I had always dreamed about hunting for Mountain Goats in the Yukon. It took me awhile to research all of the outfitters in the Yukon who offered Mountain Goat hunts. Finally I decided to hunt with Terry Wilkerson. Terry has been in the business for nearly 20 years. He was the past president of the Yukon Outfitters Association and has guided hunters from all over the world.
Each year the guide whose hunter takes the biggest Moose, Caribou, Mountain Goat, etc receives a belt buckle from the Yukon Outfitters Association with that animal engraved on the belt buckle. In a two-year period Terry�s guides have received the buckle for taking the biggest Moose, Caribou and Mountain Goat in the Yukon for that year.
My hunt was going to last 9 days once I arrived in Watson Lake, Yukon. It was going to be a horseback hunt. I had only ridden a horse once, prior to this hunt. I contacted a local riding stable for a couple of lessons before I left on my trip. By the time my trip was over I was very glad I had taken the lesson.
While hunting with Terry I knew I would have opportunities to see and maybe harvest other animals. Grizzly Bears, Black Bears, Moose, Mountain Caribou and Dall Sheep for a trophy fee. I told Terry that after I harvested my Mountain Goat I would be very interested in attempting to harvest a Dall Sheep as well.
My hunt was to begin at the end of July, I met Terry at the airport in Watson Lake, Yukon and he then drove me 3 hours back into the bush to his floatplane. From there he flew me to his main camp about � hour away. Once I arrived in camp I met my guide Floyd, our wrangler Murray and Terry�s brother Donn. Terry�s son Joel had already started guiding another hunter from Tennessee. His name was Terry. We were to meet up with Joel and Terry at the spike camp in a couple of days.
One of the first things that I noticed was all of the horses in the corral, and the second thing I noticed was the Grizzly Bear claw marks on the door to the cabin. I then saw this wooden storage shed that was built on stilts about 25 feet above the ground. I asked about the storage shed and was told that the food was kept there to keep the Grizzly Bears from it. I also noticed the following day when we were getting ready to leave for the spike camp that the guides were placing boards across the windows and the doors with very large spike nails pointing outwards, this was another deterrent to help keep the bears out of the cabin while we were gone hunting.
It didn�t take us long to get all of our equipment loaded on the pack horses and start our 9 hour horseback ride to our spike camp. Did I mention that it was raining and had been for several days before I arrived in camp? I didn�t think a lot about the rain at first, after all I have hunted in the rain many times in the past. Once I arrived at the first river crossing I soon discovered how a lot of rain would affect my trip to the spike camp. The river was very high and the current was swift. Normally the horses could just walk across the river. I was about to do something that I had never done before, ride a horse while it was swimming across a river with a very fast current with my rifle sitting in a scabbard next to my leg. Before we arrived at the spike camp the horses and myself would swim this same river about 15 times. Fortunately the only thing that got wet besides the horse were my legs and I managed to stay on the horse for the entire trip. I must say that there were a few areas of my body that was very sore once we arrived at the spike camp. It didn�t take us long to set up our camp and start glassing for Mountain Goats. Our camp was located along the rivers edge and in a valley surrounded by mountains on all sides.
Day Two: While Floyd was cooking breakfast I was glassing for Goats and Sheep. We saw several Goats that day but they were Nannies and Kids, no Billies. We mostly rested from the trip in this day.
Day Three: While Floyd was making breakfast I noticed a Billie walking down the side of the mountain on the other side of the river, it appeared to us that he was going to either get a drink of water or cross the river and head up the mountain on the other side of our camp. It must have been pretty funny watching the two of us running around trying to get our hunting clothes on and our gear together in order to head the goat off at the river. Once we arrived at the river we discovered that we were too late. We saw where the Billie had crossed the river and headed up the mountain. We started following the Billie�s trail up the mountain. We never did see it and it took us 3 hours to get to the top. He either smelled us or heard us. We took a break once we reached the top. The next mountain range over, there were several Billies bedded down just above the tree line. It would have been very easy to stalk them while using the trees as cover, but as luck would have it the next mountain range over were the Northwest Territories. Once we got back to camp our day was pretty much over, neither of us had any energy left to do anything else. Later that evening Joel and the other hunter (Terry) had arrived in camp. Terry was hunting for just about everything, Moose, Caribou, Grizzly Bear, but his first priority was a Billie. As of yet they had not harvested anything.
Day Four: Floyd and I headed out on horseback, stopping every couple of miles to glass. Our other hunting crew headed out in the other direction taking Murray with them. Murray the wrangler�s job was to gather the horses each morning and get them ready for the days hunt. The horses weren�t tied up because of the Grizzle Bears, so Murray had to find them each morning. Murray was 19 years old and had just graduated from high school in Saskatchewan. Murray would take turns hunting with each hunter, one day with me and the next with Terry.
We spotted a good Billie that morning but once we got to the base of the mountain on horseback the Billie was gone. But the day wasn�t a total loss; Terry was able to harvest a Mountain Caribou in velvet. It was a very large bull, almost making BC. We had a great dinner that night with some back straps from the caribou.
Day Five: Both crews headed out looking for Billies. Floyd and I were climbing up a ravine when he pointed out to me some Grizzly Bear scat on the ground. A few steps later we saw some very fresh Grizzly Bear tracks on the same trail we were on. After a few more steps we both saw a very large Grizzly Bear (estimated by Floyd to be about an 8 foot boar). He was feeding on a Caribou carcass about 50 feet below us in the ravine. I wasn�t overly nervous about being that close to a bear of that size feeding on a carcass. I was holding a browning 338 with a 210 grain nosler partition bullet. I knew it would do the job, because I harvested a 9-foot Brown Bear with it in Alaska several years ago. On the other hand Floyd was a little nervous because he wasn�t armed at all!
I pulled my camera out of my pocket and took 2 pictures, which I later discovered didn�t turn out very well. Floyd seemed to get a little braver; he pushed a boulder off its resting spot down toward the bear. It was the size of a bowling ball. It hit the side of the ravine about 3 times on its way down and smacked the bear in its side. The bear circled twice, then looked up in our direction, paused, and then took off in the other direction. I asked him why he did that and he just smiled. Once we got to the top of the mountain he wanted to take a short nap. I told him to go ahead but I didn�t feel much like sleeping with a mad Grizzly Bear running around. We saw several Nannies and Kids that day but no Billies.
Day 6: It rained all day, I never left the tent except to eat, needed the day to rest!
Day 7: Floyd, and I started out on horseback, glassing for Billies. We spotted a good Billie but as we were stalking it we spooked a Caribou, which in turn spooked the Billie.
Day 8: Floyd, Murray and myself spotted a good Billie at 10:30am and started out after it on horseback. Once we got to the tree line on the mountain we couldn�t locate the Billie. We then spotted another Billie but we had to climb to the top of the mountain in order to avoid spooking him off. He was on a ledge about 300 ft below the top of the mountain. Once we reached the top of the mountain it wasn�t difficult to locate him. But we had to be very careful with every step we took, one loose rock would have been enough to send him running to the next mountain range.
I ended up being about 300 yards above him and he was about 300 yards away from me. I used my backpack on the ground as a rest. After I caught my breath I took my time getting the sight picture lined up. After I shot, the Billie fell over on his side and just lay there for what seemed to be a few seconds. Then he started sliding down the side of the mountain. I was so tired at this point I just lay there watching it, but both Floyd and Murray took off running after it. It slid about 1/8 of a mile down the side of the mountain.
After I got there and all of the handshaking was done it took about an hour to take our pictures and to get the goat caped and ready to take down the mountain. By the time we got to the horses tied up in the tree line it was dark. I wasn�t looking forward to a 3-hour ride back to camp in the dark. I put my sunglasses on in order to protect my eyes from branches and just sat back while the horses took us back to camp. It�s amazing how those horses can find their way back to camp; they naturally know how to find their way back. It would have been very difficult for us to find our way back without the horses. We arrived in camp at 1:30am only to find that Terry had also harvested a Billie that evening as well.
Day 9: We spent the entire day processing our goats and getting ready to break camp the following day. My Goat horns measured 8 inches on both sides, I was very happy with the Goat that I harvested.
We arrived back at the main camp the following day and flew out that evening back to Watson Lake. This was one of the best adventures I have ever been on, fulfilling my dream of harvesting a Goat. We saw Caribou, Moose, and Black Bears almost everyday and a couple of Grizzly Bears and Dall Sheep. I could have harvested all of the above animals except a Dall Sheep during this hunt. I spent the entire time in pursuit of my Goat. We had good guides, good meals and great horses. The horses save a lot of wear and tear on the body; you can�t believe the places these horses can climb.
If you�re looking to book a Mountain Goat hunt or any of the other mentioned animals in this story feel free to contact me at 989-344-9038 or at [email protected]
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