62 ALASKA SPORTING JOURNAL AUGUST 2019 | aksportingjournal.com
waist-deep snow to go further ahead.
The mountain weather is usually
windy and your footing is slick. It’s an
adventurer’s dream.I EMBARKED ON A spring hunt for moun-
tain goats with three others, all of whom
have a successful history of chasing the
species. This trip was a little different
than what we were all used to.
Instead of sleeping on the mountain,Success can have consequences – scope
bite for this hunter. (BRIAN WATKINS)Nick Muche was able to close the distance
on this goat after hiking up from the boat.
(BRIAN WATKINS)we chartered a boat to the southern
end of Kodiak Island. It allowed us to be
more mobile for the goats, but forced us
to hike up from saltwater every day.
It granted us a warm bed and a
cooked meal when we got back after a
day’s hunt. With all of us being used to
a freeze-dried meal and Snickers bars to
get through a mountain hunt, this was a
nice change. Our transporter cooked
omelets in the morning, made lunch
for the afternoon and cooked dinner
in the evenings.
We ate halibut, venison and salmon
for dinner. Every day we would check
crab pots and keep five to 10 keepers for
a post-dinner dessert. The pots would
be filled with tanner crabs, but we could
only keep those that were greater than
5½ inches across the body.
We missed the good weather by
a week. Our 10-hour boat ride to the
south side of Kodiak was amazing. Flat
seas and sunshine for our day of travel
quickly turned to rain and snow for the
rest of the week.
One thing about the island is that
you don’t have weather days. Since theweather is typically crappy, you still get
your gear ready and head out. Our plan
was to use our bows unless we weren’t
having luck. Fellow hunter Nick Muche
even brought a recurve. Throughout the
week, we only mustered up two chances.
One was a stalk blown by a slip on a rock,
the other a close encounter in which we
couldn’t get a goat down.
With how much it rained and
snowed, we were soaked all week.
But we pushed on and broke out the rifle.