bandedbigsixpoints
Member
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I was fortunate enough to draw a nanny Mtn. Goat tag for the willard peak unit this year and was able to meet some very cool people and see even more of God's country. We did some preseason scouting and saw a lot of goats in very accessible places. The country on top is very forgiving and actually quite pleasant to hike through. This is a picture of an old girl that we kept seeing time after time with 10 or so others, their hair is just as white as can be.
I met another hunter that had drawn a billy tag and we became very good friends in the couple months we bounced phone calls off one another. This is a pic of a nanny that he almost harvested, he was unclear on the season dates and after I informed him that he had two weeks less than he thought he went into full on panic mode. She was actually taken by another hunter that evening and was a beautiful trophy at 9". My friend was able to put in two final days that he hadn't scheduled and was fortunate to harvest a beautiful old billy with an amazing coat and perfect horns. I will get him to post some pics.
The day before my hunt came and I had to make one last trip up to see if everything was like it had been. I was greeted with very little goats up high (3) and another beautiful sunset. The goats had moved down into the cliffs for whatever reason and I realized why people were always telling me not to expect a "canned hunt".
Opening weekend came and went with no shot opportunities. I was primarily going to pursue with a bow but on this particular unit if the goats aren't in the higher mountain meadows or in their low wintering range, I have found that they just sit in the cliffs. I decided to go back to work and plan on the up-coming week to try and catch some low or hope they would come back out to the meadows up top. On Thursday that week with a storm socked in up top I just started at the bottom and went to try and find some low and I was packin some heat. I was lucky to have caught up to the group I saw before they got too far into the cliffs. This "low" hunting is not like it sounds, if any of you have been on the face below willard you know what I'm talking about; rocks, cliffs, bigger rocks and steepness. There was a beautiful nanny in the group and after I gathered my nerves I settled in on her quartered away and shot true, breaking the offside shoulder and knocking her down. BACK UP, over to the others and almost directly above me, I took a few minutes to pick her out of the group, another shot, seemed almost no affect. She stood there with a yearling billy as I hiked around out of sight and up to their level. I got up to their level and at just over 100 yds put a final shot right through both shoulders and she went down again. Luckily a bushy tree caught her because she tried one last time to kick her way back up the hill. She is a beautiful trophy, perfect coat (little dirty in the pic, wet weather) 10" horns and a little under 5" bases. If the rings on the horns hold true our best guess is she is 8 years old or so.
This was an amazing hunt and I am so thankful for all of the help and support I received from friends, old and new. I wasn't able to have my best hunting buddy along with me on this hunt (notice pics aren't that great) due to an injury but he was right there with me on the cell phone and through the spotting scope. Thanks Nick for always being there no matter what.
If anyone ever draws this hunt and would like another set of eyes don't hesitate to ask, I wish like hell this wasn't a once in a lifetime, I'll go back up every chance I get as well as tell my wife how lucky she is that this $400 tag is cheap compared to what they are going to be in other states.
I met another hunter that had drawn a billy tag and we became very good friends in the couple months we bounced phone calls off one another. This is a pic of a nanny that he almost harvested, he was unclear on the season dates and after I informed him that he had two weeks less than he thought he went into full on panic mode. She was actually taken by another hunter that evening and was a beautiful trophy at 9". My friend was able to put in two final days that he hadn't scheduled and was fortunate to harvest a beautiful old billy with an amazing coat and perfect horns. I will get him to post some pics.
The day before my hunt came and I had to make one last trip up to see if everything was like it had been. I was greeted with very little goats up high (3) and another beautiful sunset. The goats had moved down into the cliffs for whatever reason and I realized why people were always telling me not to expect a "canned hunt".
Opening weekend came and went with no shot opportunities. I was primarily going to pursue with a bow but on this particular unit if the goats aren't in the higher mountain meadows or in their low wintering range, I have found that they just sit in the cliffs. I decided to go back to work and plan on the up-coming week to try and catch some low or hope they would come back out to the meadows up top. On Thursday that week with a storm socked in up top I just started at the bottom and went to try and find some low and I was packin some heat. I was lucky to have caught up to the group I saw before they got too far into the cliffs. This "low" hunting is not like it sounds, if any of you have been on the face below willard you know what I'm talking about; rocks, cliffs, bigger rocks and steepness. There was a beautiful nanny in the group and after I gathered my nerves I settled in on her quartered away and shot true, breaking the offside shoulder and knocking her down. BACK UP, over to the others and almost directly above me, I took a few minutes to pick her out of the group, another shot, seemed almost no affect. She stood there with a yearling billy as I hiked around out of sight and up to their level. I got up to their level and at just over 100 yds put a final shot right through both shoulders and she went down again. Luckily a bushy tree caught her because she tried one last time to kick her way back up the hill. She is a beautiful trophy, perfect coat (little dirty in the pic, wet weather) 10" horns and a little under 5" bases. If the rings on the horns hold true our best guess is she is 8 years old or so.
This was an amazing hunt and I am so thankful for all of the help and support I received from friends, old and new. I wasn't able to have my best hunting buddy along with me on this hunt (notice pics aren't that great) due to an injury but he was right there with me on the cell phone and through the spotting scope. Thanks Nick for always being there no matter what.
If anyone ever draws this hunt and would like another set of eyes don't hesitate to ask, I wish like hell this wasn't a once in a lifetime, I'll go back up every chance I get as well as tell my wife how lucky she is that this $400 tag is cheap compared to what they are going to be in other states.
