Mountain Goats are known as the toughest big game animal in North America, the majestic Mountain Goat spends its life in the rockiest most rugged terrain around. The Mountain goat spends the spring and summer feeding in newly slid avalanche slides, during this time the Billie’s spend their time with the Nannies and the kids. But when the temperature drops the Billie’s separate to move to the wind blown ridges and seek shelter at the top of the rocky peaks. The Nannies along with their kids and immature Billy’s live much lower then the Mature Billy’s. It is not till Late October and early November when the Mature Billy’s start to search for a suitable mate, with snows on the ground this is the best time to come for a Goat hunt.
The Billie’s coat is in the longest often reaching more then 6 inches in length, and they are in full rut and are much more accessible then earlier months. The Goats biggest struggle comes in the winter months, when all of the other game in the area head to wintering grounds, the goat stays in the mountains, fighting treacherous winds and escaping avalanches all winter long. During the winter months the Mountain Goats survives on a diet of lichens, moss and any grass that can be found on wind blown slopes. They must survive our long winters with temperatures often dropping into the minus 40 ranges with wind chill.
Here at Total Outdoor Adventures we only hunt and harvest mature Billy Mountain Goats. A mature Billy in the Bull River is over 3 years of age, however we focus on harvest goats in the 5 to 10 year old range to ensure proper game management. The horn length varies from 9 to 10 inches in our area with many clients harvesting Boone Crockett goats in the past years. We run a high success rates, over 90% in the last 5 years. We only receive a certain amount of tags each year, so be sure to book before we run out.
Our Mountain Goat hunts are 6 days in duration, however most of our clients harvest the in the first 3 days of the hunt. Goat hunts go extremely well in regards of success with our Rocky Mountain Elk Hunts and our Shiras Moose. Hunters during a goat hunt will be staying in the mountains and must be prepared with appropriate clothes and accessories to ensure a successful hunt, found here.
Goat hunt success relies heavily on the weather, thus the 6-day duration. On average the first day consists of loading our trusty mountain steeds with all needed gear and equipment, you will be transported to an area where a mature Billy was recently spotted and assessed for trophy quality. Transportation consists of horseback via pack train and hiking during this hunt, this is a very physically and mentally draining hunt so be sure to come in good shape and a positive mindset.
On the first day you will set up a base camp of either a tent or in one of our spike camps. From there the experienced mountain goat guide will locate the mature Billy and come up with a plan of attack. Often times in order to reach a goat in its habitat you must carry another tent up the mountain and precede to stay in it for a night. You will then stalk and attempt to harvest your trophy Billy.
At Total Outdoor Adventures we are fortunate enough to be able to have some of the best Goat guides working for us, these guides specialize in Goat and Mountain hunts. They are all equipped with top of the line camp gear; optics and most importantly experience to ensure you have a successful hunt.
