The Bowsite

Goat Hunt '98

Friday - Day 7
Weather
Overcast - 50's - 60's


Goats Seen
20+

 

 


Friday Morning:

Did not sleep well. Every time I moved a sharp pain ripped through my leg. I had an awful time getting out of bed as the leg felt like a stiff piece of wood. I lay in my sleeping bag wondering just what the heck I did to it and then I felt it. I confirmed by feeling my right knee cap that something was not right. The right knee was a solid piece of bone, the left one was not. I was pretty sure the cap was broken. It was bruised and swollen twice the size of the right one. But the good news is I could still hunt I would just have to be super careful and take it very slow.

We got up a little later than normal being that we were only an hour away from the action now. As Johnnie got his gear together I spotted a magnificent sight of a Nanny taking her newborn across a sheer face cliff across the valley. I snapped a couple pictures of them then got ready for the hunt.

Amazing Creatures

My knee was a mess but the pain would work itself out after a tough climb. I was hobbling but it was sure better than being a camp queen during this stretch of clear weather.

We moved up to the highest peak on the Mt. and had lunch. During lunch I called Johnnie over to come check out our new friend - coming up the mountain pass. A tiny black bear cub, all alone, was heading right for us. But as soon as he winded us he fled back down the Mt. Johnnie explained that the cub had either been seperated from his mother or she was killed by a boar black bear or brown bear trying to protect him. This is why some bears never leave the alpine and fish like the other bears. He sure was tiny.

Friday Afternoon

We moved on down the hillside until I caught movement. A lone goat was feeding in a meadow below us. Time for another stalk. I moved down closer with Johnnie and we both stalked close. After a lot of glassing it was obvious that this was a dry nanny or small billy. While legal, I passed on the goat and opted to take pictures instead.

Johnnie - ( Foreground ) watching close goat

After I took this picture above, I crept along the backside of the hill but this goat picked me off and headed for goat country....

Heading for safety

We spotted goats all over the place including several back on the ledges where I had shot my billy two days earlier. We decided to wait out the afternoon at a major mountain pass. At dusk we called it quits and wouldn't you know, ran into a goat on our way out.

It was a great day with lots of goats seen and many close encounters. My knee is still hanging in there. Johnnie used his portable Marine radio to cancel our bush pickup for Sunday AM and move it out to Wednesday AM. We were staying right here.