Horniac
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At the Alpine trail head with outfitters Neil and Jon Crump of Double C Guides & Outfitters and some very good horses...
A rookie horse rider on "Little Bit" nervous about the ride in...
The weather conditions up the canyon as we prepared for the ride in...
Beautiful scenery as we head up the trail...
Snow starting to accumulate as we gain elevation...
Neil Crump on his trusty steed...
Jon Crump leading the pack string up the snowy trail...
After 3 hours or so in the saddle, losing the trail in the snow storm, and having to lead all the horses back down a steep, slippery, snowy ridge to re-find the trail, we arrive at the campsite cold but unscathed. Here Neil makes a center pole for the canvas surplus army tent...
After camp is made Jon and I head out for an evening hunt while Neil tends to the horses. I brought both my muzzleloader and my Kimber Montana chambered in 300WSM. I tell Jon I want to enjoy this hunt and don't want to shoot the 1st billy we see so I leave my rifle in camp and just take my Omega. About a 1/2 mile from camp right on the trail Jon motions me forward. I see my 1st billy up close, he is right on the trail, and in muzzleloader range at 82 yards. Jon says he is a good goat, with at least 8 inch horns and maybe 9. He looks short to me and his mass doesn't look all that good me either but what do I know, this is my first goat hunt. He has a good shaggy coat too, but I still decide to pass. Jon tells me I must have a lot of willpower, as he would have shot this goat if he had the tag. Great, I think to myself. Don't worry Jon says as we head back to camp, we will see lots more goats tomorrow. There are always goats in his hot spot which he calls "Billy Basin". A picture of the billy as he moved off below us at about 110 yards...
After a good nights sleep in the tent warmed by the wood stove, we are off to Billy Basin. The basin is devoid of goats much to Jon's surprise, and the only goats we see that morning are a nanny and kid about a mile to the south-west.
We relocate to a peak to glass another basin. This is the view we had looking south towards Mt. Timpanogos...
Looking north-west towards Box Elder Peak...
That afternoon, Jon spots two bedded goats about 1500 yards away. We put the scopes on them and one is definitely a nanny with what appears to be 10" plus horns. The other appears to be a very good billy but it is strange he would be hanging out with a nanny. We watch them the rest of the afternoon as they get up and feed. Jon is 95% sure that the other goat is a billy, and an exceptional billy at that. Even at this distance, the mass difference in the horns between the two goats is easy to see. We spot one other billy below Box Elder but he is not as big. It is about an hour before sunset and Jon thinks we can get on them in the morning by coming over the peak bhind camp on top of them. We head back to camp and we see the billy I passed on the 1st night. This time he is 600+ yards away. I ask him how he compares to the billy with the nanny. "No comparison" is Jon's reply. I smile to myself knowing I had made the right decision passing on the 1st billy. After a great dinner of barbecued ribs prepared by Neil in his Dutch Oven, we hit the sack. Tomorrow we will have to climb the peak behind camp to get to the goats. Jon says it will be a tough hike. I wake up to the smell of bacon and pancakes and boy do they hit the spot. Jon and I head out. It is another beautiful clear day and a great day to be goat hunting...
We get over the peak and to a shelf above the cliffs where we can glass the basin that the goats were in the previous day. After looking at some deer that we jumped out of a little ribbon of jack pines, Jon immediately spots two goats bedded down 400 yards below us. We get the spotting scopes out to get a closer look. Here Jon and I are checking out the goats...
To be continued in part 2...
A rookie horse rider on "Little Bit" nervous about the ride in...
The weather conditions up the canyon as we prepared for the ride in...
Beautiful scenery as we head up the trail...
Snow starting to accumulate as we gain elevation...
Neil Crump on his trusty steed...
Jon Crump leading the pack string up the snowy trail...
After 3 hours or so in the saddle, losing the trail in the snow storm, and having to lead all the horses back down a steep, slippery, snowy ridge to re-find the trail, we arrive at the campsite cold but unscathed. Here Neil makes a center pole for the canvas surplus army tent...
After camp is made Jon and I head out for an evening hunt while Neil tends to the horses. I brought both my muzzleloader and my Kimber Montana chambered in 300WSM. I tell Jon I want to enjoy this hunt and don't want to shoot the 1st billy we see so I leave my rifle in camp and just take my Omega. About a 1/2 mile from camp right on the trail Jon motions me forward. I see my 1st billy up close, he is right on the trail, and in muzzleloader range at 82 yards. Jon says he is a good goat, with at least 8 inch horns and maybe 9. He looks short to me and his mass doesn't look all that good me either but what do I know, this is my first goat hunt. He has a good shaggy coat too, but I still decide to pass. Jon tells me I must have a lot of willpower, as he would have shot this goat if he had the tag. Great, I think to myself. Don't worry Jon says as we head back to camp, we will see lots more goats tomorrow. There are always goats in his hot spot which he calls "Billy Basin". A picture of the billy as he moved off below us at about 110 yards...
After a good nights sleep in the tent warmed by the wood stove, we are off to Billy Basin. The basin is devoid of goats much to Jon's surprise, and the only goats we see that morning are a nanny and kid about a mile to the south-west.
We relocate to a peak to glass another basin. This is the view we had looking south towards Mt. Timpanogos...
Looking north-west towards Box Elder Peak...
That afternoon, Jon spots two bedded goats about 1500 yards away. We put the scopes on them and one is definitely a nanny with what appears to be 10" plus horns. The other appears to be a very good billy but it is strange he would be hanging out with a nanny. We watch them the rest of the afternoon as they get up and feed. Jon is 95% sure that the other goat is a billy, and an exceptional billy at that. Even at this distance, the mass difference in the horns between the two goats is easy to see. We spot one other billy below Box Elder but he is not as big. It is about an hour before sunset and Jon thinks we can get on them in the morning by coming over the peak bhind camp on top of them. We head back to camp and we see the billy I passed on the 1st night. This time he is 600+ yards away. I ask him how he compares to the billy with the nanny. "No comparison" is Jon's reply. I smile to myself knowing I had made the right decision passing on the 1st billy. After a great dinner of barbecued ribs prepared by Neil in his Dutch Oven, we hit the sack. Tomorrow we will have to climb the peak behind camp to get to the goats. Jon says it will be a tough hike. I wake up to the smell of bacon and pancakes and boy do they hit the spot. Jon and I head out. It is another beautiful clear day and a great day to be goat hunting...
We get over the peak and to a shelf above the cliffs where we can glass the basin that the goats were in the previous day. After looking at some deer that we jumped out of a little ribbon of jack pines, Jon immediately spots two goats bedded down 400 yards below us. We get the spotting scopes out to get a closer look. Here Jon and I are checking out the goats...
To be continued in part 2...
