So after applying off and on since I was 14, I finally drew Colorado mountain goat. I drew G12, which is in the Maroon Bells/Snowmass wilderness just south of Aspen. I have had several buddies hunt it before, so I knew where to find goats. A lot of my scouting was checking easier areas to see if they held goats.
First trip in was to Capitol Lake. About 15 miles round trip. 2600 vertical feet.
On the way in.
The lake and Capitol peak. One of Colorado's tougher 14er's. No goats on this trip.
Second scouting trip was to Cathedral Lake. It is a short, but steep hike. 3 miles and 2000 vertical feet.
I actually saw a goat on this one. The white spec in the middle of the picture is a goat.
The lake was glass the next morning. I managed to catch a couple of cutthroats.
So after visiting with my buddy that had hunted it 2 years before and with a buddy last year, that had volunteered to come with for a couple of days, we decided to try and hunt the goat I scouted. Most of the goats that come out of that part of the unit are Billy's, so it seemed like a good place to start.
We found a goat soon after arriving at the lake and setting up camp. Taken through 15x binos. Also found 2 other goat hunters. We watched the goat until dark.
The next morning when we got up, the other groups of hunters were already headed up the hill, but as my buddy said, "Don't go unless you know." We waited until we could see, found the goat, and the others were going the wrong way.
I'd spent a good part of my time scouting looking for ways through or up the cliffs in the area. It paid off. We made a plan and hauled ass.
These 2 guys deserve more of the credit than I do. Jerad and his 13 year old son Brylan. I think Brylan would give those mountain goats a run for their money in a race. They helped me realize how much further I could go and helped when I needed it.
I don't normally do rifle pictures, but this rifle was a gift from a friend that has left this world. It's name is Fred, 7 mm REM Mag. Pre 68 model 700 Remington BDL. Just a shooter.
It turned out that this goat was actually an old dry nanny. I couldn't care less. It was my animal and I was very proud. 7 years old. 8 5/8 and 8 3/4 inch horns.
Hide and head and camp in the pack. The hide weighed more than the meat.
Man it felt good to dump this pack here.
This picture was taken from camp. The red line is approximately our path on the stalk. The white dot is where the goat was. Another 1000 vertical above camp to the kill site. The shot was a little over 200 yards. I was trying to settle my breathing and heart rate (Jerad said my glasses were moving with my heart beat) when she turned like she was going to leave. Not today. Not a perfect shot, but she dropped and didn't fall far. About 12,800 feet at the kill site.
Incredible hunt in country that I can only describe as raw.
Edit to add a few details and fix typos.