Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Goat Hunt

Gentlemen, I am planning to hunt mountain goats but admit to being overwhelmed by the information on the internet. I'm looking for a trophy goat hunt with wild country character. I'm thinking pack animal supported hunting, most likely horses.

The information suggests the best area for a trophy billy in a wilderness setting is northern BC. I have contact information for Mr. Bryan Martin of Canadian Mountain Outfitters.

Will some of you please share your thoughts on where and with whom I should considering hunting with?

Costal goats have the reputation for being the biggest, then Region 6 East and West of Dease Lake.

Any of your northern hunts will have loads of "wild country character"

Go the GOABC website for a list of guides by region and links to their websites.(Guide outfitters Association of British Columbia)

Bryan Martin was convicted of offences under the B.C. Wildlife Act a couple of years ago and is NOT a favourite with we B.C. conservationists/hunters. I have heard that his outfit is for sale, however, I do not know for sure, but, I would be very wary of hunting with any outfitter who has legal problems, period.

I WOULD recommend the following, Tuchodi Outfitters, Stone Mountain Safaris and HighandWild Safaris in northeastern B.C. I have hunted their areas and they have lots of game. I would try to do a Moose-Goat combo hunt and would also look hard at Fredlund Guiding further south, in the magnificent Kakwa area.

These are FIRSTCLASS outfits and NOT cheap, BUT, you get what you want and they tend to be the best in the business. There is some fine Goat hunting closer to home, in the Kootenays, but, although I know the region (obviously), I am no longer familiar with any of the GOs there.

Go to www.goabc.org for further info. and contact details. HTH.

BTW, the opportunities for non-resident hunters have been curtailed here recently and the word is that this is going to be seriously increased. The British Columbia Wildlfe Federation and various environmentalist groups here are working hard to severely limit and eventually eliminate non-res. hunting here and this will happen, no question, so, do it as fast as you can as it will not be available for many more years.

I have been goat hunting only a couple of times, but I can recommend Ceaser Lake Outfitters in The Yukon without reservation. Terry Wilkinson runs a very good outfit. His territory has lots of nice goats and the area combines well with moose or mt. caribou. I was especially happy with their horses. VERY well trained and reliable mounts, they impressed me so much I went back later for two more hunts. This is very expensive hunting, but that's just how it is if you want a wilderness horseback trip.

Very expensive indeed, more expensive than I'm willing to pay. I had originally thought I could get by with $8K total out the door. Guess I need to modify my thinking and being more open to a southern BC hunt.

While they may provide good hunts, the outfitters Kutenay listed are not known for great goats...actually some of the smaller goats I've seen (on average...I've hunted in all of those areas a number of times).

For a true trophy goat (B+C class) and simply amazing country, you'll want to concentrate on the Cassiars (NW BC) or the coastal regions of NW BC. Goat numbers in these areas border on the unbelievable, and genetics are simply amazing.

Bear in mind however that a horseback supported goat hunt is not always an easy thing to do...good goat country and horses typically mix like oil and water.

Gentleman, thank you for all the comments. Please be assured I am following up on all your suggestions.

I am familar with a guide hunting the Stikine River, AK who offers goat hunts. His hunts are a spike camp from a jet skiff, he is booked for the 2008 season. I truely enjoyed hunting with him but was thinking to get away from the water for my goat hunt. Not that I don't enjoy the water, I was just thinking to hunt differently.

.280A is right here, I just have not had much experience with the coastal outfitters in the region he refers to. I did work solo in the bush there, but, this was more than 35 yrs. ago and things have changed very much.

I was up through Dease last 3 years ago this coming summer, but, was too rushed to really do any game scouting and I would defer to .280A on this issue because of that.

There ARE some VERY big Goats in the Kootenays, but, you really need to know EXACTLY where they are and the places where they do hang out are just brutal. It's the kind of hunting more suited to locals who can get out there every week to find one; I have not shot my Goat as I have had screwups on every hunt I have tried for one on and hope to change that this year.

To me, a really BIG RM Goat is EVERY BIT as find a trophy as any ram or Grizzly and the hunting is exciting, even if you don't get one.

You might call Anna Fontana or Sean Beswick in the Kootenays, I know that Fontana's have some fine goats, but, again, they do not come cheap or easily.

kute, I truely appreciate your comments. Ann Fontana's contact information was already lying on my desk. Thanks for the suggestion.

280, I'll search for NW BC costal and Cassiars mountain hunts. Care to recommend an specific hunt?

Brambles - welcome to the chat - just noticed it was your first post. Have you hunted goats before?

look at turnagain adventures. they have big goats and the county is good for horses.

www.turnagainadventure.com

I'll be hunting with Anna this fall. She came well recommended.

Kute-
Hows the snowfall this winter? I'm hunting spring bear with Steven Leuenberger the end of May. I hear his area is pretty high and will still have a lot of snow in may.

Any of you know of or have hunted with Rick White of Sawtooth Outfitters? They hunt the East Kootenay region and offer a hunt I can afford.

I once spoke with Steven Leuenberger and was impressed by his courtesy and friendliness to a resident hunter, this is not always the case with GOs here in B.C. The snowpack is above average, or, so the TV weather reporters tell us and that part of the Kootenays will certainly still have drifts in May.

But, remember that these guys do not stay in business unless their clients are satisfied and he will know his area well and exactly where the bears will show. I expect that you will hunt south-facing slopes and south-west facing slopes as well as old slide paths with such aspects. There are LOTS of bears and you should do fine, it will be a fun hunt in very lovely country.

Boise, I have never heard of the outfit you mention, what I would do is log onto AR and ask "Canuck" who is "mod." of the Canadian hunting forum there. He is an RPF. in that region and knows a lot of the GOs well, so, he may be able to give you some accurate feedback.

Remember that B.C. hunting, for non-residents is a BUSINESS and you will tend to get what you pay for. Goat hunting in B.C., with a couple of exceptions by draws, is VERY tough slugging and you NEED to be clear on this before paying your bux, so, check your GO out thoroughly. HTH.

kute, again I thank you for your inputs and suggestions. I'll make a post on AR, I haven't been going there lately. I have gone on hunts ranging from poor to excellent and agree one generally gets what he pays for.

I am not familiar with RPF, can someone explain?

Registered Professional Forester, "Canuck" is one and is employed by a major forest products firm with extensive holdings in that area, so, he "should" be able to give you solid info.

As it happens, not that many resident hunters usually know what Outfitters are/are not "good" as we often are not in agreement with the Ministry's objectives concerning harvests, etc. So, while many here might want to help, much of what info. you get may be "guesswork", rather than first-hand reports. "Canuck" knows a lot of the GOs there and can actually tell you "realtime" stuff, more than I can, for example.

I happen to know where Goats are there, but, as it is a "draw" situation, obviously, I am kinda closemouthed about it!

Boise

I hunted moose with Ram Creek Outfitters and Steven Leuenberger in 1998. They hunted elk, moose, deer, sheep, goats, wolf and bear. I will tell you that there is no better outfitter than Steve and I was on his reference list for moose hunting. During the course of hunting day if we were in suitable terrain we would always see goats. With you living in Boise it would be a hard days drive to the hunting area, which elimitates air travel, lost luggage and other problems.

There is nothing negative I could say about the outfit, the area or the guides. If outfit or any of his guides would fall on hard times there is ample food and beds in my home. The hunting lodge was simple and the food homecooked. Every morning after breakfast before we left for that day's hunting things were organized. You are welcome to e mail me for more details.

On the last day of hunting, I had not gotten a moose and we pack up the horses and headed down the trail for a 2 hour ride back to the lodge and then a late afternoon departure. I was very content with the 8 day hunt and had no regrets. About 20 minutes into the ride my guide Gordon put his hand up and we quickly dismounted. After a hour of playing cat and mouse with the moose I finally got a shot and killed the largest moose Ram Creek Outfitters had ever taken a 168 BC Sharis bull. I was the largest until about 5 years ago when I quit getting their yearly hunting reports.

One eveing at the lodge, I was reading the BC regulations and drawing odds on Limited Entry Hunting and a resident had a 1 in 10 chances of drawing a moose license in that area. I did not and do not feel that an outfitter should have licenses allotcated to them for a non resident or resident hunter when the DIY hunter has to draw. A 10 to 15 percent rule is fine. Money unfortunately speaks. I got back to my home in Montana in early November with a general election coming up in a few days. There was an inititive on the ballot to give Montana Outfitters 1/3 on the non resident quota, I voted against it.

It is true for your best chance of a big goat and an abundance of goats I would focus on the Northcoast of BC. I have hunted it hard for the last 12 years and it has been truly exceptional. Outfitter "Bolen and Lewis" have a great area to hunt goats and a great reputation. I would recommend them as their success rates on record book goats is very high. In addition to the best of my knowledge they have not been convicted of any offences. They offer fly-in hunts alpine hunts until mid October and after that it is hike-in, quad, or sled. They are not cheap but if you are only planning on one goat hunt and want a dandy I would take a serious look at them. I have a few samples of the goats in their area under my gallery (BCbillies) on the "HuntingBC" website.

I've now been for elk twice with Packhorse Creek Outfitters. They're based in Fernie, & their territory starts at the US Border and goes straight up the Flathead Valley about 30km. They're either right next to Fontana's territory, or 1 territory S SE of it, & most of the guides have guided for Anna (and Bob) in the past, or do so occasionally even still.

I didn't have any interst in goats at the time, but I started to change my mind when I saw the numbers & the quality of the animals they had there.

The Outfitter runs a 1st rate camp, & works his butt off for your success. They're certainly not cheap, but you'll get every penny's worth that you spend with them.

Check with David or Gary at www.packhorsecreek.com. FWIW, there's a bit of goat porn on their Photo Gallery section. I have no idea if the critters are unusualy large, average, or puny, but the pictures sure are good!

Good Luck,

FC

I can highly recommend this outfit and will be going on my second helping of steep/wet/fog/rain/snow/devil's club this October. You can reach them here

Please allow me to say I consider it a privelege to hunt in Canada and hope the likes of Byran Martin doesn't result in the end to the privelege. I will contact the booking agent, AGAIN, that suggested I book my hunt with him. Also, PLEASE don't send him back for I'm sure he'll only pull the same crap down here.



doc - aren't you afraid of over selling the hunt?

I thought I had made a decision but decided to did a little deeper in my pockets and take a second look at higher dollar hunts. I'll have a message into Canuck today asking for his thoughts.