VIDEO: Rare Rocky Mountain goat sighting on Mount Hood

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — A pair of hikers say they happened upon a rare Rocky Mountain goat sighting on Mount Hood on July 27.

Oregon resident Jackson Smith told KOIN 6 News that he was backpacking with a friend on Yocum Ridge Trail at approximately 5 p.m. when they spotted the goat descending the cliffside.

“I heard some rock fall along the ridge to our north and looked up to see this Rocky Mountain Goat about 30 to 50 yards away from us,” Smith said. “We were both completely shocked, but stayed still and silent as the goat began its descent down the ridge towards the Sandy River below.”

According to the U.S. Forest Service, the Rocky Mountain goat’s range extends from Southeastern Alaska to the Washington side of the Columbia River. Populations are also found in Idaho and Western Montana, and in the Southern Yukon. Mount Hood National Forest spokesperson Raven Reese told KOIN 6 News that there are “occasional reports” of mountain goats on Mount Hood. However, the sightings are rarely confirmed, she said.

“We don’t have an established population and are not working to reintroduce them,” Reese said. “Any goats seen are likely dispersed or vagrants from established populations elsewhere.”

Mountain goats were reintroduced to parts of their native range in Alaska, Alberta, Idaho, Montana, and Washington in the 1900s after their populations were overhunted by European immigrants in the 1800s, the USFS website states. The goats were also introduced to areas outside of their known historical range in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Colorado, Utah and Nevada.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, all mountain goats found in Oregon are the result of past efforts to reintroduce the animal to the area by hunting groups and the ODFW. As a result, the animals are sparingly found in the steep and rugged terrain of the Wallowa, Elkhorn and Strawberry Mountains in Eastern Oregon, and in the Central Cascades near Mount Jefferson.

“Rocky Mountain goats are Oregon’s rarest game mammal,” the ODFW website states.

While mountain goats are more common in Eastern Oregon and in the Central Cascades, ODFW spokesperson Michelle Dennehy told KOIN 6 News that lone billy goats have been spotted on Mount Hood several times since 2020.

“We have had a few different lone mountain goats on Mount Hood for the last several years,” Dennehy said. “One [goat] has been sighted near Mount Hood Meadows or Timberline several times this summer. They are likely migrants from the Mount Jefferson releases or could have even come across from the Washington populations.”

Smith said that he and his friend are avid outdoorsmen, and that they had never seen a mountain goat on Mount Hood prior to Saturday’s sighting. Watch Smith's rare goat encounter in the video included at the top of this story.

“The experience was completely amazing,” Smith said. “... Both my friend and I were completely shocked and in awe at the sudden appearance of the goat, pinching ourselves as neither of us were aware that there were goats on Mount Hood.”