A few months back I noticed and read a post about Alberta Goat Hunting (“Alberta Goat Draw” from May 8, 2018). The post started with the inquiry: “Why do we never see the successful hunters who win the lottery share?”. Not to be flippant, but my opinion is (A) not every AB Hunter is on AO Forum; and, (B) if they are on AO Forum, not every AB Hunter is compelled to tell their story.
I thought about chiming in and telling my story… but the thread was going sideways quickly. Sideways with debate/discussion on how the draw should be managed, what the tag should cost, etc. I figured one day when I had a bit of time I would start a thread and tell my story, my way.
I was very fortunate to draw the lottery tag for Zone O in 2015. Zone O is the most southern zone in AB and part of WMU 400. I had always put in for the Goat Draw but never really strategized or put much thought into the areas (considering the odds of winning it I never felt it was necessary – haha). Essentially, having grown up in Southern AB, my strategy typically focused on the southern zones and started alphabetically at O.
Growing up, though I had hunted many of the Southern AB WMUs with my dad and family friends, I had never hunted in WMU 400and our hunts were generally elk, moose and deer, with the odd trip incorporating some sheep effort onto an early season elk-oriented hunt. In fact, despite spending a decent amount of time in the parts of WMU 402 in which goats habitat, I had never seen a mountain goat on the hoof…. ever…like not even on the highway to Radium.
After getting the call in August to inform me I was the lucky recipient my focus became (A) understanding mountain goats as much as I could (e.g. nanny vs. billy characteristics, etc.); and, (B) getting familiar with Zone O.
Early on in preparation I had decided a few things:
•I was only going to harvest a billy;
•I drew this and it was on me to get up to speed. I was to keep the adventure small with family and friends.
The hunting turned out to be some of most exciting and memorable experiences in my life. I could probably write a short book on all the detail, but need to try to keep the length of this post reasonable. My dad was there for every day of the hunt and did a lot of the work with horses and logistics. My brother joined for all but three days and we had a couple close family friends present for different parts. The summary is as follows (I will share more than I normally would because I would be happy to help with information to any lucky AB resident who pulls this tag):
•Three separate hunt trip/efforts for a total of 12 or 13 days.
-First – Yarrow, Spinkop, Drywood
-Second – packed a camp into the South Castle
-Third – Yarrow, Yarrow and more Yarrow
•I didn’t track, but somewhere between 100-150miles on horse and or foot;
•Exploration of some of the most beautiful areas Southern AB has to offer;
•Couple days in areas that we learned the goats probably don’t frequent very much (we were still figuring out the area);
•Only one big bear on the foot (surprisingly only one), but lots of signs;
•Saw and or got on to goats all but two days;
•Generally, I learned that you will always see the goats hanging out on the rocks; however, I suggest that you don’t limit your efforts to just that, as you will be surprised what you find hanging out in the Tamaracks;
•I had numerous opportunities to harvest mature nannies (I am characterizing opportunities as getting to within a couple hundred yards on reasonable terrain). Note: Sometimes you need to wait for the goat to urinate to know whether you are taking a shot of not;
•One close opportunity with a big billy…. but he evaded me.
As you are probably figuring out, unfortunately, I did not harvest a goat. Generally speaking, the billies stuck to terrain that blew my mind…. Often, we watched them as they hung out on the +7000ft cliff like faces you find in this area. The close call involved slightly milder terrain but a hike straight up to attempt to connect with one of two billies resting on a cliff band.
As said before, the opportunity was one of the most exciting and memorable experiences in my life…. especially being able to spend it with my Dad and Brother. I have no regrets, aside from not taking more time off work and hunting the tag more! Fall is busy for me at work (and I like my job!) and at the time, I felt like I was taking off about as much time as I could reasonably take. The fact that I didn’t get my once in a lifetime AB Mountain Goat zips through my mind about once a week, but I have a great story and experience to share and a new passion sparked for mountain hunting.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk