E
eccut
Guest
Does anyone have info on the Willard Peak Goats? How many, where etc?
nochawk
Moderator
- Messages
- 2,980
I haven't got the current count, but last year or so there were about 25-30. They hang out between Willard and Ben Lomond peaks on the west facing slopes. I live in Pleasant View and I can see them on the cliffs on a good day when they are in the right spot. If you were to set up with a good spotting scope at say... willard bay you would probably see them on the cliffs.
The best way to see them is to hike skyline trail. great exercise and good conditioning for the fall hunts. I always see elk, moose, as well as the goats. I have been appling for that hunt since they opened it. but they only have 1 tag for them... its a long shot.
Have a nice day, I drew the speedgoat tag for 3corners so thats where I will be.
Nate
The best way to see them is to hike skyline trail. great exercise and good conditioning for the fall hunts. I always see elk, moose, as well as the goats. I have been appling for that hunt since they opened it. but they only have 1 tag for them... its a long shot.
Have a nice day, I drew the speedgoat tag for 3corners so thats where I will be.
Nate
G
gon4elk
Guest
From my understanding there are 2 herds in that area. The one herd spent a lot of time bedding during the day on the Northwest slope of Willard Peak. You can see them from Inspiration Peak. The other herd stays further to the south as was stated in the previous reply.
eccut
Did you draw one of the tags. I think they gave 3 this year. I know the guy who got the tag and goat last year and I spent alot of time watching them. There are well over 80 goats up there as we watched 67 in one evening on the west face. If you wand to post your # I could call you or you can get a hold of me.
Larry
801-985-1265
Did you draw one of the tags. I think they gave 3 this year. I know the guy who got the tag and goat last year and I spent alot of time watching them. There are well over 80 goats up there as we watched 67 in one evening on the west face. If you wand to post your # I could call you or you can get a hold of me.
Larry
801-985-1265
E
eccut
Guest
yes i drew a tag, should be a good hunt. I'll give you a ring
eccut
Are you Mike, Earle or Chris? Look forward to chatting with ya. I have a picture of last years goat if you want to see it. I'll get your email when you call. I don't have permission to post it. Can also send you pictures of some nice billies taken a few weeks ago.
Yelum
Are you Mike, Earle or Chris? Look forward to chatting with ya. I have a picture of last years goat if you want to see it. I'll get your email when you call. I don't have permission to post it. Can also send you pictures of some nice billies taken a few weeks ago.
Yelum
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utahgoosehunta
Guest
e,
I drew the tag last year. Give me a buzz and I'll do all I can to help you. In fact, I'd love to go up there and see if there is a bigger one!
Best advice I can give you is to start running, hiking, now. I made the mistake of not preparing physically. Second mistake might be not doing some hardcore glassing and knowing which goats were the largest, but the challenge is knowing which one you saw last week, etc. They really don't have much "character" or differentiators. (except the one that has a horn go straight down over his eye, only saw him once)
They are REAL hard to judge. You don't just pull up a pair of binos and say, that's the one. It takes time with a good spotting scope and you have to compare each of them. I couldn't have done it without my friend Shane. I couldn't have got it out without my friends either, he fell a LOOOOONG way down the mountain and it is steep and nasty. The shell rock is bad, we all had some good "oops" falls.
It's a great hunt and one that I'll cherish forever, I killed the best billy we found all year, there were a few others that are about the same size, LOTS of mature nannies, and lots of young billies. We field judged him at 9" and he ended up being around 8.5", with nice mass. There is one up there with massive scent glands and awesome mass, but last year he lacked any length. For me it really wasn't about breaking records, I wanted a nice mature male and the whole experience. I shot my first rifle on that mountain with dad when I was 12, then shot my first deer up there when I was 14.
Christiansen Arms has some cool videos of guys shooting a couple of state records on one of the other units. They are some true monster goats, we didn't see anything in that class on Willard though. They may be up there, but they weren't anywhere that the average guy could hunt. It's really rough country. I wanted to do it with a bow or muzz. You gotta be nuts to try it with a bow! I made a stalk with the muzz but didn't get the right shot, tried again and ran out of cover to get close enough so I opted for the rifle.
It was a great time with some of my best friends.
I'd say there are at least 80 goats up there and lots of them were kids last year.
buzz me and we'll chat. I have the whole thing on video, trying to decide if I want to put together my own video and sell it or possible have the footage on the new Sportsmans Warehouse program on the Men's Channel, etc. Should have the lifesize mount before too long.
Corey
[email protected]
I drew the tag last year. Give me a buzz and I'll do all I can to help you. In fact, I'd love to go up there and see if there is a bigger one!
Best advice I can give you is to start running, hiking, now. I made the mistake of not preparing physically. Second mistake might be not doing some hardcore glassing and knowing which goats were the largest, but the challenge is knowing which one you saw last week, etc. They really don't have much "character" or differentiators. (except the one that has a horn go straight down over his eye, only saw him once)
They are REAL hard to judge. You don't just pull up a pair of binos and say, that's the one. It takes time with a good spotting scope and you have to compare each of them. I couldn't have done it without my friend Shane. I couldn't have got it out without my friends either, he fell a LOOOOONG way down the mountain and it is steep and nasty. The shell rock is bad, we all had some good "oops" falls.
It's a great hunt and one that I'll cherish forever, I killed the best billy we found all year, there were a few others that are about the same size, LOTS of mature nannies, and lots of young billies. We field judged him at 9" and he ended up being around 8.5", with nice mass. There is one up there with massive scent glands and awesome mass, but last year he lacked any length. For me it really wasn't about breaking records, I wanted a nice mature male and the whole experience. I shot my first rifle on that mountain with dad when I was 12, then shot my first deer up there when I was 14.
Christiansen Arms has some cool videos of guys shooting a couple of state records on one of the other units. They are some true monster goats, we didn't see anything in that class on Willard though. They may be up there, but they weren't anywhere that the average guy could hunt. It's really rough country. I wanted to do it with a bow or muzz. You gotta be nuts to try it with a bow! I made a stalk with the muzz but didn't get the right shot, tried again and ran out of cover to get close enough so I opted for the rifle.
It was a great time with some of my best friends.
I'd say there are at least 80 goats up there and lots of them were kids last year.
buzz me and we'll chat. I have the whole thing on video, trying to decide if I want to put together my own video and sell it or possible have the footage on the new Sportsmans Warehouse program on the Men's Channel, etc. Should have the lifesize mount before too long.
Corey
[email protected]
E
eccut
Guest
Yes I'm Earl that drew the tag, it sounds like a great hunt you had. I was afraid you were going to say the get in shape thing. Good I have all summer. I didn't even realize that they gave 3 tags until i saw it here the other day. Glad for any help you could send my way.
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utahgoosehunta
Guest
LAST EDITED ON May-03-05 AT 01:38PM (MST)[p]That one is too easy larry 
Post up that pic of the 2 bedded...
Hint: if you see one with length like the one Larry posted and double the mass, GIT-R-DONE....
Unfortunately the hair quality isn't like that in the pic during the hunt either.
Post up that pic of the 2 bedded...
Hint: if you see one with length like the one Larry posted and double the mass, GIT-R-DONE....
Unfortunately the hair quality isn't like that in the pic during the hunt either.
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utahgoosehunta
Guest
LAST EDITED ON May-03-05 AT 01:56PM (MST)[p]Let's see if I can get this link to go:
One thing i'd do different also is get better pictures. He fell 2-3000ft after the shot and by the time we got to him it was near dark, we were out of water, tired, and just wanted to get the heck out of that shell rock before dark. We had a 60ft cliff right where he fell and one above us, so we couldn't really move anywhere for a pic. Right where the camera is located in this pic it dropped off the cliff, then about 100 yards to the cliff line on the face of the mountain. Had he went off that ledge 5ft from where we are in the pic, he would have ended up at my in laws place in pleasant view
One thing i'd do different also is get better pictures. He fell 2-3000ft after the shot and by the time we got to him it was near dark, we were out of water, tired, and just wanted to get the heck out of that shell rock before dark. We had a 60ft cliff right where he fell and one above us, so we couldn't really move anywhere for a pic. Right where the camera is located in this pic it dropped off the cliff, then about 100 yards to the cliff line on the face of the mountain. Had he went off that ledge 5ft from where we are in the pic, he would have ended up at my in laws place in pleasant view
U
utahgoosehunta
Guest
LAST EDITED ON May-03-05 AT 02:30PM (MST)[p]Here is a pic of the canyon where we saw the real massive billy, if you look close you can see the little white dot in the center of the pic. We ended up taking my billy in the top of this canyon, he rolled through ALL those trees and didn't touch one of them stopping just short of the cliff line you can see from I15!!!!
our camp:
I stopped to take this pic at dark when we reached Ben Lomond peak, that was a rough climb!
our camp:
I stopped to take this pic at dark when we reached Ben Lomond peak, that was a rough climb!
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eccut
Guest
Great Pics & story.
B
BLACKDOG
Guest
The real trophy in a goat is the hair quality. If you can wait until the middle to the end of October You will end up with the best looking goat. The only thing to remember is that at that time of year you also could get snowed out of the country. If you want a great book for judging these animals it is Hunt High by Duncan Gilchrist.
Jeremy
Jeremy
PleaseDear
Long Time Member
- Messages
- 10,578
eccut I have a video on scoring and sexing goats. If ya want to borrie it. Let me know.
Robb
Robb
U
utahgoosehunta
Guest
Blackdog is right, the hair may be a little better if you can wait 2 weeks. But that's a risky proposition with a coveted once in a lifetime tag.
A snowstorm hit the week after I killed mine and socked the mountain in with fog/clouds for the next week to 10 days. I'll post a pic if I can find it. I took pics so I could remember that it was a good thing I got it done when I did. Even if there isn't any snow, limited visability makes it tough to find the billy you want out of all those goats. If you can't use a spotting scope and do some long range glassing, your hunt isn't that effective.
Hiking out was rough and dangerous. I think we all had dinged up knees and hands from slipping in the sharp shell rock. Add a little snow to the mix and it could be pretty rough/dangerous.
A snowstorm hit the week after I killed mine and socked the mountain in with fog/clouds for the next week to 10 days. I'll post a pic if I can find it. I took pics so I could remember that it was a good thing I got it done when I did. Even if there isn't any snow, limited visability makes it tough to find the billy you want out of all those goats. If you can't use a spotting scope and do some long range glassing, your hunt isn't that effective.
Hiking out was rough and dangerous. I think we all had dinged up knees and hands from slipping in the sharp shell rock. Add a little snow to the mix and it could be pretty rough/dangerous.
