Who has done a diy mountain goat hunt in the lower 48?

[DonV]

Definitely doable but a partner/spotter can make a HUGE difference. Success rate will double or triple with a good partner/spotter.

 

[Flynarrow]

I don't know if I've read about a greater hunting accomplishment on this forum. Congratulations, I bet you have some incredible memories.

It was a great run before compounds flooded archery. In about 1962 I drew an Idaho archery-only goat permit. I killed one with my trad bow. Later I found out I was the only applicant for the 10 permits available.

 

[squirrel]

Ive done 6 with my own tag and tagged along on a few more with the Princess holding the paper. All mine were solo archery with bow, killed 3, lost one of those. It is very doable but I can see how many would not want to. Tons of nimrods dont want to hunt whitetails without a partner after all. Goats dont amount to too much poundage but the terrain will make him feel like a large bull moose. If the tag is valid you should be on a peak, doesn't mean you have to kill one. Goat country can close very quickly, as in 12 hrs from wildflowers to waist deep conditions. And it melts slowly if at all.
My unfilled tags were the "wait for good hair" hunts that ended up as downhill death marches tripping over my tucked tail. But at least I didn't have to go to the penalty box.

 

[jrabq]

If DIY = unguided, yes I did.

If DIY = totally alone, no, I had help.

Maybe I could have done it alone when much younger, but not at 58. It was also great to have a goat expert for help.

Another Montana Goat Hunt

Just got back from MT last night, it was a relatively short and successful hunt. Short, but tough for an old guy. I got real lucky and drew a tag for the new hunt in unit 361, right on the ID border, west of West Yellowstone. And I also got really, really lucky in that I had help; Pete...

www.hunttalk.com

 

[buffybr]

For those of you who have knocked over a mountain goat-- how do they eat? What would you compare them to? I'm imagining a fairly strong flavor that might do well with Indian spices/preparation.

My mountain goat had a VERY STRONG goat smell. When I got him home I completely boned out and cut out anything white in the meat. The meat still had a strong goat smell, so I took it to a local meat shop and asked them to make the strongest flaver pepperoni sausage that they could. Whebn I got it back, it still stunk lilke goat.

I have 2 upright freezers. I had filled one with my elk of that year, so I put the goat meat in the other. I was out of town for the Christmas-New Years week, and had my neighbor look after my house and feed my horses.

When I got home I noticed that the garage floor by my freezers was scrubbed clean and the freezer with the goat was empty. Evidently, that freezer didn't like the smell of goat either and had quit running. My neighbor had cleaned up everything for me and I didn't have to eat any of that goat. That was back in 1979.

I didn't smell anything that bad until a few years ago when I went on a Dagestan Tur hunt in Azerbaijan. As soon as I walked up to the Tur that I had shot he had that very strong goat smell. My guides boned out every ounce of that Tur meat, then they pounded it into mush and took it home in zip plastic bags. Luckily, I didn't have to eat any of it either.