Dall sheep or mountain goat - which is a better hunt?

A goat hunt is not harder than a sheep hunt, both can be challenging but I wouldn't claim either being harder than the other. I've been on Kodiak and gotten within 300 meters of a huge billy from below, try doing that with sheep. The goats I've chased have been on hillsides with vegetation, sheep have been on steep slopes with shale and loose rock. It really depends on where you go. To answer your question though, here in Alaska goats are in the southern part of the state and you'll also get a chance to see grizzly/brown bear, black bear, black-tailed deer. Sheep are typically a bit further north and you'll get a chance to see grizzly bear, black bear, caribou, moose, musk ox. Either hunt you need to be in good shape for, you'll be hunting at higher elevations than most people are used to.
 
And that is the key right there. Goats on Kodiak for the most part are a cake walk compared to goats in most other areas.

That was the point I was trying to make. I wouldn't label one hunt harder than the other, it depends on where you are going to hunt. To say that all goat hunts are harder than all sheep hunts is not completely accurate. I think the OP was asking so he knew what kind of shape he needed to be in. Both hunts will require someone to be in good physical shape. If you are hunting goat in Alaska you are going to be in the southern part of the state which is warmer than hunting sheep in the Brooks Range where you will see it snowing in August. I've never hunted in BC or NWT so I can't speak for them, only Alaska.
 
And that is the key right there. Goats on Kodiak for the most part are a cake walk compared to goats in most other areas.

I have to agree. Mountain Goats aren't native to Kodiak Island. Hunting goats on Kodiak Island isn't typical goat hunting, as in areas of North America where goats naturally established populations.

By and large, goat hunting in Alaska is likely to include fouler weather than sheep hunting in Alaska, because a lot of goat hunting is near the ocean front, and the southern coast typically has much, much more rainfall than interior Alaska.

It's possible to find a goat in easy terrain. Same with sheep. Depends primarily on the time of the year and prevailing snow conditions. And to some extent on the particular animal. But goats are more apt to be in more hazardous terrain than sheep - on average.

About 8 years ago, Fish & Game in Soldotna, AK received a call from a homeowner in Kasilof stating that he had a goat in his garage. I know the guy at Fish & Game that received the call, and he told me he asked the caller who the goat belonged to. The caller then said 'No, you don't understand. This is a white, wild Mountain Goat in my garage.' Now Kasilof is located on the flat lands, about 20-25 air miles from the nearest mountain range. So F&G drives out to the residence and sure enough they find, tranquilize, and collar a wild Alaskan Mountain Goat right in this guy's garage. They transport the goat by highway vehicle to the Kenai Mountains and release it at the junction of the Sterling Highway and the Seward Highway, next to Tern Lake. A legal and permitted goat hunter kills this collared goat at very low elevation, along the Seward Highway, about two days later. Calls F&G and tells them he killed a goat wearing a collar. Fish & Game tells him not to ear the meat due to the tranquilizer drug still present in the animal, but he gets a nice late fall goat hide out of the hunt.

Is that typical Mountain Goat behavior? The hunter that killed this goat probably thinks hunting Mountain Goats on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula is like shooting fish in a barrel.
 
Having hunted both for the better part of 35 years I can say that the hairest hunts I have ever been on were goat hunting in Kodiak and out of Cordova/Valdez.

Out of a dozen goat taken my wifes goat is the only one that did not have any horn damage at all.

I have walked up streams as that was the only way into certain areas that were ankle deep going in and crotch deep coming out.
Dry and warm going in and 6 inches of snow and a blinding blizzard caused us to choose straight off the side of the mountain so we could repelled using the alders. Pouring down rain gusting to 55mph when we got to camp. By the time we got to the boat I stood arm pit deep in the surf while my partner started the boat.

One day we went in over in Cordova, spent the night and went the rest of the way up the hill after goat we had spotted the evening before. Freezing rain hit and the clouds dropped ontp the ground. Who takes crampons goat hunting August 20th? It was incredibly dangerous getting off the mountain when we could see where to goat.

Three years ago a friend against my advise flew out for a 10 day hunt. 8.5 days he spent in the tent in heavy rain,ground fog and high winds. 12 different bear were seen up close and personal where he was hunting above Old Harbor.

ANother very good freind shot his goat while wearing slippery rain gear because it was raining hard. He walked up to the edge to see where the goat went. Told his young son to stay put as it was very steeep as dad went down to find his goat. Dad took a ride on the seat of his pants and went over a short cliff at who knows how fast. He handed in a deep mud slide up to both knees in mud. Looking at his 4th back surgery !

I like sheep hunting a lot, over goat hunting because I am usually in shorts and a t-shirt. Yes I have seen snow when I woke up in the morning and it got to 80 degrees during the day and it was gone. I have seen heavy rain once sheep hunting and drizzle a few times. It is Alaska so Alaska weather is what we get. Coast weather especially when you are along Prince William Sound or the Shelikoff is much less dependable than dry interior weather.

I took a guy 15 years my Junior goat hunting last fall. The first time he went on his own as I was busy. I showed him from the road through a spotting scope a very nice billy. I got a call later in the day that he did not make it to the billy and had run out of energy fighting the heavy (HEAVY) brush long before he got anywhere near the goat. He was flying back to Anchorage. I encouraged him to walk hours of stairs at the local hospital and come back in three weeks. He came back in three weeks and I broke trail clear to the top of the mountain. He made it to 500 yards of the goat and I thought I was going to have to beat feet off the mountain and call in a medivac. It is not just the steep! It is the heavy brush that grips your every step that can be the killer goat hunting. SHeep hunting I can usually find another way.

Tony Gettel went on his goat hunt last year I think ( Stock Maker) where he flew in late in the season on a glacier right near the animals. Tony shot his goat and where it ended up the guide refused to allow Tony to go and help retrieve the animal do to very dangerous conditions.

My wife says: SHeep hunting has lots of other fun stuff to do like picking berries,flowers see lots of other stuff and it seldom rains. Goat hunting is like poking ones self in the eye over and over again to see if it hurts or feels any different over time. In other words insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result!

Neal
 
Montana has some easy goat areas where I could bag one with my bow, I have walked up on them many times, maybe blunted them when I was young. Tough part is a tag, same as sheep
 
If you are an Alaska resident - the money is the same for goat or sheep if you do it yourself. Sheep hunting is better in Canada than Alaska unless you draw a sheep permit in an intensively managed sheep area (ie Tok) in Alaska. Goats with long fur can be taken off of boat with minimal climbing in December as heavy snows in Alaska push the animals down closer to the beach. Put in for a draw Prince William Sound /Resurrection Bay for the most affordable goat hunt. Having hunted sheep and goats on a yearly basis for the last 25 years in Alaska - I'll take the goat hunt any day - better trophy quality, less competition from other hunters and physically more challenging in most hunt areas. when cooked right, the meat is pretty good as well.
 
I took a very good mtn. goat in the Cabinet Mountain wilderness Oct. 2011. I was very fortunate to draw a tag for zone 100-00. I did book with a seasoned outfitter as this quite possibly would be my last chance in MT. Thinking that spring, summer and early fall would sufice to get myself, 64 yrs. old, in good condition was a joke. Mtn. goat hunting in the lower 48 is mtn. climbing with a pack and rifle on your back. It was a **** tough hunt that I continue to dream about. Much time was spent climbing very steep slopes thru alders, bear grass and boulder fields. I have not had the chance to hunt sheep as yet. They are on my list. But, I can say that mtn. goat hunting is an adventure. Can be a very difficult and scary adventure for a person that is uncomfortable with heights. Therefore, be careful what you wish for. If you book for either hunt. Get yourself into top condition. By that I mean the best condition you can acheive for your age. Good luck! MTG
 
Greetings,

My first post at this forum.

In 1996, for my 40th BDay - I gave myself a combination Dall Sheep hunt and Mt. Goat hunt in Alaska. I took a 4 yr loan out of my 401K to finance the trip - the very best money I ever spent in my life - I'm 56 now.

Chugach for the Sheep and Robinson Mts. for the Goat. Hunted out of the Tsiu River Lodge.

On my 9th day of my 10 day hunt I connected with a 36 inch, 13 yr old ram-Tazlina Glacier- and on the 18th day of my 10 day hunt I connected on a 9 3/4 inch billy in the Robinson Mts.

The outfitter - Sam Fejes - let me stay until I got my goat at no extra cost - my goat guide, repelled down the side of the Mt to retrieve the head, hide and meat of my goat.

It was the experience of a lifetime and I've been on a number of hunts since - Alaska-Brown Bear, Africa numerous times including Cape Buff but it is the Sheep/Goat Combo that stands tall above the rest.

I used a Rem 700, SS in 300 Win Mag, 180 partitions with IMR4350 (72.5 grs).

The plane ride back to central PA was smooth as glass - almost like I returned from another place in time - what an experience.

Adios

Buck Remchester
 
I like Both, I have been on several Sheep hunts with a friend who is a seasoned Sheep hunter in MT and Alaska, he has some very large impressive heads from both states. I never had a sheep tag, still working on that. I have hunted and shot one high mountain Goat in Montana many years ago. It was the end of November, I wanted a good late season hide, hunting alone, at 3 am I started up the east side of the range, snowshoed up to the ridgeline in deep soft snow with over 3000 feet elevation gain. I then glassed the knife ridge with bare windblown trails that had been worn down by goats for years. I had pre scouted from a road on the other side of the mtns a day before where I had no access due to cliffs and very long round about way to get to the goats that far away. The morning I went up, I watched the sun rise come over an distant mountain range and what a sight that was! But the goats were no where to be seen in the area from the day before. I knew they went north by tracks in windblown snow on the old worn down goat trails of many years that grooved out the loose areas of shale rock on steep slopes. I situated myself on the east side of the knife ridge, out of the strong wind and started glassing when I spotted the small group almost 2 miles away. I was on a long snakelike knife ridge with steep cliffs and huge drops alternating on both sides. There was however a goat trail to follow the entire way with some scrambling up very vertical areas. I found the goats late in the afternoon, located the biggest Billy in the herd as they were headed over the top to a gap and on the other side, a high ledge trail with a vertical drop of dizzying proportions. I knew the area from summer scouting and knew I had to make the shot before they got there or even too close, as the billy could go just over the edge and fall hundreds of feet vertical into a cirque that would have bee very difficult to access. I was in a boulder field when I spotted them ahead of me @ 300 yards. I set up over a boulder, scoped the billies and found the large one, they were moving slow and feeding on lichen on small boulders and rocks about 100 feet from the gap they were working up to. I got a great position on a boulder, set my Zeiss 3x9 on 9, chambered a round and set sights of my 270 on the big billy, first shot just behind the shoulder blade, he shuddered and kept walking, the rest of the herd was in the gap and going over, I shot again, almost in the same spot, he shuddered again and kept walking, I fired once again, another great hit, he fell, rolled a full roll and landed in soft snow. It was getting late in the day, 4 + miles from the truck. I gutted and drug the goat off the gutpile a hundred yards and put it up on a rock to help keep the coyotes from getting to it. I hiked down the backside of the mountain, glissaded with my snowshoes on and ski poles, down the first deep snow covered rock gully, then up a steep side going back and repeated it 3 times getting back to the truck. The ridge was getting too windy to return safely on my approach route. I made it back to town at 11 pm, found a buddy to go back with me the next day to retrieve it. We snowshoed in the way I went back to the truck, found the goat in fine condition with some overnite predator work on the gut pile. We skinned the goat for a rug mount, boned most of the meat, loaded up and headed out. We were exhausted when we got to the truck. My buddy thought I was crazy to go where I did to shoot that goat, but I grew up Skiing, Mtn Climbing, trapping all winter, and hunting hard. It was one of the greatest moments of my life to walk up on that goat! 9 7/8" Long horns, it was a dandy goat! For me, and where I hunted goats and would again, I would say Goat hunting starts where Sheep hunting ends on the Mountain. But Thats just my thoughts. I still want to hunt sheep yet myself too!


Scenarshooter -- Did you live in Bozeman many years ago?? You look very familiar.




God, Guns, Guts and the American Fur Trade MADE America, Lets keep it that way!!! Know your History! Know Americas Borders! Why they are, where they are- The Fur Trade!



Kids that Hunt Trap and Fish, DONT Mug Little old Ladies, Take them young ones outside and teach em' - For Life!
 
I have hunted and shot one high mountain Goat in Montana many years ago. It was the end of November, I wanted a good late season hide, hunting alone, at 3 am I started up the east side of the range, snowshoed up to the ridgeline in deep soft snow with over 3000 feet elevation gain.
My buddy thought I was crazy to go where I did to shoot that goat, but I grew up Skiing, Mtn Climbing, trapping all winter, and hunting hard. It was one of the greatest moments of my life to walk up on that goat! 9 7/8" Long horns, it was a dandy goat! For me, and where I hunted goats and would again, I would say Goat hunting starts where Sheep hunting ends on the Mountain. But that's just my thoughts. I still want to hunt sheep yet myself too!

Heck of a goat hunting story! Sounds like a hunt I might have tackled before I turned 45. Good for you. And thanks for sharing your hunt with us.
 
Thanks phorwath, And you are welcome back. it was an incredible tough but rewarding hunt, and I could still do it, but it would be a bit harder than back then! This is the best site Ive seen online, glad to have found it just recently, and very impressed with all the talent and helpful folks here.
 
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