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If a llama decides to walk off a cliff, I'M not going to be holding him "tight enough" either! In fact, I'm letting go just like the intelligent young llama leader apparently did. Let the smart dad "hold on tight" as a 350 pound llama walks off a cliff. Laws of physics can bite you in the butt!

First day of the hunt was rough.

My entire backpack camp was stolen in a remote area of La Plata county Colorado around August 30th.

Please keep an eye out for:

1)- Spotting scope: Minox MD62 ED with 21-42 L.E.R. eyepiece. Model # 62212 Serial # 61000105.

2)- Vortex Ridgeline tripod

3)- Mountain Hardware 3 man tent

4)- Marmot Flathead 20 degree Long model sleeping bag

5)- Big Agnes Q-Core sleeping pad

6)- MSR Rocket stove

7)- Olicamp XTS cook pot

Authorities have been contacted.

This has really put a crimp in my mountain goat hunt.

Please keep an eye out at pawn shops, Craigslist, etc.

Cash reward offered.

What a kick in the junk.

God I hate thieves.

Holy schit dude! That sucks.

You need to borrow anything right away just let me know. You pay shipping and it's yours until the season closes.



Travis

Damn that sucks. I'm heading down through Gunnison, Ridgway, and on to Dolores next Wednesday/Thursday on the way to my muzzleloader elk hunt.

If there's anything I can drop off, let me know, I have spares of most of the stuff on your list.

Thanks for the kind offers everyone!

Anyhow....

Monday Labor Day, my son and I backpacked in to the spot to find my cached gear missing from the week before.

My son has a bag, pad, and tarp so he stays at camp while I head back out to contact authorities and get replacement gear.

I decide to hunt goats instead of my gear. I'll leave it at that. My attitude was in the crapper.

Where does one find gear the evening of Labor Day? Walmart to the rescue.

It's not just heavy, it's bulky!

By 9pm I'm back on the trail heading in the 7 miles to camp. Again. Legs were feeling less peppy this time.

Tuesday Sept 2nd - opening day

A quick nap on my crap-ola Walmart sleeping pad gave me some energy to get up the mountain by daylight.

Billy showed up on queue.

Right off the left big toe you'll see a white dot.



It's Diego.

I decide to try and get in range.

I turn my jacket inside out and put on a white head mask. Goat ninja.



Within range I was.


I spent some time looking him over. Smallish body. Decent horns. Good hair. Yes, I'm totally going to stick him.

I try to find good footing so I don't fall....range him at 44 yards almost straight down and....he walks into a chute and disappears from my life.

I get back up top with some effort and both my son and I have some big grins.

Keep after 'em, looking forward to more Diego pics.

I hate to here about the theft, but glad you made due. I can loan you a couple of better pieces of gear if you need. Just PM me.

Good on ya to forge ahead, Tbone, and bad karma to the slime who took your gear.

Tuesday afternoon the range maggots invaded the mountain again.

Go away. Nobody wants you here.



Tuesday night I fully realized how nice good gear is, and how crappy cheap gear is.
This stove and pot combo burned through 2 cans of fuel in 4 days. It takes forever to boil 2 cups of water.


Sleeping on those little closed cell foam pad adds about as much insulation and padding as a slice of Wonder bread.

Wednesday dawned bright and clear.



Jackpot. We found the two goats I wanted most. Horse and Old and Broken. Hanging out together on pinnacle.

These two are the kings of this mountain. Big heavy bodies.

Here is O&B.


I put my best sneak on them. It worked for about 4 minutes. They busted me.

Plan B.

We'd been tracking two billies that bed in cliffs (white spots on the left of the pic) and feed out into the green to the right of the pic every evening.



The wind was right, so we made a move. The stalk was going extremely well. I was going to kill the bigger of the two. Sure enough.

They came out of the cliffs on schedule. I was readjusting across a small boulder slide. The boulder slide cut loose and I scampered out with only a small injury to my thumb. My bow did not fare so well.



3 of the 5 arrows broken. Quiver bent like a pretzel.

What a downer.

Everything else on the bow survived with only scrapes.

The goats ran away.

After the crash, I climbed back up on top and Nathaniel and I laughed some about it.

Who needs a full quiver? Two arrows are plenty.

Swedish Fish always help cheer me up.



The sun set on another fine day in the High Rockies.

Thursday came soon enough after a full night of tossing and turning on my Wonder bread sleep pad.

Sometime during the night weather showed up. Rain/slush mix.

We set out after some hot oatmeal. We trekked a long ways to enable us to look at the faces of the cliffs that we had been looking over from the topside.

We found what I was hoping for.

Horse and O&B in a stalkable spot. We drew a little map on landmarks and hustled back around the basin.

We stalked the two fatties blind, hoping they were still in place and our memories of landmarks were accurate.

It was the longest stalk so far. We inched in and peeked around the corner.

Horse had us pinned down. We couldn't get any closer.

We sat for 30 minutes or so and he stood and started feeding away. As soon as he turned the corner over the little ridge we scampered forward and inched over.

We found O&B at 55 yards, clueless of the two arrow threat about to lengthen his mid-day nap.

Have you ever seen a goat yawn?

Great pics & story! Can't wait for the conclusion.

Nice.........

It was a perfect setup. My son was 100 yards to my left. I had O&B ranged at 55 yards at about a 50 degree angle downhill.

At my signal my son stood on the skyline, causing the billy to stand perfectly broadside.

It was beautiful. I drew, had to let down and readjust footing.

I pinned him for 45 yards and let it fly. Shaved hair off his back.

Billy jumps as carbon explodes on the rock behind him. He runs down hill 10 yards and stops quartering away.

I knock my last arrow, pinned again for 45 yards and the arrow hits nothing but rock right under him.

Game over.

My son and I talk about it. We can't help but grin even with the outcome of events.

It starts raining, then snowing. More arrows are in the truck 7.5 miles away.

I could be hunting again by Friday noon.

As we hike in the slush we decide to bail. I dislike sleeping cold and uncomfortable very much. I'd like to get my bow 100% straightened out.

We pack out in heavy rain and snow. We pull into the driveway around midnight....hot showers and food and clean sheets.

Basic replacement gear has been ordered. It should be here Tuesday.

Tomorrow I'll be talking with a Deputy from La Plata county again.....

I'll be back on the mountain Wednesday with fresh attitude, gear, and arrows.

I'm looking forward to it!

Wish you luck, thanks for sharing your hunt.

This is a great story so far, and this is the best line yet.

This is the best story line. Wish my boys would have enjoyed hunting as much as I do. Can't imagine the memories doing hunts like this together.

Bone - hope Weds brings more opportunity.

Went out for the 3rd trip of the season Monday.

Got a shot at a billy Tuesday morn.

Recovered the arrow.