Mountain Goat hunt in photo's.

[6mm Remington]

I've been wanting to put this together for a while now but was having issues with photobucket but changing to googlechrome seemed to fix that and I was able to get most of my photo's uploaded. I wanted to put my goat hunt in pictures and I'll try as best as I can to put them from July to the end of November. I did not get a goat only saw one goat during this whole time I spent looking and hunting. I had a great time. I went scouting with my son a couple of times and hunting twice with other people. Other than that it was all by myself. I took a GPS unit each time I went and I did a track log. When I was finished I added up my miles for a total and this is how it shook out.

Total miles July 1 to November 30 2011. 129 miles
111 miles on foot
18 miles on horseback
36 pounds: pack weight during hunting season carried daily which included my rifle stuffed in the pack.
60 pounds: amount my pack weighed when I hiked back to Kootenai lakes scouting.
17 miles: longest day hunting
26 miles in two days: with 60 pound pack when I went back into the lakes scouting. Wasn't feeling very well so I came back out the next day. Stomach bug of some kind. If you wait to post anything, I'll try and get some of the nicer photo's I took on this site to view and I'll let you know when it's done. I put a few photo's on last summer and early fall and I'll try not to duplicate too much.

The scouting begins- Kootenai Creek Bitterroot Valley of western Montana

Tributary creek

Kootenai Creek not too far from the trailhead

It's just gorgeous

Kootenai Creek

Some rough country.

Camp at North Kootenai Lake

The lake.

Wow, just wow!

Thimble berries on the way in. Oh were they good!!

October camp at the lake. Jeff & Jay hunting with me. Steaks on the fire w/baked potatoes!!

Long day.

Woke in the morning to this. It started snowing and raining on Monday night at about 7:00 PM and never let up, alternating between rain and snow until Wednesday morning. It broke for a couple of hours and we felt the wiser thing to do would be to bugger out. A little concerned about getting out.

It was slick son of a gun! The snow would slosh up as you walked it was so heavy with water!

Small wreck on the way out. This was about 6 miles from the lake it it completely changed. looking back behind us it was still winter and did not appear to be getting better! Wise choice.

Almost home from this day.

 

[JD338]

David,

That sure is some beautiful country!

JD338

 

[6mm Remington]

Another camp about 3 miles in.

Looking to the east towards the valley. Only a couple miles from the lakes and 11 miles to the trailhead.

Looking west from 4.5 miles in. My favorite spot to camp.

4.5 mile camp.

36 pounds with the rifle in the pack! Carried every day.

Very neat one morning with the ice on the branches.

North side of drainage above 4.5 mile camp. Only place I saw a goat, one goat!

Long pull up the ridge with a heavy pack on.

Another nice spot for goats.

Looking across the ridge to the south from 4.5 mile camp.

Looking west. Only 8.5 miles to the lakes from here!

It only leveled slightly here for a bit, and then climb again I go.

Looking south across the creek from the ridge above camp.

Finally someone went with me again. Jay was crazy enough to say yes. We made it to the top and never got cliffed-out!

Looking towards the Bitterroot valley. Only went in a couple miles this day and hiked out of the bottom to the top of the ridge and then hunted the ridge from the top.

Beautiful day...........finally!

Wonderful day.

Looking and just more looking.

Just another one of my drowned rat wet days. Never seemed to catch a break with the weather.

May have put this one or one similar, but it's just gorgeous.

Saw an awful lot of this! Couldn't see and it rained on me.

Tired dogs! The end.

I had a great time and would do it all over again.

 

[LD375]

Absolutely stunning country :!:

 

[6mm Remington]

Thanks BigBear and JD338 and I have to agree! Thanks for letting me share.

 

[DrMike]

David,

You make me long to be in the mountains again. Lovely photos and some wonderful memories. Thanks for posting.

 

[widgeon]

Beautiful senery.

It sure makes me miss hunting in the Sierras.

 

[gerry]

Great pictures, too bad you didn't see more goats. You sure put in a solid effort and should be congratulated. That country looks like it should hold quite a few grizzlies did you see any sign of them?

 

[6mm Remington]

This is the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Gerry and a couple years ago maybe 50 miles from where I was hunting, a black bear hunter accidentally shot a Grizzly Bear thinking it was a black bear. That is one of the first confirmed sightings in here for about 75 years.

There was not much game in here. I saw three or four moose tracks, very few deer tracks, a few elk tracks, a couple of what appeared to be goat tracks, and three or four wolf tracks and that was it! Oh, I did have one black bear cross the trail behind me one day when I was scouting. Some folks coming up behind me saw him. They said he was really pretty.

I would not be shocked to find that there are a few more grizzly bears in there. It is really tough country though and not a lot of feed for bears. Not a ton of deer but I think a guy could find a whopper. I want to go back to the lakes this summer with my son and go fishing. The trout were feeding like crazy in the lake I camped at. Fresh trout on the fire would be fantastic!!

 

[257 Ackley]

David -
Thanks for sharing those great pictures. Looking forward to being in western Montana this fall again mys.elf...won't be quite that difficult of hunting where I'm at though :wink:

 

[Guy Miner]

Great photos of an outstanding hunt in tough country.

Thanks!

 

[gerry]

That is some beautiful country there, you should definitely go back to do some trout fishing, heck I would join you if I lived down there That is certainly a place that would be great to visit (and fish) on a nice summer's night.

 

[Guest]

Man, that's some kind of pretty country! Makes me all the more sure I need to get started earning preference points this year for MT & WY. Thanks for taking me along via this thread. Very nice!

 

[CanuckBen]

Absolutely gorgeous pictures - just stunning scenery!

 

[C.Smith]

Very pretty country thanks for sharing. What kind of pack are you using?

Corey

 

[6mm Remington]

Corey I was using an Eberlestock pack. It expanded enough that I could put my food, tent, sleeping bag, and cooking stuff in it along with clothes and other things. I then took out what I didn't need and kept essentials in it with enough stuff to stay out if I had to or got stuck someplace at dark and stay. I had a small tent footbed that I used as a shelter if needed. It packed small, was light and waterproof, and was not noisy. Things like that I had in my pack with me at all times. The pack worked very well for me and held up to the abuse. I should have taken pictures with it loaded up and turned sideways or from the back because it was full!

 

[SJB358]

Great pictures David, you put in an awesome effort buddy! That was some great country you were in..

 

[6mm Remington]

Thanks Scotty. Even though I never got a goat, I had a great time and all the effort was well worth it. I'm pretty excited about going back there and doing some fishing. I think that would be a lot of fun. Maybe the weather will even be on my side for a change.

 

[SJB358]

Thanks Scotty. Even though I never got a goat, I had a great time and all the effort was well worth it. I'm pretty excited about going back there and doing some fishing. I think that would be a lot of fun. Maybe the weather will even be on my side for a change.

Man, now that would be a great fishing trip David! I really would like to fish the West. Never did much except when I was in Canada.

 

[LD375]

David, I forgot to say..I also use the cat pole from stoney point as well ...they sure come in handy on a big-game hunt, they make for a nice steady rest for sure!..Lou :wink: