The mountain goat that completed Ron Niziolek’s historic Wyoming Archery Slam fell on a horribly steep slope with only one grassy hump where photos were possible. (Author photo)
February 28, 2026
By Chuck Adams
Woody was perched on the edge of a cliff with bow balanced across his knees and binoculars glued to his eyes. Five hundred yards away, a lone white dot was moving up a vertical face of rock. Only a mountain goat, with its spongy hooves, could maneuver such a place without plunging to certain death.
My friend Ron Niziolek was on a mission. Months before, he had checked the big-game lottery section of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department website. You could have scraped his eyes off with a stick. After 43 years of applying for a coveted Rocky Mountain goat tag, Ron had finally drawn! The odds varied by hunt unit from one in 150 to one in 1,000. That tag was special.
Ron is a...
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