Hunt 1
We left Juneau early and arrived at the edge of the ice around 10:30 am. Avery is from Alabama and had always dreamed of hunting our majestic mountain goats.
On the first day, we saw several goats and tried to get up on them, but there wasn't enough light. We ate a great dinner and hit the hay early.
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The next morning we spotted a nice group of goats...
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After an arduous climb through the delightful alder, we could see six goats across a sheer cliff face ahead of us. They had spotted us and were moving away.
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Avery and I have to move down to the next bench to see through the brush, while Dave is on the video camera. After three hits at just over 300 yards, the billy is down.
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He hit the billy with the first shot and put a couple more into him before he finally fell out of site.
I took a look at the terrain between us and the billy and quickly surmised that we would not be able to get to him before it would get dark. We took a few pics of the view and headed down to the boat.
The next morning it was dumping buckets, so Avery and I donned our raingear and started up a different way that would hopefully be faster. |
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After a couple of hours of steep climbing, we located the billy at the bottom of a huge ravine. I busted out the 60m rope and the rappel harnesses and Avery looked thrilled. He had recently taken a rock-climbing class and was very familiar with this type of gear. He did get a strange look on his face when I told him to wrap the end of the rope around a thick bunch of alders. I came over and tied a nice bowline knot in the rope and he asked if it was going to hold. I chuckled a little, looped it through my figure-8, leaned back, and said there's only one way to find out.
Once I got to the bottom, I assessed how long it would take to get the goat ready for transport. Avery decided to come down and help out...
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While Avery headed my way, I dug out the camera and took a couple of pics of where the goat was laying. If it had moved a foot further down the ravine, it would have fallen another 400 feet.
Avery arrived, and we moved it up to take a few pics...
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The billy ended up measuring 8-1/2" with good bases - an excellent trophy!
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The next morning we glassed a few more goats and that ended Avery's hunt...
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Hunt 2
After traveling all night onboard the M/V Ariel, we awoke before first light and made ready for the days hunt. We headed up into the fjord to search for billies!
We had plenty of excitement climbing up a steep water-filled ravine on the first day, but were out smarted by the goats. Keith and Marty did very well on their "break-in climb"...
After we arrived back at the big boat, Marty, Susan (his wife), and Keith enjoyed an excellent meal of goat/deer/moose chili and salad.
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Day 2 brought more alder bucking with some rolling hills, cliffs, and snow, but no shots, yet. One good thing about the longer nights is that it allows for plenty of time to rest and dry your gear out...
On the third day we chased several Billies around and jumped a nanny at 15 feet. The guys really got a kick out of that one!
Near the end of the day, we stopped and I glassed a group of goats way up on a set of benches above us. I located a shooter Billy bedded down on a boulder and asked Marty if he could make the 421 yard shot. He said that he was willing to try. After asking how many bullets he had (20 here and 20 on the boat - plenty), I said let's do it.
The goat was at a 40 degree angle, broadside-to-quartering toward us. I suggested that he aim his 300 WSM at the top of his fur - above his shoulder. I mentioned that he should jack a second shell immediately after the first shot as the goat would probably stand up. I setup the spotting scope on 60 power to call his shots. The first one hit the goat right in the shoulder and chest. The billy still stood up and turned the other way. Marty hit it again through the chest and knocked it off of the boulder. Another goat stepped out of the brush, onto the boulder and I quickly stopped Marty - saying that it wasn't the same goat and that his was down for good.
As dark was coming, I mentally marked the location of the goat and lead everyone back down to the boat, where my Dad, Larry, was waiting to take us back for another memorable meal.
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The next morning as we were getting ready to head up after Marty's goat, we spotted another Billy in the same area, so the four of us headed up. Part way up, Dave and Keith held back to see if Marty and I would spook the Billy out of the alders for them.
No luck - so they headed back down to the boat to chase a few more with my Dad, while Marty and I scaled a few cliffs to reach his Billy. After another hour and a half, we reached his 8-5/8" Billy. Marty was thrilled with his new trophy. We took several pictures and began the caping and boning process. After a long haul down, Marty was relieved to see the boat waiting for us.
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Day 5 found us glassing a large number of goats. Unfortunately, they were at around 1,900 feet. I looked at Keith and asked what he thought - he said, "I'll do it, if you think we can get to them". That was all I needed to hear - and we bailed off the front of the boat and headed up.
We climbed a brutal 3-1/2 hours, circling around and coming down on their position. As we peaked over the edge - nothing! We anxiously raced around looking over the edges for them, but they were gone!
At this point, it was 12:45 pm and we had just over 2-1/2 hours of daylight. Keith was looking a little bummed, so I glassed up the mountain in the only direction the goats could have gone. I spotted a few nice goats about 500-600 feet (vertical) above us. I asked Keith if he wanted to get a goat today. He said, "Do you really think we have a chance?" I said that we had a fairly good chance at getting one down, but that we would not be able to reach it today. Keith looked up the mountain and said, "Let's give it a try".
We headed up the steep mountain, following the goat trail. After 45 minutes of clawing and sliding, we came over a bench and could see the goats. I threw down my pack, dropped onto the snow, and located a nice billy in the group of 4-5 goats. Keith had already setup and was ready, but the goats moved around a bit. I relocated the billy and ranged it at 193 yards. Keith asked if it was shooter-class, and I said it definitely was.
The first shot went over his back, as Keith's gun delay-fired about a second due to the water, ice, and slush. He jacked very quickly and fired a second shot across the ravine, hitting it square in the chest. The goat then began cutting to the left into the alders. It stopped right at the edge to rest and Keith hit him again. He took off to the left and Keith put another into him and it fell down and caught on a cliff ledge 60 feet below. I shook Keith's hand and said that he had climbed higher than any other late season goat client had, and that he had earned his goat the hard way!
Keith was extremely pleased, and we hurriedly raced down the mountain. It only took us 1 hour and 15 minutes to reach the boat, but we were really moving - sliding down a lot of it.
When we returned to the Ariel, Keith excitedly told the story over dinner, and everyone congratulated him on his victory with the goats.
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The next morning, Keith Dave, and I donned our packs full of extra rope and climbed up to 2,500 feet, where I rappelled down to his goat. I took some pics, caped, and boned him out. Keith and Dave retrieved my heavy pack up on an extra rope while I ascended back up.
Keith and Dave were very happy that I was safe and sound back up at the top. We headed back down to the boat on the - now, familiar trail.
Day 7 found us hunting for deer on Admiralty Island. The forest was very wet and full of fog, drizzle, and wet brush. Keith spotted a big doe, but that was all we saw...
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