G3 Colorado Goat

[Hunter24]

Hey Rokslide!

I was very fortunate to draw a fist season goat tag for G3 / Mt. Harvard area. I’ve got all the gear necessary to hunt, and am a fairly experienced hunter and prepared to hunt in the backcountry - with that said, I’ve got no experience hunting mountain Goats.

Some thoughts and concerns to bounce off you experienced and knowledgeable roksliders as I plan and prepare:

1) is purchasing the Avenza kill site map worth it?

2) I’ve got a Kowa 88, and leupold Gold Ring 12-40, a ~60inch gitzo CF tripod, and a heavy manfrotto tripod. I also like to use my 10x42 ELs from a tripod - can you recommend a good lightweight tripod head that I can at least use up to the leupold spotter?

3) is it worth trading the leupold up for a Kowa 553, or Swaro 65?

4) should I invest in a shorter, lighter weight tripod to pack in/up the mountain?

5) I’m guessing my manfrotto tripod and Kowa 88 will most be used from the truck? And the smaller spotter and tripod can remain in my pack.

6) anyone who has hunted this unit - should I plan on hunting from the roads, staying light and non-commital to a particular basin? Or is it worth trying to spike camp deeper into the mountains?

7) lastly, if anyone has hunted this unit and is willing to share any past information, I will forever be grateful and do my best to reciprocate. I don’t want honey holes, but would like to ask about recommendations for: base camp locations, camper feasibility, logistical considerations and maybe some other specific questions as I continue to plan, prepare and scout. and of course anything you would think is helpful and are willing to share.

Thank you!

 

[mlevimadden]

1 - Go to CPW hunting statistics and they publish the drainage every goat was killed in previous years. This gives you a very good starting point before paying for a map.

2 - I use an outdoorsmans micro pan head that is solid for 65 mm spotters. I think people are using the Tricer heads now too, but I haven't tried one.

3 - I've never looked through the gold ring model you have, but I'd take a swaro 65 over the kowa 55 any day.

4 - I would think the gitzo tripod you have is already a good fit. If it weighs more than 2#, you can definitely save some weight

5 - Lots of sheep hunters on here pack the 88. It just depends on how much you want to carry. It's all a trade-off.

6 & 7 - I've never hunted the unit, so no comment but good luck! I'm sure you'll have some people reach out with information. Usually the biologists and wardens for the unit will share some information too. Rocky Mountain Goat Alliance (RMGA) usually does summer surveys too across the western states that you can join and link up with some people who could give goat hunting advice.

 

[Hunter24]

Awesome info and thanks for the response. I don’t doubt the swaro 65 is better, was curious if for goat it is worth the extra weight.

But you’re comment did get me thinking, depending on what I find scouting, maybe it is worth the weight expense to carry better glass - especially if I find I don’t need to pack in far.

Would you shoot off of your outdoorsman?

 

[wildwilderness]

It all depends on what you are looking for in a Goat.

Trophy hunting and only want a B&C goat then you need the best glass to evaluate at long distance. That will make up for its weight by saving you miles of hiking . Inches are hard to tell from far away. A good excuse to upgrade gear if you have the money.

If not as picky you will need enough glass to tell if its a mature animal or not, or a male vs female. Body, hair, and behaviors, urinating, group size are good clues you don't need alpha glass for. You probably have an either sex tag so it doesn't really matter in the end if you just want a goat.

 

[Hunter24]

Hahaha. You hit the nail on the head. Deep down I know that what I have was fine. But this hunt turned out to be a good excuse to burn my hard earned and limited supply of cash to upgrade some pieces of gear.

My initial research has be thinking I’d like to shoot a mature Billy over 8 inches. I don’t think it’s realistic to go into this hunt looking for B and C quality.

 

[Hunter24]

Of course I’m open to opinions, especially from those who have experience in this unit! DM me! Please.

 

[mlevimadden]

Awesome info and thanks for the response. I don’t doubt the swaro 65 is better, was curious if for goat it is worth the extra weight.

But you’re comment did get me thinking, depending on what I find scouting, maybe it is worth the weight expense to carry better glass - especially if I find I don’t need to pack in far.

Would you shoot off of your outdoorsman?

Anytime. No way I would shoot off the outdoorsman. I finally broke one of the leg mechanisms on my Slik 522 tripod last November, so I've been looking at the Leofoto tripods to replace it and be able to shoot off it. I love it for glassing though. Might be a little weak for the Kowa 88, but I've never put a spotter that heavy on it.

 

[Hunter24]

Thanks everyone. I just bought a tricer lp that I’m going to test out with bigger spotters and see if it’s feasible to shoot from as well.

As I plan, prepare, and scout I’ll do my best to keep everyone updated

 

[ckleeves]

The latest kill locations from Avenza will end In 2016 due to that being the last year CPW published exact locations. They can still be useful as far as seeing where goats came from historically but they aren’t current so just something to keep in mind. Goats can and will disperse (especially mature billys) from “core” areas so don’t get real caught up in hunting a cluster of kills. Everybody is looking at the same info so IMO hunting kill clusters can be a good way to see other hunters and less quality goats ie there is good chance a Billy doesn’t get to be 8 YO living in a area everybody is hunting.

 

[Cjeppard10]

Sent you a DM


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Hunter24]

The latest kill locations from Avenza will end In 2016 due to that being the last year CPW published exact locations. They can still be useful as far as seeing where goats came from historically but they aren’t current so just something to keep in mind. Goats can and will disperse (especially mature billys) from “core” areas so don’t get real caught up in hunting a cluster of kills. Everybody is looking at the same info so IMO hunting kill clusters can be a good way to see other hunters and less quality goats ie there is good chance a Billy doesn’t get to be 8 YO living in a area everybody is hunting.

Interesting and great information. Thank you. The part about core area dispersion is the information I’m lacking just due to my inability to hunt goats every year. Thanks again.

CJeppard - just realized you sent a dm I’ll respond tonight

 

[sjn]

Hey there Hunter24. Myself & my cousin, both took nice Billies in that unit. Quite some years ago
I have the Goat units just south of you. Bow only. Was up there few weeks ago. Saw few. But was north of me. Out of my unit. Going back in couple weeks, to scout more areas. Make the most of the hunt/experience etc. Beautiful country & awesome animal.

 

[bradyhunt]

Interesting and great information. Thank you. The part about core area dispersion is the information I’m lacking just due to my inability to hunt goats every year. Thanks again.

CJeppard - just realized you sent a dm I’ll respond tonight

How'd the hunt go?

 

[Hunter24]

How'd the hunt go?

Thank you for the reminder. I’ve been meaning to send an update.

Hunt went very well. I was able to harvest a nice 6 year old Billy and beautiful, albeit rugged country. I’ll try an attach a few photos. I hope any one who draws the tag in the future sees this post and reaches out for information. I’d love to help out. And thank you to all of you that did help me out. I greatly appreciate it.

I’ve been holding off posting because I had grand ambitions of posting an in depth hunt experience / gear review / lessons learned. But I’ve always got something to distract me.

I’ll come back with more in depth overview, but overall I did a bunch of scouting over the summer, not focusing on any particular goats, but more so figuring out access in the units. I saw lots of goats on every scouting trip and I think they were mostly Nannie’s and kids.

Once season came around I was only able to manage time off from work so well and I went up two days prior to season open. I didn’t see anything! Was a bit surprised and the anxiety started to build on this first, and potentially only, once in a lifetime Tag. I guess I had enough maturity and intelligence, but not much lol, to trust my scouting - although it that shadow of the doubt was looming alittle bit. I was fortunate to have a couple hunting buddies come out and share the experience and help out. I highly recommend having a solid partner or two if goat hunting this unit. It is unbelievably rugged and logistically challenging. Depending how you hunt it of course, but my experience was that even for a nannie or immature billy you need to be prepared to climb a couple thousand feet without a good trail. The mature Billie’s I saw were all in the most challenging of terrain at the highest altitudes.

Long story short, for now, I killed my Billy on the sixth morning of hunting in a very challenging area that was about six miles from my ATV which was about 3 miles from the truck. It was a multi day infil and exfil.

I need to score my Billy now that it’s dried and hopefully I can find time to do it. But life has been crazy and honestly score is not very important to me so I haven’t made it a priority. But when I hastily put a tape to it after the kill, he roughly scored around 50. I’ll try to get some pics posted.

I skinned out the whole hide and brought it and the skull to timberline taxidermy in Colorado Springs who had done great work for me in the past. They did a euro on the head which came out great and I’m still waiting on the rug to come back. I really wanted a life size but I don’t have the room in the house.

In closing, if anyone draws this unit I would love to help, just shoot me a DM!

I appreciate all the help I did get from you guys!

I will try to do a more in depth telling of the story to include a mini gear review in the future.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Hunter24]

 

[Hunter24]

 

[bradyhunt]

Hell yeah, congrats! Looks like a great billy to me!