ttmannan
Lil-Rokslider
This is long. Here's the short version - 2 hunters, 2 goats - both 3.5 years old, one 8" and one 7.5" with 5" bases. One less than 100 yards and one at 31 yards. The greatest, most rewarding experience of my life.
9/26 I flew ABQ-SLC-SEA-ANC and stayed the night in Anchorage to start my trip. My hunting partner, Will, flew from Midland to Anchorage.
9/27 We went back to ANC to catch the 1:46 to ADQ, TSA swabbed my rifle case thoroughly, then closed it, flipped it upside down and opened it again, successfully dumping my rifle case completely out and swabbing it again after going through it right side up!
We were starting descent to Kodiak when we noticed the airplane turning and gaining altitude…. We got sent all the way back to Anchorage as there was ash in the air from Shishaldin. We got back to ANC, got a hotel room and went to dinner with a Danish hunter who was also headed to Kodiak for goats with a different outfitter.
I was put on an early morning flight for 9/28 and my hunting partner was put on 9/29! It took some scrambling and begging Alaska Airlines but he made it onto the 9/28 flight with me, but he wasn’t back in first class that time.
I have seen comments about flying with too many bags on Alaska… I checked two bags and a rifle, with no problem, no questions and no fees, but I was in first class so that may have been part of it? That is the only reason I booked first class, was to avoid the issues.
9/28 Up at 3:15 back to ANC made it to Kodiak finally and were met by the outfitter. We did paperwork, picked up our locking tags and grabbed a bite at Subway. We got on our Beaver bush plane at 1 and flew to a lake at 700 feet elevation. We had a short 1.6 mile hike to camp that only gained 1,326 feet of elevation. It was the worst hike of my life with the alders and the devils club and when not in those, the grasses and ferns were chest high. Should have gotten more sleep and should have eaten more. Pack was 62.5 pounds at this point, including rifle, 7 days of food etc. We saw a group of 29 goats on the mountain to which we were headed.
9/29 Friday is day two and we hiked to next camp, 4.52 miles with 1,253 elevation gain. Went through an ash area that had been turned into a bears toilet like a giant kitty litter box. We watched a sow with three cubs, saw a few Blacktail deer, doe and bucks and 7 total bears. We found a campsite to stay out of the wind and hunkered down. Two hunters, two guides and two packers. There were three Will’s… a hunter, a packer and a bush pilot!
9/30 Saturday we were fogged in to the deck with rain so we stayed in our tents all day. Thank goodness for a gallon Ziploc bag! And to heck with Hilleberg Akto tents. If you are the slightest bit claustrophobic, or if you like to be able to sit up in your tent, this is not the tent for you. If you do buy one, take a clothespin to keep the vestibule door open as the design is garbage. We had a little snow but temps were not unbearable.
10/1 Sunday we saw goats at the back of the bowl and at the top of the mountain. There were also two resident bears hanging out on the mountain. We hiked 2 miles to north end of the mountain, moving our camp. We set up camp and were almost finished when there was a string of mountain goats headed toward us across the face of the mountain. There was a 4 1/2 year-old for sure and a good 3 1/2 year old so I agreed that if Will shot a 4 1/2 and I had the opportunity to shoot the younger one that I would not care, if his coat was great. We climbed 150 yards to wait for them. A 2 year old billy and a nanny stood on a rock and stared at us at 38 yards for a full three minutes while we lay there staring at them through our scopes. The rest of the herd had gone around a small hill, so we repositioned. Willy got steady and shot his at under 100 yards. One shot one kill. 3.5 year old, 8” long horns. The string continued on while one nanny kept turning around and looking back at the dead billy. Within just a few minutes, they were at the top of the mountain, staring down at us. We got some good pictures and Will and I got off the mountain. It was not a terribly late night. The ptarmigan flocks were large and abundant… I wished I had brought a packable .22! (Will picture)
10/2 Monday, we got up and one of the guides and packers started boning Will’s while the other Will, Chris and I went around into a bowl and up a saddle. We looked over and saw resident hunters camped and three guys milling around camp. They were flown in, probably by a Maule or a Cub to a high alpine lake. We saw goats high on the mounted and we started to pursue when we heard a rifle shot. It was from one of the residents, apparently not all of them were in camp! They pushed goats our direction and we watched and waited. About 15 goats ran within 30 yards of us, but it was fast and they popped up out of nowhere. We could not tell what was a shooter. We moved to a new position and watched them climb the mountain we had just left. At that point the goats were 500 yards away, going up the hill and we had no idea what was a shooter, and they were changing positions rapidly. They were mixed up with kids and nannies and their heads were all down. It was a long shot across the canyon so we just watched them. We hiked about 1.5 miles total and less than 700 feet of vertical… it was nice to hike without the full camp on my back. (Saddle Lake picture)
My guide, Chris, our packer, Will and I decided to pack up and move camp back to the bowl area due to the residents so we traveled with Will and his packer and guide (David and Erin) back to that area and continue to look for goats. We trekked 2.02 miles moving camp. Will, his guide and their packer moved on towards the lake for evacuation, leaving my guide, packer and me.
We decided to make a play on a goat we could see bedded at the back of a bowl, fairly high on the mountain. It was close to 5PM and we knew he would be up within the next 1.5 hours so we made a play.
There were three alluvial fans and we decided if we could get to the furthest from us, closest to the goat it might be a doable shot. We got delayed on the hike to the spot when I thought “That is an interesting rock” and decided to look through my binos. It was a bear, 175 yards from us, above us, staring down, wondering what these three things were doing wandering through his domain.
(Bear picture) I shot some video and a snapshot and we kept moving. We finally got to the spot we were attempting to get to and the goat was up, feeding away, and was soon to cross the top and be gone. I ranged, got prone, didn’t breathe or dry fire, wasn’t as set as I should have been and whiffed the shot. Clean miss, no harm, no foul and at a good distance, up hill with the winds whipping around in that bowl, I wasn’t surprised. It was a Hail Mary and while not irresponsible, it was a low probability shot. I’ve made successful shots on animals at much further distances but this one was not meant to be. It was about 1.4 miles of hiking there and back to our camp and about 810 feet of elevation change.
cont...
9/26 I flew ABQ-SLC-SEA-ANC and stayed the night in Anchorage to start my trip. My hunting partner, Will, flew from Midland to Anchorage.
9/27 We went back to ANC to catch the 1:46 to ADQ, TSA swabbed my rifle case thoroughly, then closed it, flipped it upside down and opened it again, successfully dumping my rifle case completely out and swabbing it again after going through it right side up!
We were starting descent to Kodiak when we noticed the airplane turning and gaining altitude…. We got sent all the way back to Anchorage as there was ash in the air from Shishaldin. We got back to ANC, got a hotel room and went to dinner with a Danish hunter who was also headed to Kodiak for goats with a different outfitter.
I was put on an early morning flight for 9/28 and my hunting partner was put on 9/29! It took some scrambling and begging Alaska Airlines but he made it onto the 9/28 flight with me, but he wasn’t back in first class that time.
I have seen comments about flying with too many bags on Alaska… I checked two bags and a rifle, with no problem, no questions and no fees, but I was in first class so that may have been part of it? That is the only reason I booked first class, was to avoid the issues.
9/28 Up at 3:15 back to ANC made it to Kodiak finally and were met by the outfitter. We did paperwork, picked up our locking tags and grabbed a bite at Subway. We got on our Beaver bush plane at 1 and flew to a lake at 700 feet elevation. We had a short 1.6 mile hike to camp that only gained 1,326 feet of elevation. It was the worst hike of my life with the alders and the devils club and when not in those, the grasses and ferns were chest high. Should have gotten more sleep and should have eaten more. Pack was 62.5 pounds at this point, including rifle, 7 days of food etc. We saw a group of 29 goats on the mountain to which we were headed.
9/29 Friday is day two and we hiked to next camp, 4.52 miles with 1,253 elevation gain. Went through an ash area that had been turned into a bears toilet like a giant kitty litter box. We watched a sow with three cubs, saw a few Blacktail deer, doe and bucks and 7 total bears. We found a campsite to stay out of the wind and hunkered down. Two hunters, two guides and two packers. There were three Will’s… a hunter, a packer and a bush pilot!
9/30 Saturday we were fogged in to the deck with rain so we stayed in our tents all day. Thank goodness for a gallon Ziploc bag! And to heck with Hilleberg Akto tents. If you are the slightest bit claustrophobic, or if you like to be able to sit up in your tent, this is not the tent for you. If you do buy one, take a clothespin to keep the vestibule door open as the design is garbage. We had a little snow but temps were not unbearable.
10/1 Sunday we saw goats at the back of the bowl and at the top of the mountain. There were also two resident bears hanging out on the mountain. We hiked 2 miles to north end of the mountain, moving our camp. We set up camp and were almost finished when there was a string of mountain goats headed toward us across the face of the mountain. There was a 4 1/2 year-old for sure and a good 3 1/2 year old so I agreed that if Will shot a 4 1/2 and I had the opportunity to shoot the younger one that I would not care, if his coat was great. We climbed 150 yards to wait for them. A 2 year old billy and a nanny stood on a rock and stared at us at 38 yards for a full three minutes while we lay there staring at them through our scopes. The rest of the herd had gone around a small hill, so we repositioned. Willy got steady and shot his at under 100 yards. One shot one kill. 3.5 year old, 8” long horns. The string continued on while one nanny kept turning around and looking back at the dead billy. Within just a few minutes, they were at the top of the mountain, staring down at us. We got some good pictures and Will and I got off the mountain. It was not a terribly late night. The ptarmigan flocks were large and abundant… I wished I had brought a packable .22! (Will picture)
10/2 Monday, we got up and one of the guides and packers started boning Will’s while the other Will, Chris and I went around into a bowl and up a saddle. We looked over and saw resident hunters camped and three guys milling around camp. They were flown in, probably by a Maule or a Cub to a high alpine lake. We saw goats high on the mounted and we started to pursue when we heard a rifle shot. It was from one of the residents, apparently not all of them were in camp! They pushed goats our direction and we watched and waited. About 15 goats ran within 30 yards of us, but it was fast and they popped up out of nowhere. We could not tell what was a shooter. We moved to a new position and watched them climb the mountain we had just left. At that point the goats were 500 yards away, going up the hill and we had no idea what was a shooter, and they were changing positions rapidly. They were mixed up with kids and nannies and their heads were all down. It was a long shot across the canyon so we just watched them. We hiked about 1.5 miles total and less than 700 feet of vertical… it was nice to hike without the full camp on my back. (Saddle Lake picture)My guide, Chris, our packer, Will and I decided to pack up and move camp back to the bowl area due to the residents so we traveled with Will and his packer and guide (David and Erin) back to that area and continue to look for goats. We trekked 2.02 miles moving camp. Will, his guide and their packer moved on towards the lake for evacuation, leaving my guide, packer and me.
We decided to make a play on a goat we could see bedded at the back of a bowl, fairly high on the mountain. It was close to 5PM and we knew he would be up within the next 1.5 hours so we made a play.
There were three alluvial fans and we decided if we could get to the furthest from us, closest to the goat it might be a doable shot. We got delayed on the hike to the spot when I thought “That is an interesting rock” and decided to look through my binos. It was a bear, 175 yards from us, above us, staring down, wondering what these three things were doing wandering through his domain.
(Bear picture) I shot some video and a snapshot and we kept moving. We finally got to the spot we were attempting to get to and the goat was up, feeding away, and was soon to cross the top and be gone. I ranged, got prone, didn’t breathe or dry fire, wasn’t as set as I should have been and whiffed the shot. Clean miss, no harm, no foul and at a good distance, up hill with the winds whipping around in that bowl, I wasn’t surprised. It was a Hail Mary and while not irresponsible, it was a low probability shot. I’ve made successful shots on animals at much further distances but this one was not meant to be. It was about 1.4 miles of hiking there and back to our camp and about 810 feet of elevation change.cont...
