dslaughter
Active Member
- Messages
- 456
I suspected to see some posts about Colorado mountain goats by now. Maybe I've missed them... so...
Yesterday was the second day of my goat season here in Colorado. The first goat season had been going on for a couple of weeks and the goats were scattered far and wide. I set my expectations low... I wanted a mature goat with good hair. Any horn length at all would be a bonus.
My wife and I drove out Friday to setup a comfortable camp on the main road system into the western half of the area. I had several friends that wanted to be a part of this trip so I was on hold for the first full day and a half of season until everyone arrived. My good friend David from Kansas City flew in Friday night and drove out Saturday morning with my stepdaughter. Another friend Jeff was flying in Saturday morning and driving 4 hours to my hunting area. He should arrive around 2:30 if traffic was light. My plan would be to scout Friday and start hunting Saturday. If I found a mature goat in a good spot we would wait for Jeff to arrive.
Scouting on Friday revealed that most folks were road hunting. The DoW had mentioned a few key areas to look for second season goats and this appeared to be common knowledge among the other tag holders. Due to work obligations I had very limited time to hunt. I could hunt the opening and closing weekends. For this reason, I set my standards on any mature goat.
Saturday got off to a slow start with me and my wife enjoying a big breakfast around the camp fire as we waited on David to arrive in camp. Soon after he arrived we loaded our packs and pack frames into the truck and made our way to a trail system that would carry us into the western most reaches or the unit. The trail carried us up a steep trail through thick timber and then gradually broke out into timberline country. Pre-season scouting had turned up several pairs of nannies and kids in this drainage and I hoped we could find them as we approached the upper end of the drainage.
About half way up the drainage movement caught my eye on the west side of the drainage. A quick glassing session revealed one very large goat grazing with what appeared to be last year's kid. Even from 900 yards away the horns looked very impressive. Dave setup the spotter and we watched the goats feed along above us and then finally bed down. It was 11:30 am... three hours before Jeff should arrive.
My wife and step daughter decided to move on up the trail to try to locate some more goats for me. They managed to find a lone goat high on a ridge on the east side of the drainage. After a brief discussion we decided that the first 2 goats were in a much more stalkable position. By now the it was very close to 2:00 pm...
We decided to leave my wife and daughter to keep an eye on the goats while Dave and I began our assent. We would hold off on the final stalk until Jeff arrived or 3:30 whichever came first. About that time my radio began to crack. Jeff's voice came over the air. He was about a half a mile into the climb to our position. We told him that we were sitting on goats and to get it in gear. Jeff hurried up the trail while Dave and I began our assent.
The goats had been perched 2 shelves of rock above us. By the time we had reached the first shelf Jeff came into view below us. We waited for him climb up to us and catch his breath. By this time the goats had left their beds and began feeding south along the slope away from us. This worked to our advantage as it kept us from having to gain more elevation before beginning our final stalk. We headed straight towards the goats now. The wind was right and they were feeding away from us. The range was just under 500 yards.
We picked out a knoll about 150 yards in front of us. If we could reach this knoll I could consider a shot. As we reached the knoll Dave ranged the goats at 370 yards. The larger of the goats had turned angling slightly towards us. This was to be my shot. I placed a day pack on a large rock and settled in behind the scope. For being at almost 12,000 feet elevation my breathing was remarkably calm. I settled the cross-hairs of the Leupold scope high on the goats chest. My hold was steady so I asked Dave and Jeff to spot for me as I slowly squeezed the trigger on 7mm magnum. As the rifle roared I watched the front end of the larger goat come off the ground. The hit was solid but goats are tough and she began running down hill. I chambered another round and this time struck the goat low in the hip. The goats ran over the ridgeline and out of site. The radio crackled again. This time it was my wife congratulating me on taking my hard earned trophy. She watched the whole thing play out through the spotting scope from the valley floor below. After a brief thunder blizzard we recovered the goat. Both horns taped an identical 9 and a half inches. My plan had been to take a mature goat. I feel very blessed to have taken such a nice trophy in some amazing country with the help of my friends and family.
My apologies for the blood in this picture...
Yesterday was the second day of my goat season here in Colorado. The first goat season had been going on for a couple of weeks and the goats were scattered far and wide. I set my expectations low... I wanted a mature goat with good hair. Any horn length at all would be a bonus.
My wife and I drove out Friday to setup a comfortable camp on the main road system into the western half of the area. I had several friends that wanted to be a part of this trip so I was on hold for the first full day and a half of season until everyone arrived. My good friend David from Kansas City flew in Friday night and drove out Saturday morning with my stepdaughter. Another friend Jeff was flying in Saturday morning and driving 4 hours to my hunting area. He should arrive around 2:30 if traffic was light. My plan would be to scout Friday and start hunting Saturday. If I found a mature goat in a good spot we would wait for Jeff to arrive.
Scouting on Friday revealed that most folks were road hunting. The DoW had mentioned a few key areas to look for second season goats and this appeared to be common knowledge among the other tag holders. Due to work obligations I had very limited time to hunt. I could hunt the opening and closing weekends. For this reason, I set my standards on any mature goat.
Saturday got off to a slow start with me and my wife enjoying a big breakfast around the camp fire as we waited on David to arrive in camp. Soon after he arrived we loaded our packs and pack frames into the truck and made our way to a trail system that would carry us into the western most reaches or the unit. The trail carried us up a steep trail through thick timber and then gradually broke out into timberline country. Pre-season scouting had turned up several pairs of nannies and kids in this drainage and I hoped we could find them as we approached the upper end of the drainage.
About half way up the drainage movement caught my eye on the west side of the drainage. A quick glassing session revealed one very large goat grazing with what appeared to be last year's kid. Even from 900 yards away the horns looked very impressive. Dave setup the spotter and we watched the goats feed along above us and then finally bed down. It was 11:30 am... three hours before Jeff should arrive.
My wife and step daughter decided to move on up the trail to try to locate some more goats for me. They managed to find a lone goat high on a ridge on the east side of the drainage. After a brief discussion we decided that the first 2 goats were in a much more stalkable position. By now the it was very close to 2:00 pm...
We decided to leave my wife and daughter to keep an eye on the goats while Dave and I began our assent. We would hold off on the final stalk until Jeff arrived or 3:30 whichever came first. About that time my radio began to crack. Jeff's voice came over the air. He was about a half a mile into the climb to our position. We told him that we were sitting on goats and to get it in gear. Jeff hurried up the trail while Dave and I began our assent.
The goats had been perched 2 shelves of rock above us. By the time we had reached the first shelf Jeff came into view below us. We waited for him climb up to us and catch his breath. By this time the goats had left their beds and began feeding south along the slope away from us. This worked to our advantage as it kept us from having to gain more elevation before beginning our final stalk. We headed straight towards the goats now. The wind was right and they were feeding away from us. The range was just under 500 yards.
We picked out a knoll about 150 yards in front of us. If we could reach this knoll I could consider a shot. As we reached the knoll Dave ranged the goats at 370 yards. The larger of the goats had turned angling slightly towards us. This was to be my shot. I placed a day pack on a large rock and settled in behind the scope. For being at almost 12,000 feet elevation my breathing was remarkably calm. I settled the cross-hairs of the Leupold scope high on the goats chest. My hold was steady so I asked Dave and Jeff to spot for me as I slowly squeezed the trigger on 7mm magnum. As the rifle roared I watched the front end of the larger goat come off the ground. The hit was solid but goats are tough and she began running down hill. I chambered another round and this time struck the goat low in the hip. The goats ran over the ridgeline and out of site. The radio crackled again. This time it was my wife congratulating me on taking my hard earned trophy. She watched the whole thing play out through the spotting scope from the valley floor below. After a brief thunder blizzard we recovered the goat. Both horns taped an identical 9 and a half inches. My plan had been to take a mature goat. I feel very blessed to have taken such a nice trophy in some amazing country with the help of my friends and family.
My apologies for the blood in this picture...
