Wyoming Hunter Bags 2nd Largest Goat in State History
OutdoorHub Reporters 03.16.16
A once-in-a-lifetime hunt for a Wyoming hunter also resulted in a once-in-a-lifetime harvest, The Wyoming Game & Fish Department announced on Monday that a hunter from Rock Springs bagged the second largest mountain goat in the state’s history. Will Russell took the goat after winning a Super Tag—one of the most coveted hunting licenses in Wyoming—for the hunt in a raffle last year.
“I’ve been around goats hunting the last three years, but I’ve never had a tag. I’ve only watched them. This is the first time I could shoot one,” Russell said in a press release. “I had a goal to hunt in all three areas and to set a state record.”
The three hunting areas that Russell mentions is split between the Beartooth Mountains north of Cody and in the Palisades north of Jackson. Russell did not divulge exactly where he bagged the large goat, but he did add that it was not a short hunt.
“I could have easily shot some of the first goats I saw. But, I enjoy backpacking, hiking with my wife, and having a good time in life,” said Russell. “I set the goal for a state record as a joke, at first, between my wife and me. I didn’t realize it was going to be that big of a goat until I checked it in with the Game and Fish biologist.”
How big was it? The Boone and Crockett Club certified Russell’s animal to be 50 and 3/8 inches, making it one of the largest mountain goats to be taken not just in Wyoming, but anywhere in the country. According to Boone and Crockett, the world record is currently held by a 57 and 4/8 goat harvested by Troy Sheldon in 2011 while hunting in British Columbia.
