Reprinted from the September 2011 issue of the Northwoods Sporting Journal
As I begin writing this column, I’m lying in my tent waiting out a rainstorm on an 11,000 foot high plateau of the Beartooth Mountains in Montana. I couldn’t even leave my tent if I wanted: without my weight holding it down, the 40 mile per hour winds that threaten to blow it away might succeed.
Why am I here? Well, I’ll never again curse my poor luck, as I was fortunate enough to draw a coveted tag to hunt the Rocky Mountain goat, one of only two goat tags in this particular district.
A friend and I have spent the last two days backpacking across this high mountain plateau, searching for goats and bighorn sheep on the ridges and in the rugged mountain valleys that lie beneath massive mountains, including the second highest peak in the Big Sky State. We’ve spotted two goats on the scouting trip thus far, and will be back at it with binoculars and high powered spotting scopes when the weather clears.
You might wonder what significance this scouting trip has in relation to the Outdoor Sporting Library. The book I’m reading inside my tent, and its author, provides the answer.
As soon as I discovered my good fortune, I began seeking out any literature I could find on goats and goat hunting. I was surprised at what little I initially found. In all of my searching, however, one name kept coming up: Duncan Gilchrist.
I’d heard of this Gilchrist fellow from a sheep hunting partner who had read one of his books on bighorn sheep hunting in Montana. I immediately sought out everything Gilchrist had on goats, and knew I’d found an incredible resource.
Duncan Gilchrist was a native of the northeastern U.S., born in Massachusetts, but was exposed to western mountains at a young age. His family took trips to the mountains each summer, implanting in him a desire to live, work, and hunt in such an environment. Duncan earned a degree in forestry at the University of New Hampshire, moved to northern Maine, and met his future wife Pat, of Houlton, in the 1950’s. The couple had the desire to see Alaska, and Duncan landed a job as a forester for the Bureau of Land Management. It was there that Duncan Gilchrist was first exposed to the mountain goat and other big game. He began a long and successful career as a big game hunter.
Through his job as a forester, Gilchrist began learning more about big game hunting, particularly mountain goats. In southeast Alaska, he was in the heart of goat country, and the species was underutilized as a trophy animal. His hunting adventures led him to becoming a bush pilot and swapping his forestry career to work as a hunting outfitter and guide. He guided hunters for bears, goats, sheep, and other species.
When guiding seemed to be on the way out, Duncan began to look for other options. He and his family moved to Montana and Gilchrist began his career as a hunting writer. In 1981 he completed his first book, “Trophy Rams of the Brooks Range”. Many more would follow. In all, Duncan Gilchrist wrote 11 books related to big game hunting.
Among Gilchrist’s works are two of the only books written specifically for the mountain goat hunter: “Hunting the Rocky Mountain Goat”, and “Hunt High”. He also wrote a three volume series on Montana bighorn sheep hunting entitled “Montana: Land of Giant Rams”. Duncan’s passion for sheep hunting was also chronicled in the books “In Quest of Bighorn Rams” and “In Quest of Dall Rams”. Other Gilchrist books focused on bear hunting and trophy hunting in general.
Later in life, Gilchrist developed a strong passion for videotaping wildlife and produced several videos. I found two of these videos especially useful for my upcoming goat hunt. Sadly, Duncan passed away in 2002, at the age of 66, while taping a hunt in Montana.
By the time you read this column, I may be up in the mountains again looking for goats. Thanks to advice from the writing of Duncan Gilchrist, one of the species’ most passionate pursuers, I may actually get one. If you’ve ever had an interest in pursuing big game in the western mountains, I encourage you to read some of Duncan Gilchrist’s books. Many of the more recent books are available from Pat Gilchrist at www.wildramhunters.net. Others are tough to find, but you can pick them up occasionally on Amazon.com (see below), Ebay, or from used book stores.
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