Drew Non-Resident WY 001-1 Mountain Goat

I

isaacallred

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I lucked out as a NR and drew the WY 001-1 Mountain Goat tag for 2024. I'm from Utah and have spent a lot of time hunting deer and elk, but this will be my first mountain goat hunt. I'm planning on making two or three trips to the area before the hunt to learn the area and make a plan, but was hoping to get some help from people familiar with the area.

I've talked to the Wyoming Fish and Game out of Cody and have talked to several guides as well. My main question is if people familiar with the area think a guide is necessary for this hunt? I'm in good shape and know this will be a physical hunt, but my dad has had some health issues and can't hike much, so I'm hoping we can bring ATV's and he can at least sit behind a spotting scope throughout the hunt.

Thanks in advance for the help!
 
Gosh no, wouldn't hire a guide for WY 001 goat. No wilderness.

Fly in, rent a Kia at the airport. Drive the blacktop beartooth pass highway. Glass em up from the black top.

Try not to shoot one while the tourists are watching you.

How picky you gonna be? Certainly some very rough country there, but if you have enough time you should be able to find one close ish to the road.

Long season. Plenty of time to go back if you don't get one early season.
 
Crampy said:
Gosh no, wouldn't hire a guide for WY 001 goat. No wilderness.

Fly in, rent a Kia at the airport. Drive the blacktop beartooth pass highway. Glass em up from the black top.

Try not to shoot one while the tourists are watching you.

How picky you gonna be? Certainly some very rough country there, but if you have enough time you should be able to find one close ish to the road.

Long season. Plenty of time to go back if you don't get one early season.
Click to expand...
Crampy, I'm planning on taking ten days off and if I need to come back I can do that. I won't be overly picky, so it sounds like it's something we could do on our own.

Do you know if there are quite a few ATV trails? As much as I would love to shoot a goat in front of a group of tourists, I would like to get off the highway and see some country.
 
I had that tag few years ago as a NR. No need for a guide. You can make that hunt as easy or as hard as you want to make it. PM your number, be happy to answer questions for you if you’d like to chat.
 
Check your maps. I'm sure there are some trails you could use the ATV for. But the roads I'm thinking of are all fine by truck.

If I drew that tag, I'd handle it all from blacktop, US-212 in a passenger car. Hiking from US-212 with my lightweight backpacking gear. I'd do 1-2 night overnights to get a look at drainages you can't see from US-212.

The outfitters I've seen in that unit have used horses from 212 using the well established non-motorized trail system.

Go deep if you want. But you certainly wouldn't need an ATV.

Hold out for a reasonable billy. And do your best to identify a billy to keep the tag count high for next year.

WY-1 is the hardest to draw because it can be so moderate and so easily done DIY for an NR (no wilderness and US 212).

Go mid-sept for 10 days and I think you'll get it done. Should have decent coats by 9/15. 9/1 coats can still be sketchy.

And just be ready to scramble together a second trip in Oct if you need it. Watch the weather as US 212 is the first road to close.

Later in the year, so tourist traffic is down, especially weekdays and at sunrise. So if you have to harvest a road billy, you can get out of there before too many tourists pass by.

Some of those goats get fed by the tourists and get habituated. But I'm sure you can find a wild billy.

There is a decent chance you could harvest a billy and have it viewable by your dad with a spotter on/near US 212.

Harvest % pretty high and often just a few days per harvest:

You will recognize the abandoned ski lift (roadside, US 212) in this video:
 
Crampy said:
Check your maps. I'm sure there are some trails you could use the ATV for. But the roads I'm thinking of are all fine by truck.

If I drew that tag, I'd handle it all from blacktop, US-212 in a passenger car. Hiking from US-212 with my lightweight backpacking gear. I'd do 1-2 night overnights to get a look at drainages you can't see from US-212.

The outfitters I've seen in that unit have used horses from 212 using the well established non-motorized trail system.

Go deep if you want. But you certainly wouldn't need an ATV.

Hold out for a reasonable billy. And do your best to identify a billy to keep the tag count high for next year.

WY-1 is the hardest to draw because it can be so moderate and so easily done DIY for an NR (no wilderness and US 212).

Go mid-sept for 10 days and I think you'll get it done. Should have decent coats by 9/15. 9/1 coats can still be sketchy.

And just be ready to scramble together a second trip in Oct if you need it. Watch the weather as US 212 is the first road to close.

Later in the year, so tourist traffic is down, especially weekdays and at sunrise. So if you have to harvest a road billy, you can get out of there before too many tourists pass by.

Some of those goats get fed by the tourists and get habituated. But I'm sure you can find a wild billy.

There is a decent chance you could harvest a billy and have it viewable by your dad with a spotter on/near US 212.

Harvest % pretty high and often just a few days per harvest:

You will recognize the abandoned ski lift (roadside, US 212) in this video:
Click to expand...
This is super helpful! I don't want to shoot a goat off the road, so we will make a few trips and see what kind of trails we can find off the 212 to get away from tourists. Thanks again!
 
most hunters head up into Clarks fork canyon. some access from the upper side. some use morrsion jeep trail.

hunting mnt goats off a road doesnt seem like a fun time in my opinion. Dont expect monster goats. This area has a lot of tags. dont get me wrong some decent ones exist but mainly full of 8 inch billy's
 
Congratulations on the permit.
It appears you are getting plenty of advice from the good members of this forum. From my experience, knowledge from previous hunters will make life much easier. I'd pump them for answers to any and all your questions.
Please keep us up to date on your hunt.
 
littlebighorn said:
Congratulations on the permit.
It appears you are getting plenty of advice from the good members of this forum. From my experience, knowledge from previous hunters will make life much easier. I'd pump them for answers to any and all your questions.
Please keep us up to date on your hunt.
Click to expand...
Hunt last 2 weeks of Oct., coats are then in good hairy condition & so terrific in best condition ! Don’t hunt in Sept., period . Bad coats then , look terrible. Take your time & enjoy the hunt ! Fabulous country ! I did it once with my Son. Fun adventure 😁😁😁.
Jerry Gold - in Windsor, Colorado 😁😁👏👏
 
I have seen some good looking coats in Sept. Ya short but look good. I don't blame hunters wanting a long coat but I like the idea of waiting to the end. A good snow storm can make things horrible. Goats vanish, access sucks.
 
I just got back from a scouting trip and can't wait to get back. Thanks everyone for your help!

I'm planning on hunting 10 days starting September 21st. I know the coats might not be perfect by that time, but that's when I'll be able to make it work.

Hoping to find a good billy and make it happen!
 
Here is September coats
20170817_162722.jpg
20170817_160250.jpg
 
isaacallred said:
Is this pretty typical for late September in that area?
Click to expand...
No. I had a tag not far from you on the MT side. It’s the only unit in MT they open 9/1 instead of 9/15 and every biologist I talked to said to get in there asap and kill one as access can go to hell in a hurry with any snow so we went in and killed opening day. My billy is awesome. Thick dense hair that’s probably 3-4”. I’ve talked to 2-3 people that have had the tag since and a couple listened to the hair fanatics and tried to wait till October and either didn’t kill or shot Nannie’s as they’re they’re in easier to access places. Late sept in that country is gonna be a real classic beautiful looking billy. I killed one in UT in later October and the hair is longer but I prefer the sept 1 billy look to be honest. The meat was delicious as well.



IMG_0242.jpeg
 
yotebuster17 said:
No. I had a tag not far from you on the MT side. It’s the only unit in MT they open 9/1 instead of 9/15 and every biologist I talked to said to get in there asap and kill one as access can go to hell in a hurry with any snow so we went in and killed opening day. My billy is awesome. Thick dense hair that’s probably 3-4”. I’ve talked to 2-3 people that have had the tag since and a couple listened to the hair fanatics and tried to wait till October and either didn’t kill or shot Nannie’s as they’re they’re in easier to access places. Late sept in that country is gonna be a real classic beautiful looking billy. I killed one in UT in later October and the hair is longer but I prefer the sept 1 billy look to be honest. The meat was delicious as well.



View attachment 152367
Click to expand...
Super good to know! Thanks for the help. I'm going to keep a close eye on the weather and if it's looking bad I'll need to change up plans and get out there earlier than the 21st of September.
 
This one was killed on Sept. 21 in central Colorado above 12,0000 ft. I think the hair was very nice at that time. At that time of the year and that high up anything can happen weather wise. I brought my alpine skies (boots, skins, etc), snowshoes, and climbing gear. Luckily I did not need any of it. And since I have not really climbed for over 15 years I should have left that gear home. But was stubborn and thought it might be handy if I did something stupid. Always good to have someone else around to talk you out of doing something stupid.
IMG_0225_Original.jpeg
 
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Shot my goat with my bow on Aug 3...coat looked great short, and the mount turned out awesome. Waiting till late was not an option with the tag i had, due to the very few goats the unit held, and the fact I found the oldest billy that ever came out of it, I wanted to get him killed asap. . Long coats look great and I was worried about that, but after the tannery cleaned his coat etc, it came back and looked awesome.
 
Just an FYI: the Beartooth Highway closure date is typically Oct 10th. Don't wait too long hoping for a little bit more hair on the cape.
 

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