Montana Mountain Goat- at wits end

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Hope you do a live hunt for us. And don't shank your tent haha
So originally it’s was all gonna be diy on public but after looking into the logistics and access for or unit we ended up hiring a guide to go with. We will be hunting public free ranging Audad in New Mexico. I just hired a guy to help me get into the spots we wouldn’t know how if people want one I’d be happy to do it I just didn’t know if they did since after drawing we decided to book it
 
I talked to a guy from Missoula in 380 a few years back. He had drawn a bull permit. He said he only had one weekend to hunt. His method of hunting was driving the main roads on a 4-wheeler. Sad thing is he had three little kids on the back that were obviously freezing cold. Oldest was maybe 7 or 8. I had just glassed 5 bulls together, biggest was probably 350, within shooting distance of where we were standing. Needless to say, I kept it to myself. Figured if that's the only effort he was going to put into that tag, he didn't deserve a bull. I was only looking for a spike and all I saw was branch antlered bulls. He had seen zero elk.
 
I watched a guy sit on a goat tag in the Crazies until the day after Thanksgiving one time out of pure ass laziness. Not 1 day of scouting either. Then he went out and killed a good billy. I helped him pack it out the last day of season. I still don't understand the craving for a LE permit and yet a total lack of desire to hunt that some people have. It boggles my mind. I think some people want it just because everyone else does.

I saw some pictures of goats taken yesterday at close range by a guy hunting other game. There are guys out there now going through the motions without the tag. I am not sure that I have ever seen a better fall to hunt goats than this one.
 
It’s certainly easier to villainize someone if you don’t know much about them. I admitted multiple times now that “shanking the tent” wasn’t my proudest moment. But I’ve also went out numerous times, and although I didn’t post every trip since it would be mundane as I was ultimately unsuccessful, I guess it helps a lot of people sleep at night to assume I hardly went at all, and the ensuing cathartic rage must have its own therapeutic powers.

But probably I’m wrong, and everyone here plus their granny, uncle, kid next door, pet rabbit, etc is more of a hunter, and therefore superior human being, than me.
 
It’s certainly easier to villainize someone if you don’t know much about them. I admitted multiple times now that “shanking the tent” wasn’t my proudest moment. But I’ve also went out numerous times, and although I didn’t post every trip since it would be mundane as I was ultimately unsuccessful, I guess it helps a lot of people sleep at night to assume I hardly went at all, and the ensuing cathartic rage must have its own therapeutic powers.

But probably I’m wrong, and everyone here plus their granny, uncle, kid next door, pet rabbit, etc is more of a hunter, and therefore superior human being, than me.
Well , in my youth I was certainly prone to fits of rage and could see me destroying something inanimate like a tent , but with age came clarity , or cheapness , LOL , to the point I refrain from such activities now , LOL.

But , I think you're dwelling on the negative in this thread , lots of people expressed support for you and tried to encourage you .
Let it go , you can't help your position by rehashing it .
You're human and failure is part of the game .
Next year you could be the hero , LOL , or maybe not , such is life .
 
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It’s certainly easier to villainize someone if you don’t know much about them. I admitted multiple times now that “shanking the tent” wasn’t my proudest moment. But I’ve also went out numerous times, and although I didn’t post every trip since it would be mundane as I was ultimately unsuccessful, I guess it helps a lot of people sleep at night to assume I hardly went at all, and the ensuing cathartic rage must have its own therapeutic powers.

But probably I’m wrong, and everyone here plus their granny, uncle, kid next door, pet rabbit, etc is more of a hunter, and therefore superior human being, than me.
Don’t be so hard on yourself Marshan. I doubt anyone thinks you’re a villain or bad person. You’re just a guy who doesn’t value a mtn goat permit. Lots of folks out there, LOTS - that at the first curve ball, challenge, or stubbed toe will throw in the towel. They just usually don’t share it on the WWW and expect “oh sweetie you poor thing” response..”. That’s where this one veered out of orbit. Enjoy your thanksgiving holiday.
 
I'm enjoying metatarsalgia as I hunt my general Montana elk tag. But, I'm not bringing a tent. mtmuley
 
So originally it’s was all gonna be diy on public but after looking into the logistics and access for or unit we ended up hiring a guide to go with. We will be hunting public free ranging Audad in New Mexico. I just hired a guy to help me get into the spots we wouldn’t know how if people want one I’d be happy to do it I just didn’t know if they did since after drawing we decided to book it
Good luck! Report back to us! Hopefully you find a 30" ram. Those things are so fun to hunt
 
Dogs chasing cars in western hunting these days. All these people putting in for tags everywhere that won’t know what to do when they catch one. Not saying that’s what happened here. But it’s happening a lot from just the ones I seem to hear about
 
It’s certainly easier to villainize someone if you don’t know much about them. I admitted multiple times now that “shanking the tent” wasn’t my proudest moment. But I’ve also went out numerous times, and although I didn’t post every trip since it would be mundane as I was ultimately unsuccessful, I guess it helps a lot of people sleep at night to assume I hardly went at all, and the ensuing cathartic rage must have its own therapeutic powers.

But probably I’m wrong, and everyone here plus their granny, uncle, kid next door, pet rabbit, etc is more of a hunter, and therefore superior human being, than me.
You should really just be glad this is HT and not the Rok. If you think you are getting it bad here it would be 50 times worse there.
 
It’s certainly easier to villainize someone if you don’t know much about them. I admitted multiple times now that “shanking the tent” wasn’t my proudest moment. But I’ve also went out numerous times, and although I didn’t post every trip since it would be mundane as I was ultimately unsuccessful, I guess it helps a lot of people sleep at night to assume I hardly went at all, and the ensuing cathartic rage must have its own therapeutic powers.

But probably I’m wrong, and everyone here plus their granny, uncle, kid next door, pet rabbit, etc is more of a hunter, and therefore superior human being, than me.
I enjoyed the thread, probably way more than if there was a picture of a dead goat on the first page. Life is a constant learning lesson. I would hope that we all see something in this to take away for our own benefit. We all have a case/tag where we are the dog that catches the car.

Seems there is lots of volunteers for the HT Deciders Committee that will review whether or not someone is hard core enough to even apply for a tag. With that I suspect I will be seeing more ads on HT for divorce attorneys.
 
@PNWGator , my season is over. I won’t be going out again, leaving out of state for thanksgiving. No goat for me.
Well?
As a guy that just loves hunting goats and loves being in the country that they call home, that's disappointing.

Did you ever get a chance to see a goat?

Hope that you and your family have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

PS: On the bright side, you did change HT forever with the "Shank-the-Tent" tag line.
 
Metaphorically speaking there were numerous examples of tent shanking during this thread. Several of them were more motivated from meanness than frustration.

The largest mistake the OP made is posting his knifing of his tent in frustration. It was a bad break that the best access in an already challenging unit was unavailable. Goat hunting is almost never easy, the washed out bridge made the hunt measurably tougher than the normal year.

He tried to balance his luck in drawing the tag with other things in his life. Unless you are single, everything you do should at least consider your other responsibilities.

It is not the end of the world to not succeed in taking a goat. I would wager there were other hunters that did not fill their goat tag this year, maybe in the same unit.
 
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