March 2026
Take Easy When You Can Get It | Montana Mountain Goat Hunting
Story By: Reggie Hochstein
It all started in 1993. For my college graduation, my dad bought me a mule deer tag and took me along with him and his buddies on his annual Montana elk hunt. It was a great experience, and we made many wonderful memories. One of the best parts of that hunt was the morning I cut a track in the snow. As I followed it, the terrain kept going up and getting rockier. At the time, I thought I was following a mule deer track, but I was surprised to look up and see a mountain goat staring at me.
I knew right then and there I would hunt them someday, as that was an awesome experience. Wouldn’t you know it; after applying as a nonresident for over thirty-two years, I drew the tag!
After thirty-two years of applying, I recognized I wasn’t a kid anymore, so I recruited my nephews Tanner and Jacob to help me with the hunt. These guys are the same age I was when I saw that first mountain goat, and their enthusiasm was the same as mine was back in 1993 when Dad took me along for the first time to Montana.
Turns out the unit I drew happened to be one of the most physical units one can hunt in Montana. Late September came, and the three of us prepared to pack into the backcountry for a week. The plan was to hike up a ridge to the east for a vantage point and spend a few days spotting and inventorying animals in several huge drainages. Would you believe it? Right before we started heading up, I put my spotter up and saw a goat halfway up the mountain from the trailhead! We thought we could get access to the animal from the bottom trail. It appeared to be alone, and, looking at the build of the animal, we guessed it was a billy.
We made the decision to head up the creek drainage instead of following the original plan to head up the east ridge. After several miles, it was a struggle to see the cliffs through all the timber. At 5:00 p.m., we found the animal, dumped the packs, and started to climb. At 6:00 p.m., we were 330 yards away; we’d finally found a spot to shoot from and had the goat bedded.
I was struggling. I am usually a bowhunter. Being in grizzly country, however, we were prepared with pistols and a high-powered rifle. I was confident the goat would be there the next day to stalk with a bow, which I had along, and it was only the first day of a week-long hunt. But I just had a feeling in my gut to take “easy when you can get it” and use a rifle.
I finally found a rock to get set up on. After one hour, the goat stood up, and—with a single 330-yard shot—the goat was down. Beneath a beautiful September sunset, my nephews and I took the moment to appreciate both the experience and the size and maturity of the animal. Then the race was on to take pictures, get the animal broken down by the light of a campfire, and burn up phone lines with news of our success. We were nervous because there was a nearby elk carcass left by a successful archery elk hunter, and grizzlies were in the area. Thankfully, the trip out was an uneventful one.
By taking “easy” when I could get it, we had plenty of time to use the rest of the week to hang out in southwest Montana, visiting old friends and reminiscing about the previous thirty-plus years of elk and lion hunting we’d done in the area.
I would like to say thanks to everyone who helped me with this once-in-a-lifetime hunt, especially Dad, Cyril, Bob, Jim, Maryln, Kelly, Tanner, Jacob, and Julie, as well as my wife, Mandy, and my daughter, Hazel!
Our luck continued later into the fall on our annual Nebraska hunt with my dad, brothers, nieces, and nephews. We all had successful hunts. My daughter took a great mid-160s buck, and I took a mid-170s buck.