Buddy's Goat Tag

[mightyhunter]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-19 AT 11:37AM (MST)[p]No, I am not looking for any honey holes or places to hunt. I have knowledge of the area and the location of the goats. I am doing this to request any insight on how to keep going and pushing myself. I will be 65 in January 2020. I know I have slowed down tremendously in recent years. My sheep hunt in 2017 made this infinitely clear to me. I deal with fatigue on a daily basis. My knees and ankles are doing OK with no major problems. I still can walk many miles but the pace is not as quick. I hike no where without my Leki Trekking Poles. I will have a Mystery Ranch Metcalf pack. I will not be carrying a gun.

When I get up in the morning I usually down a Mtn Ops Ignite before 10:00 AM. I am likely addicted to the stuff. Because of the BP meds I am on, I can't take any Ibuprofen for soreness or swelling. I have been drinking Squencher or Vitalyte to rehydrate and have made a conscious decision to drink more water than I normally would. Any suggestion as to some energy food or other vitamins that I should take? I want this to be a great experience for my buddy.

We will likely be eating a lot of Mountain House (no Chili Mac with Beef). I anticipate many nights in a burrito tent in my down quilt. Because of where we are going, we may post a camp watch at night. We may have some horses and mules for a portion of this adventure. I will use the mule to lighten my load so I can hike with little weight. I may climb on the mule's back if I have to.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I just don't want to have a breakdown. We start scouting intensely on Wednesday morning.

mh

 

[Dman]

I'm almost 50 now and certainly feel things the next morning even now. At 65 I can only hope my knees are still with me.
Biggest thing I'd suggest... if you are planning a long hunt pace yourself. Don?t go out on day 1 looking for a grand slam... if you kill yourself right outta gate it will take time to recover. And recovery seems to take more time as I get older.
You are already thinking of doing things right... hydrating probably key then nutrition.
Take your time and enjoy the hunt, good luck and have fun!

 

[nfh]

Mightyhunter

Area 1 or 3 ? if it is 3 let me know. I can send ya to a nasty area with lots of goats or I can send ya to a easy place with some goats but mostly loaded with some big monster nannies

 

[mightyhunter]

Michael,
Hunting 3-1. You know it well. I probably know the nasty area but PM me anyway. mh

 

[Cahunter805]

LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-19 AT 01:29PM (MST)[p]I'd look at Nuun tablets for hydration help also. They work very well.
For meals checkout Peak Refuel. They are much better than MH even the chili mac!
Do you take any glucosamine for your joints? I've found it helps me on long strenuous days.

 

[nfh]

Sent ya a pm Dave.

Did you game and fish ia getting a office in cody
They even bought land from a park county commissioner to build a new office. Hmmmm .

 

[mightyhunter]

Good grief. Maybe they had leftover money from the rechanneling project on Sunlight Creek. With all the F and X tag money they have duped the NR public out of over the years, it should be easy to pay for if they cut the grizzly bear budget.
just sayin...mh

 

[DoubleDropMuley]

Good luck to your buddy hope to see the results !!!

 

[BluffGruff]

>LAST EDITED ON Aug-06-19
>AT 11:37?AM (MST)
>
> I know I
>have slowed down tremendously in
>recent years. My sheep hunt
>in 2017 made this infinitely
>clear to me. I deal
>with fatigue on a daily
>basis.

Have you seen a doctor about this? Might be worth checking your hemoglobin and a few other things...

 

[mickeyelk]

Wow!. I have a mountain goat tag in my home state of Nevada and will soon be traveling there to hunt. I can't run any more due to back and knees but I do a brisk walk for 45 minutes everyday. I also take my backpack on with items in plus my hunting boots and walk in the mornings. When I found out I drew the tag I changed allot of things to be able to participate in this hunt. From losing some weight and getting off the couch. This is a once in a lifetime tag for me and I want to be prepared. Thought about getting a guide (with horses) but I hope I still don't have too. My hope for myself is getting in shape will help. At our age getting tired is normal in some ways. A doctor and lab results will tell you more about your overall condition, but being 65 is not like being 50 again. Good luck.

 

[mightyhunter]

I have blood work done every year. Most of it seems good. I will check it out some more. I sawed out about 5 miles of trail over the weekend. I didn't drop dead.
mh

 

[mightyhunter]

The first hunt for goats involved a long steep uphill climb to camp for me. We saw in excess of 60 goats and a few sheep. The bears were only bad down low. In one basin we saw at least 30 goats with numerous billies. We had to pass on some billies that were cliff living near the border with YNP. They were an easy shot but not recoverable. Late the second week, my buddy shot a decent billie. His shot was long and the goat went off a 40 ft. cliff and landed in a glacier. The billie slid about 200 ft in the snow and ended up in a rock slide. After all that, the weather turned to crap. To say it got western would be a mild understatement. My butt is dragging but I haven't had the "big one" yet.

just sayin...mh

 

[ICMDEER]

Big congrats MH. Glad to know you made it and had a successful adventure. That's rugged country and will test any man half our age. you did well.

 

[nfh]

Was wandering how ya did. Its been so long i almost called search and rescue on you. I heard of 3 other goat hunters in the area that tagged out and only seen 2 sheep pictures so far.

 

[mightyhunter]

nfh,
All the people we ran into that were goat hunting were in their 30's or even younger. We saw very few sheep in Area 1 or Area 2 when we were goat hunting. The sheep in 1 were ewes and lambs. We did see some small rams in 2. We saw almost no deer.The experience was fairly positive but very challenging. The weather last week was horrendous. The lightning and thunder was really nasty when it blew in at over 10k ft. I keep thinking we may have an early winter.

just sayin...mh

 

[carnicero]

LAST EDITED ON Sep-17-19 AT 10:14AM (MST)[p]Congrats.