Goat Rocks mountain goat permits

[Threewolves]

Getting back to the GR permits. One reason for the reduced number  of tags could be tribal take. I talked to two Nisqually guys last fall (2022), and one of them said he and another member both took goats in the Goat Rocks. Seemed like it was recent, like in the last few years.





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[jackelope]

Getting back to the GR permits. One reason for the reduced number  of tags could be tribal take. I talked to two Nisqually guys last fall (2022), and one of them said he and another member both took goats in the Goat Rocks. Seemed like it was recent, like in the last few years.





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The tribes have been hunting there all along.

[jackelope]

Had some communication with a WDFW ungulate specialist responsible for the goats. Their thought is the population has dropped drastically. He said I probably hunted the Goat Rocks when it was in it's prime in 2017. Said they think the goat population now is likely half of what it was in 2017. I can buy that. I asked if predators were a cause or if there were any respiratory disease issues causing problems. That answer was no. Bio said likely drought summers followed by severe winter weather is likely the most significant cause of the decline.
I asked about the capture project. Haven't gotten a response on that yet.

[Rainier10]

I wonder if the goats moved. Goat rocks west is a popular hiking area and hiking got really popular during Covid. I wonder if increased traffic in the area pushed goats out to other areas that they aren’t looking at for counting goats.

[2MANY]

All Goat Rock species are currently in a serious decline.
Except humans of course.

Like everything else it once was incredible.

[jackelope]

2017. All the little white dots …

[Threewolves]

I wonder if the goats moved. Goat rocks west is a popular hiking area and hiking got really popular during Covid. I wonder if increased traffic in the area pushed goats out to other areas that they aren’t looking at for counting goats.

Could be they drift around a bit. The hikers don't seem to bother them much. I've been messing around the GR since 1988. Walked through groups of them, they didn't seem to care. I was taking a break from glassing one morning, I was glassing from the sleeping bag, on a little spur off a main ridge. I saw two goats way off, but heading my way. I lost track of them and I was taking a little snooze. I heard some noise, hooves on rocks and woke up to see a goat at the end of my sleeping bag. I laid real still. The goat seemed focused on the direction it was heading and just walked away. Pretty cool.

 

[Stein]

I wonder if the goats moved. Goat rocks west is a popular hiking area and hiking got really popular during Covid. I wonder if increased traffic in the area pushed goats out to other areas that they aren’t looking at for counting goats.

You should ask them if there are any collars they are tracking.

This is from 2022, they mentioned dip, must be much more than a dip in 2023.

The southern Washington Cascade Mountains support a robust population of mountain goats.
Areas with goat populations span the boundaries of WDFW districts. Specifically, the Goat
Rocks population lies in both Districts 8 and 10, while the Mount St. Helens population lies in
Districts 9 and 10.

Goat populations in the Goat Rocks area have dipped in recent years and currently stand at
roughly 175. Tag numbers have been adjusted downward and hunters fortunate enough to
draw these permits should still enjoy a successful hunt. The Goat Rocks area has been divided
into two hunt areas. Selected hunters need to review the boundaries of the hunt areas before
going afield.

Chelan prospects report had much more data showing the decline for the past several years as well as the target population of 100 necessary to support hunting.