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GOAT STORY
Dated: October, 2002
Hi Everyone,
We're enjoying some awesome October weather here in Southeast Alaska. Have just returned from the mountains with Goat # 5 and what a Dandy he is. This Big ol' Billy was sitting right on top of the mountain as Dale Jacoby and I we're flying into Misty Fiords on Monday. Ernie Robb with Southeast Aviation did his typical fantastic job of slipping the Beaver into a nearby high lake. Curious, the Billy wandered down the ridge and bedded down 1000 yards away to watch Dale and I set up a comfortable base camp. Eventually, bored I presume, the Billy wandered back over the mountain. We chose the ridge at the far end of the lake as our approach for both it's low angle and predominant wind direction. We got my Zodiac pumped up and found a pretty good leak, so Dale made a multi-layered duct tape patch.
We woke to blue sky and warm temp, enjoying a pleasant boat ride across the lake. After shedding our hip boots and donning our caulks we made a leisurely 2 hour hike up the ridge. We caught our breath just below the top and proceeded to peek very carefully over the last knob. Sure enough, he was there bedded down, facing away only 60 yards away. We had to wait for about 10 minutes for him to raise his head so we could get a good look. It only took one look to know this was a trophy Billy. He finally stood up and presented Dale with the shot he was looking for. One shot in the neck was all it took. How could this be, after all my coaching, and warnings about nasty weather, treacherous terrain, etc...We managed to stroll up a low angle ridge a kill one of the largest goats I've seen on an amazingly flat mountaintop below bluebird skies; and it wasn't even noon yet.
We stood in awe, over Dale's goat and eventually wrestled him into position for some photos. Dale, who is just 23 years old, has spent the last two summers fighting fire on a hotshot crew and the summer before that working for the Forest Service here in Ketchikan. He said, "don't be afraid to load me up", so I gave him nearly all the meat while I took the life-sized cape, ribs and assorted tools. It took a little over an hour to get back down to the lake with our 100 pound packs and 2 trips in the Zodiac to get it all back to base camp.We enjoyed the ceremonial " Goat Fire" and feasted on fresh tenderloins for dinner.
We woke to blue sky and sunshine, while Ketchikan was fogged in. Dale & I spent the morning sunbathing and cleaning meat. Ernie finally managed to find a hole in the fog North of Ketchikan and picked us up around 2:00 pm. Well, the meat's in the freezer and sun is still shining, so we're headed back out in the MOZA II for a week or so of hunting and fishing in the beautiful wilderness of Tongass National Forest. Hope all's well and everyone's enjoying the fall season.
Happy Hunting, Your Friend ~ Ed
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