Montana Mountain Goat Hunting | Old Goats

For non-resident hunters, Montana is a notoriously difficult state to draw a tag. I had been applying for 22 years for sheep, moose, and mountain goat. When I was notified by Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks that I had drawn a mountain goat tag, I was stunned and had to check it over and over to make sure there wasn’t some sort of mistake. However, the word “Successful” kept coming up. I was going to be hunting Montana.
 
My first call was to Huntin’ Fool. I knew there were some Hunt Advisors from Montana, and I was fortunate to talk with Eric Bachofner about the hunting unit. Eric was excited about my  draw and gave me a lot of information about the area and contacts who would prove to be very helpful. He said he felt like this was the best unit in the state for mountain goat, if not the best unit in the lower 48 states.
 
After talking with the various contacts, which included past hunters and the area biologist, I was cautiously apprehensive. I’d hunted sheep and goats before and knew that mountain hunts were physically demanding. Being in my late 60s, I’m an old goat myself, and I was unsure if my body was up to the task of hunting these majestic animals on their home field.


 
Another concern that I had about the hunt was weather. In the high country fall season, the weather can change on a dime. Mountain goats are prized for their long, thick coats that protect them from the harsh conditions in the areas where they live, but they don’t start growing that thick hair until October when the weather becomes less predictable. A hunter could easily have access blocked by snow, which could prove disastrous for an older self-guided hunter like myself.
 
I tried preparing physically as much as I could for the hunt by going on hikes with my family and maintaining an active lifestyle, which included pickleball, umpiring baseball games, and taking our two large dogs on walks. There were some other hunting trips in Utah and Colorado that kept me physically engaged in the outdoors. The pinnacle of my preparation was a 15-mile loop hike to Mount Timpanogos near my home in Utah. It got me excited for my hunt as we encountered about 40 mountain goats on our hike.
 
The weather had been unusually warm, so I planned my hunt for mid-October, hoping for a cooldown to promote hair growth on the goats. My friend, Steve, an old goat too, offered to have me tow his 26-foot trailer and help me with my hunt. Randy, one of the Huntin’ Fool contacts who had hunted the same area two years prior, agreed to travel two hours from his home to show me the various access points on the unit. It goes to show what a tight-knit group hunters are and how willing they are to help.


 
We made the eight-hour drive and set up camp in the early evening hours. On the way, we spotted mule deer, whitetail, and elk and drove through some beautiful country. As we drove by the mountain range where I would be hunting, I was hit with that apprehensive feeling again. These mountains are steep, and the goats live in the tops of them!
 
The next morning dawned beautiful, and we met Randy at one of the main trailheads. This unit is heavily used by hikers and other recreationalists, and the parking lot was filling with vehicles. Randy showed us photos of the area on top where the goats hung out and prepped us on what to expect. He then took us to a few more access points. Steve and I decided to hike a couple of miles in from one of the access points to see what we could find. We made the trek to the mountain pass and were passed by several younger hikers along the way. We sat and glassed on and around the mountain pass but didn’t spot any goats, so we made our way back to the truck by nightfall.
 
We decided to hike out of the first trailhead Randy had shown us on the following morning. There was only one other car in the parking lot when we arrived. We loaded our packs and struck out on the trail early, hoping to find some mountain goats. I was starting to feel a little stronger and a little less apprehensive as we made our way up to the mountain pass. According to the weather forecasts, there was a stormfront blowing in and the wind was howling pretty strong when we arrived at the pass. Once you get to the pass, there is a system of trails that travel along the ridgeline. We had only gone about a quarter of a mile when I looked downhill and saw a white spot on a rock outcrop. It was a goat, and the nice thing was that it appeared to be alone, which is typical of billies. We got closer for a better look and found it was a nanny with a kid lying next to her.
 
We picked up our spotting scopes and packs and walked a few hundred yards to the edge of a large, steep bowl. There were more white spots on a rockslide about a mile away. Mountain goats! Our strategy was to pick our way across the rock-strewn bowl which would give us a direct line to the goats. Easier said than done. It took us several hours to slide our way across those steep, rocky slopes. It’s amazing how mountain goats make a trek like that seem so easy.
 
Finally, we made it to where we could set up on the goats. They hadn’t moved since we first saw them as they were laying on the rocks soaking up the warm fall sun. We looked over the goats and determined there were three billies and seven nannies with kids. Mountain goats are difficult to judge, made even more difficult by their long winter coats. We felt like there were two billies sitting next to each other that were about equal in size on the far side of the group. We made our way past the rest of the goats, which seemed unconcerned about two old goats slipping and sliding on the rocks, and got in position for a shot. Both billies got up and started feeding, and I determined that the lower goat was a little heavier horned than the upper goat.
 
At the shot, the goat jumped and I could see that he was hit. He walked a few yards, then lay down with his back to us next to a bush. As we made our way to the downed goat, the second billy showed up and stood over the fallen goat as if he were his guardian. Goats can be aggressive, but we were able to scare him off without incident and concentrate on my goat. Mountain goats are tough, and it took two more shots to bring him down for good. He rolled down the steep slope into a tangle of pines.
 
After photos, caping, and boning out the meat, we packed everything into our packs and found the trail. We were four miles in, it was getting dark, and we were spent and knew we would be lucky to get ourselves out, much less a heavy load of meat. We made the decision to hang the meat in a tree and come back when we had rested. We didn’t get back to our truck until 10:00 p.m.
 
That night, the predicted storm blew in and it snowed all day. We made the decision to take the trailer off the mountain and search for help in recovering our goat. After several phone calls, Randy came through again. He said he had two young studs who would be willing to hike in and get our trophy. The next morning, Avery and Treyton showed up ready to hike through the elements for us. It took them seven and a half hours to hike up through clouds and knee-deep snow to retrieve my goat. To say we were grateful is an understatement. They said they didn’t know how we made it up to hunt.
 
We made it home with my trophy but not without incident. On the drive, we had a blowout on one of the trailer tires. Once again, a stranger appeared and helped us change the tire and get back on the road. There are too many people to thank for their help on this hunt, but I can say this, there are a lot of good people out there willing to help a couple of old goats.