Boulder River North Goat 2016

[Falcon]

RB

Congrats on a great billy and truly an adventure in some rough country.   Loved the write up and great pics. Memories that will last forever

[dreadi]

 Wow. This is great! Do you think the missed shots were due to the angle you were shooting from? I've been told that the powder burns different when you have you point the rifle higher and higher.

[JoeE]

Congrats on the goat! Great story.

[RB]

Oh it ain't over yet the hard work is yet to come. It was nice that there happened to be cell service from the spot the Goat went down, so the first person I had to call was my brother. We had talked a lot about this hunt because he has done a few Goat hunts in SE Alaska. I had hoped to fly him down to go with me, but it just would not materialize due to his work deadlines.

Set everything out and began butchering by making a cut down the back to skin the entire hide off of him. I was not one hundred percent sure what I was going to do for a mount yet and after talking with my taxidermist it was decided to skin for a full mount then decide since hide could not be added later, but could be cut away. It took quite a while to get the first half off boned out and put in bags, then roll over and get the other half of the meat off and finally the rest of the hide. One of the hardest parts was doing this on a steep slope.

I was so engrossed with cutting I did not notice the clouds and fog that rolled in until visibility was only few feet! It was then I realized my exit plan would not work due to the steepness, weight of my pack, and now not being able to see more than about 100 feet. I fired up my GPS and knew the trail was down the other side of the ridge I came up so I hauled everything to the top. My idea was to leave the pack (which was around 90 pounds) and pick my way down the rocks to the trail in the fog with rifle and GPS in hand. I wanted to make sure I could get to the trail and not burn excess energy if I could not easily get to it.

As I made my way through the fog the trail showed on my screen and was not too far in front of me, but the fog was really thick and visibility was still about 50-100 feet depending on the wind gust. Thankfully my GPS was spot on and I was able to safely get to the trail, so back up the hill I went to get my pack. I was running low on gas so a quick snack and more hydration then on with the pack and down the rocks to the trail.

When I finally reached the trail it was nearly on cue the clouds parted and it was clear and sunny again! As I made my way back to camp lots of emotions started to flood over me (mostly due to fatigue) but sense of pride, accomplishment and thankfulness for such an amazing day. When I reached camp off came the pack and a quick celebratory shot of whiskey from my flask before taking the meat bags out to cool and get ready for dinner.

I think I sent a text to most of the world from my Delorme InReach while I had dinner in the dark then off to bed.

[X-Force]

Awesome thread.

[hunting4sanity]

I'm hoping there's even more to come, but I gotta say CONGRATULATIONS!
Doing this alone and coming out with a great goat has got to be as satisfying as it was exhausting.

[RB]

That night was not very restful getting all my crap off the mountain was weighing on my mind. Do I leave stuff and come back? Do I bury some stuff and leave it for good? Remember it took me six hours to get there with a 60 pound pack, so maybe it would only four hours coming in empty then four to five hours out again still a long doggone day.

I finally settled on loading as much as I could into/onto my pack and what did not fit would go into a big trash bag and hand carried. Daylight came and I was not moving very fast, but knew it had to get done, so up and at it. The worst part was it had clouded up in the night cooled way down and was raining hard! After breakfast I walked over to use the pit toilet and on my way back notice a giant pile of Bear poop about 50 yards from camp time to go!

I have carried some heavy loads before, but this one took the cake. My trash bag had probably 30 pounds of gear in it and my pack was busting at the seams! Down the trail I went! Made it about 100 yards and had to switch hands with the trash bag. As I walked my arms began to fatigue between using my rifle as a trekking pole and caring the trash bag, so I set a goal make it to Saddle Lake with the bag and regroup there.

To say it was slow going would be a gross miss understatement, but I was making progress. After reaching Saddle Lake I dropped my pack and added a few layers to warm up, hydrate, have a snack, and stash my trash bag to retrieve in a couple days. Grunt and groan to pack up again and down the trail for the truck.

When I reached the trail head mild hypothermia was setting in, but I knew there was only two miles to go. I have to say the last two miles were the worst even walking on a smooth gravel road. I finally reached my truck nine hours after I had left my camp. I dropped the tailgate and heaved my pack into the back, and almost fell face first onto the ground.

I did it! Solo backpack into the wilderness shot a Goat and made it out. I changed my thermal top and added a layer before getting into the truck because I was shivering pretty hard. Down the mountain headed for home and a warm meal, and hot shower

[RB]

Having left on Wednesday, shot the Goat on Thursday, packed out on Friday, I needed a day off! As much as I wanted to sleep in on Saturday morning there was work to do. I contacted my taxidermist and set up a time to drop off the cape, but first there was meat to take care of, so I trimmed meat and dropped it off with the butcher for grind and the rest waited to go into the freezer.

I made it to my taxidermist (shameless plug for Fidalgo Taxidermy  ) and after quite a bit of deliberation I decided on a half mount. The taxidermist did a quick measurement for me and my Billy was 8 1/2 on the right and 8 3/4 on the left, I did not ask about diameter. Also he was estimated at six years old.

Home to finish wrapping the rest of the meat and gathering equipment for the next day to go retrieve the rest of my gear!

[RB]

Sunday morning came quick and my legs and back were still feeling it, but there was gear to get and wanted to get it done with hopes of watching the Seahawks later in the day, so back up the mountain.

I arrived to find three rigs at the washout and ran into four people on the trail. It is amazing how fast I was able to make it to saddle lake with an empty pack  plus this time I did not have my rifle just my 45 tucked under my arm. I have not used trekking poles much, but those things are awesome.

I made it to my stash and thankfully it was all there, snapped a few pictures, had a quick celebratory shot of whiskey out of my flask and bombed down the mountain for the truck. When I arrived to my truck there were two more rigs and one of the others was gone. On my way out I did not pass another rig until almost to the bridge and a sheriff was on his way up. I stopped and told him I was on my way out and he thanked me for heading out and warned me about the coming road closer and asked why I was up there. When I told him why I was up there he thought that was really cool and wanted to see pictures. We chatted for a bit and we parted ways so he could check on the other rigs up the road.

If I could do this hunt again I would do it tomorrow!

[Ridgerunner]

Wow that is one heck of a mountain goat hunt, anyone who draws that tag better eat their wheaties.  Two years and two intense hunts for sure!


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[ShaneTyTrey]

Congrats, what an awesome adventure, thanks for sharing!

[Boss .300 winmag]

Congrats, what an awesome adventure, thanks for sharing!

 

Someday I might draw the goat tag. Until this happens I'll just live in the stories of others great hunts.

[hunting4sanity]

Congrats again RB. +1 on trekking poles, especially with a heavy pack they make a lot of difference.

[lokidog]

Awesome!   

[Timberstalker]

Wow.  What a hunt.  Great write up. Thanks for sharing your adventure.