Goatland.

Joe Griffin and Jordan Parham flew Chicago to Vancouver to Whitehorse for a 10-day mountain goat hunt booked through Worldwide Trophy Adventures. Joe's rifle and Jordan's gear tote didn't arrive with them, and they lost a day and a half in Whitehorse. Then weather held the bush plane another morning before it set them on a gravel bar.

A boat took them upriver, and they climbed from the bottom through devil's club into country the outfitter hadn't hunted in about ten years. Goats were everywhere. Stone sheep walked past at 20 yards. Water was the problem: the creeks they had planned on were dry, and the river ran 1,500 feet below a sheer wall. Charlie, the packer, hauled water back from a moose pond, and they boiled it.

Rob, the guide, wanted an old billy with heavy horns, not just long ones. While they studied one at 800 yards, Charlie spotted a giant bedded 60 yards below them, on a ledge above a 500-foot drop. Joe shot him with a 300 PRC. The billy took three shots and slid off the ledge.

They left the meat hanging up top and walked back to camp with no water, getting in around 2 or 3 in the morning.

"The toughest animal that I've ever shot by a significant margin."Joe Griffin · Recapping Goatland