Then again, simple survival in this high hell of Eastern Oregon is somewhat amazing in itself. Old Oreamnos americanus, as science calls the Rocky Mountain goats, are built to survive in the highest, harshest and barren mountain tops of the Pacific Northwest, western Canada and Alaska. Both the billies and the nannies have similar snowy-white, puffy coats of coarse hair over incredibly thick skin and black horns. Unlike other big-game, they suffer little predation. Cougars and other killers rarely venture into the hostile territory and the thin air on the high side of 9,000 feet.
Falls kill more young goats than anything else.
Those that don t fall graze on whatever greenery exists on the moonscapes of the Elkhorns. In winter, they will fight bitterly to defend even small tufts of exposed grass. As Mellow watched the big-hoofed goat through his scope, seeing the animal s virtual defiance of flying lead, the pressure began to get to him. He had awoken in camp that morning, on his hunt s Sept. 9 opening day, physically ill from nerves. He and three friends then hiked several miles, passed on five smaller billy goats in hopes of again spying the one goat Mellow really wanted, the one they saw in July.