Aggressive mountain goats

Just read an article about how mountain goats in Olympic National park are threatening humans. One has even killed a hiker. Lots of talk about how the Park service is discussing ways to correct this problem. It has not been decided but, shooting them from helicopters is one of the ideas. Nowhere in the article was any thought of allowing hunters to thin the heard.

I think there has been some discussion of hunting them, and there have been some tags available for that purpose.

Just looked it up - I applied for those tags. Looks like there were six "conflict reduction" tags available this year. Sept & October with "any legal weapon."

Ya, I remember when the goat killed the fellow a few years ago. I can't remember if he'd pushed his luck, trying to get too close for a photograph, but I remember that the goat gored him with those danged pointy horns... They are relatively unafraid of humans.

Guy

They are pretty tough animals. I have had one get aggressive with me when I was guiding, so I made sure I backed off. My friend has a video of a grizzly trying to kill a goat and the goat hammered him a few times with those sharp horns, the bear was very cautious after that in trying to jump on him. In the end the goat got away but it is possible both animals were badly wounded during the ordeal and died. If the goat horns penetrated the gut of the bear when he hit him in the flank the bear would have died days later.

Yup. Don't crowd the wild critters...

All good points Thankful Otter!

Ooops! Where'd the Otter post go? That was quick! :shock:

Guy

I liked what she had to say too, it was right on.

Gerry. Guy, thank you gentlemen, but it was a little two strong for a couple of men on this forum.

So let me try it a different way

I am very sorry that the man was killed. I am sorry that his friends and family had to endure this terrible tragedy.

But wild animals are, wild, they live in the wild everyday, not just when they feel like taking a hike. They have to protect themselves everyday of their life from humans, environment, other animals and they will attack when pushed or threatened, just like you would if you or your family felt threatened. We see stories all the time of someone who shot an intruder and say good for him for protecting himself or his family. But if an animal does it for the same reasons, we must put it down, thin the herd.

All I am saying is you should give a wild animal the same respect you would give your next door neighbor before you open his front door and walk into his home uninvited.

As to the helicopter/hunting tag scenario, I stand my ground . Receive money by selling tags or spend money for a helicopter--you decide. I choose making money

The shooting from helicopter idea was not intended for hunters, just a quick way of killing them. Which, was my point...............if shooting was the answer why not let them be hunted/harvested instead of eliminated for the sole purpose of killing. Then I remember who is doing the considering and it makes sense; shooting from a helicopter by someone appointed by the park service, "OK"..................... issuing tags to resident hunters, not part of the agenda..............................

Excellent points, Cheyenne. Pity that some delicate souls with pliable constitutions have managed to squirm their way onto the forum. Don't know that I'd be overly concerned about allowing them to dictate what is posted. Goats can be surprisingly aggressive when they feel threatened. Same holds true for about any wild creature. I always found the elk, mule deer, mountain sheep, mountain goats, wolves, black bears and grizzlies in Jasper National Park to be surprisingly tolerant of people. They had to be tolerant with all the tourists rushing to take photos. Nevertheless, they were wild animals, capable of doing incredible harm to the unwary.

For one thing we all know that most of these people encounter wild life only once in a life time and have no idea how dangerous they can be and should stay a distance for safety.
I found a herd of Elk in PA bedded down in a field and was observing them when I unfortunately attracted others who wanted to see what i was looking at. I was standing in a fence row fairly canceled but they had to cross the fence and approach the Elk in the field. There was at least 20-30 animals in the field with some very large bulls. the startled Elk got on their feet and started looking for an escape route and all I could think of was a stampede and people being gourd and stomped on. ( Stupid Idiots ) I even told some of them to stay back but no they had to go out in the field anyway.
There have been people killed by domesticated animals also such as cows with calves and goats protecting their young.
People don't have respect for each other so how can they have respect for wild animals?
I'm sorry the man lost his life but then he shouldn't have put his self in a dangerous situation.
You just can't fix stupid.
Hows that for telling it like it is Cheyenne?

situational awareness seems to be lacking by some individuals in washington state this year. the wife and i were up looking for bears and had 3 knuckleheads on motorcycles ride up on us and ask us why we had guns. the wife answered well he's picking huckleberries and we both are hunting bears. they looked perplexed and didnt even know there are bears and mountain lions in the woods. they hit the panic button and tore off outta there. heres your signs boys. :roll:

Cheyenne thank you for your perspective on this matter . So many people watch the videos of people feeding wild animals and taking photographs from way to close.
I have personally witnessed people getting out of their vehicles to take photos of 2 bull Elk sparing and get within 10 yards of them :shock: I just shake my head as the say goes it is hard to fix stupid.
Last August coming back from Gerry & Maria's we hit Jasper National Park right at dusk and my wife was overwhelmed when a very large bull Elk came into the ditch to feed, it absolutely dwarfed a midsize car that was stopped right beside it
It is not that I do not have sympathy for people that lose their lives or are injured by animals but we must continued to get them to understand that wild means just that and they can not always be predictable.

Blessings,
Dan

You all caught the part of my post where there ARE six tags which were available for what the WDFW is calling "conflict reduction" in September and October? These are for the purposes of cutting down on the number of goats in that area.

A couple of thousand hunters put in for those tags, me among them.

Guy

Guy, when are the drawn results made available?

Blessings,
Dan

They're already out. A month ago maybe? Something like that.

So, six lucky hunters know that they've got tags for "conflict reduction" goats. Cool. I'm envious!

I did draw a "second deer" tag, but that's not as exciting as mountain goat.

Guy