Culling Olympic Natl Park Mountain Goats - Fit sharpshooters needed

[P7M13]

As hard as I try, I think the lightest my pack has ever been has been 35# for a 2 day jaunt into Goat Rocks Wilderness. Most times it's 45# or more.
All my forays into the Jefferson Wilderness are completely off trail once I pass the PCT. Aside from that, in the snow, there's not much of a trail to follow anyway.

 

[User 1234]

You can dole out the McDonalds lunch to the crew...

Even my standards are slightly higher, I'd dole out Jack in the Box.

 

[No_Regerts]

Did two long hikes in the Olympics in my 20's with a 60# pack. Two interactions up close with the goats.

First hike with a brother and cousin was the Bailey Range traverse, north to south. We were near timberline and the trees were short. Short enough for the goats to chomp on our sweat soaked backpack straps before we could get out of sleeping bags and chase them off. Second time, the packs were under/next to our heads. A goat ate the crotch out of my cousins short pants that were laying on a rock. Fortunately, he had a spare. His griping was drowned out by our laughing.

We met a couple doing the traverse south to north; they'd only met one other party in the previous week. 2-3 days later we caught up with that group. But it was one guy and some kids, sitting next to the 'trail' above a steep grassy slope. One kid didn't cinched his sleeping bag straps tight, and it had dropped off and disappeared down slope. They were waiting for the other adult and kid to find it and hike back up. I told him we had met a couple going the other way that described their group as 'two adults and a bunch of retarded kids'. The guy laughed and said he and his friend took their church Junior High boys hiking in the Olympics each year, and 'yes, kids this age do act retarded.'

A few years later I did a week-long solo hike, doing a loop route out of Dosewallips: up the Gray Wolf drainage to Deer Park then over to Obstruction Point on High Divide trail, then over to the Cameron Basin over Grand Pass and Cameron Pass, and eventually back to my truck at the Dosewallips Ranger Station. High Divide trail reminded me of the "balds" in western North Carolina where you're just above the treeline with slopes to either side gently falling away into the haze. With the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north, Puget Sound to the east, and the rest of the Olympic Range to the south, it felt like I was standing on a hill at the top of the world, with the whole earth below my feet. It was so cool that I stayed there for awhile, until I could see hikers in the distance, just to soak in that feeling.

As a result, I ended up reaching Obstruction Point in the evening. As I looked around for a good camp spot, I noticed bear paw prints in the mud. Walked back to the trailhead and left my backpack in the portapotty before laying out my sleeping bag in the back of a hay-filled pickup. In the middle of the night, I woke to warm breath in my face. About ripped my sleeping bag in two with my bare hands, trying to get out to fight off a bear. But it was some elk that had picked up the scent of hay. The elk did take a step back with all my yelling and waited for me to clear out before moving back in for breakfast. I had so much adrenaline flowing there was no point trying to get back to sleep, so I packed up and head up the trail to Cameron Basin in the dark. Good times.

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Those are the shorts of a confident man!

 

[Dungannon]

Those are the shorts of a confident man!

45 years ago those were the height of style. My brother, the marathon runner, still wears those kind of shorts - to the never ending embarrassment of his six kids.

 

[2A2Dend]

I knew this man well. I was torn by his demise.
He walked over 4 miles one way, daily, to and from work. In leather work boots, packing his lunch-box and thermos.

 

[P7M13]

I knew this man well. I was torn by his demise.
He walked over 4 miles one way, daily, to and from work. In leather work boots, packing his lunch-box and thermos.

Hard way to go. I've been on a glacier when climbers above were careless enough to dislodge rock after rock. Started bringing a whistle after that one.

 

[2A2Dend]

Hard way to go. I've been on a glacier when climbers above were careless enough to dislodge rock after rock. Started bringing a whistle after that one.

Sorry to sway the topic. The subject got me to thinking.
Then Mr. Courcy (he was a great person through and through) flashed through my memories.
It (his outcome) was a sad day. He was strong as an Ox in mind, body and soul.
Never a foul word from his lips. Very humble guy.

Sorry all, for derailing.

 

[P7M13]

Sorry to sway the topic. The subject got me to thinking.
Then Mr. Courcy (he was a great person through and through) flashed through my memories.
It (his outcome) was a sad day. He was strong as an Ox in mind, body and soul.

Sorry all, for derailing.

It's related, no derailing done, IMO. Here one day, then gone -- must have sucked for everyone who knew him.

 

[gmerkt]

extended hiking in steep terrain,

'off trail' in the Olympics

It helps to have a white beard.

 

[Slagiatt]

Well it's pretty obvious that this project to remove the offending goats is out of funds, typical of Washington states mismanagement.

This is the nps's show, not wdfw's

 

[bbbass]

So if one does not meet the requirements then the state is discriminating against the handicapped....

Unless they provide an equal opportunity, yep!!!

 

[cycle61]

Anyone want to join a team with me? Need at least two others...
I have all the gear needed for prolly two people, plus GMRS and UHF radios.
I will need to up my conditioning, but I do not see that as an obstacle.
Please PM me if interested.

[edit to add] : the listing for the copper / non-lead bullets and ammunition is impressive. A good resource....

I have minimal hunting experience, but significant wilderness and mountaineering background, and would be interested in being part of a team for this. PM sent.

 

[Mark W.]

So here in Oregon a Goat tag is I believe a once in a life time tag. With a very tiny chance to ever get one. I would think any opportunity to have a chance at a hunt would be a welcome deal. As to the requirements here in Oregon the same deal. It's of no use to game management if the tag goes to someone who can't get within a mile of the animals. Especially since they need a very limited selection of animals harvested. We are not talking about a million deer but dozens of animals being managed.

Some of the comments here seam silly to someone who has wanted a chance at the rarest game animal in Oregon for almost 50 years.

 

[2506]

I hiked all over Hells Canyon in my youth. The last time I walked up from the Snake River to about 4,000ft in the early 90s on an elk hunt. Had a 40-45lb pack. It took a good day of hiking to reach camp.
When I got home I bought a horse and sold the backpack.

 

[P7M13]

So here in Oregon a Goat tag is I believe a once in a life time tag. With a very tiny chance to ever get one. I would think any opportunity to have a chance at a hunt would be a welcome deal. As to the requirements here in Oregon the same deal. It's of no use to game management if the tag goes to someone who can't get within a mile of the animals. Especially since they need a very limited selection of animals harvested. We are not talking about a million deer but dozens of animals being managed.

Some of the comments here seam silly to someone who has wanted a chance at the rarest game animal in Oregon for almost 50 years.

In my 20's I spent two summers in Wyoming crawling all over the Wind River and Gros Ventre range, with many off days spent climbing in the Tetons.
Three days into the Winds, three of us are high on a ridge above tree line, and up drives two guys in a CJ5. I didnt even see tracks. The guy driving can barely breathe from the altitude. He leans out and asks, "see any sheep up here?"
We had seen plenty of their droppings but no sheep, so responded none.
I thought to myself, "I'm never going to let myself get like that."
Youth gone and four kids later, I'm stl toiling to keep that pledge.
The opportunity to hunt an amazing beast in such terrain would be a dream come true. Goats, Dall sheep and Antelope are God teasing a hunting man.

 

[cycle61]

The goats in the North Cascades will walk right up to you and drink the piss out of the puddle before you're even done filling it.

 

[Ay Dios Mio]

Well it's pretty obvious that this project to remove the offending goats is out of funds, typical of Washington states mismanagement.

I thought the goats were a problem for accosting hikers to ingest sweat salt because the area they were kidnapped from has salt in the ecosystem and the Olympics is salt free.

Why don't they just hit the farm supply stores and buy up some salt licks and drop those from helicopters via parachute? Why is everything always a BFD cluster.

 

[cycle61]

I wonder if baiting the goats with a salt lick and then posting up a hundred yards away would be a valid strategy...

 

[2506]

I thought the goats were a problem for accosting hikers to ingest sweat salt because the area they were kidnapped from has salt in the ecosystem and the Olympics is salt free.

Why don't they just hit the farm supply stores and buy up some salt licks and drop those from helicopters via parachute? Why is everything always a BFD cluster.

They're more of a problem to the ecosystem. They're an invasive species, having only been there for about 100 years.

 

[Dungannon]

They've been protected since their introduction, and so are accustomed to human activity. I don't think anyone has been stupid enough to try to pet one but the areas they have trampled are fairly obvious even if they are off trail.