Post by: CNELK on July 15, 2025, 06:28:54 PM
I'm still finding it hard to imagine that I have a goat tag. I was fortunate enough to draw this tag with 26 points. I give God all the glory for this opportunity because it couldn’t have come at a better time in my life. In July of last year, I was diagnosed with early-onset parkinsons disease at the age of 37. I’m most certainly not wanting any sympathy by sharing this part of my life, but instead, maybe give others hope that may be facing similar situations, that if God can lead you to hurdles in your life, he will see you through it all. I’m grateful for this opportunity and will not take it for granted.
I’m committed to living this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to the fullest. I'm going to make as many trips up scouting as possible and hopefully find a big old Billy. I have to thank all my family and friends who have fully committed themselves to helping and supporting me along this journey. I am excited to share the mountain with them all this fall.
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Post by: CNELK on July 15, 2025, 06:32:44 PM
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Post by: HntnFsh on July 15, 2025, 06:33:54 PM
Post by: Kingofthemountain83 on July 15, 2025, 07:04:01 PM
Post by: kentrek on July 15, 2025, 07:15:38 PM
Post by: redi on July 15, 2025, 08:04:40 PM
Post by: High Climber on July 15, 2025, 08:06:24 PM
Post by: Pete112288 on July 15, 2025, 08:25:57 PM
Congratulations! That's my dream tag, only goat tag I apply for. Born and raised with that mountain always in the backdrop.
Definitely tagging along for this one.
Post by: Wanttohuntmore on July 16, 2025, 05:28:18 AM
Post by: trophyhunt on July 16, 2025, 05:59:46 AM
Post by: CNELK on July 16, 2025, 07:15:16 AM
Awesome place to hunt! Didn’t you have an elk tag up there a while back? I remember seeing some cool pics you took up there I thought :tup:I did, good memory that was a while ago, but the elk hunt was on the mountain's North side, and my goat hunt is on the south.
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Post by: CNELK on July 16, 2025, 07:22:30 AM
Keep sharing as your adventure goes!Thank you. I will definitely update with lots of pictures. Yeah, that area is very special to me as well. My family grew up going to our family cabin up there. We have tons of memories spent on that mountain, and I look forward to making more.
Congratulations! That's my dream tag, only goat tag I apply for. Born and raised with that mountain always in the backdrop.
Definitely tagging along for this one.
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Post by: CNELK on July 16, 2025, 07:31:32 AM
God is great, sorry to hear about your diagnosis. Congrats on your draw, a true OIL.He certainly is, and thank you!
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Post by: CNELK on July 19, 2025, 05:05:47 PM
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Post by: trophyhunt on July 20, 2025, 08:15:54 AM
Post by: Jpmiller on July 20, 2025, 01:07:47 PM
Post by: trophyhunt on July 20, 2025, 03:00:14 PM
The false hope of going on a goat hunt and razor clamming are the only two things I miss about living in Washington. Good luck to you, and looking forward to the updates.what’s it like in North Dakota? Agree though, salmon fishing and clamming are a must, even if (when) we move to another state!
Post by: Caseknife on July 20, 2025, 03:26:32 PM
Post by: CNELK on July 20, 2025, 04:54:55 PM
Have you had a chance to talk to the biologist? Looking good so far.I did. The biologist was super helpful. The Mt. St. Helens goat herd is healthy and growing, with more than 300. That number is a combination of Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Margaret. From what I observed on my first scouting trip, we saw about 40 goats. About 15-18 were kids, and the rest were Nannies. That is positive to see for the future of that herd. Also, seeing my first four Billies yesterday was super cool. Two of these could have potential that I would love to put my tag on, but the other two may need another year or two. Lots more time for scouting, this experience has been a ton of fun so far!
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Post by: Jpmiller on July 20, 2025, 07:12:37 PM
The false hope of going on a goat hunt and razor clamming are the only two things I miss about living in Washington. Good luck to you, and looking forward to the updates.what’s it like in North Dakota? Agree though, salmon fishing and clamming are a must, even if (when) we move to another state!
Better than Washington in every way but the mountain hunting and ocean fishing. The ice fishing is way better lol
Post by: hunterednate on July 21, 2025, 10:45:37 AM
Post by: GOcougsHunter on July 21, 2025, 12:44:00 PM
Post by: CNELK on July 21, 2025, 01:09:43 PM
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Post by: CNELK on July 24, 2025, 05:38:08 PM
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Post by: High Climber on July 24, 2025, 06:40:30 PM
Post by: hunterednate on July 25, 2025, 09:58:52 AM
I made another trip up the mountain today with my wife and daughter. It was good quality time spent together, and they got to see goats for the first time. We saw three Billys today, and one of them looked good based on body size—too far to tell the size of the horns. All the Billys we saw today were up near the top rim of the mountain. We also saw another group of Nannies and Kids, about 15 total. (https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20250725/ed0c5c528539b0101947d91fffff3b1c.jpg)
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Fantastic. Very special to get your wife and daughter involved in the scouting process. Thanks for the update.
Post by: CNELK on July 27, 2025, 10:21:34 PM
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Post by: Jpmiller on July 28, 2025, 06:59:01 AM
Post by: CNELK on July 28, 2025, 07:07:39 AM
How’s the hiker traffic around there?Tons of people hiking, trail running, and mountain biking.
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Post by: pianoman9701 on July 28, 2025, 08:37:34 AM
Post by: hunterednate on July 28, 2025, 09:30:03 AM
How’s the hiker traffic around there?Tons of people hiking, trail running, and mountain biking.
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Yes, this is one of the reasons they go with the late start date for those tags (Oct. 1). That hiker/backpacker traffic should decrease significantly during your hunt window.
Post by: CNELK on August 16, 2025, 05:16:24 PM
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Post by: Jpmiller on August 16, 2025, 05:30:53 PM
Post by: CNELK on August 16, 2025, 05:52:28 PM
Are you trying to wait for longer hair, or get a goat early before conditions might make it even more difficult?Their coats are already decent in October. I want to hunt earlier to avoid the terrible fall weather—at least, I hope I avoid bad weather. I am taking two weeks off to hunt and have a fantastic group of guys willing to tag along.
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Post by: Widgeondeke on August 16, 2025, 06:05:25 PM
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[/quote]
:tup:
Post by: Jpmiller on August 16, 2025, 07:15:02 PM
Post by: jackelope on August 16, 2025, 08:17:40 PM
Hair is good but not great usually in October.
Ears are 6”ish long on a mature billy for reference. Bases need to be bigger than their eye balls.
If you need help judging mature billies, this video is great. I watched it a bunch.
https://www.utahwildlife.net/threads/mnt-goat-identifying-billies-vs-nannies-video.188417/
Sounds like you’ve got telling Nannies from Billies dialed in but I watched this about 40 times.
Post by: time2hunt on August 16, 2025, 08:43:46 PM
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Post by: CNELK on August 17, 2025, 08:33:10 AM
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20250817/ff9b2b602ef141f0812dabe6952762c9.jpg)
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You gotta worry about weather snowing you out later in the season. It snows, you can’t get to where the goats are because the snow doesn’t phase them and suddenly your OIL permit is down the tubes.
Hair is good but not great usually in October.
Ears are 6”ish long on a mature billy for reference. Bases need to be bigger than their eye balls.
If you need help judging mature billies, this video is great. I watched it a bunch.
https://www.utahwildlife.net/threads/mnt-goat-identifying-billies-vs-nannies-video.188417/
Sounds like you’ve got telling Nannies from Billies dialed in but I watched this about 40 times.
Thank you for sharing, I appreciate it.
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Post by: CNELK on September 03, 2025, 12:27:47 PM
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Post by: JPhelps on September 03, 2025, 02:14:02 PM
I tried changing it in my topic title, but somehow it wouldn’t allow me to. But it was officially announced this morning that I am one of the lucky winners of the Leopold Project Hunt submission! What a crazy, exciting year it has been for me. Drawing my once-in-a-lifetime goat tag and having my hunt professionally filmed by Leupold makes it even more of a dream come true. I have to give a HUGE shout-out to Leopold, in particular Scott and Bruce, for making all of this possible. It is truly a blessing and something I will always be grateful for. I have been diligently scouting, trying to make the most of this opportunity, and soaking it all in. I enjoyed my 6th scouting trip up the mountain with my beautiful wife and daughter again this last weekend. We also shared this trip with one of our close friends and their two kids. Already looking forward to this weekend to spend more time on the mountain.
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Scott and Bruce (hunting with him next week) are awesome!!!! Good luck on your hunt and can't wait to watch it.
Post by: CNELK on September 03, 2025, 02:32:44 PM
Thank you for reaching out, Jason, and wish you all the best of luck this hunting season.I tried changing it in my topic title, but somehow it wouldn’t allow me to. But it was officially announced this morning that I am one of the lucky winners of the Leopold Project Hunt submission! What a crazy, exciting year it has been for me. Drawing my once-in-a-lifetime goat tag and having my hunt professionally filmed by Leupold makes it even more of a dream come true. I have to give a HUGE shout-out to Leopold, in particular Scott and Bruce, for making all of this possible. It is truly a blessing and something I will always be grateful for. I have been diligently scouting, trying to make the most of this opportunity, and soaking it all in. I enjoyed my 6th scouting trip up the mountain with my beautiful wife and daughter again this last weekend. We also shared this trip with one of our close friends and their two kids. Already looking forward to this weekend to spend more time on the mountain.
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Scott and Bruce (hunting with him next week) are awesome!!!! Good luck on your hunt and can't wait to watch it.
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Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 03, 2025, 04:16:18 PM
Post by: Caseknife on September 03, 2025, 05:49:33 PM
Post by: HikerHunter on September 04, 2025, 10:01:10 AM
Post by: hunterednate on September 04, 2025, 10:41:07 AM
Post by: trophyhunt on September 04, 2025, 12:07:51 PM
Post by: time2hunt on September 04, 2025, 06:00:48 PM
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Post by: jason stevens on September 04, 2025, 08:52:10 PM
Post by: milldozer on September 05, 2025, 11:50:51 AM
Post by: CNELK on October 06, 2025, 08:21:42 AM
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Post by: GOcougsHunter on October 06, 2025, 08:57:02 AM
This whole year has been a blessing and a dream come true! I tagged out on big old “William” on Thursday! I will update more about the hunt later when I have more time.congratulations!!!!
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Post by: hunterednate on October 06, 2025, 10:06:28 AM
This whole year has been a blessing and a dream come true! I tagged out on big old “William” on Thursday! I will update more about the hunt later when I have more time.
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Yeehaw!! Was thinking of you this weekend and rooting for you. Can't wait to hear the story. Congrats!!!
Post by: trophyhunt on October 06, 2025, 02:08:20 PM
Post by: CNELK on October 06, 2025, 03:26:22 PM
Post by: hunterednate on October 06, 2025, 04:47:47 PM
I have to give a massive shoutout to Leopold for providing this fantastic opportunity to have my hunt filmed; we got some amazing footage! Also, I must give an enormous shoutout to Jon, our videographer. He is truly one amazing person, and we were all honored to get to know him and call him a friend.
That's awesome. Can't wait to see the film when it's finished.
Post by: Ridgerunner on October 07, 2025, 05:37:07 PM
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Post by: BUTTER on October 07, 2025, 09:43:43 PM
😂
Post by: CNELK on October 08, 2025, 08:03:52 AM
Having completed seven scouting trips, I found and reviewed a handful of good-looking Williams before the season opened. My options looked pretty good for opening day.(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251008/6c489d575e23742f569fd46718785623.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251008/118961326827c3c5e9b3fafb36a6b555.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251008/8cfd95eb7c23e445f67c70bb258daf80.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251008/9df883ccff6156291979f482327a64fb.jpg)
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251008/d128a01705bcc8f4ea91ee07191da8d1.jpg)
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Post by: JakeLand on October 08, 2025, 08:09:49 AM
Post by: CNELK on October 08, 2025, 09:09:40 AM
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251008/1ad0c39519d563905301fd555a80cd13.jpg)
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Post by: HntnFsh on October 08, 2025, 09:16:03 AM
Post by: CNELK on October 08, 2025, 09:18:42 AM
Maybe your brother could finish the story for you too! :chuckle: :chuckle: :chuckle:
Bear with me, I apologize
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Post by: CNELK on October 15, 2025, 10:43:38 AM
(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20251015/d2e633324b16f85a712b2702ad82606a.jpg)
I briefly mentioned that we had enough water in camp to last a few days. I had said a few prayers leading up to my hunt that rain would come and replenish our water, but we still decided to conserve what we had. Our water source closest to camp had gone dry about a month before the season opened, which made me concerned, knowing our only water source was a 4-mile round trip from camp. Not only did Jesus answer my prayers, but he gave us an abundance of water in the form of heavy rain.
The heavy rain started on Tuesday, later in the day, around 4 p.m. One of my friends had made it into camp earlier that morning when the weather was still decent. My two other friends started their trek right when the rain started. By the time they made it to camp by 6 p.m., the rain was a complete downpour, and sustained winds of 18 to 20 mph with gusts of 25-28 mph. We quickly helped them settle in, set up their tent, and had some dry firewood so they could get their stove warm and dry off as best as possible. It was getting pretty late in the evening, and well after dark, I still hadn't seen or heard from our camera guy. The last time I got a text message from him was sometime after noon; his plane had just landed at PDX. To give you all a little more of a back story, I had only talked to Jon a few times over the phone and had given him a couple of waypoints so he had an idea of where to park and where our camp was. Other than that, he was going into an area 6 miles in, entirely in the dark, in the worst weather imaginable, in an area he had never been in before, looking for a group of guys he had never met, and not to mention his pack was stuffed with tons of gear for filming, making his pack close to 75 + lbs. It was a quick introduction from all of us, and we all helped Jon get settled in and out of the pouring rain. It would be a long, miserable night for all of us, but I was anxiously waiting for the morning, which was opening day.
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Post by: CNELK on October 15, 2025, 01:54:45 PM
Sticking it out all day paid off. As the day was ending, the storm started to lighten up. The rain was coming and going in brief showers rather than heavy rain, and the cloud cover was opening up with more extended periods of visibility. Much to my surprise, we saw William 1 walking our way from the other side of the canyon, and within a few minutes, he was outside again, about 400 yards away, staring us down! I was not prepared for this at all. I didn't verify it was him until he was on our side, and second, I didn't have my muzzleloader with me all day because of the rain. I had left it behind in my tent to keep it dry. I also figured if the clouds did lift, I would have plenty of time to get my stuff to make a stock on a bedded goat. But that is not what ended up happening. We promptly devised a plan, returned to the tent, got my muzzleloader, loaded it, and went for a stalk on William 1 behind camp, which worked out perfectly because we had plenty of tree cover to help conceal our movement. On our stalk in, I saw him in the same spot I had last seen him. He was about 150-170 yards away, and I set up in the prone position, waiting for him to work his way to his feeding area. After a few minutes of waiting and having a decent crosswind, my mind told me that you have to move up and make a move on him. We got up to close in on him, and he was gone! That was when my worst-case scenario set in; he was working his way back to no man's land but still in a killable spot. I hastily set up in the prone position again, on the canyon's rim as my buddy gave me a range of 200 yards, then 209, 212, 220, and 230. William 1 was gone once again, and no shots were fired.
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Post by: hunterednate on October 16, 2025, 10:30:01 AM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 16, 2025, 12:26:44 PM
Post by: builtfordtough on October 16, 2025, 02:00:50 PM
Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:22:06 PM
The next morning, I felt more at peace with what had played out the evening before. That morning was way better than the day before as far as the weather was concerned; there was no rain or bad fog. We decided to divide up and have a guy go down the trail to see if he could turn up a goat I had seen before, but never got a good look at. For the rest of us, we would return to our glassing spot to watch the goats across the canyon in no man's land. After a short period of time, my buddy would return and tell us he saw a few Billys and possibly a good-looking William. The goat in question was the goat I had seen before, but my buddy couldn't tell how good he looked. We all gathered up our spotting scopes and hiked the trail out to see if I could determine if this goat was worth making a play on. But when I got to the spot where we could see the goats, I didn't see the goat my buddy saw just a few minutes before. But I was interested in exploring more areas, so we returned to camp and gathered everything we needed to trek out and away from camp for the day. But this time I would bring my rifle and leave my muzzleloader behind.
On this day, it was also the last day one of my buddies could stay and had to head back down the mountain that afternoon, and the following day would have been my dad's last day to be up on the mountain as well. Not that I felt any pressure to tag a goat that day, but God willing and given the opportunity, I was praying I could. These guys sacrificed being away from their families and using vacation time to be with me on this hunt. Not to mention, they were a massive support for me post-diagnosis. It would mean the world to me to share my once-in-a-lifetime moment with them all present, and tag a William.
As we hiked down the trail, we were all in the same spot moments before we decided to hike back to camp to gather our things. That's when I spotted the goat my buddy had seen earlier. He had met up with another smaller goat as they walked up the mountain to their beds. From a quick glance at a distance, he looked to check most of the boxes I was looking for in what I would call a William. Mature face with a Roman nose, large body, great mass at the base of the horns that carried up, and a decent winter coat. He was well worth the effort to close the distance to get a better look at him. As we hiked the trail out and found a drainage to make our ascent up the mountain, we closed the distance to 1200 yards, and I found both goats bedded. Although we could cut off quite a bit of distance, he never would move his head enough for me to get a good judge of the length of his horns. Regardless, he got me excited at this point, and I was committed to getting in close and seeing if I could make it work this time.
We worked our way out of sight from the goats and sat down for a coffee break, a snack, and a few laughs. Taking the time to slow down rather than push myself to make things happen helped calm my nerves before we stalked in closer. Being entirely out of view from the goats, I had made several attempts at a shooting spot. Once I found the perfect place, I set myself up in a comfortable prone position, had my ranges set, and waited for them to stand up. I don't remember the exact time we waited, but it was a few hours, and I was beginning to doubt that they were still there. They were just on the other side of the ridge, out of view, and could have gotten up and walked down and out of view from us. I was getting cold after lying on the ground and getting rained on briefly, and in the wind, I had to get up. No sooner than I get up and away from my rifle, the guys start quietly yelling at me, GOAT! When I turned around, I saw a neck and a head of the small billy looking over the ridge right at us, and as quickly as he appeared, he vanished out of sight. I quickly got behind my rifle, and the small billy did the same peek-a-boo look over the ridge again. For whatever reason, I don't know because our wind was good, but they had us pegged, and they were heading out! One of my buddies said they are heading out to the left, and I found them in the scope. It was evident that William was in the front and the Billy was in the back following, but I still asked, and they all quickly replied yes, and with a range, which I believe was 400 yards. I got my composure and slowly squeezed the trigger, and as fast as the bullet left my rifle, the goat hit the ground hard! As exciting as it was to see him hit the ground, that feeling quickly left, like a scene from a Transformers movie. The goat was back on his feet and heading up the mountain as if he hadn't been hit at all. After a couple more quick follow-up shots, he was down!
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Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:25:14 PM
He was hardly done kicking and the ravens were right on him!
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Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:29:32 PM
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Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:34:01 PM
Our reward back in camp
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Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:37:04 PM
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Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:37:35 PM
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Post by: CNELK on October 16, 2025, 04:37:59 PM
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Post by: Gentrys on October 16, 2025, 04:49:17 PM
Post by: Falcon on October 16, 2025, 06:29:48 PM
Post by: Birdguy on October 16, 2025, 06:47:17 PM
Post by: redi on October 16, 2025, 08:25:21 PM
Post by: time2hunt on October 16, 2025, 08:29:14 PM
. I see you skinned him for a life size. Who going to do your taxi work. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Post by: Alchase on October 16, 2025, 08:45:32 PM
Post by: jackelope on October 16, 2025, 09:52:41 PM
Post by: Dan-o on October 16, 2025, 11:02:36 PM
Thanks for the great write up.
Post by: carpsniperg2 on October 16, 2025, 11:36:21 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 17, 2025, 06:46:03 AM
Post by: CNELK on October 17, 2025, 10:40:05 AM
Also, I highly recommend you apply for the Leupold Project Hunt next year! It is worth the little effort and time it takes to apply. I am sure thankful my wife convinced me to step out of my comfort zone, and I hope any of you out there can have the same opportunity.
Post by: CNELK on October 17, 2025, 10:48:19 AM
Sweet William congrats and welcome to the OIL clubThank you. I'm still in shock; my first OIL tag was a goat tag! Yeah, I'm going to do a half mount, and I dropped him off at Black River taxidermy. This will be my first mount done by him, and he came highly recommended. His work looks fantastic! I can’t wait to see it done.
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Post by: blackveltbowhunter on October 17, 2025, 10:58:11 AM
Post by: Pudelguy on October 17, 2025, 09:29:59 PM
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on October 18, 2025, 07:18:32 AM
Post by: SuperDave on October 18, 2025, 08:00:24 AM
Post by: fishngamereaper on October 18, 2025, 08:19:02 AM
Congrats
That's a good goat ..
Post by: Gonehuntin01 on October 20, 2025, 03:23:04 PM
Post by: X-Force on October 22, 2025, 08:22:35 PM
Post by: bearhunter99 on October 27, 2025, 10:42:41 AM
Post by: Caseknife on October 27, 2025, 05:42:25 PM