Kodak Island goat hunt
Mountain Goat
I leave on October 29th. Anybody have experience hunting there? Any pointers you can pass on?
Where are you Nick? Blacktailbob? They have both killed a couple on Kodiak.
Wife & I just got back from Kodiak. It was great! Best advice I have is enjoy every minute of it! Who are you hunting with?
I am on road all day today driving home from an elk hunt. if you have any specific questions shoot me a PM and I will try to answer it.
Good luck & stay safe.
Mike
I am hunting with Gus Lamoureux of Ugashik Lake and Bear camps. I will be in unit 480.Any general info will be appreciated. Typical terrain, water availability, typical shot distances? These are just a few questions that come to mind. Anything else you can think of that I may need to know would be appreciated.
We hunted in area 473 I am not sure how that compares to area 480. Every goat area I have been in has one thing in common though, and that is the tendency to be the steepest, nastiest stuff on the mountain. They tend to say Kodiak is a little better than most other goat hunts but I don't know about that. You are at a lower elevation which helps the breathing part but don't be mislead into thinking just because the elevation is under 3,000ft you are going for a walk in the park.
Take plenty of layers. Even in August when we were there the wind was nasty I dug out my puffy and used my rain gear almost everyday. October and November might throw some real nasty stuff. Good solid rain gear and synthetic sleeping bag and clothing are a must.
I have been around goats a bit and usually they are not as wired as other animals such as deer and sheep. This usually means if you have the wind in your favor you can get in on them relatively easy most of the time. Don't overlook whites and a goat horn hat. You will feel a little self conscious but it really lets you get away with murder. Getting inside 30yds and even 20yds should be very doable with some patience. You need to wait them out and not push a stalk. Also try to wait and get them in a spot where they are not as likely to take dive off a 1000ft cliff after the shot. They WILL go to the cliffs if they can for safety after you shoot. This makes for the likely hood of broken horns or at least makes for a very uncomfortable, dangerous recovery.
There are several threads about goat hunting in the mountain goat section. A few are from Kodiak hunts I would review them. The pictures will show you the typical terrain better than I can explain. Also pictures of goat suits and gear on the threads.
Hope this helps. Anyone feel free to jump in if you think I am giving any misleading advice.
Just remember no goat is worth dying for.
Mike
I see you asked about the water availability. Where we were hunting we had water pretty much everywhere. I did carry a small flask with me but I don't think I used it much. Just watered up when we came across the glacier runoff streams.
I saw the thread of you and your wife's goat hunt. Tell her she has my utmost respect. Thank you for your help deerhaven.
What are you wearing for boots? I have everything from my Xtra Tuffs to leather lace ups to pack boots to waders. Im headed down at thanksgiving.
thanks!
I'm wearing my Meindls and have some overshoe hippers called sourdoughs for any water crossing.
I leave in two days!!!! Can't wait!
Good luck! You're going to have a blast!
So how did this hunt go? I was out there when this post was initiated otherwise I would have contributed.
I saw a few goats in unit 480, but they were young. The two we saw that I thought were old enough didn't wan to play the same game my brother and I had in mind.
I have hunted goats quite a few times near where I think you hunted with Gus.
You will have a great hunt. Gus is a very good guide. I hunted with him Brown Bear years ago. His camps and all his equipment is first class and his 2 locations are very good (Kodiak and Peninsula).
Well guys I made it back from Kodiak.I can honestly tell you this was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.The other two guys in camp were hunting with rifles so they went out and humped it but got it done on their first day. Since I was wanting to shoot one with a bow I went to the easy spot.....Right! it was definitely a little easier but not by much. We got into areas where the goats normally would be but they weren't there. We could see them two peaks over! The real issue was the weather. It sucked! Rain off and on all day. 50-60 MPH winds at night. It was miserable. All our stuff got wet and the guide hurt his knee so we had to go back to main camp. New guide and a night to dry out and back we went. More of the same. Rain and wind!We saw easily 30 goats but were never within 400 yards of one.The are was perfect for an ambush or a stalk but the goats were just not in those areas. Finally, running out of time we went to a totally different area. We hiked into a lake and could see goats all around us. One good day of weather and we got on a good billy. we got within 275 yards but ran out of cover and time. I borrowed the guides 375 and got my goat. Not the way I wanted it but I was out of time. 6th day out of a 7 day hunt. We got everything caped and loaded and walked out the 3 miles with 60 lb pack. I'm sure his was over 100lbs. The next day was a total wash out with driving rain and 30 mph wind....But I was done!!! [URL=http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/ermont/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-11/35A2C930-1D3E-4CC8-85DA-B5DFDC8E12ED_1.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j434/ermont/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-11/35A2C930-1D3E-4CC8-85DA-B5DFDC8E12ED_1.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
[URL=http://s1085.photobucket.com/user/ermont/media/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-11/C133530B-04FF-4B09-911A-BA9AD4CFE8AE.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1085.photobucket.com/albums/j434/ermont/Mobile%20Uploads/2015-11/C133530B-04FF-4B09-911A-BA9AD4CFE8AE.jpg[/IMG][/URL]
Sounds like Kodiak. My favorite place to hunt!!!
Sorry. I'm not sure why the pic won't show up.
Congratulations on your Kodiak experience and a great goat! Here is your photo.
Many thanks for fixing my pic. For anyone that cares the goat was 9.5 inches 5.5 years old. To be honest I would have been happy with a lot less!
Congrats! Now I understand why Bob likes it there so much:)
good for you and very well done. you should be proud.
Great looking goat! Congrats!
My knees ached for a week after I got back!
Congratulations. Just being there is my dream. A goat would be a bonus.
CONGRATS! Great goat and picture!
Great goat and great picture!!! CONGRATS!!! Goat hunting is without a doubt one of the hardest hunt of all.
Great goat and great picture!!! CONGRATS!!! Goat hunting is without a doubt one of the hardest hunt of all.
Congrats!!!
Ya know...... I will probably never go on a goat or sheep hunt, but you fellas that do go and post for all too see/read, you should never apologize or feel bad for taking one with a rifle. Not saying that you did, but the amount of time, money and the conditions that you fellas endure to get to these animals is something else.
Again, thanks for sharing and congratulations on a fine animal.
The guide insisted on taking a panoramic shot with my IPhone. I must say I love it because it catches not only me and the goat but the rugged mountains in the background. The little bench I was on does not do justice to how steep and just plain rugged those mountains are. It is very deceiving when people talk about Kodiak and say the mountains are only 4000 feet in elevation as compared to the 10 or 12000 feet in other areas. The best way I can describe it is to take the top 4000 feet off those mountains and put them at sea level. No you won't have to deal with the elevation but that is the only difference. It is tough, tough, tough.
That is a beauty of a goat. Congrats on completing a tough hunt.
Congrats on a good billy! You def hunted hard and earned him. Tough conditions. Pic of you, trophy and some of the mountains is great.
No apology needed for grabbing the 375...anyone that has goat hunted will completely understand...ignore those who haven't and criticize.
Congrats on a nice goat. Hope you had a great experience and glad you made it through in one piece with a very nice animal!!
Congrats!! You dun good! Great goat!
Mark
Congratulations! Great goat! Awesome place and experience. Hopefully, you can get back up there and go at them again with a bow and have some better weather to deal with.
Love Kodiak and hope to get back some day.
Congratulations! Awesome trophy & experience!
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Congrats, lived on kodiak for 14 years and have taken several goats. Awesome place to hunt them.
