fairly certain that I know where I need to be to find the goats, and know most of what I need to be successful. I am just hoping for the opportunity to possibly absorb any additional information that I possible can. Plus it will be nice to meet some of the fine folks afflicted with the same sickness I possess for those mountains, kinda like a support group if you will..lol

To be continued...
 
Congratulations. Start taking lots of photo's along the way from here on out and when you are finished with the season, take the time to put them together in a chronological order in a photo album reserved for this hunt alone! You will really appreciate it later!

David
 
Three months to go... Time isn't going fast enough. Finally got the tag in the mail, quite the exciting feeling to finally hold it in my hands. Its an endless smile across my face. Nothing much to update as of so far, a couple of high country fishing trips that I made in the last couple of weeks. The training hasn't gotten around to anything serious yet, but I'm managing a short round trip hike of at least 5 miles a day. No weight or pack for now, but its coming shortly...

I did make a short outing this weekend to Cabela's to pick up some supplies. It started as just a quick pick up of a few items until a very generous employee handed me a friends and family discount coupon. At 25% off most everything, I couldn't resist, and may have went a little overboard filling my cart...lol Regardless of whether or not it was a sales ploy, I feel very fortunate to have gotten what I did for the price I did... I've always had good experiences with the company and even though it's changed hands... things still look good, so here's my shameless promotion to pay it forward....
 
I hunted G13 2nd season with either sex tag in 2014 so a bit east of your unit probably. I bought a map that showed the plot of reported kill sites. There is no Month/Day listed for each kill, though, and that would be helpful as there can be predictable movement of goats from the start of 1st season through the end of 2nd season. Alternatively, you can research the F&G harvest reports and plot on a map. I never was able to find Month/Day.

Sounds like you understand ballistics. I was shooting tacks at sea level, 70F, dry air then had to make several inches of up/down adjustment when checked my zero at 11K, 40F and moist air.

I got a nice billy in AK in 2009 so my Plan A was to find a nice nanny since figured that would make a cool story with the AK billy. Shot a billy, though, on a tough hunt with some challenging weather. Covered a lot of elevation and lot of miles in what was thin air to this flatlander.

Have an amazing hunt and stay safe when in the steep stuff.
 
Well, the training continues. The five miles a day trend continues, although I have been adding a pack and probably 15 pounds of weight. Far from a full load worth of pack, but still increasing with hopes to push it to 60 lbs near august. August will likely be when I will start to hike in, bivy and scout. For now the day trips will suffice. There are really no lack of goats, I've seen numerous every time I've gone, mostly from the road through the spotter. I still loose sleep thinking about the hunt but it seems to be slowly inching closer. 9 weeks or so to go!

I attended the orientation this weekend, it was pretty much what I expected. Most of what was presented was not new knowledge to me, but I was looking forward to speaking with the CPW guys about my unit. It turned out that the guy representing my unit had just moved there and really didn't know anything I didn't already know. Somewhat disappointing but really I feel that I'm pretty over prepared anyways....

I did however make use of some of my newly acquired skills from the presentation. I decided to spend some time above timberline on Mt. Evans, stretch my legs, practice my goat identification and spotting skills. After spending a few hours hiking around at 11-14k feet, I felt fairly reassured that my conditioning has been going fairly well. Recovery time was great and I was moving fast, granted I wasn't carrying a giant pack or gun either but I was covering some drainages. I may have spotted and identified a few goats, a few sheep as well.


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I did get a few pictures with the good camera though, I will post those later...

I returned home and then awoke the next morning to continue with some conditioning dragging the family along too.

The shirt was fairly appropriate considering..
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WOW...you have some amazing photos already! My boys each drew nanny tags for here in MT this fall and the identification thing is what has me a bit "worried" about the hunt. Keep posting your pics, its fun to follow along. Best of luck on your hunt!
 
Keep the updates coming! I have a feeling that when it comes to moutain goats that I'll have to be content to live vicariously...
 
Congrats!! My friend shot a nanny in CO 2 years ago and she was something like 9". Have a great hunt!
 
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