MOUNTAIN GOAT TAG AFTER 33 YEARS!

6

6mm Remington

Ammo Smith
Feb 27, 2006
5,271
692
It would appear that it is in fact true! :shock: I'm not quite counting my chickens just yet and I'll call FWP tomorrow to make sure, but it appears as if I finally drew a Mountain Goat tag for the Bitterroot Mountains of Montana after 33 years of applying for moose, sheep, and goat and not getting anything! I'm still a little shocked.

I drew district 240-06 which is down near St. Mary's Peak near Stevensville. I believe there was only one tag for that district. The west side of the Bitterroot Valley and they split district 240 into each drainage so they can better control where and how many goats are taken in the many drainages that flow down to the Bitterroot River. I'm pretty excited. Guess I better start working on those 110 gr. Accubonds in the wife's 25-06 as I think I'll use her 700 MTN Rifle for this one. It's nice to pack up those steep mountains! :grin:
David
 
David,

That is fantastic, congratulations to you.
Good things are worth waiing for. Best of luck on your sheep hunt.

JD338
 
Wow! Great news! Perhaps you'll post confirmation tomorrow! Congratulations. Consequently, those goats can be amazingly tough, absorbing an astonishing amount of punishment, all the while looking for the steepest drop imaginable to tumble over. Hit him hard and break bone.
 
Congratulations,

You are about to have the hunt you will never forget. I have never drawn a Mtn Goat but three friends let me tag along 2000,2005 and 2007. Goats are tough you need to be tougher. You better start working out tommorrow morning! Brian
 
Absolutely awesome! Congratulations!!!!!!!!

Best of luck on the hunt, and please keep us posted. That's a dream hunt for sure.

Guy
 
DrMike":2k80agwp said:
Consequently, those goats can be amazingly tough, absorbing an astonishing amount of punishment, all the while looking for the steepest drop imaginable to tumble over. Hit him hard and break bone.
Click to expand...

You got that right Mike. I read and studied like it was my own tag when a friend got his 20 years ago! Everyone said shoot them in the shoulder and then shoot them again. His goat took a dive off a mountain ledge on a last defying kick and rolled about 100 yards down the slope towards us. He took his first shot in the ribs "behind" the shoulder when I suggested he shoot shoulder first and then first again! :lol:

Scott Spencer":2k80agwp said:
Holy smokes!! That is awesome, David! You have got to film it someway...somehow!
Click to expand...

Might have to try that Scott even if it means buying a new digital recorder. They are so light and small now, and the price has came down an awful lot. I might have to seriously consider that. For sure I'll take lots of pictures at a minimum! Thanks for all the encouragement guys. I even got a phone call from JD338 a short time after I posted this which was very nice. :wink:
 
Wow! Now that's gonna be a trip that was worth the wait. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get a great big trophy billy. Are you going with a guide or do you know the country?
Greg
 
brianwyo":2sd2nnoq said:
Congratulations,

You are about to have the hunt you will never forget. I have never drawn a Mtn Goat but three friends let me tag along 2000,2005 and 2007. Goats are tough you need to be tougher. You better start working out tommorrow morning! Brian
Click to expand...

Just finished working out this morning Brian. I have three solid months to get feeling better and it would not hurt for me to drop 20 pounds. I did get to go with a friend on his goat hunt, and yes they sure are tough! We went into his area on a scouting trip once before his hunt and we snuck in on a billy laying in his bed to about 20 yards and he never even knew we were there, and we backed out after watching him for about 15 minutes. That was pretty neat. We think it was the same billy he later took, but it's hard to say for sure as there is not much difference between them sometimes.
 
That is so awsome. What a wait too, that will make that much better. Look forward to reading about your adventure.

So is shot three going to be a steep angles shot now? LOL

Corey
 
Congratulations, may you bag a giant billy :) Love hunting goats we do it every year.
 
Congratulation David! That is excellent buddy! I hope you get the biggest billy on the mountain! Man, what a score! Glad you finally drew that coveted tag. Should be a true hunt of a lifetime. I wish you ton's of luck in your preparation for the hunt. Scotty
 
Greg Nolan":315s8mjb said:
Wow! Now that's gonna be a trip that was worth the wait. I wish you the best of luck and hope you get a great big trophy billy. Are you going with a guide or do you know the country?
Greg
Click to expand...

To be honest Greg I haven't spent a great deal of time in the Bitterroots. We hunted mostly in the Sapphire Mountains on the east side of the valley. I have hiked up in there bit though. I plan on doing it on my own. Already starting making calls to Wardens, biologists, and I'm going to get the names of the last two years folks who have drawn this 1 tag for this drainage and see what they found and what they suggest. I talked with my FWP friend and the last data he had for flights with the biologist was in 2006 (hopefully some newer data someplace he can find) and there were 14 goats counted in that drainage with 3 being billies. Last year 70% of the applicants in district 240, which is split up into several smaller areas for management got a goat. Doesn't sound like there's a lot of goats, but I'll just have to go look! Even if I don't get one in the end, just to say that I had the chance to hunt Mountain Goats and all the adventures I'm sure I'll have will be trophy enough. Will I work very hard, yes. Will I hunt hard, yes. My success won't depend on me getting one or not though.

It's been a long time coming and I plan on enjoying it more than anything. I might pack my bow early along with a rifle JUST IN CASE there is that chance :shock: that we can make a sneak on a goat like we were able to that one time with my friend.
 
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