BGHT: Baldo Bags Trophy Goat

TERRACE, BRITISH COLUMBIA--Retired Roscoe educator Dan Baldo has a hunting passion passed down from his grandfather who he is named after and that passion paid off recently when he shot a mountain goat in Terrance, British Columbia that will make the Boone & Crocket (B & C) record book.

Dan described his grandfather as an Italian immigrant who worked for the D & H Railroad and had a sports shop in Oneonta and gave him his first shotgun (a Browning 16 gauge auto-5) at the age of 12. "We spent my hours afield together and later in life I learned even more from Ken Cole who is retired from IBM and lives in Binghamton.

Baldo noted that he was hunting with Milligan Outfitting (Bob & Michelle) in Terrace, British Columbia and "on September 22 Scott Miller (guide) and I flew into Fuch Lake that has an elevation of 1,700 feet and the lakes are glacier fed and this location is on top of the Pacific Range mountains and on the shoulders......just beautiful."

Dan pointed out that "after spending 40 hours in the tent (reading a book) due to the really poor weather conditions we waited for the weather to clear and started out to hunt."

During the process of setting up the tent in driving rain the tent was very wet inside, "but thanks to proper equipment we and our gear kept dry," Baldo said.

Dan described an experience he had during the night when "I thought I heard thunder which turned out to be a rock slide and that is why the outfitter told me there were only two options for a safe campsite."

"Never saw a slide but heard three during our stay and one was such that a slight vibration could be felt," Baldo said.

On September 24 Dan said it was still raining but that since it was beginning to clear "we decided to put on our rain-gear and hunt."

The first mountain goat they saw was over a mile away which required the use of a row boat to cross the lake. Baldo stressed the fact that the terrain was very steep and wet and that it was almost impossible to keeps ones footing.

"I fell uphill and downhill and was feeling bad until I realized that my guide, 24 years old, a six footer and rugged as an ox is falling as well and I wish I had counted the number of times I fell," Dan said.

It took Baldo and the guide several hours to realize that the "Billy" (the mountain goat they were stalking) was only about five years of age and too small and that they could do better finding an eight year old.

From their new vantage point they could see six goats about three miles away on the other side of the lake above their tent which they could not have seen from the campsite because of the lay of the land.

While ascending downhill to the lake he heard Scott the guide yell as he apparently slipped and rolled and slid some 100 feet suffering a scraped right hand and bleeding and at that point in time they had to perform some first aid.

They saw many blueberry bushes during this hunt and often helped themselves to the ripe fruit.

"Once across the lake we started another ascent and after two more hours we were within 800 yards and saw three billy's, one nanny and one kid but were a little nervous because we did not know where the other goat was and did not want to spook them," Baldo noted.

From their vantage point in a boulder field they used large rocks for cover and the two moved slowly and quietly to within 200 yards but they encountered two very large rocks in front of them and knew it was impossible to go around them or over them without being seen.

A major decision had to made at this point of the hunt as the two decided to squeeze between them but had to walk through two and a half feet of water.

"We knew water would would be in our boots and that is this stalk was not successful we would not be able to hunt the next day until all was again dry," Dan said.

Baldo was reaching the important critical point of this hunt as guide Scott glassed (looking through binoculars) and quietly told Dan is was 165 yards and that the lower billy was the one and was still 165 yards.

Baldo described the hunt at this point saying, "my 300 WSM Browning was on at 100 yards and two inches low at 200 yards and so I knew the shot was mine. When I looked through the scope the cross-hairs were all over the place. Excited...I stopped, took a deep breath and started over again. By now the billy had turned to give me a perfect quartering shot and the hunter/experience in me took over. The cross-hairs were dead behind the shoulder when I felt the kick and the goat immediately went down....I worked the bolt but felt a hand on my shoulder and Scott with a big grin said it is all over."

Scott asked Dan what he had been thinking just before the shot and his response was "after all the falls I was just hoping the gun would still be on and I asked Scott what he was thinking and he said I was praying that the Lord had given me a client who could shoot straight because you just harvested a B & C mountain goat."

As they approached the downed goat Baldo said, "I knew he looked big but had not idea."

For a goat to make the record book is must score 50 or higher and this is determined when they measure the length of the horn and circumference at four different points.

Baldo's goat green score (score right after the kill) was in the mid 50's and they then waitr six months and measure again after the horns have dried and shrunk and they then must still measure 50 plus.

Dan's mountain goat is such that it will still be well above 50 after the drying period. The world record for horn length is 11 inches and Baldo's is 10.25 some 0.75 inches shorter but as Baldo noted, "sound close but that other 0.75 inches is very hard to come by."

When asked about the overall hunt Dan said, "I must say that his hunt was the most difficult I have ever been on....even more strenuous than by Dall Sheep hunt and I am blessed to be able to have done this at my age and with two artificial knees."

Baldo started teaching science in Roscoe in 1962, was associate Dean of Students at Hofstra University in 1969-70, came to Sullivan County Community College and spent most of his time as Athletic Director and Admissions and retired in 2002 as Director of Admissions.

Dan and wife Gwen celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on June 22 of this year. Their two sons, Anthony is an engineer at Hersey Corporation in Pennsylvania and Jay is a counselor at New Hartford Central School in upstate New York. They enjoy many good times with four grandchildren. Both Dan and Gwen are avid golfers with Dan serving on the Twin Village Golf Club Board of Directors and is in charge of upkeep and maintenance of the greens and fairways.

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