Oreamnos americanus mountain goats are known as goat antelopes as they are not true goats but are closely related to goats, so they are placed in the family Bovidae. Mountain goats being agile climbers are also known as Rocky mountain or stocky.

General Characteristics:

• Both males and females are covered with a dense white coat, with underfur.
• The coat is thick enough to protect them from the intense temperature drops of about −51 °F and fast winds at the rate of 99 mph.
• Hoofed animal with muscular legs.
• Horns are black, about 27 cm long, and have prominent growth rings.
• Both males and females have beards and short tails.
• The height is about 1 meter from shoulder to waist.

• The average weight of a mountain goat is about 140 kg.
• The feet have sharp dewclaws and cloven hooves that can be separated.
• Mountain goats also have another adaptation of teeth according to their diet, as they have eight teeth on the top. Their teeth wear down with age.
• Mountain goats can jump to about 12 feet in a single bound.
• The mountain goats molt by rubbing themselves against rocks and trees in spring. 
• They can live up to 9 to 12 years in a wild environment.

Habitat and Range of Mountain Goat:

Cliffs, mountains, and other high-altitude habitats are most preferred by climbing mountain goats. Mountain goats are alpine or subalpine mammals.

They are distributed from Yukon and Alaska to Utah, Montana, Alberta, Alaska. British Columbia has a more dense population. Mountain goats are also introduced to some regions of Kodiak Island, the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, the Olympic Peninsula of Washington, the Black Hills of South Dakota, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah.

Diet of Mountain Goat:

They are herbivores and eat,

• Grasses
• Herbs
• Foliage
• Twigs
• Lichens
• Sedges
• Ferns
• Grain
• Alfalfa
• Fruits
• Vegetables
• Grass
• Shrubs
• Mosses

Life Cycle of Mountain Goat:

Climbing mountain goats live in herds while males are solitary. Mountain goats are sexually mature at the age of 30 months. Female goats are nannies, while males are billies. The gestation period is six months, and kids are born in late May or early June. The kid weighs about 3.6kg. 

Mountain Goat Hunting:

Mountain goats are the warriors of mountains. The hunters have to face a lot of dangers to get the perfect shot at such a high altitude. Mountain goat hunting is a game of dedicated passion and planning, and research. The hunter must keep the following things in consideration while going for mountain goat hunting, and these are,

• The hunter must be in better physical condition for sure because the hunter has to climb to the higher steep and sloppy mountains and cliffs to get a once-in-a-lifetime tag.
• The excellent and expensive gear for the perfect shot.
• Spend time in the field to know all the odds.
• Select the best hunting winter season when the mountain goat coat is in good condition.
• Select an appropriate outfit for the hunt. Lelex Shop has the best hunting apparel that is comfortable and keeps you warm during the hunting of mountain goats at such high mountains.
• When talking about gear, different people have different choices; some like to hunt mountain goats with bow hunting, so carbon arrows are a perfect choice, while others go with rifle hunting.
• Mountain goats are “Cragmasters,” so you have to practice the steep angle shots.