Bowhunting For Mountain Goats

Bowhunting For Mountain Goats
By: Robert Hidding


It all started 2 years ago with a general desire to hunt for a Mountain Goat with a bow. I started my research on the internet looking for outfitters who specialize in Mountain Goats with a bow. I quickly found that this specialty type of outfitter were few and far between. After some phonecalls I found Bolen and Lewis Trophy Guiding Service in Terrace, British Columbia. Allen Bolen and Mike “Spike” Lewis pursue for their customers all the game animals you would expect in B.C., however their specialty is Mountain Goats with a bow. After speaking with Spike I knew I had found the right guys and immediately booked my hunt for late September 2006.

Now bear in mind I have hunted in many different places with many different outfitters, but, I knew this time I had not booked just an ordinary hunt. This was going to be very challenging process, for a guy my age, (49) just to get within sight of a Mountain Goat much less bow range.

In speaking to Allen and Spike it was made clear that getting into good shape was mandatory for success. So there it was, me in very marginal shape with a Goat hunt already booked for the following fall. Time to join a health club!! I worked out religiously every week on stair masters, countless lunges, weights and running to strengthen myself to the point where my flatlander body could make it up the hills.

Fast forward 1 1/2 years to fall 2006.

Everything I was bringing to the hunt with the exception of my traveling bowcase was going in the bush with me. I had to learn to travel light. I updated my camping gear (mine had not changed since my college days in the mid 70’s) and began to try to get 10 days worth of necessities into one backpack weighing not more than 50 pounds. Mission accomplished. I readied myself for my departure date of Sept 23, 2006.

After stop overs in Denver and Vancouver I landed in beautiful Terrace B.C. and was greeted by our host Spike Lewis and two other hunters from Pennsylvania. All were hunting goats with a bow. We spent the night in Terrace at Spike’s home and then flew out one by one the following morning in a two seated float plane with a local bush pilot. My flight to the hunting area was about 20 minutes in which we flew above and through some of the most beautiful mountain country I have ever seen. You could literally see eye ball to eye ball with goats on various ridge tops as we flew by.


We landed at our base camp at a small mountain lake surrounded by almost vertical mountains. I was met at the campsite by Gary, my guide for the remainder of the trip. Gary was a real mountain guide through and through, preferring to spend time in the mountain bush country than go back to the comforts of town. Our home was a two man tent situated at the east end of the lake. Meals would consist of oatmeal, tea and freeze dried meals for the rest of the trip.

Generally on these hunts the first day out takes the hunter to even higher ground in which a spike camp is set up. From this spike camp daily travels into the mountains were made easier by already being on top of the mountain. Weather concerns prevented us from starting out in this fashion, which we later regretted, however it didn’t prevent us from going on what I would consider the most difficult hike of my life.


We climbed with our packs to the top of the mountain range and scouted several ridges for “billies”. The day produced some sightings but all were on distant ridges too far to make a stalk. As we made our way back to camp late in the afternoon Gary became concerned about the route we were taking and told me that we would have to double back up the mountain and approach camp from the other side. At this point my fatigue level was very high, but I was about to learn how much further you can really go even when you don’t think you can take another step. 3 hours later (about 10:30) that night we staggered into camp. I was spent, I took off my backpack and went directly into my sleeping bag for a night's rest.

The next day, with tired legs and body, we again went scouting for Billies. The hike this day was much shorter (Gary was taking it easy on me) but still both tiring and frustrating because the mountain slopes were very slippery from periodic rains and the ground vegetation that grew all around. I must have slipped and fell on my face ten times. I then started to realize that there was a technique to navigating the slopes. The trick was to dig in and lock your leg in place on the down slope (lower) side, then move the opposite leg up and repeat. Moving slowly and cautiously in a switchback fashion was by far the most efficient way to travel. Once this is mastered, moving along mountain slopes is much easier. Problem was it takes time to learn this technique, time I didn’t have.

The next couple of days brought bad weather which stopped us from making any lengthy ventures outside of camp. None the less we still made some short climbs and did spot some nannies with kids with regularity.

On day 6 Gary got up to get ready for the day's hike. I was still in the sleeping bag when he came in and said to get up now! I could tell from the tone he was serious, so I got up and followed Gary to a site a short distance from camp where he showed me a distant white spot on the side of a distant mountain. It was a large Billie just relaxing all by himself. I looked where the goat was located and asked Gary what our odds were of making a stalk. "Not good" was his response.

I then made a decision that was very difficult for me. I am a bowhunter at heart, but sometimes you do what you gotta do to get the job done. In this case it was switching over to a rifle we had in camp in case of bears. It was a .270 with good optics. I had sighted in the rifle for Gary a couple of days before but never intended to use it. Since time was at a premium we took the direct route straight to the Billie.

Two hours later we were 500 yards out and below the Billie. He was getting nervous and starting to pace on the ledge and we were running out of cover to hide our approach. Gary asked if I could make the shot. Now I have had some sniper training and I consider myself a good shot, but I was not about to take a shot of a life time with a unfamiliar rifle and huffing and puffing all the way to this point. I told Gary we needed to get closer, so on we went.

At 406 yards we completely ran out of cover and I had to either try the shot or forget it. Gary set up the spotting scope and I tried to settle down my heart rate. Minutes later we were ready. I steadied the rifle on my backpack at sighted in on the Billie. It was a very steep up hill shot, yet it was still 400+ yards. I rested the crosshairs just slightly above his shoulder and gently pulled the slack on the trigger. The Billie was standing broadside (perfect) and at the shot we could hear the dull thud of a bullet hitting home. Gary said immediately “you hit em, fire again!”.

Again I steadied the crosshairs and put steadily increasing pressure on the trigger. "Boom!" the rifle fires and again Gary says “hit”. At this point the Billie moved from his position down into some undergrowth that took him out of our line of sight. We jumped up left all the gear we knew we wouldn’t immediately need and took off up the mountain side. About 1 ½ hours later found us creeping along the last ridge that separated us from where we last saw the Billie. Gary spotted him first and motioned me over to his position. Speaking in a whisper Gary said that the Billie was just over this last ridge.

I stuck my head slowly over the top expecting to see the Billie 50 -100 yards away. Much to my shock the Billie was bedded down just 20 feet away. I pulled the rifle into position and tried to pick a spot but being so close the scope was almost useless. Looking through the scope I saw nothing but white. I guessed as best I could and pulled the trigger. Wham! The Billie jumped to his feet, I hit him again immediately expecting him to drop, but he didn’t, he turned towards me and started to walk in my direction. I spoke to Gary “I can’t see anything but his head” Gary, yelling at this point said shoot!! You’ve got to shoot now!! The Billie angled just slightly and I fired again at about 15 feet. He again turned and went back to his original position. I put the final bullet into his shoulder at 20 feet and he finally collapsed on the spot.

Just when you think it’s over, it’s not. The Billie slid off the ledge and fell into the head of a small canyon 50 feet below. It wasn’t that far but we couldn’t approach him from where we were. This forced us to go back down the mountain and come right back up again heading into the canyon. The Billie had come to rest at the bottom of a water fall in a nearly vertical mountain side. Gary suggested that I make myself comfortable for a bit while he figured the best way of getting the Billie out. A while later Gary called and I went up to see that he had already skinned and de-bone the Billie and lowered it down on ropes to a safer location.

We took some post hunt pictures and then packed the meat and hide in the two backpacks and made the long journey back to camp. I was amazed at how much weight you can carry if you take your time (walking sticks are worth their weight in gold) and are properly motivated (fear of staying in the bush overnight). We made it back to camp about 10:00 or so (again) had a much deserved dinner and crashed.


The following day was rainy, so we finished caping out the Billie and got things ready in camp so when we did get good weather, our pilot could come get us in short order. The day after, the weather was nice so we called our pilot and he came and got us in the early afternoon. I loved the rugged mountains, but, I was very happy to get back to fresh food and a hot shower. We measured my billie and found that he had 10 inch horns in length and a over all score of 49 ½ inches, which is a very nice billie anywhere.

I can’t say enough about how well the outfitters help in making this all possible. Without those guys working really hard every day, nothing would have happened. I regret not getting my Billie with a bow, but believe me, when I try this again (and I will) my bow will go with me for another try.

If trying for a mountain goat is your next challenge, look up Bolen and Lewis Trophy Guide service. Then get off the couch and start getting into shape. This hunt is not for the meek, it will challenge you on several different levels!