dougduey
Well-Known Member
I just returned from mountain goat hunting on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Before the trip, I had a conversation with the outfitter in which caliber I should bring. He told me to bring the largest caliber I felt comfortable with and that no caliber is too big since the goats are really strong and suck up lead like it's nothing. So, I brought my 338 Lapua using the 213 gr Hammer Hunter bullet at 3205 fps. On our third day, we found the goats just the other side of the mountain from base camp. We snuck up to the top of the saddle and could see them very easily. There was a group of 8. My guide picked out the best Billy, which was a nice mature one and had horns looking to be about 9" (which ended up being a very accurate estimate). Ranged him at 218 yards. He was laying down, and his front leg was positioned in a way that had the entire front shoulder covering the vitals. After a quick conversation with my guide about shooting him through the shoulder and my confidence in bullet performance, he gave me the green light. BANG!! I racked another round. The goat stood up after impact and turned facing downhill. Just as I lined up for a follow up shot, he fell over and slid about 15 yards down the mountain. Luckily, he came to rest on a little bench the mountain goats use. We caped the entire carcass and butchered him up right there using the gutless method. A nice sized entry wound through the front shoulder and a little smaller exit wound just posterior to the rear shoulder blade. Even though we didn't open him up, you could tell the vitals were liquified by the sloshing noice it made every time you moved the carcass.
The easiest part of the entire hunt was the actual hunting. Getting in and out of there was brutal. 7 hour hike into base camp, through high winds and driving rain and almost all uphill. The trails were treacherous in a lot of spots, too. My body still hates me right now. Thank god ive got 2 more days to recover before I go back to work
I shoot Hammer bullets in 5 out of 6 of my rifles. Now that Steve developed a bullet for my factory twist .243, I'll be doing load development for it soon.
I love these bullets and can't say enough good things about Steve and his product
