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2021 ABA Raffle Goat Hunt
Mountain Goat
Contributors to this thread:
caribou77 05-Jan-22
caribou77 05-Jan-22
Nick Muche 05-Jan-22
caribou77 05-Jan-22
caribou77 05-Jan-22
caribou77 05-Jan-22
caribou77 05-Jan-22
caribou77 05-Jan-22
t-roy 05-Jan-22
Shrewski 05-Jan-22
Treeline 06-Jan-22
BULELK1 06-Jan-22
sticksender 06-Jan-22
midwest 06-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
Treeline 07-Jan-22
midwest 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
rattling_junkie 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
caribou77 07-Jan-22
yooper89 07-Jan-22
caribou77 08-Jan-22
caribou77 08-Jan-22
Shrewski 08-Jan-22
Ambush 08-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
Treeline 09-Jan-22
sitO 09-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
bigeasygator 09-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
Shrewski 09-Jan-22
caribou77 09-Jan-22
Ambush 09-Jan-22
t-roy 09-Jan-22
JL 09-Jan-22
HUNT MAN 09-Jan-22
uteangler 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
Oryx35 10-Jan-22
Ambush 10-Jan-22
HUNT MAN 10-Jan-22
Treeline 10-Jan-22
Pyrannah 10-Jan-22
Rock 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
Pyrannah 10-Jan-22
KB 10-Jan-22
Shiloh 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
mountainman 10-Jan-22
sticksender 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
dakotaduner 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
Ambush 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
Pyrannah 10-Jan-22
Ambush 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
caribou77 10-Jan-22
HUNT MAN 10-Jan-22
Scott/IL 10-Jan-22
T Mac 10-Jan-22
Shrewski 10-Jan-22
wisconsinteacher 10-Jan-22
JL 10-Jan-22
DEERAHOLIC 11-Jan-22
pav 11-Jan-22
Treeline 11-Jan-22
caribou77 11-Jan-22
caribou77 11-Jan-22
JL 11-Jan-22
Mad Trapper 11-Jan-22
HoytHntr4 11-Jan-22
huntinelk 11-Jan-22
Southern draw 11-Jan-22
Southern draw 11-Jan-22
Scar Finga 11-Jan-22
midwest 11-Jan-22
Treeline 11-Jan-22
Oryx35 11-Jan-22
caribou77 11-Jan-22
hdaman 11-Jan-22
DEMO-Bowhunter 12-Jan-22
caribou77 12-Jan-22
Scar Finga 12-Jan-22
midwest 12-Jan-22
Beav 12-Jan-22
Beav 12-Jan-22
Quinn @work 12-Jan-22
JohnMC 12-Jan-22
bill v 12-Jan-22
t-roy 12-Jan-22
caribou77 19-Jul-22
Treeline 19-Jul-22
Charlie Rehor 19-Jul-22
HUNT MAN 19-Jul-22
t-roy 19-Jul-22
caribou77 20-Jul-22
Guardian hunter 20-Jul-22
Bou'bound 20-Jul-22
Mad Trapper 20-Jul-22
muliemad 20-Jul-22
BOWNBIRDHNTR 21-Jul-22
caribou77 09-Mar-24
caribou77 09-Mar-24
SBH 09-Mar-24
caribou77 09-Mar-24
From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
With the ABA putting out their newest raffle, I thought its a good time to get a long thread started. For those that don't know, I was the fortunate winner of the 2021 ABA mountain goat raffle. And for those of you that think this will never happen to them, join the club. I've put in for every raffle hunt they've put out. Always donated to someones life long adventure and happy to do so.

May 20th 2021 rolls around like any other day. I had no idea it was even a special day... that is until I walked over to my desk and glanced at my phone. The number was one i didnt recognize, but the name in the text....caused my hands to shake Trevor Embry. I quickly got on the radio and called my good friend Chad over. I handed him my phone and made him read it.... He looked at me and said Luke you just won the Goat raffle! I was in shock for an hour. Nothing like this had ever happened to me.

From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
That night I talked with my Dad and to this day he is still more excited than me (and trust me I was excited). He told everyone before I ever had the chance too. Dad has always been my biggest supporter with hunting and we have been very fortunate to do a lot of hunts together (and more to come). I remember several years back when i told him i booked a Mountain Caribou/ Grizzly hunt in the yukon. I was expecting a very different answer than I received. He looked at me and said good! Its a lot of money but we only get so much time. I think he regretted never doing a hunt like that when he was younger and he even said my grandfather had the chance to do a grizzly hunt, never did and always regretted it... So I think thats why dad was so excited about this hunt. No Anderson had ever been to Alaska, i was going to be the first.

We had an antelope hunt scheduled for mid August together. Dad new my vacation time was going to be tight and instantly told me to skip the antelope hunt. Gentlemen facts are we do only get so much time and I wasnt about to miss my hunt with dad. I'll save a little more money, pinch a few more pennies and refuse to take any vacation time I didnt NEED and make this all work.

From: Nick Muche
05-Jan-22
Can’t wait to hear this from you! Heard TJ’s version over Thanksgiving cocktails with Hunt Man and loved every second. Congrats again Luke!

From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
It was around that first day or two of finding out I won the hunt that Dad asked " youre taking your rifle right"? At first it wasnt even a thought! Of course I was taking the rifle. A day or so passes and I start thinking this is silly, I love to bowhunt and this is the opportunity of a lifetime, this is foolish, why wouldnt I take my bow!? I mean sure I've never mountain hunted or been to Alaska. Never hunted mountain goat....How hard can this be!?

Within a few weeks I had a target set up on top of my Dad's 90ft grain leg and dug my old bighorn ram target out of the grove. The ram got a make over with some white paint and popping his horns off. Presto changeo mountain goat! I quickly learned why they make angle comp rangefinders and that shooting up was way harder than shooting down. My target on top of the leg was 8" by 15". After a summer of shooting at that target 90' in the air i can honestly say i never missed once shooting up. And only missed one shot down do to some really strong winds (shouldnt have been on top of that leg that day).

Over the summer I shot a 3-D shoot almost every weekend. I extended my shooting range out to 93 yards (farthest my sight would allow). I trained 1-3 hours daily with a combination of an 8 week Next level extreme fitness class, lifting, running and pack training. Many days doing a combo of 2 or 3 of those.

From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
By mid August my weight loss is half way to my goal. I've lost about 12 pounds. But its time to put everything on hold and head to New Mexico with Dad and Chad. We are hunting our friend Dustin's father's ranch. We met Dustin while hunting at Mikes Outfitting together several years back. We had a good week at Mikes. A Giant mulie was a dream for my dad, and like a good son how could i not go along. We all did well. Dad, Chad, Dustin and I tagged our best bucks ever.

From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
Turns out Antelope was another big dream for my Dad... it was quite the adventure with all sorts of new critters and terrain for us. We had a great hunt on the ranch and Dustin and his family were just flat out great hosts. We all did good that trip, Dad did really good....

From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
Once we got back from New mexico gear prep and training went into full swing. My weight kept dropping and by about 1 week before my goat hunt i was down 25 pounds to 185. (my pre covid weight) i had always told myself that before i did a mountain hunt i would do a half marathon. So with just 6 days before flying out I set out on my normal gravel road jog... 1 mile in I kept thinking i should pry do that 1/2.... 3 miles in i felt really good....2 hours and 14 miles later i got back home...

My legs felt good, I felt good, I was shooting great....Life was good!

And now..... The Rest of the Story.

From: caribou77
05-Jan-22
Currently can not load photos....so I'm quitting for now..... this will be slow and painful my friends. I will give you a few days at a time. But definitely need pics make this more enjoyable. And as you are reading and following along, be sure to pick up a raffle ticket or 2....Its well worth it.

From: t-roy
05-Jan-22
Looking forward to this, Luke! Definitely need to add lots of pics.

From: Shrewski
05-Jan-22
Awesome. Thanks for doing this.

From: Treeline
06-Jan-22
This is gonna be a great one! Please go back and pick up some pictures of your hunts with your Dad for mule deer and antelope as well, if you can. Would love to see those as a backdrop to the main story!

From: BULELK1
06-Jan-22
Thanks for taking the time to share with us.

Robb

From: sticksender
06-Jan-22
Locked on and tuned in.

From: midwest
06-Jan-22
I'm all in, Luke!

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22
So after a day of wanting to put my fist through my phone and home pc I’ve finally figured out my problem. My pics are all on my phone and png files. Apparently I can only use j files. I’ll get them converted today and hopefully get back on track soon!

From: Treeline
07-Jan-22
Good! Looking forward to the story! And the pictures to go with it!

From: midwest
07-Jan-22
Looking forward to the sideways pictures if you're doing it on your phone! ;-)

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Prehunt practice

07-Jan-22
That's an awesome message to get!

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Smallest Mulie of the week
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Smallest Mulie of the week
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Dad's 180. Perfect shot....
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Dad's 180. Perfect shot....
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Chad's 200+
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Chad's 200+
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Last but not least our then new friend Dustin with a 150+ 305# whitetail.
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Last but not least our then new friend Dustin with a 150+ 305# whitetail.
I cant seem to go back and add pics BUT I can now add them at least! All should be good going forward but I will include my back story pics first.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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We put a great stalk on this guy. Chad made a great shot.
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We put a great stalk on this guy. Chad made a great shot.
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My first Antelope...well I guess it was a first for all of us.
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My first Antelope...well I guess it was a first for all of us.
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As I said earlier, Dad did well.... just missed B/C. Never seen my dad shaking and babbling so hard in my life.
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As I said earlier, Dad did well.... just missed B/C. Never seen my dad shaking and babbling so hard in my life.
New Mexico was a wonderful place in August. Though HOT as hell.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Friday Sept 24 This is the day I've been waiting for all summer. I worked a worthless half day at work but honestly stayed fairly busy knowing full well I was going to be gone for 2 weeks. I drive to Minneapolis the night before my flight, park my car at the hotel and settle in knowing full well the morning is going to be crazy.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Saturday Sept 25 I'm up at 5 and at the airport at 5:45. REALLY wish I had a quarter.... Those little carts cost a quarter to unlock and I had 100 pounds of gear to carry across the street, up the stairs, over the skywalk and to the terminal to check in.... oh well one more training session i guess.

Everything goes smooth. My bags make weight and TSA is a breeze. 2 hours to kill before the flight to Seattle. Knowing what I know now I would have taken a later flight to Seattle. My layover there was 6 hours. They had 2 options, 1.5 hours or 6 hours. Flight to Seattle went perfect and so did finding my way around the terminal.... took 30 mins to find my gate. There I sat for 5.5 hours...

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Landed in Ketchikan at 4:30 pm. Long day of travel but all my bags arrived. As soon as you exit the jet a big fat mounted mountain goat welcomes you. Minutes later I am met at the exit by Zack, one of Ed's guides. We throw everything in the truck and away we go to catch the ferry. Zack is not one for conversation and I'm talking a mile a minute (which is rare for me). The realness that this is actually happening is setting in. Zack offers to run me down town if I need anything and then we head to Ed's house. Zack shows me to my room and tells me Ed, TJ and Cole are out flying around looking for goats. They'll be back in an hour, make yourself at home....

Ed's house is filled with a lifetime of trophies.I'm in awe of the size of goats he has on display. I just had no idea how big they really were. Several sets of horns and mounts allow me to really see and feel what I would be after.

I should also mention it is gorgeous out! Perfect bluebird day.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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With all the commotion I'm making walking around all googly eyed upstairs I must have alerted the previous hunter to my presence. Mark is the bowhunter that was in camp the week before me and he comes up to great me. We start talking about his success and just about what is going on in general at camp and what to expect on the mountain. Marks and experienced hunter and has even successfully hunted sheep in alaska before. (no idea if it was a gun or bow and to me it does not matter). Mark definitely looks tired. I remember asking how hard it was on this trip. He simply says if you can get up and down these mountains you can do a sheep hunt without trouble. (Oh lord what have i gotten myself into)

Not long later Ed, TJ and Cole show up. i have to do a double take with Cole as its obvious Zack and him are twins. Cole is not as quiet though, The guys bring news of plenty of goats. It was really good news and they were ALL SMILES. Mark took Ed, TJ and myself out to dinner that night down town. We joked and laughed and honestly just had a great time. I owe Mark dinner and hopefully one day get the chance to repay him.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Sunday Sept 26

Today we start gear prep. Cole has me set out 10 freeze dried dinners and breakfasts. Along with that all the snacks I will need/want for the trip. There is every flavor of meal you can imagine. I'm positive Ed has stock in Mountain house and Peak. Snakes galore. Anything I wanted as long as i could carry it. Tj and I later talk about what I will actually NEED in my pack when we go up the mountain. I repack as I have time to do so. One thing I should mention is this hunt is probably slightly different than what I would feel to be a normal goat hunt. We will be setting up a VERY nice and well supplied base camp and then spiking out of that. Ed told me to bring plenty of clothes. Don't skimp. We could leave everything we weren't using in base camp. WHEN (not if) we got soaked on the mountain, someone would come down and grab dry gear. That said I had 4 sets of rain gear packed. I was told to bring at least 2. 3 would be better. Ed and Tj make us fantastic meals all day. Eating like kings. I was made very clear that anything in the house was mine to use and enjoy. The weather was beyond beautiful again. I got some shooting in with my bow. It was 55 yards from the end of the doc to the corner of the house. In previous conversations with Ed, I talked about having a rifle with us. He told me to bring whatever I wanted, the guides would carry it in for me. In the end I really just wanted to bowhunt and asked if he had one I could borrow if need be. That turned out to be no problem(and saved me a couple hundred in baggage fees). We shot 2 rounds thru a Kimber 84 .300wsm with a 4.5 - 14 leupold on it. She shot just fine and called it good to go.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Monday Sept 27 FLY OUT DAY! This is it. Another Gorgeous morning. Day one of my first Alaska wilderness experience. We are scheduled to fly out at noon. We take load after load in the hanger. WOW theres a lot of stuff! Noon rolls around and Lady Alaska sends her first big welcome! My nice sunny morning turns to rain and clouds. We sit at the hanger for the next 5 hours until we have to call it. Cole fished under the plane wing for a couple hours catching multiple species of fish. Pretty cool really. But not as cool as flying in. We take a few things we need back to the house. Ed makes another killer dinner and we just chill. Great first day. The plan now is to try for 9 am tomorrow.

From: caribou77
07-Jan-22

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Tuesday sept 28 9 am rolls around and by god we get to fly. Been a long time since i've been in a Beaver. i tagged along on the 1st load out. Tj and Cole stay to start setting up camp. I fly back to town with our pilot Vance to get the rest of the gear (yes 2 beaver loads). By the time I come back out base camp is getting pretty well set up. All of our tents have tarps under them and over them. The guys used about 7 rolls of cord tying the tarps down. Walking around camp reminded me of one of those movies with the red lazer security systems. You had to bend and contort yourself just right to walk through camp. The beavers were nice enough to leave little pongee sticks poking out everywhere as well. Beautiful mountain views.... Once we were set up we inflated the dingy and went across the lake to find our trail and cut out any undergrowth. Sounds like they havent been here in a year or two. We spent an hour cutting and flagging the first portion of the climb. It didn't seem to bad, plenty steep but manageable. We had brought our cork boots over in separate bags so we did not poke holes in the dingy. Ed told me i needed corks to hunt here and as much as i didnt want to spend $200 cutting the soles off my brand new $300 meindls, I did. Corks are basically spikes. Loggers use them in the steep wet slippery terrain. I was definitely glad I listened. Ketchikan is a rain forest...a steep, muddy, wet rain forest and those boots gave me traction where other boots would have failed. We ate well that night and enjoyed a beer before calling it a night. With luck we would head up the mountain in the morning.

From: yooper89
07-Jan-22
Hell I was just in some beaver the other night.

Great thread so far. Looking forward to more!

From: caribou77
08-Jan-22

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Wednesday Sept 29

As Luck would have it....we woke up to rain and fog. This day would have us chilling at base camp. A beer here and there. The boys were fly fishing for cutthroat trout in between rain showers. We had a wonderful camp set up that gave us a view of the mountain (when it wasnt rainy and foggy). I was able to do a couple little hikes checking out streams and waterfalls. We gathered enough wood to start a nice little fire and enjoy that under the protection of tarps. We had 3 folding chairs with us, about 21 days worth of food and enough gear for 2 complete camps. Other than not hunting, life was good.

From: caribou77
08-Jan-22

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Thursday Sept 30

Once again we wake up to rain and a foggy mountain. Every time it clears hopes get high to go. Cole and Tj tell me we have to wait to make sure its not a trap. They tell me the weather will clear just long enough to make you go and then dump rain again. This day is filled with traps. Our hike up to spike camp is supposed to take 6 to 6 1/2 hours, so every day if we are not up and going by 11, we are stuck in basecamp. "stuck" is a bad word too. Base camp is fun, relaxing and beautiful. We have fire, all the fish we can catch and eat, apple pie with cool whip....Whats not to love? We continue to monitor the weather with our Inreach (we actually all have our own) and Ed continues to inform us of whats coming from town. We knew BAD weather was on its way and simple facts were, we knew we would be in basecamp all day tomorrow as well. Somewhere during thes day TJ and Cole are apologizing to me for what feels like the 10th time for the weather. And thats when we have a "talk". They need to stop apologizing. My options in life are 1) back in Iowa working at the plant where I supervise 23 guys. Listening to them bitch and wine (they arent actually always that bad), constant stress to make quotas and temps in the 90s 2) up on the mountain stuck in a little 2 man mountain tent for days unable to hunt or 3) basecamp and all the wonderful things I've mentioned so far. I'm so happy to be sitting in basecamp its not even funny.

From: Shrewski
08-Jan-22
Great stuff. Great attitude. That is typically “rewarded”.

From: Ambush
08-Jan-22
Wow, that is a super luxurious goat camp!! A was sort of expecting a "trimmed down" hunt for being a raffle win, but this is exactly the opposite. Huge thumbs up to ABA and the contributing outfitter!!

I'm glued to this one! The pics are great too.

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22

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Cole Fly Fishing the day before the storm, Lake was already coming up.
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Cole Fly Fishing the day before the storm, Lake was already coming up.
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One of the many mountain streams we saw flying in.
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One of the many mountain streams we saw flying in.
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Base camp bedroom
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Base camp bedroom
Friday October 1st

Rain again. More weather coming. BAD weather coming. Between rain showers we work on straightening up camp. Tarps get tied down better. Almost to the point where you can walk around camp with ease. Big ripping winds come through tearing our most of the grommets on my tarp. Tj and Cole fix it up. Together we really tie things down and stack up fire wood. Reports say Hurricane force winds are going to hit Ketchikan late in the afternoon throughout the night. They did. Lady Alaska pounded us with wind and rain all night. We were REALLY lucky to be sitting down on the lake and not up in the Alpine. All afternoon and night we would hear trees snapping and falling. Winds topped 84 mph in Ketchikan at sea level. To be at 3500 ft in the Alpine would have been insane. Cole was in constant contact with his brother Zack and Ed. Zack, Kyle (another guide) and their client were on another mountain, higher up and more exposed. They were in for a long day and an even longer night. I felt like we were at the Hilton compared to what they were going through. We were tucked in a nice little cove with the mountain behind us blocking most of the bad wind.

Rain fell all day. Heck its rained most of the time I've been on the lake. The quiet waterfalls of day one have turned into roaring steams. You would be surprised what those roaring streams can do to the lake. It was mid afternoon when I had noticed a log that I had walked across earlier in the day, was now 2 inches under water. By evening that same log was a LOT deeper. We started using the ax handle to measure the depth of the log. By dark we started calculating the lake was rising 1.5" per hour and we 20" on the day. Using the good old eyeball method we figured my tent had about 16 hours left at best. They may have 20 hours on theirs.

That night I slept with all my clothes on and all my bags packed incase I got flooded. Earplugs in to not hear any trees that were going to crash on me and kill me in my sleep. They helped but it was a very loud night.

From: Treeline
09-Jan-22
Spectacular pictures and story so far! What an awesome experience all the way around!

From: sitO
09-Jan-22
This is good, really good!

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22

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This is the log that was completely out of the water when camp was set up. In fact that entire island to the top of the pic was 6" out of the water.
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This is the log that was completely out of the water when camp was set up. In fact that entire island to the top of the pic was 6" out of the water.
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Saturday October 2nd

I wake to a nice calm day. The sun is out and bright. Tj tells me theres snow on my tent. Sure enough I walk out to see several piles of snow. The lake is now high. If it goes out 8 more inches it will be in my tent. The water that was 15' away last night is now only 4' away. Cole gets word from his brother as to just how easy we had it and how rough they had it. They moved camp 3 times yesterday and all through the night. The river they were camping beside overflowed its banks. Their hunters tent was floating in 6" of water. Zack and Kyle only slept a couple hours that night and that was under their tent as they could not find flat enough ground to set it up in the night. It was a rough night for them.

We finished off our taco meat we had made the first night in, having breakfast burritos. Then start gathering gear, today we climb. I rolled up my basecamp bag and sleeping pads (Ed gave me a 2nd down bag and 2 pads to use in base camp). All our extra gear went into Coles arctic oven tent. It was higher than my tent and if it was to flood, maybe it wouldnt reach their tent.

We throw out 3 days worth of meals from our packs. (think we all had 4 dinners and 3 breakfasts) I strap my bow to my pack, throw and my waders and we take the dingy across the lake. Once on the landing we strip off the waders and throw on our corks and gaiters. Things are about to get real. For the hike up everyone is in helly hanson rain gear. They do this all the time, yes we will be soaked inside and out by the time we get to the top. I dont believe that there is any rain gear that would not have gotten soaked through. Looking back I wish i would have work my Kuiu Chugach. There is no way it wouldnt have saoked through , but I would have been able to vent heat better. I pry would take swim trunks to wear under them too.

I have no pictures of the hike up. But will include one from the first day of what I like to call the LEAST steep portion of the climb.

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22

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The Climb was WET. We were climbing in a rain forest that has been pounded with rain 7 of the last 9 days. Its Steep. What seemed easy the first day was much harder with our packs on our backs. I took off 10 minutes before those guys as I knew the first leg of the journey and the boat landing was so small only one of us could really stand there and change boots, Within 30 minutes both Tj and Cole passed me.

Lay Alaska was just about to give us her next big FU as well. Within an hour the rain started. It's now raining, everything is soaked, I'm sweating like crazy and I can't look up ahead of me very far as my pack in Sky mode wont allow my head to tilt back to look up hill. (my pack was loaded!) Part of me is happy I can't look up. This part of the trip is a blur. Just ungodly hard steep climbing. You would use one hand to grab vegetation and the other to push off with your hiking stick. Gloves continued to fill with water. I was hot, wet and exhausted. I just kept thinking what had I gotten myself into.

At this point of my story I should disclose a personal issue I have dealt with my entire life. i talked it over with Ed before the trip and my guides as well. My entire life I have struggled with Raynauds syndrome. Simply put the blood vessels in your extremities shrink up causing ungodly cold fingers and toes. Before my trip our temps in Iowa dripped to 40 degrees one morning. Inside our building at work i took a digital thermometer and checked my finger temp. My finger tips were 60 degrees vs all my guys who's were 85 degrees. Facts are I easily suffer frozen fingers and toes.

Ok back to our wonderful hike and old Crabby Lady Alaska....

Remember that rain!? Well its time to welcome sleet. We continue to hike up. At some point TJ and Cole are moving so fast I lose sight of them (they are maybe 30-40 yards in front of me). The tracks look to go left so away i go. 50 yards later I can't see them and I'm positive I'm not on the right trail. I turn back around and go to where i know I lost them. I sit and rest and call out for them. Its sleeting hard and the vegetation is thick. A minute or 2 passes and TJ is there asking if I'm all right. I told him I zigged when I should have zagged. At this point I think TJ slowed down a bit. He was continually checking on me and I'd smile and give a thumbs up.

Remember that Sleet!? Well at some point its now pounding snow. Remember those wet gloves....and cold hands....they have been really good to this point. Surprisingly good actually. At about 2300' (we started at about 400) my fingers cannot take it anymore. We are at our first rope climb and my hands are numb. Toes are pretty well frozen also as at some point I've been in enough deep water that my boots are soaked inside. Oh and all my clothing is soaked as well. I set my pack down and try to get some warmth to my hands. Things get ugly fast. In 30 secs Im shaking uncontrollably. TJ and Cole call down (they had already made the climb and we 30 yards up). They ask if I'm alright. All I can muster is "no". TJ asks again, again my response is "no". Now he asks if I need help. Yes is all I can get out. The cold sets in deeper, the shaking harder. I just keep looking down the mountain side thinking I'm gonna die. This is worst case weather for me. Literally everything I had prayed wouldnt happen, was happening.

TJ gets back down to me and i direct him as best I can to what i need from my pack. I can't even open zippers on my own. Just stand and shake. He helps strip my top layers off and get my puffy and his puffy on me. I have about $800 worth of Kuiu puffy's on and my superdown mitts, handwarmers and stocking cap. I shake for what feels like 30 mins. I can see Tj start getting cold. Those guys are tough as nails but even they are not immune to the wet cold. Cole says we are close to spike camp. We need to get going and i know it. BUT I can't. Soon the choice is made for Cole to go up, find camp and drop his pack. He's back shortly (no idea how long) He says we are close. I tell them I can go but need help with my pack. Cole takes it up for me. I start up the rope climb with TJ pushing my ass up the hill.

Let me assure everyone reading this, this was a very serious situation and I owe my life to these guys. I have no doubt I woulda died right there had I been alone.

Within 30 mins we hit spike camp. I'm doing much better now. I help as much as I can and we move 4" of wet heavy snow. We put tarps on the ground then others up. Sandwiching our tents in the middle. I am finally able to get my soaking bottom layers off and into dry clothes with down pants and then crawl into my down bag. We eat mountain house for supper. I have a cup of coffee they made me in my tent. At some point while putting on new socks, that tips over and spills everywhere. So now my sleeping pad is sitting in hot coffee, my dry clothes are sucking up the rest and I don't realize it. As luck would have it not much is compromised before I figured out what was going on. I sopped up the rest with my already wet clothing and everything else dried out really well inside my sleeping bag that night.

That night I slept in my wool long johns and shirt, the only 2 pair of dry socks i had, in my down layers, with my hand warmers and gloves, a stocking cap, inside my bag liner, inside my 0 degree bag, inside my bivy sack, in the tent. Slept pretty well too.

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22

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Sunday october 3rd

I woke up to Cole or Tj knocking snow off the tarp. I peak my head out to see more snow. This will be our day. Tent bound. Cole and Tj are sharing a Kuiu Storm Star and I'm 3 feet away in a Kuiu Mountain Star. We slept a lot that day. Lot of Inreach messages home. More weather checks. Stories from the other group. Naps. And then there was that nagging soaking wet boot issue. I had stuffed the 2 handkerchiefs in my boots and those soaked up a lot of water. But they are now saturated. I dig in my dry clothes and find a light merino shirt and shove the sleeves in my boots. Later that day I start cutting up my sleeping bag liner and add a couple hand warmers to my boots. In my head I was wishing for a couple maxi pads. Though I'm not sure if I need them for my boots or myself at this point. It was a cold night. And I slept poorly after a day of rest. There was just enough incline to feel yourself sliding down the sleeping pad. Oh and then there was that stick that would wake you up, jamming into your hip as you neared the bottom corner of the bag....

From: bigeasygator
09-Jan-22
Sounds like a goat hunt for sure so far! Keep it coming!

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22

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Monday october 4th

Today we awake to one foot of snow....but bright sun and clear skies. Today finally, we hunt. Getting out of the tent took some work. It was a really rough nights sleep and its cold as hell out of my bag. My boots were "mostly dry". Finger tips going numb as I was attempting to put on my gaiters. Grabbed my bow and filled the quiver.....here we go!

It didnt take long to know I was in trouble. Holy crap that first short little climb was steep! I swear we went straight up a rock face. As we go farther I'm getting hot and wisely stop to strip off my fleece shirt and my vest. TJ and Cole tell me "be bold start cold". Oddly I did start cold! But it didnt take long for my body to get warmed up. We have one more big snow covered face to climb and Cole tells me we are in the goat zone now. They look over the lake and another steep face. Nothing. To much snow and looking for white critters isn't working out as well as hoped. They tell me they've never hunted in this much snow. It just doesn't get this way this time of year. Wow Lady Alaska is just slapping the crap out of me on this hunt. My toes at this point are absolutely frozen. Enough moisture in my boots is making things very painful. My fingers aren't functioning right. The rest of me is doing good though.

We walk another 100 yards or so up the hill and Cole peaks around the corner. Bam! He sits right down and says there's a goat right over there bedded. They look him over a bit. Ask if I want to see him. Obviously I do. I sneak up to the spotter and all I can see are eyeballs and horns. Pretty cool sight. They're trying to size him up. I'm saying who cares is he legal? TJ swings down low to get a better angle as he is locked in on us and wont turn his head.

This is where some of you will question me. All I can tell you is I know my limits and what my body can do. I had played the shot out 10,000 times in my head before this hunt and never once did I envision this. But here we are....I looked at Cole and told him the truth. "Cole , my hands can't do this, We have a short window to get this done. If you decide he's big enough I will use the rifle". It hurt to admit. I spent my entire summer watching an arrow go through a goat, I drug my bow all the way to Alaska, all the way to within 200 yards of a Billy .... but in my heart I knew it was the right choice. All but one little part of my dreams had been fulfilled. Fingers and toes are more important than stubborn pride.

TJ comes back and tells us he can't get a better look. I tell him what I told Cole. Both guys are understanding and completely agree with the choice. Probably a little relieved . Both were so supportive of getting it done with a bow and now both were ready and willing to make it happen however we can. Tj is a hugely successful bowhunter and he tells me he thinks I'm making the right choice. We all agree and start smiling. WELL, we shoulda shut up and shot first...Cole move the gun into position and I go to get on the gun. The Billy had stood up and walked outta our lives before I ever even saw him again.

We move east up the mountain. They feel the billy went to the west and down. We cant see anything as we slowly and quietly creep through the alpine. Goat tracks are everywhere and we can see where they have been digging through the snow for food. We peek over every hill. Maybe 45 mins later we walk over a hill and Tj in the lead is looking northwest. I just happened to glance back southeast and there is a billy standing 25 yards away popping back over a hill. TJ tosses me the rifle and I run up over the hill....Turns out it wasnt meant to be.

We continue northwest after that and soon find a loan goat 800 yards away. Could as well have been 10 miles away. No good way to get to him. No good way to kill him and if we did he would have rolled down the mountain for sure. 300 yards later Tj drops to his butt. Goat over the hill. Cole comes up for a look. It vanishes for a bit. We are pretty exposed and out in the wind. Both guys are constantly asking how my hands and toes are doing. Theyre froze, lets be honest here. Toes are currently the worst. Walking actually becomes difficult (though I never let them know). I had changed my socks earlier but that did little to help. I let Cole know I'm not above shooting a nanny. He laughs and say WE ARE NOT SHOOTING A NANNY! I laugh and tell him I'm a shooter. I love hunting and being there. No part of me would feel bad for shooting anything that is legal. As it would turn out, it was a nanny and a kid over the hill.

We end up hiking within 80 vertical feet of the mountain top. Cole asks if I want to finish the climb and go to the top. Honestly normally I would in a heartbeat. On this day, I was good. We hike back down to a much flatter area to get into a better glassing area and to overlook the lake that the goats are normally at. On the hike down Tj tells me to get ready. Hands me the gun and we hike over the hill, he was sure he just saw a goat. We walk over and see nothing....we chalk it up to snow falling off the trees. Later after sitting at the glassing spot i walk back to get some water out of a running mountain stream, while doing so I like down to see goat tracks in our tracks. Sure enough TJ had seen a goat. They were following our original trail up the mountain. We were breaking the path for them....

I should also mention that up on top we had noticed a billy back by where we first hiked up. On our way to the glassing spot he walked out of our sight. With nothing in sight and it getting late now, we made the choice to head down for he day. Down was so much faster than up...about an hour later we were back at camp. Finally time to eat. We had skipped both breakfast and lunch that day. Chicken fettuccine was on the menu that night. It was good.

Off to another cold winters nights sleep. I froze that night. Feet get worse. Cant keep them warm. Hands still not much better. I had about 5 pairs of gloves with me for the trip including kuiu superdowns. Which where the only thing keeping me going. I also brought 5 pairs of hot hands, toe warmers and body warmers. The toe warmers never did any good due to the moisture in my boots.

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22

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goat tracks
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goat tracks

From: Shrewski
09-Jan-22
I am getting soft. I am very happy you won that hunt and not me. I will work that hard for a sheep but I think I’m done goat hunting. This is fantastic stuff, thank you for sharing all of it.

From: caribou77
09-Jan-22
For anyone asking well how cold were your toes though really…. 6 weeks after the hunt I finally regained feeling.

From: Ambush
09-Jan-22
I remember that teaser pic of the shadow in the snow from another thread.

From: t-roy
09-Jan-22
A goat hunt is unbelievably difficult enough, let alone having to deal with frozen fingers & toes! Bummer that your Raynauds added another degree of difficulty to hunt, Luke. My sister has it as well, and it can definitely be debilitating.

Great write up and pics so far!

From: JL
09-Jan-22
I must have that Raynauds stuff too as my toes and fingers tingle and burn when they get cold.....which doesn't take very long. They do have mild color changes. I did some research a bit ago and one of the chemo drugs I took causes that. I was trying to explain that to the VA folks....now I know...thanks for that awareness. Oh ya...back to the story.....

From: HUNT MAN
09-Jan-22
TJ excitement is like no others. Great Friend and excellent Guide. I knew you where in good hands!! Hunt

From: uteangler
10-Jan-22
Loving the story so far Luke! Making my anxiety rise though! I am thankful to have met you, Chad, and your dad.

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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Tuesday October 5th

I was the first one ready today. My legs were under me finally. I wished Cole a happy birthday. He turned 30 on this day. We again skipped breakfast and got up the mountain early. You will never guess what what waiting for us!!!!

Nothing. Nothing at all. We hunted hard, working several benches all while looking for fresh sign. No fresh tracks, everything looked to be from yesterday. Did I mention it was cold? Still cold, just with more wind. I actually left my bow in camp today. We glassed and hiked, glassed and hiked. Kept coming up with nothing. Hard creatures to spot in the snow. We really felt they had slipped off the side of the mountain and gotten into the trees. Once there with the snow, they were impossible to see. We finally make our way to our glassing spot from yesterday and decide its time to sit. I'm on the north side of the hill for about 20 minutes with wind pounding me before I decide its time to move to the south side. There is less snow in spots today and there on the south side I see a nice clean patch of ground. THAT is where I will call home. Completely out of the wind, in the pounding sun! Heck at one point I actually got warm. It was SO nice. I could actually take my mittens off.

I talked with TJ and Cole about how long we have on the mountain. (not long, today...couple hours tomorrow). Send some inreach messages to Dad about changing my flight to a couple days later. Turns out he had no luck. I tried turning my phone on and you'll never guess what happened. I had better service there than I do 2 miles from my days house back home. Well heck I'll just change that flight right now! And it worked! Buying us a little more time.

Cole comes over to talk to me at point. Basically tells me they have no idea what to do and since we have a good spot outta the wind to glass, we were going to stay put. I couldnt agree more with the choice. a) I was warm. b) there was no better option, blindly walking around could do more damage than good. I shoot my Dad a couple more texts and pics. I'm thirsty so I suck down the last of my water. Which wasnt much. I really wanted to make up some Gatorade in my coffee cup.... So I settled on filling my cup with fresh snow and dumping the dry Gatorade mix on it, stirring it up and making a snow slushy. AND IT WAS AMAZING!

Sent Dad a pic of it....His response was get off your phone and start paying attention. HA! I am Dad....5 minutes later I'm half asleep and a bulldozer comes ripping through the trees. TJ who was 20 yards to my right, over the hill, is in a frantic state.In my half asleep daze confusion sets in. Either Tj can hardly talk or I can hardly hear. He just keeps running at me and muttering something.....

From: Oryx35
10-Jan-22
Looking forward to the rest! Thanks for sharing the adventure!

From: Ambush
10-Jan-22
" He just keeps running at me and muttering something....."

He's telling you to hurry up with this story!!

From: HUNT MAN
10-Jan-22
He just keeps running at me and muttering something !! This cracks me up!! Hunt

From: Treeline
10-Jan-22
Wake up! Get rolling!

From: Pyrannah
10-Jan-22
Great writeup! I would like to hear more about what temps and wind speed you were dealing with if you get a chance..

Also more detail about this piece please! "We are at our first rope climb and my hands are numb."

I feel like i want to do a goat hunt, but if i am being honest, i am not sure i have what it takes for deailing with the heights/cliffy areas...

Loving the write up

From: Rock
10-Jan-22
Griz ???

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22
Pyrannah, our first of 4 rope climbs to be exact. They had hunted this area in the past and left climbing ropes established. These were areas that were to steep to climb easily hand over hand or in this case wet and muddy. Also used to just pull a pack up rather than try to climb with it on. Very useful going down.

The heights weren’t bad. These were low mountains, just very steep. Good news if you fell was there were plenty of trees to fall into. I’d say everything is mindset. If you want to quit you will. If you want to make it you will or die trying.

The temps dipped into the 20s some nights. 30s on the worst days. Those guys didn’t struggle as much as I did. Coming from iowa and temps in the 90’s. And New Mexico just a month before my body wasn’t ready for cold. Throw in my raynauds and well parts sucked. As bad as the cold sucked…. How many times in my life will I ever be in Alaska on a goat hunt? I was living a privileged life at the time. So I kept smiling.

From: Pyrannah
10-Jan-22
thanks man.. really good reading...

From: KB
10-Jan-22
Instant Bowsite classic already! Pretty damn cool the ABA puts these on and that a Bowsiter won it. Not many get to experience the suck of a Southeast goat hunt. And you managed to hit the very worst of it! I remember that Oct 1 storm. Nasty!

From: Shiloh
10-Jan-22
I agree Scoot.......love the story and most of all the attitude!!

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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Grab your pack..... What? I say in my half asleep stooper. Get your gun! Grab your pack! What? I slowly start picking up my stuff i have scattered about in my new comfy home. GRAB YOUR PACK! Get your gun! Goat in the open! Oh shit....I finally wake up and realize we aren't playing. By the time I have my pack in my hands TJ is ripping it out of them. He's off and I'm following. We make a little loop 30 yards around our glassing hill to the north. He glasses real quick and throws the pack up on a little hump. Get on him.... There standing just 190 yards away is a billy. On the flats in the wide open. He snuck in behind our on the north side of the hill (where I was originally glassing). Tj couldnt see him from his glassing location until he stood up to stretch his legs (after his 20 min nap) and I couldnt see him from my location (with my eyes closed on the other side of the hill). Total shocker there right. TJ is jacked at this point. In his attempts to calm me down he says " are you calmer than I am!!??"

I look thru the scope and its all blurry. A quick focus and there he is. Broadside just turning his head to look our way. The rest was a light squeeze and a big thud. Both guys are telling me to shoot again before i can even work the bolt. The goat made it 4 feet before round 2 knocked him off his feet. 2 schools girls screamed out in excitement and I yelled Happy Birthday Cole! Cole yells back to put another round in and stay on him. I knew he was done though. I stayed on him for a minute before we walked over. Those 2 school girls started screaming again. Never seen 2 people so excited. No one knew it yet until we got right up on him....that's when we discovered he was huge. Not in body but his horns were 10 1/2". Those guys were excited! I was like....so he's good!? He could have been 8" or a new world record, to me the feeling was just the same. Just unbelievable. Never in my life did I imagine I would be on top of a mountain in Alaska hunting goats.....What a feeling.

After the shot

I was lucky enough to kill what turned out to be a huge goat out in the open....easiest place in the world to work him up and guess what now? Tj says its time to take pictures...but not here....he looks around a sec and Cole says "you want to take them over there dont you" 60 yards away (uphill) is a perfect spot. Goats are heavy. Snow makes them heavier. But the pics were worth it. After pics we worked him up. "we" meaning Cole and TJ. "I" was on deboning duty. I did almost a good enough job for Cole. Right away he told me to remove all the fat and gristle. Seemed odd for a second until you realize there is no sense carrying weight you wont eat down. For the hike back to camp TJ takes the hide, Cole 2/3s the meat and I take the last bag and horns. I had it easy. It only took 30 minutes to get back to camp today. We flew.

That night in camp we made a goat fire. They only start a fire in spike camp after a goat is down. We enjoyed a couple cups of Russian tea with a bit of whiskey in them for a celebration of life for both us and the goat. The sunset was beautiful that evening. I'm not sure what is in "russian tea" but whatever it is involves not sleeping. Good lord I was up all night.

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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From: mountainman
10-Jan-22
Great write up!!!!!! Great attitude!

From: sticksender
10-Jan-22
Wow that's a huge Billy, congrats!

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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Wednesday october 6th

This was our actual scheduled day to fly out and as luck would have it, we were going to make it. i knew we were going to base camp that day but the choice was made we would not spend the night and would pack up both camps today and fly to town. Thursday would prove to be a no fly day.

We are up at first light getting things packed up. Cole and TJ for sure with heavy packs. Mine was maybe 20 pounds heavier than on the way up. 20 pounds turned into 200 as we walked down the mountain. Those guys legs were so strong. As we got to the first real speed part, I looked down and again thought, what the hell did I get myself into. I asked how we get down and the answer "one step at a time" comes out. Which was true. One step, one fall, one tuck and roll....whatever it takes. We made it down in record time. 2 1/2 hours i believe. Cole was the first down and TJ stayed back cheering me on. He was a great cheerleader. Cole inflated the dingy and took his pack over. He came back with rubber boots, gatorade and a Miller high life for us. I drank 2 gatorades before i ever touched that beer. 3 hours later we were packed and loaded on the plane heading back to town. Our tents never flooded. In fact the water that was so high when we left was now almost down 2 feet farther than when we first flew in. The flight back to Ed's was beautiful. Vance made a perfect landing on every single flight. Simply could not have asked for a better ending.

Over the next couple days we prepped gear for me to be flown home. I wash all my gear at Ed's and slept in a comfy bed for a change. We cut all the meat up and vacuum sealed it. We welcomed the next hunter Dan. Dan is a HUGELY successful bowhunter. And a motivated man. We all swap hunt stories and just enjoy life. Ed, Cole and Tj work on a plan for Dan. The weather was looking terrible for the next ten days.

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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Left to right. TJ, Me (Luke), Cole and Ed
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Left to right. TJ, Me (Luke), Cole and Ed

From: dakotaduner
10-Jan-22
Just spectacular. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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As I sit in the airport to leave. All alone to collect my thoughts of the wild ride I just had I can only think there is no way I could have ended up in a better place with better people. Its one of those hunt's that's more about the experience than anything. My support cast over the last 5 months couldnt have been any stronger and I can only thank all of them and everyone that chipped in for their chance at this hunt. I hope I did it justice and was able to take you all with me in this story.

I did the best I could in that airport but I just couldnt hold those damn tears back. Thank you ABA, Ed Toribio and Primo Expeditions, TJ Bertek and Cole Greene. All the wonderful people that contribute to bowsite every year and take me on their trips and of course my family and friends that had to live with me daily, dreaming this impossible dream.

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22

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Dad sent me this when I got to Ketchikan... Climb that mountain fellas.

From: Ambush
10-Jan-22
Wow! Great goat, great adventure and great story!! Did the guys age him and give a rough score? Got some hump on his face so a few years on the mountain behind him. I'm going to guess six years old. And a beautiful early winter cape to top it off!

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22
Oh yeah… left that out. 6 years. Just over 52” gross green. So he will for sure be all time B/C.

From: Pyrannah
10-Jan-22
fantastic!!!

what did you end up doing with the horns, cape and meat?

From: Ambush
10-Jan-22
Ok, 52" deserves a double congratulations!! I'd say you got your $100 worth!!

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22
Flew them all home. Meats in the freezer. Goats at the taxi. The entire goat… my entire family, everyone in my life…. “Made” me full body mount it. Those pics will be awhile. Lol

From: caribou77
10-Jan-22
Ambush, I had 3 tickets in and my good friend Chad had 3 tickets in. We had a 1/50 chance. I’ll have those odds on the next raffle as well.

From: HUNT MAN
10-Jan-22
What a hunt!! Thank you for posting!! I heard the story before and it was great to see it with pictures. Makes me smile. Strong work!! Hunt

From: Scott/IL
10-Jan-22
Fan-freaking-tastic!!! What a way to push through all that adversity. Thanks for taking us along and I’m glad to see, since it wasn’t me who won that it still landed in good hands!

From: T Mac
10-Jan-22
Wow what a great story and adventure. Way to stick it out and congrats on a beautiful goat!

From: Shrewski
10-Jan-22
What an awesome hunt. You did yourself and the ABA proud.

Truly outstanding!

10-Jan-22
Great write up and a great adventure. Congrats to everyone involved in your dream hunt!!

From: JL
10-Jan-22
First...a big congrats! Second...thanks for taking the time to post the pics and tell the story. I know that is a lot of work typing up a coherent story. Also.....did you happen to catch your body weight after the hunt? I'm wondering how much that takes out of ya.

From: DEERAHOLIC
11-Jan-22
Wow!! Congratulations on a great hunt and thanks for sharing. I got to experience my dream hunt on a mountain goat also this past season and it is something I will never forget but mine cost more money. lol

From: pav
11-Jan-22
Excellent recap! Quite the adventure...adapt, persevere and overcome.One stud of a billy to boot. Thanks for sharing!

From: Treeline
11-Jan-22
Spectacular! What a great goat! Congratulations all the way around! Definitely a hunt of a lifetime!

Thank you ABA for the opportunity you guys put out there for all of us!

From: caribou77
11-Jan-22

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My year wasn’t done when I got home. Forgot to throw in my Iowa whitetail I arrowed just a couple weeks after my return from Alaska.

From: caribou77
11-Jan-22

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Chad took a nice one as well

From: JL
11-Jan-22
^...congrats again. That one looks to have some muley influence on those back forks??

From: Mad Trapper
11-Jan-22
Congrats Luke. I have been privileged to go on five goat hunts. There are no easy goat hunts. Your write up brought back a lot of good memories. You killed a great billy. You earned it. Congrats again.

From: HoytHntr4
11-Jan-22
Great write up! And congratulations one hell of a goat, you definitely earned it!!

From: huntinelk
11-Jan-22
Great goat hunt and story to go along with a great season. Congrats

11-Jan-22
Congrats and thanks for the great story.

11-Jan-22
Congrats and thanks for the great story.

From: Scar Finga
11-Jan-22
Amazing Story and Adventure!!!!

AWESOME BILLY!!!!

Crazy how cold feet and hands can take you out of play!! I am not sure if I have what you have, but when my hands and feet are cold, it's brutal, and it doesn't take much!

Looking back, what would you do different to help with that? Better boots? More Socks? Just curious!

Thanks for sharing, and Congratulations!!!

From: midwest
11-Jan-22
Outstanding, Luke!!! Thanks for the great story and pics!

In that last pic with you and the guides...who's who left to right?

From: Treeline
11-Jan-22
And some whitetails to put icing on the cake! Excellent! Love the hat in the goat pictures that certainly classifies as "Carhart shit" right there!

From: Oryx35
11-Jan-22
Awesome! So glad a bowsiter won the hunt, and we got the story. Congrats!

From: caribou77
11-Jan-22
Midwest, I edited the pic. Sorry about that. Left to right was TJ, me, Cole and Ed.

From: hdaman
11-Jan-22
What a story! I felt your anticipation, excitement, pain and success right along with you! Thanks for sharing!

12-Jan-22
Well done! Congrats on a awesome goat!

From: caribou77
12-Jan-22
Scar Finga, I havent gone many days without thinking what could I have done different. Not only for my hands, but my feet and just ease of the trip.

I made a goal of losing 20 pounds before the trip. I ended up being down 25#s before the hunt. Yes this is great. Less weight up the mountain, BUT it came at a price. Definitely less....insulation and for sure less strength. I would approach my fitness different next time.

I had piles of chemical hand warmers with me. For some people that is a luxury. For me it was necessity. I should have taken MORE up the mountain with me. I had a hand muff with me as well but I dont think I carried it up the mountain, LIKE A FOOL.

2 pair of super down mittens rather than one. They weigh nothing and WORK.

My feet, man thats hard. I want to think my boots leaked or I was in to deep of water (which I was) but part of me questions wearing 400 gram insulated boots rather an just non insulated. The other part of me wonders if on the hike up between sweating to death, the rain and moisture wicking, if those didnt contribute to my wet boots. All my clothes were wringing wet by the time I got to camp.

Should have took more pairs of dry socks. And a pair of goretex socks. Maybe an extra pair of insoles?

I question if I should have worn shorts then boots and gaiters, Then put my lightest rain gear over that. I could have opened the vents to let heat out when needed and any moisture getting in would run down over my gaiters and out. In my head anyway that idea works.

Honestly to any one considering a hunt like this, 11,000 lunges a day and 2 ft box step ups and downs with a pack, in a walking cooler, with 4 garden sprinklers going. Do that for 5-6 straight hours and you'll be ready!

I probably should have talked to the doctor about meds. They do have some that can help Raynauds. Pretty sure one is an antidepressant which I dont want or need to take and another is viagra. Im positive Cole and TJ didnt want that.

I would never take my point and shoot camera up again. I never got it out, either to cold or to wet....or both.

I would take the smallest Binoculars I could comfortably use and carry. Those guys had big binos and a spotter. Plus we were only looking a couple hundred yards at a time.

Im sure theres more, but thats all I can think of.

From: Scar Finga
12-Jan-22
Thank you for the response!

All your answers seem very well thought out and good advice for somebody in a similar situation or condition!

Overheating on hikes is something I am very guilty of! I am from Mesa AZ and it's always "warm" here... I have become an absolute cold sissy!!

Thank you for the response, and again, Congratulations!!!

From: midwest
12-Jan-22
The Viagra would keep you from rolling off the mountain at night, Luke!

From: Beav
12-Jan-22
What an incredible recap!! Congratulations to you and your guides. Thanks for sharing one of the best stories ever.

From: Beav
12-Jan-22
What an incredible recap!! Congratulations to you and your guides. Thanks for sharing one of the best stories ever.

From: Quinn @work
12-Jan-22
Thanks for sharing your hunt. Congrats on a monster goat!

From: JohnMC
12-Jan-22
What a awesome adventure! I enjoyed it

From: bill v
12-Jan-22
Wow! I’m glad I found this thread. Great write up

Question Luke: the previous weeks hunter , was he from Pa ? If so I will let him know about this thread

From: t-roy
12-Jan-22
Great write up, Luke! Congrats on a monster goat, as well! Thanks for taking us along.

From: caribou77
19-Jul-22

caribou77's embedded Photo
caribou77's embedded Photo
Not that this is important at all but 9 months after the hunt I finally had my goat scored. He officially makes B/C All-time coming in at a net of 50 4/8”.

From: Treeline
19-Jul-22
Spectacular! Hell of a goat! Congratulations!

19-Jul-22
It’s all important. Booner is a huge number

From: HUNT MAN
19-Jul-22
Good stuff

From: t-roy
19-Jul-22
Thanks for the update, Luke…Gave me a chance to read this great thread again. What’s the status on the full body mount?

From: caribou77
20-Jul-22
I haven’t talked to my taxidermist in a while but I’m sure I’m still a year out on my mount

20-Jul-22
These are the type of thread I like to read. Nice job luke. G

From: Bou'bound
20-Jul-22
the score is important or you would not have known it! Massive beast well done. Hard earned.

From: Mad Trapper
20-Jul-22
Congrats!!

From: muliemad
20-Jul-22
Hell of a hunt and effort great job on the write up!

From: BOWNBIRDHNTR
21-Jul-22
Glad this popped up again, no idea how I missed it the first time! Congrats on a helluva great adventure!!

From: caribou77
09-Mar-24
I finally brought him home yesterday (I told the taxidermist to ease up a little on time frame as I had my Yukon hunt pushed up a year last year) everyone that’s stopped just stands and stares at him like it’s the most unbelievable thing they’ve seen. Sorta funny to watch really. I just kept breaking out smiling and laughing every time I walked in the room, like I did that…pretty cool. Thanks again to everyone that played a part.

From: caribou77
09-Mar-24
Can’t seem to post pics… again. Sorry guys

From: SBH
09-Mar-24
I missed it first go around too. This was AWESOME. Thanks man,

From: caribou77
09-Mar-24

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