Alaska Goat Hunt advice Update

[10heiau]

The bow! Take the bow! Whatever you take though, you are a lucky man just to be going on this hunt. I am jealous. A bow would be ever so challenging but the satisfaction would be absolutley, bar none top notch. Good luck to you! Post pictures when you're successful!

[Big10gauge]

Good luck on your hunt

[bowelkin]

I have spent a fair amount of time after goats in S.E. alaska.  What part?  You know that to get to the goats you will probably be walking on bear trails.  The areas I hunted had only brown bears.  What kind of info do you need?
bowelkin

[Bighorse]

Rifle and rug

The more important questions have yet to be asked............

Where are you hunting in SE?  Come on man, it isn't WA and we talk about where we hunt here in a general sense of course.  All those tags are over the counter and we got goats, more importantly we don't have too many hunters.

Good luck

[Gringo31]

My brother lives in Juneau.  We'll have to see how many goats are taken this week and check the quota kills.  I have decided to take my bow, worst case scenario, I can borrow a rifle from either of my brothers who will have theirs.

[klickman]

The best and most important  thing to take good raingear. Goretex will fail and you will be wet and miserable. Good luck

[MikeWalking]

X2 

SE Alaska will prove Gortex is not waterproof, packstraps and such will push water through. PVC.

[Vek]

Helly impertech raingear, at the very least.  No goretex.  A lot of guys buy a duplicate pair of hunting boots and have them caulked/corked/whatever.  Probably too late in your case.  Instead, bring a pair of 6-pt crampons.  Stubai probably has the best.  This for wet alpine vegetation on steep slopes.  If you fall on that stuff wearing rubber raingear, someone will have to squeegee your smeared self off of the rock or tree at the bottom of the hill.  Also recommend a hiking pole or two, and at least an idea of how to arrest a fall with it.  Ice axe better still.  They're not just for glaciers and snowfields. 

Bow or rifle decision is probably the least important thing in gearing up for this trip. 

[Bighorse]

Also consider your hunting tactics carefully.  A bow may leave you wanting for daylight and access.  A bow shot goat will and can head into country very very unforgiving for humans.  The above advice in regards to terrain, self arresting, and gear is solid.  Goat hunting is a very strategic event.  You gear and know how are crucial to success.  Once you commit to a given hill your likely gonna find yourself in the unknown and all your estimates of travel time and feasibility will be in question. 

Where and how you harvest has a direct impact on the quality of your anticipated trophy and your ability to retrieve it.   

Good luck, it's a hum dinnger of a hunt.  I've harvested two brown bears and the goats I've taken have by far been much more scary and dangerous.

[Gringo31]

Quick update...I got a cam issue on my bow that I thought I'd have ready but don't.  I'll be taking the rifle.  If all goes well, I'll have pics and stories when I get back on Nov 3rd.

[Gringo31]

I'm back in Juneau now....

Good hunt, learned lots, saw some awesome country.  I have very few pictures (when you start at sea level and hike to 3500 feet, weight is a factor).

More later....

[87Ford]

Looking forward to hearing about your hunt and seeing some pics..

[Gringo31]

So, here's the quick story.

We went up to Haines Alaska, got settled in and hit the field to scout around noon.  We spotted some "easy" goats that were up the mountain about 2000 feet.  Two and a half hours later we were on em but only saw 2 nannies and a kid.  (from below 2 billies could be spotted in a canyon, remember that these canyons/slides/wash/ whatever you want to call em run vertical).  Long story short, first day we got into em but due to time restraints, we were only really in them for 45 min and came down right at dark.

Next day, we went up at daylight after spotting a bunch of goats (a dozen or so) way up high just above the snow line.  Our elevation at the start is basically sea level and off we went.  About noon, we were at 3500 feet.  We grabbed a quick sandwich and finally were above the snow, out of the alders and in a spot we had some visibility.  While we knew the goats were off to our left, visibility was good to our right and I decided to take a "quick" look.  I walked 300 yards or so and spotted a goat about our level and we decided to look it over a bit more closely.  It stood there a bit, then bedded down on a rock quartering towards us.  I ranged it at 330 yards.  My older brother and I decided to put a stalk on it and about 30-40 min later, with him 20 yards below me he says to me "130 yards".  The goat is still out of view to me so I dropped down to his level and there it is.  I asked him if he was going to take him but he is hesitant.  My brother wants the perfect shot and situation if at all possible and was saying how he wished he was broadside and was concerned about him falling off the back side that we couldn't tell what all was there.  So.....he says he'll pass.  I told him if he didn't want it, I'd take him.  So, I drop to my belly, put the scope on him and it gets up and quarters away looking as though it has had enough of us.  I told him I'd take a high shoulder shot and touched off.

I still can see that goat's legs bounce off it's belly in mid air and bang flop.....then one kick and down the hill it went.  My view was blocked then through an opening I saw it still tumbling, lost sight of it again and was watching WAY down the slide but never saw it.  I didn't realize at the time that there was a huge cliff in between me and my goat.  You could walk up to the edge of it and look down 80-120 feet and it was only 20 yards across.  We tried to find our way down and around with no luck.  So we went back up and found a way over and finally made our way to it, 2 hours after I had shot.  It only went down hill about 200 yards but did break off one horn at the base, the hide was/is holding it in place.  I was kicking myself some when I realized it was a nanny.  Granted, I'm happy with it, 8" first goat, but I had thought it was a smaller billy.  The bullet took out the top of the shoulders, lungs and spine.

We boned it out, and packed up the cape and meat and started looking for a way off the mountain.  THAT was no easy task.  One of the locals told us later he always figured those goats in that particular area were "safe".  We found our way side-hilling across 4-5 big slides, some of which were damn nasty and long story not so short, came out with head lamps on 40 min or so after dark. 

The next day I took off, and sat around feeling sore.  My brothers were unable to ever get a shot, had some good Billys they were chasing but the terrain always proved to be inaccessible.  They either couldn't get to where they needed to, or the goats in range they didn't think they would be able to retrieve.  I still wonder had I not turned right the day I shot mine, if we would have gotten into the whole mess of em and had a real shootout....but, all in all a great trip.

So here a few things I learned.

If you have good weather, you best take advantage of it.  You can get socked in for a few days real easy.
You will find out quickly that a rifle makes a good walking stick.
Whatever shape you are in.....it's not enough.
When scanning hillsides, if you see vegetation, that means that it's possible to climb.

And last but not least...... I don't think you hunt goats, you earn them.

Gringo

[jackelope]

Congrats man!! good story, sounds like a great experience.

[Austrian Hunter]

Congrats... cool story!! Thanks for sharing!