Southeast Alaska Mountain Goat Draw Hunt, 2016

As a volunteer meat packer, I was up for whatever they wanted and as the hunting buddy with goat experience, Jesse was up for whatever Ryan wanted.

We were 550 yards away from a mountain goat we were sure we couldn’t get and 535 yards from two smaller goats we didn’t want. Well, “we” in the sense that we were a team, but Ryan had the tag. I was just along to see how to hunt mountain goat in Southeast Alaska.

Anyway, we decided to continue down the basin in full view of the animals. If they spooked at least we hadn’t wasted the entire day to get the same result. If we were able to get close enough for a shot at the big one, well, we were close enough for a shot at the big one.

Just after the big billy reclined to sleep, we moved and immediately spooked the smaller two. Big boy stayed sleeping and as we got closer, we realized the slope was steep, but not ridiculous. As our angle changed, the cliff continued to relent.
We made our way across the bottom of the basin, eying the still-sleeping billy. We tucked behind a mound just below it. It hadn’t seen us. We had a play.

Ryan crawled up a small depression then poked up from behind a rock.

Jesse and I trailed, and stopped 15 yards behind him. It was looking right at us.

In seconds it was over.

We hiked to it, and Ryan stood above his kill with the euphoria that comes with taking a beautiful animal. It’s sad on some level because the beautiful creature is dead, but you did just go get meat yourself rather than relying on someone else to grow, butcher, ship and wrap it for you. A few family branches ago, there weren’t many middle men, it was just the way.
You walk a thin line when you’re a hunter. I’ve met vegans who cringe at the thought of taking an animal, but get it even if they disagree. We can have conversations without name-calling. It’s civil. But that’s not always the case. Hunters shouldn’t have to defend their choice of food acquisition – neither should vegans or non-vegan anti-hunters for that matter – but anti-hunting types point to stories of irresponsible shots, poaching, and otherwise unethical behavior that puts hunters on the defensive.

We do it to ourselves hunters, and when we feel compelled to defend our actions and are confrontational, the conversation ceases to be a discussion and devolves into an argument that neither will win.

We talked about that on our way back to camp as we hiked up out of the basin and buried the meat bags in a patch of snow.

There was plenty of daylight, but we decided to camp another night just because the weather was good and when you’re living those great moments, there’s no need to rush to the end.

A hunt is never just about the killing, despite what others might think.