Billy and the old man

When I retired, I had a bucket list full of hunting dreams: Yukon moose, grizzly bear, mountain goat, trophy whitetail, and muskox, but the one that was truly challenging to me was the mountain goat. Having to hike a mountain every morning, many days in a row, troubled me…would I be able to do it?

I contacted an acquaintance, Lynzy McCowan, from McCowans’ Sporting Properties, to see if she could help me find an outfitter who specialized in BC mountain goat hunting. By great coincidence, she told me that her family had just purchased an outfit near Cranbrook that offered elk, bighorn sheep, mule deer and…mountain goat! So, I booked an 8-day hunt with them for the 2021 season.

Before I knew it, the time had come! The end of September arrived, and I headed to the Tetreau McCowan camp. Lynzy welcomed me warmly and I settled into the hunter’s cabin. I then met my guide, Jon Blair, and Lynzy’s husband, Mike Tetreau, who would be the team taking care of the Old Man.

The next morning, we headed to the mountain where Mike had already spotted some goats. We stopped along the old forest road (more like a trail) and glassed the mountain slopes. We saw some white dots in the distance and a grizzly bear turning over rocks high on the mountain. We were in the action! Jon and Mike drew a plan to put us closer to the goats and we began our ascent. That first day was the worst for me as I found hiking to 8,000 feet with backpack, binoculars, and gun to be very exhausting. I needed to stop every 300 feet to catch my breath. Jon was very kind though and explained that hiking a new trail with all that hunting gear can be very demanding. And he was right, although every day after that got a little bit easier.

Once we got up the mountain we saw some nannies with their offspring, and then at the end of the afternoon Jon spotted a billy bedded on a rock in front of a cliff on the far side of the mountain. Jon and Mike showed me the pictures that they had taken with their phone scope; he looked like a “monarch of the mountain” sitting out on that rock in the sun! We discussed the difficulties if I were to harvest that beauty, one of which was the fact there was a strong possibility that after being shot, the billy would plunge off the cliff. If that were to happen, recovery would be very difficult, possibly requiring climbing gear. I decided to pass on that one!

The following two days we explored different slopes of the mountain range. On the second day, Jon spotted four bachelor billies at mid-mountain about 4 kilometers from where we were. According to Jon, one of them met the “requirements”: the size, the color (that is a bit yellowish), the length and the mass of the horns at the base, as well as the curvature of the horns compared to a nanny.

After two days of scouting in bad weather, clouds, rain, snow, freezing rain, and strong winds, Mike and Jon set the strategy for the coming days. We decided to gear up for an excursion to the bottom of a big valley close to where we had spotted the bachelor goats. Jon and Mike prepared camping gear and food in case we needed to camp in the valley. The next day they rested the Old Man while they portaged the camping gear up the mountain.

On Day 5 we headed to the valley. After hiking to 8,000 feet, we checked to see if the bachelor group was still on the same slope, and yes, they were there! So, we descended to the bottom of the valley. Although the view of the massive mountain range and lakes was splendid, the descent was quite something because of the snow and slippery rocks. We took our time to make sure that we didn’t make any noise and arrived in the valley around 3:30. We then began our move towards the billies!

We snuck to a position around 500 yards and Jon spotted the billy that had met his criteria. I chose a big rock and set my rifle on my backpack. Jon gave me the range at 454 yards, and I corrected for the angle of the slope (31°). Mike had his phone scope ready to film the action. It was rainy and windy with clouds coming down the valley.

Then, it was time! The billy turned broadside, and I shot. He didn’t jump or run, just walked slowly away. Had I missed my shot?? Mike reviewed his video and confirmed that my bullet had hit behind the right front leg. The billy was heading towards a small pocket of trees and Jon instructed me to shoot again. I cranked another round, but it didn’t fire! (Later I discovered that my rifle was not working properly due toa little bit of rust and a lazy spring affecting the bolt mechanism.)

At this point the billy moved to a big spruce and bedded down. We hiked in close to the island of trees, but he was not moving anymore. Success! There were congratulations all around and I was elated! He was a beautiful goat and more than I could have asked for! Not bad for an Old Man. We took some fantastic photos and by then it was getting quite late in the day, so we made our way back to the bottom of the valley to make camp. The temperature was awful and it was pitch dark by this time. I was exhausted but very satisfied.

The next morning, we prepared to leave. While Jon caped the goat, Mike deboned it. In the process, Jon found my bullet in the upper left shoulder and gave it to me. He mentioned that he had never seen a bullet go from one side of a goat to the other like that in all his years of guiding. Those big billies are tough–massive and strong.

Billy is now a companion on a wall near my office, we call him “Billy Joe.” He reminds me of how grateful I am to Tetreau McCowan Outfitting for the opportunity. This kind of hunt is demanding, but also so very rewarding! I was well prepared for my adventure–I hiked regularly, practiced shooting long range, and reloaded my own cartridges, but the most important part was that I was well supported by Jon and Mike. I am also very thankful for Lynzy’s warm welcome and help to organize the hunting trip, not to mention, those good dinners back at camp!

I was 72 years old when I went through this amazing adventure, and I greatly appreciated each and every minute of it!