A five-hour horseback ride found us nearing timber’s edge. Through the claustrophobic conifers, granite peaks loomed in the wide open beyond. I’d hunted Dall sheep in various mountain ranges in Alaska ...

This was a hunt I had dreamed about for years, and no mountain was going to keep me from trying for a trophy goat. I’d be under other handicaps, too. I planned to bag one of those skyline billies with ...