On January 20 my oldest son, whose hobby is hunting, walked onto the stage at the Grand Slam Ovis Sheep Show and was inducted into the exclusive GSCO Capri fraternity. This award is given to hunters who have successfully hunted 12 wild mountain goats of the world.
While this recognition has now been achieved by several hundred hunters, the challenges and accomplishments needed to attain this recognition are most challenging and only those who dedicate themselves to the hardships needed to reach this milestone truly understand the difficult nature of this journey.
Much is written about those who successfully hunt the four wild sheep of North America, commonly known as the Grand Slam. While any sheep hunt is difficult, goats tend to live in much more precipitous places stretching the physical limits of any seasoned hunter. And, of course, you have to successfully conclude four times as many hunts as the Grand Slam and travel the world to achieve the GSCO Capri Award.
In 2022, on a snowy November morning in Romania, he steadied the crosshairs on an old Carpathian Chamois who just moments earlier had descended from the rocky cliffs onto the boulder-strewn hillside 250 meters from my son's position. The climb had been demanding, but his rocky hide proved the perfect location to conclude the hunt.
The shot was muffled in the snow covered canyon, but the animal collapsed in the snow a successful conclusion to the hunt. This was his 12th mountain goat, many miles and years from his first successful goat hunt, an American Mountain Goat in the cliffs of British Columbia, Canada, in 1998.
Some interesting points about his journey:
* The journey took him 24 years to complete, although he was sidetracked in many other hunting adventures that did not focus on capri critters.
* He hunted seven different countries to collect all 12 animals. Spain has the most Capri species and he made two trips there to collect four different Ibex species and one chamois.
* He did not take one animal on his list in the United States. The only capri species that reside in the United States is the American Mountain Goat.
* He did not take one animal on his list in the United States. The only capri species that reside in the United States is the American Mountain Goat.
* Goat hunting is conducted in steep, often very dangerous country. The most physically challenging hunt of the 12 was the first in British Columbia. He says he was young, foolish and inexperienced. But it worked out.
* The most scenic hunt was Tahr in New Zealand.
* The most scenic hunt was Tahr in New Zealand.
* His all-time favorite was Southeastern Ibex in Spain. It took three days for it all to come together. This animal also marked the 400th Ibex his professional hunter had taken in his career.
Here are some details of his 12 hunts:
1998 Canada American Mountain Goat
2006 New Zealand New Zealand Tahr
2006 New Zealand New Zealand Chamois
2011 Slovenia Alpine Chamois
2010 Macedonia Belkan Chamois
2012 Spain Gredos Ibex
2012 Spain Beceite Ibex
2012 Spain Cantabrian Chamoix
2012 France Pyenean Chamois
2021 Spain Ronda Ibex
2021 Spain Southeastern SpanishIbex
2022 Romania Carpathian Chamois
He is thankful to many who contributed to this effort. The journey has provided him with a lifetime of memories and relationships which he will cherish forever. Most of all he thanks the Lord Jesus Christ who gave him the strength, stamina and protection over many years. He is the One who got him up the mountains, got him down – most often the hardest steps- and saw him safely home again.
Psalms 104:18, "The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the hyrax."
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