Right Place, Right Time: A Utah Archery Goat Hunt

By Travis Gross

Nineteen years ago, I decided to apply for all the western states’ species. Over the years I have been lucky enough to draw some really good tags, but never a coveted, once-in-a-lifetime tag.

The year started the way they normally do with me receiving multiple dreaded bonus points for my collection. As it got closer to mid-May, I received word that Utah had started charging people’s credit cards. My curiosity got the best of me, so I decided to see if my credit card had been charged. Upon opening my account, my eyes scrolled through the past couple of days to find nothing from Utah. I logged off and asked myself, “Why am I wasting money on Utah, as a non-resident?” As I said that, I thought to myself, “You did not check the current charges.” This gave me another glimmer of hope, so I logged back on and took another look.

Going For Utah Archery Goats

My eyes could not believe it, I was staring at a charge from the Utah Division of Wildlife for $1,518.00. I immediately screenshotted my account and texted it to my friends. This plan backfired horribly; they all asked questions about all my other charges, of course. This meant I drew a once-in-a-lifetime tag, but I did not know which one I drew for another week or so. I finally got the results and I had drawn the coveted Ogden/Willard Peak mountain goat hunt.

Over the next four months, I watched every relevant YouTube video at least a dozen times. I talked to as many people as I could that have hunted Mountain Goat with a bow and set up a hunt with a couple of friends that live near the mountain range. As the months ticked by, my determination to harvest a billy with a bow kicked into full gear. Super-tuning my bow setup and mentally preparing for the daunting task ahead had become an obsession. Practicing religiously out to 100 yards and focusing on extreme cardio workouts were my everyday routine.

The day before my hunt, my best friend and hunting partner Matt Anderson and I flew to Salt Lake City, Utah. Upon our arrival, we met up with Ryan Kendall and Robby Weber. The four of us loaded up our gear and headed to the mountain. As we got closer to the mountain, the realization that we are going to hunt a mountain goat with bow had finally set in. Base camp was assembled, and I let a couple arrows fly to make sure my bow was on.

A Wet Start to the Hunt

The alarm went off and we got dressed, even though we could hear that it was pouring rain outside. We packed up, and the four of us jumped into the side-by-side. The rain was coming down so hard that we decided to turn around and wait to see if it would clear. The rain finally started to lighten up around 10:30 AM, and we decided to charge it up the mountain. We went as far as we could go on the side-by-side and hiked the rest of the way. A couple of hours later we had finally peaked out at close to 10,000 feet, but we could not see 30 feet in front of us because the fog was so dense.

We decided to hike down at least 1,500 vertical feet along a spine to finally be able to see to the valley floor. The four of us kept following the ridge down, and, to our surprise, we spotted four nice billies below us. The four of us could not believe our luck, and we hunkered down to assess the group and make a decision. The decision was made, in less than one minute, to capitalize on the opportunity. I ranged the lead billy at 178 yards, then I ranged the tallest dead snag next to him at 148 yards for guidance. I closed the distance extremely quickly and found myself sitting right next to the dead snag in no time. The wind was perfect, and I started creeping forward on my knees. I soon found myself staring at a billy less than nine yards away.

Spoiled For Choice

Luckily, he was on the other side of the spine and he did not see me through the cover. He was extremely rubbed-out and the other three were not, so I slowly advanced high enough to look over the spine. As I looked down into the steep bowl, I was shocked to see a billy slowly walking, broadside, 13 yards away from me.

Death mode set in, and I nocked an arrow, slowly rose onto my knees, and drew my bow back. I settled the pin on the big white billy and began my shooting sequence. The shot broke, and my arrow zipped through him so fast that he didn’t even know what happened. It was a perfect shot, right behind the shoulder, so I turned around and hiked back up to my friends as fast as I could. On my hike back up, I was in a state of shock. My once-in-a-lifetime hunt was over, and we got it done on the first day, first stalk.

Emergency Brake

I finally made it back to where we originally spotted the billies and could not find my friends. They had walked down the spine to try and find me. Once we saw each other, I walked down and they walked up to meet in the middle for our celebration. They explained to me that my billy barrel rolled about 500 yards down the super steep bowl and squared the only tree standing. If it wasn’t for that one small pine tree, he would have rolled right off the cliff and fallen a few thousand vertical feet.

We slowly walked down the steep slope and gathered around the majestic animal, wedged up against a tree. My emotions got the best of me when I crouched down and touched my billy for the first time. We proceeded to do a full cape, and I had the pleasure of hauling out an extremely heavy pack with my best friends.

I want to say thank you to my wife Susie and my two kids, Jacky and Brett. Matt, Ryan and Robby, thank you for this amazing experience. I will never forget it!

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