2013 Goat Hunt with Aron Snyder, ArmyJoe, and Justin Davis

Aron threw up the glory shots so I hope you guys enjoy them especially the death roll ones those turned out really cool. Back to the story I met up with Aron on Sunday and shortly after arriving it began to snow again. WTF am I ever gonna catch a break? Checked the weather again and it said it would stop around 9 that night and that we would have clear skies the rest of the week. Joe and Justin planned on meeting us at 6 Monday morning and the hunt would be on.
 
Justin and Joe met us as planned and after a quick bite to eat and some gear transfers we headed to our access point. We stopped to glass a couple of times on our way in, but did not see anything. We made it to the pull off, grabbed gear and headed into the basin where Aron had a pretty good idea about where the goats would be. As we were working our way up we stopped and glassed periodically, but still hadn't found any goats. A little further up Aron spotted four goats and we sat down and got out the spotters. A couple looked like shooters so the stalk was on. One goat was feeding, one was bedded, one was standing looking in our direction and the other one was milling through the group. We decided to leave Justin and Joe there with two spotters and cameras to one, take pics and video of the stalk and to also keep the goats attention as me and Aron swung around and tried to move within range. We took off and used what available cover we had to close the distance. We stopped a couple of times to glass the goats and catch our breath. We finally made it to a giant sized boulder and hunched behind it. Three of the four goats were looking at us and I knew we didn't have a lot of time. I dropped my pack and got my breathing under control while Aron took my spotter to make sure which ones were nannies and which was the biggest. He also ranged it at 280 yards shooting distance with I believe was a 42 degree uphill angle. I crawled out to a small rock to lean against and begin steadying my rifle on the shooting sticks. Aron was still glassing trying to size them up and determine sex. In the above photos of the two goats he thought the one above was bigger, but I couldn't see much of its vitals with those rocks covering most of its chest, so I elected to take the one staring right at us. Aron was 90% sure it was a nanny and that he couldn't be 100% because of my shaky POS tripod and that if it was a billy it wasn't his fault. I felt confident that it was in fact a nanny and settled in for the shot.
 
Right before I shot Aron laid his second gem on me that I better not F@&^ this up because those goats would haul ass to the top and we would be chasing after them into the next basin. I settled in and let it rip. The recoil knocked me off the scope, but I gathered back quick enough to see the goat hopping off into the rocks. Aron told me she was hit hard and it looked like her shoulder was broke. We signaled for Joe and Justin to start working up towards us while we made our way up to the rocks that the goats were in. I never saw her roll down or come out anywhere, but the other three were hanging out looking down below them. Justin and Joe caught us pretty quick and Justin told me that she was hit hard, but was laying in the rocks just below from where I shot her from. We circled around and spotted her bedded, not doing well, but her head was up. I quickly put another round into her and she begin to roll. Luckily she stopped pretty quick and didn't break any horns.
 
I cannot express the feeling of accomplishment, relief, and satisfaction that came over me when I finally got to put my hands on my goat.
2013goat_zpsdae04a3e.jpg
 
It was tough, but not as bad as my face makes it look in some of the photos. I couldn't believe that after all the bad weather we caught a break, executed a perfect stalk and made a tough shot. It is something I will never forget and would do again all over regardless of the outcome. I got to experience the low of lows and the high of highs and that's what it is all about. I would also like to conclude this by thanking my wife and kids for always letting me pursue my outdoor passions and I want to give a shout out to Aron, Justin, and Joe these three guys are all class acts and genuine people. I really enjoyed their company and appreciated them spending their time helping me.
 
Congrats on braving the weather and coming home with a fine goat! What do you plan to do with her? Shoulder mount? Rug? Ground goat meat is about my favorite ground meat of all time, there are some fine goat loaf and goat burgers in your future!
 
Was the Tipi camp setup close to the truck? Or did you pack the cots and cooler deep into the mountains?
A great story and amazing pictures. Thanks for sharing.
 
Very nice. Looks like yall had an outstanding hunt. What camera were those photos taken with?
 
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