The Epic Goat Hunt part I

Getting Big Brother’s Goat, October 2000

Hindsight is 20/20, and looking back at my brother’s goat hunt it’s obvious that we did make a lot of mistakes. It was one of those adventures that you remember as a good time, but was a brutal slog in reality. It was our first Kodiak goat hunt. Since then I’ve gone on a great many goat hunts, and none of them have been quite as much fun. We learned a lot on that hunt.

Best time to hunt goats in the high alpine is in September.

To hunt goats on Kodiak you need to enter a lottery to win a ‘goat hunting’ permit. I convinced my brother to enter the lottery with me and he won a tag. Perhaps this is why we made our first and biggest mistake. Since it was my brother’s tag we decided to go in late October rather than earlier in the fall when it is warmer and the weather is far better. But my brother wanted to wait until the end of the sailing season in Maine. We reasoned that by waiting till late October the snow cover would also be better for skiing. This was how we convinced my brother’s friend Scott Carlson to join us. Scott was not interested in hunting goats but a backcountry ski trip seemed reasonable. We envisioned a ski trip up in Kodiak’s alpine that would also double as a goat hunt.

Hunt or ski – but do not try and do both on one trip.

So October rolls around and brother Dicky and his friend Scott arrive on Kodiak. We consult with the floatplane pilot and learn that most of the lakes up high have already frozen over so we amend our plan to land at a lake near sea level. We reason we’ll set up a base camp and then hike up into the alpine with a lightweight ‘spike’ camp to hunt for brother’s goat. . We had read in magazines how goat hunters use spike camps and it seemed like a good idea. We also decided that since we were going to use a base camp, why not make it a cushy base camp. With this in mind we packed up coolers with Dinty Moore stew and brought two large tents – one for base camp and one for our spike camp.

‘Spike’ camps never work out as planned.

We fly out of the floatplane dock in Trident Basin on a spectacular fall day - the sort of day that pushes the coming of winter out of your immediate thinking. We definitely took the weather for granted. We flew down to our permit area at the head of Ugak Bay, and Rolan the pilot did a few turns over the area to help us get a feel for the country and see where the goats were situated. We see lots of glaciers, exposed granite rock, and plenty of snow. We even spy a herd of goats. It was perfect country for an adventurous goat hunt and even enough snow for some skiing on the side. From the plane we also spot many good access routes up and down from the alpine to the low country. It all looked quite easy from the air.

It always looks easier from the air.

Circling the high peaks in the plane we noticed that the lakes in the high country were not frozen over – so we debated our options and decided to land at a lake at 2300 feet rather than one at 271 feet. We reasoned that if our high lake froze over, we could always climb down to the lower lake. After all, it is less than 4 miles from the high lake to the lower lake and we had seen the whole route from the plane. Most importantly, the only goats we had seen were a long ways from the lower lake.

Always have your plan ‘B’ worked out before you leave on the trip.

We land, take our picture with the floatplane, and find a place to camp - what a glorious place. There is still old snow from last year piled up next to the lake. It turns out the area is all granite boulders and the only flat ground is on the old snow by the lake. So we carve out a campsite on the snow, and do something smart. We build rock walls around our tents. At the time it seemed like overkill, but we had enough experience to understand how hard it can blow in the alpine.

Enjoy it while it is good – the best part of the trip is often the prelude to the ‘main attraction’.

After setting up camp, we cannot hunt because it is illegal to hunt goats the same day you were airborne, so we go for a ski reconnoiter. What a glorious place! The snow is a bit challenging with a stiff breakable crust, and we all take a few diggers. But it is October and we are skiing. We climb up to the top of a 3500-foot pinnacle and even see a bear running away far down on the other side. Cliffs, glaciers, big vistas, and we are there. On our ski back to camp we even spot two goats at the other end of the lake from camp. We returned to camp with the highest expectations for the next day. Over dinner and whiskey I assured both my brother and Scott that ‘of course the goats would still be there in the morning – they don’t travel at night’.