After packing out my bull and cow, my hunting buddy Fred and I took a break from the mountain for a few days. This would allow the elk to calm down a bit and give us a couple nights sleep in a real bed to recover from our long pack out.

Our plan worked great and things were hot and heavy when we arrived back at our base camp. We could hear several bugles from what we thought were three different bulls on the eastern ridge line about 500 yards from camp. We headed straight to the top on the next morning. Before the sun had even crested the horizon we had several elk within 100 yards of our position.

You don't have to be a veteran mountain goat hunter to figure out real quick that they are not the brightest animals in the kingdom. Now their physical ability on the other hand, well, it’s second to none and the terrain they live in is unforgiving. The next issue with those white furry creatures is the fact that it can take several years to draw a tag. If you add the challenge of establishing a goat’s gender, size and age, you end up with one hell of a fun hunt. But it's not all fun and games. Hunting at high altitude offers some unique challenges and requires specialized gear. Here's what's worked for me over the years (see the video from my last goat hunt here).