Goat Rocks East

[fishunt247]

My brother drew Goat Rocks East this year. The start date of October 1 seems awful late for the high country, but it is what it is.
My dad drew the same tag in like 1984 or 85 & killed a goat, so we have that as one starting place. Other than that, we are brand new to goat hunting, as most are who draw a tag I assume.
Any advice on any of the following would be appreciated:
-tips on where you’ve seen goats
-specific land features to narrow our search
-tips on where to look to learn how to judge a billy
-anything else you think could be helpful
I’d welcome a PM.
Thank you in advance.

[time2hunt]

Bear creek lookout


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[The scout]

Best of the goat tags, there are some world class Billy’s in there

[fishunt247]

Thanks time2hunt. That’s the general area Dad killed his in the 80s, and it seems to be a common spot mentioned so far.

[time2hunt]

It’s a great starting point to glass and learn the lay of the land.


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[fishunt247]

Update on the hunt:
My brother killed his goat on day 4 of the hunt. We appreciate those who were willing to share what they knew of the unit. We ended up scouting 6 days plus the full day before the opener. We have only done one backpack hunt together before, so it was fun spending so much time in that wild country. Luckily we are young-ish and in solid shape. I was surprised how far it is to get into goat country in that unit. Nobody should put in for that tag (or any goat tag for that matter) if you aren’t willing to get into shape.

[buglebuster]

Glad to see you guys had a great time and killed a good one! How did Dan do getting in and out of that country?

[fishunt247]

It’s a long story but here’s the gist.
In 6 days of scouting in the area, we think we’ve saw 20-22 total goats.
Saturday (day before the season): We saw one goat in the morning where we’d been seeing one scouting. No other goats. In the evening, a giant herd of 27 appeared on the mountain with one giant Billy & 2 other really big ones, joined the original goat, fed within range of the knob we were glassing from. 8 split off from the group, but we saw all of them bed at dark.
Sunday: we picked up the 8 at first light, but the other 20 vanished, including all of the billies. Moved basins, found a Billy, stalked in & he disappeared. Saw a herd of about 25 that looked like Nannies & kids in the spotter. In hindsight, we should have moved closer because it was probably the same big herd. But it felt like a different new herd at the time. The giant Billy or the other 2 weren’t in the group as far as we could tell.
Monday: put a 2 hour stalk on a goat only to have the wind switch in the final approach & blow it out. No visibility by 11am.
Tuesday: watched a goat all day bed 3 times, never got into a shootable spot. Saw 3 goats in a distant basin.
Wednesday: the one goat kept showing up at daylight below the cliff, then immediately would move up the cliff. So we got in closer before daylight. Picked it up, stalked into 400. It was 1/3 of the way up the cliff/rocks, but he got set up. We waited until it stood, hammered it twice, and it rolled (didn’t fall off anything).

After Sunday, we never saw the big herd. We had patchy snow, and we don’t know where they came from or where they went. We couldn’t pick up their tracks anywhere. Weather was a huge factor. We weee in knee deep drifts Monday morning stalking in on the one goat.

All in all, it’s a super tough hunt but a really cool one in the wilderness with my brother & dad. Goats have to be the most challenging hunt in the state. At least in that unit.

[fishunt247]

Here are a few pictures

[fishunt247]

One more.

[fishunt247]

Glad to see you guys had a great time and killed a good one! How did Dan do getting in and out of that country?

He’s stubborn enough that he got up in there. It was cool to hunt with him in there where he killed his goat. That was the first backpack hunt that the three of us have ever done together.

[buglebuster]

Glad to see you guys had a great time and killed a good one! How did Dan do getting in and out of that country?

He’s stubborn enough that he got up in there. It was cool to hunt with him in there where he killed his goat. That was the first backpack hunt that the three of us have ever done together.

That is awesome, I’m glad you guys got to share that experience!

[LDennis24]

Awesome goat! Nice job! I have been in there just for the hell of it a few times. Jumped lots of goats and contemplated catching an overly curious hoary marmot to bring home and make into a pet...

[teanawayslayer]

Great goat! Thanks for sharing. I know pics never do the steepness justice. But you did a pretty good job of capturing it!

[redi]

Awesome congratulations

[jackelope]

Super awesome.  I feel like I’ve talked to someone every year for the last few years with that permit and I’m guessing you guys saw more goats than any of them. Congrats to all of you on some amazing memories made. 

[blackveltbowhunter]

Great billy and awesome pics and hunt! Congratz!

[Karl Blanchard]

Way to go guys! That's my favorite country in all of WA.

[boneaddict]

That’s an awesome hunt.  Tough country, tough animals and you guys sorted it out.  That’s what it’s all about. 

[fishunt247]

Thanks everyone. Chances are that I won’t ever, but I’d love to draw the same hunt so that my dad, brother, and I could hunt our goats in the same unit.
I think most of us think of OIL tags as a slam dunk opportunity. I can’t speak for others hunts, but this one is far from it. It didn’t end up happening, but I felt like we were one more snow storm away from being stuck hunting the lower ground without many goats.

[fishunt247]

I was surprised that when he checked his goat in that WDFW didn’t ask for locations of all of the goats we saw. I haven’t yet, but I plan to reach out. Anything that helps them get a better understanding of them.
It guess it’s also interesting to me that you can’t hunt the Cowiche unit on that tag. It’s not like those goats are a different herd. They’ve just dispersed.
He didn’t plan to hunt the lower ground unless he got snowed out, but still. To hunt them in the wilderness is to get the full goat experience.

[Klickitatsteelie]

That is unforgiving country no doubt. You earn whatever you take out of there. That hunt should open mid September in my opinion. None the less congrats on a great goat in amazing and rugged country.