2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

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2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by NotEnufTags » Fri Sep 18, 2009 9:59 am

Hello fellow madness members,

I've been putting in for a Rocky Mountain Goat tag for 10 years now. Last year I took my seven year old with me and hiked up on opening morning of the hunt to get a taste of what the hunt would be like. Last Saturday was this years RMG opener so I hiked it again for my second annual rocky mountain goat self pity hike. I think I will hike it each year now until I draw.

I started the hike with a headlamp on. I miss judged my starting time because I made it six miles and over 3000' elevation gain when I heard the first shot. I still had a half mile to go to make it into the basin that typically houses the goats.

Upon arriving in the basin I could see two hunters with thier harvest. There are four tags a year given out for the area. I hiked over to talk to the first group. By the time I got to them they had boned the animal out and had it ready for a pack out. So no pics for you guys. The hunter took a 9" nanny. The tags are either sex. I would have been dissapointed with the animal but was excited for the hunter. I asked a lot questions to get an Idea of how the hunter chose the nanny. He wasn't too picky. He said it was the biggest in this group.
Rocky Mountain Goats sized.JPG
Rocky Mountain Goats sized.JPG (99.57 KiB) Viewed 7258 times
Ifelt that he didn't spend much time beacuse I saw bigger. He was happy so great on him. I would have held out for a billy. After talking to them for a while I hiked up and took some photos of goats. Here's a few.

This group was more interested in chillin on the snow than being worried about my approach.
Timp Goats Sized.JPG
Timp Goats Sized.JPG (79.94 KiB) Viewed 7258 times
Young Adult Goat sized.JPG
Young Adult Goat sized.JPG (77.25 KiB) Viewed 7258 times
Billy on the snow sized.JPG
Billy on the snow sized.JPG (63.49 KiB) Viewed 7258 times
A Billy and a Nanny sized.JPG
A Billy and a Nanny sized.JPG (74.84 KiB) Viewed 7258 times
"Some day I'll scout out a monster, spot him while hunting, make the stalk of a lifetime, and have dreams come true. 'Til then I'll be happy with the buck in my cross-hairs."

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by NotEnufTags » Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:17 am

After taking the photos of the goats I saw the plane wreckage that I had heard about. Here's some histroy:

B-25 Crash History:
The U.S. Air Force B-25 crashed on the afternoon of March 9, 1955. The day was stormy with the local mountains reporting 18" of new snow. The plane carried three crewmembers and two passengers. The plane began its fight in Great Falls, Montana, made a fuel stop at Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, and departed for March Air Force Base in Riverside, California. Sometime after 7:30 p.m. the B-25 became lost in the weather and crashed on the east side of Timpanogos. Killed in the crash was the pilot Major D.C. Holley, co-pilot 1st Lieutenant H. E. St. John, Airman 1st Class D. H. Dempsey, civilian crew chief M. J. McNalty and civilian D. R. Cubbage.

Here's a couple of pics.
Me with the engine sized.JPG
Me with the engine sized.JPG (60.34 KiB) Viewed 7255 times
This second image of the plane engine shows the great country in the background. The trail head in down in the bottom of the big canyon behind the engine.
WWII engine on Timp sized.JPG
WWII engine on Timp sized.JPG (85.15 KiB) Viewed 7255 times
Here's the basin. The red circles are areas with goats.
High Basin on Timp (goats circled).JPG
High Basin on Timp (goats circled).JPG (93.11 KiB) Viewed 7255 times
Here is scout falls that is on the trail. I didn't see it in the dark on the way up (only heard it) but thought I'd snap a photo on ht e way down.
Scout Falls sized.JPG
Scout Falls sized.JPG (123.77 KiB) Viewed 7255 times
Last supporting shot is some high cliffs with the moon above.
Moon Shot sized.JPG
Moon Shot sized.JPG (70.73 KiB) Viewed 7255 times
Even though this was a self pity adventure, I had a great time. The hike was 13.5 miles. Next year I hope it is with a tag in the pocket and a rifle or muzzle loader strapped to the pack. If not I'll report on the 3rd annual self pity hike when the time comes.
"Some day I'll scout out a monster, spot him while hunting, make the stalk of a lifetime, and have dreams come true. 'Til then I'll be happy with the buck in my cross-hairs."

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by NotEnufTags » Fri Sep 18, 2009 10:29 am

Oops I forgot to mention that after I hiked over to the wreckage and took pics of the goats, I hoofed it over to the other hunters. They had taken a 9 1/4" billy with good mass. Next year I'll take up a B&C score sheet. The top ten RMG's on the books are all 10 inch Billy's. I'm pretty sure that the billy the second group took will make the awards book and possibly make the 50" make for all time minimum. It just depends on the mass. They did lose 1/4" of the tip off one side after the animal fell. This group had pack horses and already had the animal in bags to go on the horses. I'll be packing mine out. I'll have to employ my brothers and friends as "pack horses" when the time comes for me. I sure am excited to hunt a Rocky Mountain Goat some day. The third group of hunters was way up in the cliffs and had not shot by the time I decided to head back down the trail. They had been scouting a good one for two months straight. I would have like to stayed to see what they ended up with but had to be home to watch the kids. It was a great day.

Thanks for putting up with my long winded story.
"Some day I'll scout out a monster, spot him while hunting, make the stalk of a lifetime, and have dreams come true. 'Til then I'll be happy with the buck in my cross-hairs."

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by AGCHAWK » Fri Sep 18, 2009 2:22 pm

Very cool pics of some AWESOME country! Actually, the whole idea of a "pity hike" is pretty cool. I may have to try that if I don't draw my sheep tag again next year.

Thanks for taking the time to include all of us in you hike! I loved it.
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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by MuleyMadness » Fri Sep 18, 2009 3:26 pm

You have the best material. 10sign: 10sign:

Absolutely love your posts, keep em coming! That was a great READ with awesome photos. So what's the biggest you saw that morning?

I'm not a goat expert, so how do you tell the difference between Billy vs. Nanny?

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by killerbee » Fri Sep 18, 2009 4:42 pm

very cool post NOTENOUGH!!

so you have 10 points, by going by the draw odds, do you know how long it might be before we can see you with a big ol' goat?
i hope it's next year, sorry i'm being greedy, i just want to line up my good reads for next year already :)) but i bet you wouldn't mind it being next year either :thumb

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by ABert » Fri Sep 18, 2009 8:22 pm

I sure hope you get your tag next year as you've been putting in the work already! Great post and pics 10sign:
It ain't the size of the gun but the placement of the bullet.

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by NotEnufTags » Sat Sep 19, 2009 7:44 am

MuleyMadness wrote:You have the best material. 10sign: 10sign:

Absolutely love your posts, keep em coming! That was a great READ with awesome photos. So what's the biggest you saw that morning?

I'm not a goat expert, so how do you tell the difference between Billy vs. Nanny?
Goats are really hard to judge. a half an inch can make the difference of a B&C and just an average goat. When I said I saw bigger, I meant I saw several nine inch Billys. All would have scored better than the nanny that was taken. I'm still learning about goats. Billys have bigger bases. Their horns curve from the base all the way up through the tip. Nannys come pretty much striaght up and then have a sharper curve near the top of the horn. The horns will have smaller bases on a nanny and appear more like spindles. Look at my photo with the caption a billy and a nanny and you can see the difference. THe Utah DWR site has a very informative tutorial. http://wildlife.utah.gov/hunting/goat/
killerbee wrote:very cool post NOTENOUGH!!

so you have 10 points, by going by the draw odds, do you know how long it might be before we can see you with a big ol' goat?
i hope it's next year, sorry i'm being greedy, i just want to line up my good reads for next year already :)) but i bet you wouldn't mind it being next year either :thumb

Killer, it's hard to know have many years until I'm guaranteed a tag. If you go by the number of people with more bonus points than me that put in for the unit I want to hunt in 2009, then I would be about 4 years til I'm guaranteed. The problem is that there are a few hundred people with more bonus points than me. They put in for the various units across the state. If more put in next year for my unit then it will be more years til I'm guaranteed. Your right though, I wouldn't mind drawing next year :thumb

A 21 year old that I met on the 1st annual "self pity hike" drew with 0 points as half the tags go into a random drawing. It could happen that I draw next year but the odds are stacked against me.
"Some day I'll scout out a monster, spot him while hunting, make the stalk of a lifetime, and have dreams come true. 'Til then I'll be happy with the buck in my cross-hairs."

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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by a_bow_nut » Sat Sep 19, 2009 3:35 pm

Awesome pictures and story. :thumb

Hikes like that are an good idea. Maybe I should start going on some some hikes like that. Since this was my second year of putting in for goats I'm sure that I will get to go on plenty of these hikes.
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Re: 2nd Annual Rocky Mountain Goat Self Pity Hike

Post by Gunner45 » Sat Sep 19, 2009 4:22 pm

Hey Bro

Sweet post. I loved the pics. I'll have to join you on next years self pity hike. :thumb

Gunner45

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