What would be the best advise for NR DYI Mountain Goat hunt with no points?

mtmuley said:
Yep. You are right there also. That's in my plan, but this year I know work will prohibit any goat hunt. So, building points with 240. If I draw my sheep tag, I'll quit my job. mtmuley
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And, a sheep tag would give you a reason to trade that RUM in for a Creedmoor! 😀

OP, I was going to put in for Idaho goat this year, but I think I have changed my mind. So, there is one less person you have to be luckier than.
 
BAKPAKR said:
And, a sheep tag would give you a reason to trade that RUM in for a Creedmoor! 😀
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The list of cartridges is a long one before I would carry a Creedmoor. The OP has a lot of studying to do to find the best odds. mtmuley
 
Believe it or not, Nevada is a great state for Mt. Goats. Not sure of the draw odds, worth looking into. Also, in some states a NR, actually has a better chance of being drawn than do residents. You will have to study each states regs carefully.
 
I don't know what middle aged is, but I'm 50 and don't think I'm there yet.
If you have no points, apply where anyone has a chance of drawing, not just those with the most points. Odds will still be low, but they won't be zero.
If you really want to do a goat hunt before it's too late. you might want to consider guided in BC or Alaska. Might not be the DIY hunt you've dreamed of, but it will still be an awesome experience.
I've hunted a lot of goats in a lot of places. Most DIY but some guided. They were all special. Goat country is something I dream of most nights. If guided was the only way I could get there, that's how I'd go.

One thing I started doing is taking a scouting trip in the summer to the goat area I apply for in MT. Most likely I will never draw the tag, but I still get to go and hunt them in my own way each year. If I do draw a tag, I'll be ready.
 
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kodiakisland said:
I don't know what middle aged is, but I'm 50 and don't think I'm there yet.
If you have no points, apply where anyone has a chance of drawing, not just those with the most points. Odds will still be low, but they won't be zero.
If you really want to do a goat hunt before it's too late. you might want to consider guided in BC or Alaska. Might not be the DIY hunt you've dreamed of, but it will still be an awesome experience.
I've hunted a lot of goats in a lot of places. Most DIY but some guided. They were all special. Goat country is something I dream of most nights. If guided was the only way I could get there, that's how I'd go.

One thing I started doing is taking a scouting trip in the summer to the goat area I apply for in MT. Most likely I will never draw the tag, but I still get to go and hunt them in my own way each year. If I do draw a tag, I'll be ready.
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Thanks for this advice. I was thinking of taking a trip to scout to just get an idea about the lay of the land where they live more than anything. I didn't want to say anything because the odds seem so impossible that it may have appeared to be presumptuous. Do you know if they change their range from winter to summer? What would you say would be the best book on the ecology and history of the mountain goat?
 
BrentD said:
you might be able to "accidentally" take one with a car in the Black Hills.

If you are middle aged, your options for lots of species are dwindling fast, really fast :(
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I nearly had a run in with several species with a motorcycle in the black hills including a donkey and a bison. I think that I may have a different idea of what middle age is than most folks. I figure that I have about 25 years of good hunting left in me, maybe 17 years of backcountry hunting; after the 25 years, I'll may only want to sit in a blind with a nice drink.
 
If I were you I would put my funds away for an AK goat hunt bottom line. If you can swing the $330 bucks a year in ID that would be your best odds without points if you insist on DIY. IMO guided or not your gonna earn any goat and feel satisfied after the hunt if successful. It's truly on top of my bucket list and I have been in the game 16 years trying for a tag. The odds seem to get slimmer every year with declining populations and more people putting in.
I am seriously thinking on taking a AK outfitter trip at this point before I'm too old to climb.
 
greatwhitebuffalo said:
What about schmoozing your way in with those dudes who led the assault in the Tetons last year?
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I saw that and there's a tremendous amount of controversy surrounding it. I immediately thought the same thing but I don't know if I would feel good about it afterwards.

The National Park Service started culling Goats on Federal land in the Grand Teton National Park as they are considered an invasive species and are out competing big horn sheep. They did this without consulting the State of WI. The Governor publicly admonished the Park Service for doing this and because of this, the Sec of the Interior ordered the culling by helicopter stopped. The National Park Service began to work with State of WY on how to remove the goats from federal land. They came up with a plan to use State licensed hunters instead of snipers during a hunting season.

It seems that the National Park Service has been supper sensitive after the backlash they got for the initial aerial culling and the situation became very political. After a deeper dive, It looks like those folks in on the hunt were really invited to apply and selected, and those folks suggested people that they knew and so on, (so even though they set up a public process, access was passed really by word of mouth). After that public beating that they took, the Park Service seemed to want to be as quiet as possible while going about it. Because it's a culling, they have to kill animals that you normally wouldn't (nanny's, kids & young males). The hunters can keep the meat of one goat but have to leave the cape & horns where they lay.

Many in the National Park Service wanted to continue with the mission of eradication by helicopter. They apparently killed over 30 animals in 4 hours with the estimated goal of killing 100 goats. They stopped the culling and allowed hunters to come in to shoot them instead. I believe the hunters only shot 16 mountain goats in several weeks. There seems to be a dissatisfaction among Park Service Biologist as to the progress of the culling and how politics became involved with what they considered a federal ecological matter.

“The mountain goat ‘hunt’ in Grand Teton, which runs Sept. 14 to Nov. 13, is hardly a hunt at all,” Mader wrote. “It is the next step in a failed public process, a financially and ecologically costly political interference in an invasive species removal project that could have been completed in days but will now likely last for years. The factors are stacked toward failure with the park’s choice of a volunteer hunt.”

www.jhnewsandguide.com

Inside the goat cull in Grand Teton National Park

“Mountaineering with a rifle” is how Taylor Glenn summed up his first few hours of pursuing mountain goats in Grand Teton National Park.
www.jhnewsandguide.com www.jhnewsandguide.com
 
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Idaho ... best bet @ say 1/75 odds = .01333 (~$330 sunk per year and $2.6k tag)

OR next @ 1/600 = .00167 odds ($180 sunk per year and $1.5k tag)

Call it $500 / year sunk to buy 1.5% odds. $500 / .015 = $33,333 to draw 75 years (100/1.5) from starting out and then buy a pricey tag. If odds didn’t get worse and costs didn’t rise (ha!)

A guaranteed tag / guided hunt for $10k when you want looks pretty good.
 
Cheesehead said:
Idaho ... best bet @ say 1/75 odds = .01333 (~$330 sunk per year and $2.6k tag)

OR next @ 1/600 = .00167 odds ($180 sunk per year and $1.5k tag)

Call it $500 / year sunk to buy 1.5% odds. $500 / .015 = $33,333 to draw 75 years (100/1.5) from starting out and then buy a pricey tag. If odds didn’t get worse and costs didn’t rise (ha!)

A guaranteed tag / guided hunt for $10k when you want looks pretty good.
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So your tell me there is a chance!?
 
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