We still do not have enough snow for skiing, and so this past weekend I went for another glorious hike carrying a bow. When I first asked Philip if he wanted to go 'hunting goats' with me he declined. Later I asked him if he wanted to go on a 'long hike with a bow' and he said, 'sure'. Adelia later told me that Philip may not like to go hunting much but he'll never turn down a chance for a good hike.
And so off we went at the crack of dawn. The good thing about hunting is that you never know where you are going to go - you go where you see game. We saw the goats in a far off bowl on the other side of an alder and salmonberry choked valley. Ordinarily, on a normal hike, you'd never attempt to cross the valley like we did. But the chance to hunt goats on a flat surface with no cliffs around was too hard to resist.
It was a perfect opportunity and I did get within 60 yards or so of the goats. Unfortunately they had already caught our scent and we were ambling away towards the cliffs behind the bowl. The ones I approached were at the tail end of the migration away from the bowl. How did they catch on to us so quickly? Anyhow that's bow hunting - an adult version of playing with your food. With a rifle I would have had an easy goat.
And so after a quick recce up into the cliffs to see if all the goats had really left, we headed back home. Down the steeps, through the brush and back up the mountain on the other side. On our way home.
Another hike that would never have been planned like it ended up. And what a glorious day! Patrick
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| Looking for goats |
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| Glorious in the early morning sunshine |
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| The goats are in sight - now to cross the valley |
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| It got a little thick. . .. |
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| And then it got a little steep. . ... |
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| It's go time - time to stalk the goats |
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| Stalking goats |
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| No goat - so time to go home and recross that pesky valley |
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| It gets steep, and then it gets brushy . .. . |
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| On our way home |
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