Post by: tman24 on October 10, 2021, 09:20:40 PM
First thing was to get all information I could to identify a mature billy and then how do I get in position to kill him in a spot that I can get to him. Both easier said than done. I started taking all identification tests that most states offer when that have a mountain goat hunt. I also watched all videos that I could find on mountain goats. I also have never stepped foot in Goat Rocks. I started internet scouting Goat Rocks area also. I was anxious to get boots on the ground and get up in the mountains and start scouting.
My plan was to start at Berry Patch and go up to goat lake and glass everything I can get glass on. My first trip was in late July. The trailhead is 3 hrs. from my front door and I arrived at 7 am for my day scout trip. I was shocked at how many vehicles and people were at the trailhead. I read it was a popular trail, but that blew my mind on the amount of people at Berry Patch. I found a parking spot and got going up the hill. My first mistake I realize is I dressed too warmly. I get a couple miles in and start stripping off everything that I can to get cooler on my hike. I drop into Jordan Basin and look out over the basin and see a wall of fog. Kind of disappointing. I decided to continue up to goat lake. As i was making my way up, I would glass the few seconds that fog would roll out and the new fog roll in. I get to goat lake and see a sea of tents. Take a lunch and then start my way back to Berry Patch. On the way back, the valley cleared up and I was able to glass a lot of ground. No goats seen this day.
My next trip was in August. This time i decided to head out from Snowgrass. I again get to the trailhead early and still in disbelief about how many people are at the trailhead. My plan is to go to goat lake from this side of the trail. Weather was good, but couldn't find a goat. I make it to goat lake and finally find some goats in the little basin at goat lake. Finally found what I'm looking for. I only have binos on this trip and realize that I need a my spotting scope in order to get a better idea of what I'm looking at.. I'm almost positive that it was a family group of nannies and kids, but I can't be completely positive. Another thing that I see that has me concerned, is how do I get to them. I thought I should be able to get on a ridge, but looking at that plan, I'm not too sure. On a side note, a lot of the hikers on both of these trips were interested on what I was looking for and were very pleasant to talk to and even offered me different locations of where they have seen goats. It was great talking to them and they were all polite and a pleasure sharing information. I decide that I would come back in late September on my next trip and this time be ready for a hunt.
Late September rolls in and I'm disappointed with my archery elk hunt from a few weeks earlier. I have my 17 year old son with me and we get to Berry Patch early and I'm surprised that there are only a half dozen vehicles at the trail head. We start up the trail and didn't run into anyone until we drop into Jordan Basin. Weather is clear and we can see alot of ground. We glass, then move and repeat. We finally see a goat across the basin on a rock face. It's a lone goat, and we try to hurry to get the spotting scope out to try to identify the goat. We were not fast enough as the goat went straight up the rock face and then over the ridge. My son asked how we get to him and I explain our options. Go down and thru the basin and climb up the other side or go up the valley to the beginning of the ridge and work down the ridge. We start going up the ridge and realize that we are hours from getting to the last location of the goat. We decide to continue glassing and see if we can find more goats. We get up to Hawkeye Point and see a goat above goat lake. We wanted to get a closer look, so we head to goat lake. We can see the goat as we go down the trail to goat lake. We get near goat lake and realize that we cannot see the goat. We don't have an angle. We work our way back and see the goat again. This time we see a couple of other goats with this goat. I'm guessing some nannies and kids again. We have ran put of time and head back down the mountain to the truck. Our feet and backs hunt and both think we packed too heavy for this trip. We get home late and tell the wife, in order to properly give myself a proper chance at getting a goat, I'm going to have to camp as long as I can in the unit and hopefully the weather holds out.
I learned from jackelope's thread that weather is a concern. I start watching the weather and see that we may have an opportunity on Saturday the 9th of October for a day trip. We decide to go up the Lily Basin trail to look at the opposite ridge of the solo goat we saw and to check out Johnson mountain, Heart Lake and try to make it to Hawkeye Point. We get to the trailhead and we're the only vehicle at the site. We make our way up the trail and I'm impressed on the trail volunteers that remove the trees out of the trail and keep it maintained. They do an awesome job. We catch glimpses of Packwood Lake on the way up but also see fog up the trail ahead of us. I pray that it clears when we get up there, but it wasn't happening. We get glimpses of the area but not long enough to pick out a goat. There is a skiff of snow in the whole upper area and creek crossings are frozen. Disappointment sets in again as we come back down. Bright side is there is a lot of the season left and I have time to get back into the area. My unknowns and questions I have so far. Does weather move goats down? Do they get as far down as to Snowgrass Flats or Heart Lake? Is there a way to know if fog is in the area? Are there other areas in Goat Rocks, west of the PCT that I should focus on? I'm debating on weather to start packing micro spikes, crampons or snow shoes. Do I pack one, two or all three of the items?
I appreciate your time reading my story and plan on updating this tread as I continue on my journey.
Post by: elkrack on October 10, 2021, 09:50:33 PM
Post by: jackelope on October 10, 2021, 09:56:07 PM
Post by: Skyvalhunter on October 11, 2021, 06:02:24 AM
Post by: jowings22 on October 11, 2021, 07:28:53 AM
Post by: jackelope on October 11, 2021, 08:35:20 AM
I ended up in Jordan Basin the weekend of 10/14. There was 2.5-3' of snow on the ground up there. It sucked. The goats were still there. I was worried about being able to see them, but learned quickly that they're almost a pale yellow color against the snow background. Once you see one, you learn they're not too hard to pick out.
Also, they'll dig out the snow to get to the vegetation and eat. Once we found those spots, there was almost always a goat nearby. I think the goats will eventually move down once the big snow hits, but not right away like deer. I think they'll go into the trees where the snow is not as deep.
I'm 99% sure there are goats at Heart Lake. Not sure about Snowgrass Flat.
I don't know about knowing if there is going to be fog. I would almost say to plan on there always being some degree of fog this time of year.
I packed micro-spikes but never used them. The 14th weekend when I was up there I would have paid hundreds of dollars to have snowshoes, but I'm not sure about the weight penalty of carrying them, especially when it's cold and you have to carry extra gear. I would pack micro-spikes and trekking poles. Honestly in my opinion, if you're up there when you need snowshoes, you maybe shouldn't be in the places that the goats live.
There are a lot of spots on the west side of the unit where you'll find goats, but the biggest concentrations of goats are in the areas you're already in as I recall.
Judging by the weather forecast, it's going to get ugly up there this week. Pray for a warm spell. I killed mine 10/28/17. It was 65 degrees and there was almost no snow up there 2 weeks after I was sure my hunt was over and I was going to eat my tag.
Post by: jackelope on October 11, 2021, 08:43:04 AM
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211011/e30ec7a920d3837c505a99dd247c778e.jpeg)
10/28 weekend.
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211011/d769e644854bdd891518f0062092f106.jpeg)
Post by: jackelope on October 11, 2021, 08:45:22 AM
Post by: jackelope on October 11, 2021, 08:52:10 AM
Post by: hunterednate on October 11, 2021, 09:22:54 AM
Post by: whacker1 on October 11, 2021, 10:17:44 AM
Post by: Jpmiller on October 11, 2021, 10:20:15 AM
Post by: Big6bull on October 11, 2021, 10:38:39 AM
Good luck
Post by: X-Force on October 11, 2021, 11:14:12 AM
Goat country is awesome
Post by: Skinnyguts on October 11, 2021, 01:21:57 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on October 11, 2021, 02:05:33 PM
Post by: HikerHunter on October 12, 2021, 09:24:23 AM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 12, 2021, 07:22:19 PM
Post by: jackelope on November 06, 2021, 08:27:22 PM
@tman24
Post by: tman24 on November 07, 2021, 04:42:06 AM
Post by: time2hunt on November 07, 2021, 05:52:21 PM
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Smokepoker on November 07, 2021, 11:03:20 PM
Post by: LDennis24 on November 08, 2021, 05:58:22 AM
Post by: boneaddict on November 08, 2021, 06:38:15 AM
Post by: Rainier10 on November 08, 2021, 07:14:01 AM
Good luck and be safe.
Post by: hunterednate on November 08, 2021, 08:34:29 AM
Post by: LDennis24 on November 08, 2021, 08:56:39 AM
Post by: tman24 on November 30, 2021, 07:17:35 PM
Post by: Jpmiller on November 30, 2021, 07:19:13 PM
Post by: Jason on November 30, 2021, 07:28:23 PM
Got a goat down late this afternoon. Heading back up in the morning to pack out. I'll post an update and story later this week.:tup: Can’t wait to read the update.
Post by: jackelope on November 30, 2021, 07:29:56 PM
Got a goat down late this afternoon. Heading back up in the morning to pack out. I'll post an update and story later this week.Hell yaassss!!
Congrats man.
Post by: redi on November 30, 2021, 07:31:00 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on November 30, 2021, 07:32:11 PM
Got a goat down late this afternoon. Heading back up in the morning to pack out. I'll post an update and story later this week.Hell yaassss!!
Congrats man.
Post by: Stein on November 30, 2021, 07:33:29 PM
:tup:
Post by: LDennis24 on November 30, 2021, 08:31:48 PM
Post by: DeerThug on November 30, 2021, 08:54:15 PM
That is right in where I hunted and got my goat.
Need the pics and the rest of the story.
Post by: ShaneTyTrey on November 30, 2021, 09:59:40 PM
Post by: whacker1 on December 01, 2021, 07:45:57 AM
Post by: hunterednate on December 01, 2021, 08:40:12 AM
Post by: dewandgin on December 01, 2021, 09:05:36 AM
Post by: X-Force on December 01, 2021, 09:14:34 AM
Post by: LDennis24 on December 03, 2021, 08:29:09 AM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 03, 2021, 09:37:30 AM
@tman24
Post by: jstone on December 03, 2021, 09:42:45 AM
Post by: 2MANY on December 03, 2021, 09:55:40 AM
Post by: Jpmiller on December 03, 2021, 10:35:40 AM
C'mon! Your killing us!
Glad I'm not the only one dying to hear the story and see the photos.
Post by: jackelope on December 03, 2021, 02:17:47 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 04, 2021, 08:41:57 AM
Post by: elktracker96 on December 04, 2021, 12:00:56 PM
Post by: LDennis24 on December 04, 2021, 01:00:36 PM
Post by: tman24 on December 04, 2021, 01:34:07 PM
Post by: tman24 on December 04, 2021, 03:03:47 PM
I left home early to get to the trailhead by day break. I pack my snow shoes just in case. Going to Berrypatch trail head, there is snow on the forest service road several miles before the turn. Pull into the trailhead and there is several inches of soft, powdery snow. I think I can make it to the basin and start up the mountain, but take my snow shoes just in case. I'm able to get a mile in before I need the snowshoes. This is my first time using snow shoes and I awkwardly start walking up. Going slow and listening to my downloaded podcast, I get to a point where I have no idea where the trail is or the route I should take. I look at the time and distance on my phone and see I have been hiking for 5 hours and was almost 4 miles in. Not good in my mind. I glass the areas that I can easily glass and make a plan to head back. I make it back to the trailhead disappointed, frustrated and rejected. Thinking to myself that I'm too late into the season and I wasted this tag, I head back to the highway.
I get on the phone with my wife and explain my thoughts and frustration with myself and she suggests that I stay in Packwood and try some other areas that other members have suggested to look. I reluctantly agree and start looking over maps. My plan is to try Walupt lake area. Next day, I head up to Walupt lake and I look up towards Angry Mountain and see goats on the mountain. I'm not sure on how to get to them, so I keep going to the lake. The advice that I got for hunting the lake area, is to get a boat and got on the lake, glass the areas above the lake, beach the boat and go after the goats. Sounds easy, but I don't have a boat. I make a plan of going down the trail to the far end of the lake and glass from the shore. I get to the far end, see some otters in the lake and glass up the rocks. I immediately spot 3 or 4 goats, one looks like a billy. The are 500 yards from my location. I think about taking a shot but want a closer look and make a plan to head up and try to sidehill above them and then drop down. 2 hours and 1100 ft. of elevation gain, I'm overlooking the area I think the goats were at. I spent a lot of time looking this area over. I don't see anything, so I head back down to the trail. I get back to the shore to glass back up the rocks and spot them quite a ways to the west of the last place I seen them. I didn't have time or leg strength to go back up after them. I head home and have a new, excited outlook knowing that my season was not over. I made arrangements to be back to my hunt from the day after Thanksgiving until the season ending of November 30th.
Post by: X-Force on December 04, 2021, 03:14:19 PM
Post by: tman24 on December 04, 2021, 03:23:22 PM
Post by: Jpmiller on December 04, 2021, 05:06:25 PM
Post by: tman24 on December 04, 2021, 05:25:28 PM
Sunday the 28th comes and back to Walupt lake. I plan on my glassing from shore again, hoping that I can spot something and they didn't move up with the receding snow. I get to my spot and don't see anything. I glass for hours and get thinking the goats have moved out of the area. I get back to my truck and decide to find some other areas to glass near the road on the way out. I find several areas that I can glass and can't seem to find anything. On my way out, I decide to look up at Angry Mountain again. I spot 2 goats on the top of some wicked rock face. I mark the area on my Onx and make a plan to try and get to them on Monday.
Monday morning I determined to go up Angry Mountain trail, thinking I can make it to my marked location in a few hours. Boy, was I wrong. The trail is steep and all uphill. After 6 miles, I get to my marked location. I hunt the top area and look over anything I can find to hopefully find the 2 goats I seen a day earlier. No luck on the goats and I head back and walk the last 3-4 miles with a head lamp. I get back to my truck exhausted and defeated, knowing my last day is the following day.
I wake up and my body is sore and I'm exhausted, but it's the last day. My plan is to go back to Walupt lake and glass from the shore. I really didn't have confidence on my plan, but it was my last shot and somewhere I felt I could get into easier than the other areas I have been at the whole season. I get to my spot and I immediately spot 3-4 goats. I know 1 of the goats is a kid and 1 is probably a nannie. I'm not sure of the other 1 or 2 but I was going up to get a closer look. I take my previous route of straight up the hill. I make it to the top and plan on going across the rim of the face of rocks/cliffs and hopefully look down onto them. I move slow and pick a part the landscape. I notice the weather is changing and rather quickly. It goes from blue sky and sun to fog, clouds and sideways rain in a quick fashion. I still work around the rim and duck in and out of the timber. I can't see more than 50-100 yards and think to myself, well this is it, time to head out and get home. I was thinking about the thousands of things I could of done differently and knowing I'll probably never be able to draw this tag again. I work my way into the timber and start finding a bunch of fresh sign of goats. I also find a horse camp in the middle of nowhere, wish I would of known this earlier. Time comes that I know I need to go back down and head to the truck. I make the plan to hunt the ridge down to the lake on my way out. I pop out of the timber and look to my right and a goat stands up 20-30 yards from me.
Post by: Rainier10 on December 04, 2021, 06:30:02 PM
Post by: Jason on December 04, 2021, 06:32:09 PM
Post by: Jpmiller on December 04, 2021, 06:34:53 PM
Post by: Widgeondeke on December 04, 2021, 06:34:57 PM
Post by: fishngamereaper on December 04, 2021, 06:38:22 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 04, 2021, 07:35:35 PM
Post by: jackelope on December 04, 2021, 07:43:55 PM
Post by: jackelope on December 04, 2021, 07:59:07 PM
This is what it said:
I throw my rifle up and look at it quickly through my scope. I'm 95% positive it's a billy, i take aim at the shoulders and fire. Happened so quick. I put the rifle down and just see a rock the goat was on. I got really confused, how did it not drop right there? Where did it go, did I miss? I run to the rock and see a tuft of hair but no blood. I look over the rock cliff and it's a good 30-40 foot drop straight down to the next bench. I see what I think is patches of hair, but can't verify until I get there. I work my way down the edge area, trying to find a way to the bench below. I find a crease in the rocks and am able to climb down to the lower bench. I confirm the hair in several areas. I'm nervous walking on this sidehill due to the rocks being set and steepness. I work my way to the small patches of trees on the bench trying to figure out a safe way to get lower. I look up again and see 2 goats on a rock overlooking the next lower bench. 1 goat is a kid and the other is a nannie. I start wondering again, did I shoot at the nannie up above? Did I shoot this goat and wound it, should I shoot again? I work back around the patch of trees on the bench and the 2 goats are gone. I'm able to work down to the rock they were standing on and there was a goat, all dirty and not moving. The goat is right next to another cliff, which is much bigger than the one above me. I'm able to get by the goat and it wasn't breathing and I was able to poke it and I verified that it was indeed a dead goat. It was my goat. Such a relief.
Now the hard work. I know I need help with the goat. I didn't feel comfortable on the rock cliff and on the wet rocks and I know it's getting late and I didn't want to be on the bluff in the dark or going down to the trail in the dark. I make the decision to get to my truck and then call reinforcement's for the next day. I send my buddies the pin location and we make plans for the morning.
We get up to the trailhead and plan on going along the lake trail and then hike up to the goat. It's only 600 yards off the trail, but it might as well have been 100 miles. We hike up and get within 100 of the goat. We see it on the ledge. Only problem is, we are cliffed out and cannot make it any higher to the goat. We make it back down to the trail and it's too late to make it back up to the goat with any daylight left. Defeated, we begrudgingly head back to service for more reinforcements. My 2 buddies couldn't make it back the next day so we reached out to more people we know and got another couple buddies to come help the following day.
We get back to the trail the next morning and with a new plan of hitting the trail to Nannie peak and then come down again. While starting on the trail, my one buddy tells me that there's a guy coming to help, no one in our group has met or talked to the guy but he's helped pack out a goat already this year and he wants to help. I'm all for the more help. We get a mile or 2 up the trail and turn around and there's a guys buzzing up the trail. We introduce ourselves and have great conversation going up the trail. We make it to the old horse camp and then me and the new guy make it down to the goat. We spent several hours working on moving the goat and processing the goat. We get it all packed out and to the truck a little short of 12 hours from the time we started on the trail.
The next pictures are my first time putting my hands on and seeing exactly what I had killed. It was an amazing experience and I'm forever grateful for the help and can never thank anyone who helped me with this hunt. It's amazing how many great people are on here that help total strangers without asking for anything in return.
Post by: jackelope on December 04, 2021, 08:03:53 PM
I pm’d you my cell #. Text them to me. I’ll resize them and add them.
Post by: jackelope on December 04, 2021, 08:07:31 PM
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211205/f75079500281ee0f35aa8da289072bc8.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211205/6cbd6db0ac9eec453bd3154b91ef05e5.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211205/24e8d38bd73ae8ba9af1c7e1a7f8fbf0.jpg)
Post by: LDennis24 on December 04, 2021, 08:25:27 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on December 04, 2021, 08:38:10 PM
Post by: actionshooter on December 04, 2021, 08:48:51 PM
Post by: X-Force on December 04, 2021, 09:13:31 PM
You kept hammering. Sometimes that’s what it takes.
Congrats!
Post by: trophyhunt on December 04, 2021, 10:48:42 PM
Post by: teanawayslayer on December 05, 2021, 05:09:32 AM
Great story, congrats! 8-9” horns??:yeah: hard to tell from the pics
Post by: Naches Sportsman on December 05, 2021, 05:32:17 AM
Post by: grimace on December 05, 2021, 06:24:15 AM
Post by: LDennis24 on December 05, 2021, 09:28:52 AM
Post by: jackelope on December 05, 2021, 10:06:10 AM
Post by: fishngamereaper on December 05, 2021, 10:33:40 AM
Nice goat.
Maybe one day.
Post by: Threewolves on December 05, 2021, 11:00:22 AM
T-man, way to go, one foot in front of the other. You made it happen, congratulations! look for my PM.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on December 05, 2021, 11:14:50 AM
Post by: Wanttohuntmore on December 05, 2021, 06:02:44 PM
Post by: whacker1 on December 05, 2021, 06:41:38 PM