AK Archery Mountain Goat - Part 2

This is a SoloHntr Film presented by Crispi.

I've always been drawn to wild and rugged mountains. The more rugged, the more wild, the more challenging...the better. Better in a sense of challenge, inspiration and determination to climb, scale and navigate the path less traveled. I suppose that it shouldn't be surprising that my deep desire to hunt mountain goats is likely because they call wild and rugged mountains home. I marvel at how so gracefully they move about on terrain that is to most of us inhospitable and near impossible.

When Tim and I discovered a common interest in our desire to hunt mountain goats and then determined to book a bucket list hunt in Alaska to pursue them, little did I know that it would be my second archery mountain goat hunt within the same year. Not only would I have the opportunity to visit wild and rugged mountains with a good friend, but I would first have the pleasure of seeing him succeed at taking a big mature Billy.

It's a risky thing to book an archery mountain goat hunt in Alaska with a buddy. It's less common for someone to book a mountain goat hunt determined to use a bow, but certainly not unheard of. According to our guide, it's very uncommon for 2 hunters to book a 2 on 1 (2 hunters, 1 guide) archery mountain goat hunt in Alaska, or anywhere for that matter. Perhaps it was hubris, or perhaps it was being naive, either way Tim and I determined the hunt would be with a bow.  

The time leading up to Tim successfully taking his Billy was some of the most enjoyable hunting I've experienced. Moving along ridgelines and through cliff bands knowing it wasn't "my time" allowed for me to really soak in the experience. I was void of any of the pressure I had felt on my Utah archery mountain goat hunt earlier that month. In its place was a calm joy of being in the types of mountains I craved with no visible sense of other humans in the world and a simple goal to help Tim find his goat. Those few days I was a spectator to the pursuit and challenge that he faced, all the while hoping for my chance.

Once his billy was down and the celebration concluded, the switch had been flipped.  I instantly became the hunter with a keen resolve and focus that I hadn't yet possessed on our hunt. It was my time. It was go-time. - Kendall Card, Crispi US