Uintas Mountain Goat Hunting Strategy Question.

[schoolhousegrizz]

I am really close to drawing a mountain goat today and will probably draw depending on the unit I put it for. I went scouting this year in a unit and found 2 groups of goats. They were still miles away and up on the high cliffy areas.

Those of you that have hunted mountain goat in the uintas what has your strategy been? Are you glassing from the valley and then going up and trying to get them? Or are your camping High enough that you are level or above them?

 

[mtnrunner260]

I have helped up there but still a long ways from my own tag.
If you are wanting to find the biggest Billy you need to be mobile. That means either traversing across the tops of drainages above treeline or going all the way out and back up the next one. I prefer to stay high.
If you would be happy with a representative Billy and hunting out of a nicer basecamp then setting up in the head of a drainage and being patient will work.
Both strategies are augmented by scouting of course.
Also please shoot a Billy.

 

[c3]

I have been up in the uinta's a couple times on mtn goat hunts. Epic stuff !!!

I have links to a couple video's from a number of years ago, but pretty sure it's even better now if you want to see them.

I will say, the one thing I know is that big billys don't like it when you are directly above them. If they even sense that you are over them they tend to dart out the sides in a hurry. Way under them or off to the sides a ways and they don't seem to care so much.

At 62 this year I'm hoping I can draw sooner than later, but I don't have very many points. Good luck in the draws and enjoy as it's a fun hunt from what I know in the western Uinta's

Cheers, Pete

 

[schoolhousegrizz]

I have helped up there but still a long ways from my own tag.
If you are wanting to find the biggest Billy you need to be mobile. That means either traversing across the tops of drainages above treeline or going all the way out and back up the next one. I prefer to stay high.
If you would be happy with a representative Billy and hunting out of a nicer basecamp then setting up in the head of a drainage and being patient will work.
Both strategies are augmented by scouting of course.
Also please shoot a Billy.

I will for sure try my hardest to shoot a billy. Tag numbers keep dropping from nannies being shot. For example when I went scouting this year I was camped at about 10,000 ft. The goats I was spotting were probably up around 11,000 or 11'500. I was already packed in around 10 to 12 miles. With your experience would you suggest camping around 10,000 glassing them and going after them? Or being camped up at 11,500. They just seemed hours to get to from where I was camped. I'm just thinking down around 10,000 camp is a lot nicer, in the timber, not so exposed to lightning and close to water. But if I'm too far from the goats I don't want to do that either.

 

[schoolhousegrizz]

I have been up in the uinta's a couple times on mtn goat hunts. Epic stuff !!!

I have links to a couple video's from a number of years ago, but pretty sure it's even better now if you want to see them.

I will say, the one thing I know is that big billys don't like it when you are directly above them. If they even sense that you are over them they tend to dart out the sides in a hurry. Way under them or off to the sides a ways and they don't seem to care so much.

At 62 this year I'm hoping I can draw sooner than later, but I don't have very many points. Good luck in the draws and enjoy as it's a fun hunt from what I know in the western Uinta's

Cheers, Pete

Heck yes I would love to see them thank you so much!

 

[mtnrunner260]

Good to see you are in the know on nanny harvest.
Unless you put THE billy to bed I would still camp lower. It gives you better field of view to glass and is more comfortable. If you find one in morning it's usually not going to walk out of your life. It may be in a spot you don't shoot because of recovery though.
But if the 1000 - 1500 feet of vert is not doable in a half a day then I would suggest camping higher and closer.
Will you have any stock or 2 legged pack mules? That adjusts the game plan in my mind.

 

[schoolhousegrizz]

Good to see you are in the know on nanny harvest.
Unless you put THE billy to bed I would still camp lower. It gives you better field of view to glass and is more comfortable. If you find one in morning it's usually not going to walk out of your life. It may be in a spot you don't shoot because of recovery though.
But if the 1000 - 1500 feet of vert is not doable in a half a day then I would suggest camping higher and closer.
Will you have any stock or 2 legged pack mules? That adjusts the game plan in my mind.

I have 3 packgoats I will be taking and a few 2 legged packers.

 

[mtnrunner260]

That's cool on the goats. Should be a huge help. Honestly can probably walk up to a mtn goat with them.
But probably better safe than sorry when it comes to potential of disease transmission. Or see if you can get yours tested beforehand. Not sure of that process but I bet if you asked Utah Wild Sheep Foundation they would help.

 

[twopointdn]

I hunted a different Utah unit so Not in the Uintas but I chose to spike camp up high three days before my hunt to keep track of the Billy I killed. We kept track of him for three days and I killed him twenty minutes into first light opening day about three hundred yards away from our spike camp. Living with them is what worked for me. My goat ended up number three in Utah and number eight in B&C for that edition. Longest horns in the Utah book and highest scoring goat in the lower 48 for that edition in the B&C book. I got lucky. Utah has some big goats. They are extremely difficult to field judge if you don’t hunt them much. It was a really fun hunt. Good luck.

 

[elkassassin]

Hey Pete!

Just To Clue You In A Little!

It Isn't Better Now Than It Was Then!

They've Took A Major Hit On The West End!

I have been up in the uinta's a couple times on mtn goat hunts. Epic stuff !!!

I have links to a couple video's from a number of years ago, but pretty sure it's even better now if you want to see them.

I will say, the one thing I know is that big billys don't like it when you are directly above them. If they even sense that you are over them they tend to dart out the sides in a hurry. Way under them or off to the sides a ways and they don't seem to care so much.

At 62 this year I'm hoping I can draw sooner than later, but I don't have very many points. Good luck in the draws and enjoy as it's a fun hunt from what I know in the western Uinta's

Cheers, Pete