Alaska Unit 14 goat hunts

[Floorguy]

So I hadn't really paid attention and was looking at goat hunts and realized they all went draw. I had thought they were all registration last year, and now it looks lime they went all draw. Anybody know what happened or am I remembering wrong?

 

[Ray]

It was two years ago that they went draw. On a couple of duck hunts I stopped and talked to the trooper out Maud rd and the number of poached goats was getting out of hand. Too many people were getting a goat and then getting an R tag on the way home. Going draw was the only way to slow it down.

 

[Yellowknife]

You guys sure about that? They still have registration hunts in 14A I believe. They just start Oct 10 near the end of the drawing hunts. I'm pretty sure that's the way 14A has been for a while. 14C still had registration areas in 2013.

I thought the change two years ago was splitting the 14A goat areas up into smaller units? Metal Creek and Marcus Baker tags are now separate instead of one tag. Did they change the registration start date at the same time?


Yk

 

[Floorguy]

Maybe i jumped the gun on it. Do they not put the registration hunts up until the new regs come out? I went to look up the registration hunts and draws were the only thing that came up for hunt opportunities.

Ray, I hope that doesn't turn out to be the case. That doesn't sound like a good way to manage it I.e. too many poaching so we will make it harder for the legal hunters. There isn't a sealing requirement or specimen rquired.

 

[Ray]

Maybe it is still registration in Friday creek area. I know when drawings started i stopped looking at the details.

where I duck hunt at Leaf lake you can watch lots of nannies and kids all morning. We brought a spotter one day and never found a billy in any if the groups. May have been some young ones in there, but I had no idea what I was looking at.

The trooper was dealing with brown bear poaching along with goat poaching. He said he stopped an average of three hunters a year with a Nannie and no R tag coming out of Maude. And that was just checking randomly. Who knows how many they would have caught with a check station on the roads.

 

[60x]

What the hell is wrong with people.. How can you get a thrill out of poaching...very disturbing!!!

Im realitivey new to the valley so I dont know as much about some of 14 a or b( never crossed the river till recently so to speak) I just looked at the regs and its just as YK said, there is still a reg hunt for the friday/metal area rg 890/891just later on starting oct 10.. Wish I would of looked a little closer last year, I ran into a very nice big billy last year..

 

[Yellowknife]

where I duck hunt at Leaf lake you can watch lots of nannies and kids all morning. We brought a spotter one day and never found a billy in any if the groups. May have been some young ones in there, but I had no idea what I was looking at.

The trooper was dealing with brown bear poaching along with goat poaching. He said he stopped an average of three hunters a year with a Nannie and no R tag coming out of Maude. And that was just checking randomly. Who knows how many they would have caught with a check station on the roads.

That's interesting. I spent many days back in the Leaf Lake area in the 90's, and while I saw many hundreds of sheep, I don't re-call any goats close to the lake. I believe I saw a few further back in the mountains, but there sure wasn't many at the time. Sheep poaching was happening, but I never heard of a goat being taken. I wonder if the population has grown out there in the last 15 years, or if I was just oblivious.

I'm headed back into the Grasshopper Valley area this fall with a draw tag. My great-grandfather hunted goats in the Chugach a fair amount in the 1940's, and I'd like to have the same experience.

Yk

 

[Ray]

Until we brought a spotter on that duck hunt I always thought they were sheep, too.

We would see them starting in late September into freeze up in mid October.

A fella with a metal boat and a mud motor could break ice up Jim creek and get on goats in late oct or early nov before snow machines could get out there safely. But probably mostly nannies and kids.

One of my coworkers went to shore next to a rock face and found a set of cut goat horns around 2002. They had spent the winter there on shore.

 

[60x]

Yk thats gotta be a pretty cool feeling getting to walk in your great grandfathers shoes so to speak!! I am pretty sure I seen you post one of his pics a while back and it was very cool.. I bet he was a tough son of a gun, hunting back then was quite a bit different..

Ray I ve just begun to learn that area and the more time I spend back there the more I love it.. pretty neat place!

 

[Yellowknife]

So curiosity got the better of me, and I looked up the latest goat report for 14A. The goat population in 14A has indeed doubled since the '90's, which explains why Ray sees them now and I didn't back then. Looks like it actually went to draw clear back in 2008 due to a major increase in the number of guided non-resident hunters, and it was actually the late registration hunt that was recently added back in (2011) after the draw hunt reduced the harvest more than anticipated. We now have both the draw and the registration seasons every year.

A little light reading for those interested.

http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/static/home/library/pdfs/wildlife/mgt_rpts/12_goat.pdf

Yk

 

[Yellowknife]

Yk thats gotta be a pretty cool feeling getting to walk in your great grandfathers shoes so to speak!! I am pretty sure I seen you post one of his pics a while back and it was very cool.. I bet he was a tough son of a gun, hunting back then was quite a bit different..

yeah... I've got a long way to go to be this tough.

 

[60x]

Yeah you gotta be kiddin I used to think I was tough but when I see these pics reality sets in and I just sit here in awe..


Yk thanks for the link.. I love that cover photo.. Sounds like the goats are doing well. Cant wait for your report!!

 

[Floorguy]

Thanks YK for that link. I haven't been back in that direction I am planning on heading back there this summer to explore we'll see I might wind up back there mid October.

 

[60x]

Hey floor guy I'll be spending lots of time back in there this year. If you ever want to meet up and do some exploring just shoot me a pm
Dave

 

[Yellowknife]

Yeah you gotta be kiddin I used to think I was tough but when I see these pics reality sets in and I just sit here in awe..

A good part of the challenge back then was just GETTING to the mountains.



This is how he got back into the Knik area pre-WWII. I want you guys to think of these photos when the Oct registration hunt rolls around and you are thinking it's too dang cold and miserable to go goat hunting.

Yk

 

[60x]

I don't think those pots are titanium.. Lol. That's a great pic. I was very fortunate when I started out in the hunting buisness to work for a guide whose license number was in the single digits and he used to talk of how they would just walk out of thier house I anchorang and go sheep hunting in the chugach. This pic just kind of puts it in perspective of what he was talking about. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Yellowknife]

This thread is starting to seriously drift.... but speaking of walking into the Chugach, check out this stud of a ram from one of their trips.



Care to hazard a guess on the age of that sheep? Unfortunately, we don't have any notes on the hunt, but they would have likely starting from the Glenn Highway in those early days.

Not only am I never going to be as tough as those guys, they odds of me ever matching a sheep of that size are slim indeed!

Yk

 

[60x]

Holy smokes that's an old stud. I've had a few old ones in my hands but never recall seeing any that had that many rings before the first turn ... Wow that is an amazing sheep!!!
Hold on to those pics they are a treasure!!

Yeah OP sorry for the thread derailment but it sure is nice to see the history of 14 in pics!!

 

[Floorguy]

Well its my thread, the questions been answered. I am enjoying the pics from my backyard.

Should note that the Glenn highway at that time would have been the old Glenn that goes through Butte. For reference. My father in laws best friends father was an early single digit guide. I have seen some of the pics of the sheep pulled out, they are monsters.

If this October is like last I will be up there for sure

 

[TXCO]

Would someone mind giving a little more background here? I am planning on my first goat hunt this fall in Unit 14. Thanks, Will