I have seen llamas, mules, horses but never pack goats? I was watching the Amazon show called Element. I guess copy rights won't let me post the link. The 2 hunters are in Nevada hunting high country mule deer. The truck is pulling a livestock trailer.
They open it and out come two Spanish goats. And yes they are used to pack the meat out from the harvested deer. I guess if you are starving kill the goats and have cabrito? I don't know. Check it out if you get a chance.
I have several friends here in Idaho that use their pack goats a lot. They will easily carry 25-50# of gear or extra water. They use them for the above timberline deer and sheep/goat hunts. The animals are cheaper, friendlier than llamas, and have a lot less issues. Don't have to take any extra food for them either.
Related Book Raising Goats For Dummies By Cheryl K. Smith
If you’re raising goats as part of your effort to live a green lifestyle, you may want to train them for packing. Although you can train almost any goat to pack, you’re better off looking for a goat with certain qualities:
Large: Dairy wethers are the most highly valued goats for packing. The bigger they are, the more they can carry.
Friendly and energetic: Pack goats have to work with you as a team, so they’d better like humans. They also need to be able to take on the task of walking and carrying supplies. Intelligent and curious: Intelligence and curiosity are good indicators that the goat can be successfully trained to pack. They will be in new and different situations where curiosity, rather than fearfulness, is important.
1. Teach your goat to accept being tied. This is important because the goat will need to be tied when you stop to camp, eat, or just rest. Make sure your goat has a sturdy collar that isn’t too loose. Tie the goat to a gate or fence at back height with a rope or lead that is a foot to a foot-and-a-half long for a short period of time. Stay nearby to ensure that your goat doesn’t get hurt. If the goat starts to get tangled up, calmly untangle him and tie him to the fence again. The goat should accept being tied up after only a few sessions.
2. Teach your goat to follow you. You will be leading your goat when you pack.
3. Teach your goat to stand. Your goat will need to know to stand when you’re putting the pack saddle on him, or at other times on the trail. When you are lead training and you come to a halt, say “Stand” or “Stop.” Pull up on the lead rope if your goat doesn’t stop. Practice this repeatedly, rewarding your goat when he complies, until he gets it.
4. Teach your goat to wear a pannier. He will need a pannier to carry gear. Otherwise your goat will just be hiking, rather than packing. First, show your goat the pannier and let him examine it. Gently place the pad and saddle on his back. Tighten the cinch strap, then fasten the breast collar and, last, fasten the rump strap. Check to make sure that two fingers fit between the goat and the cinch strap.
Let your goat get used to wearing the pannier while it’s empty and to go through steps one through three. Take him hiking with it empty. Before you load up the pannier to go on a hike, determine how much weight your goat can safely carry. Overloading a pack can injure the goat. A yearling pack goat can carry 10 percent of its body weight in a pannier. An older goat can carry up to 15 percent of its body weight.
Combat Infantryman, the ultimate hunter where the prey shoots back. _____________"Illegitimus non carborundum est"_______________
If you are thinking of using them for elk hunting, you are correct. A big wether will only weigh around 200#, allowing them to carry 30-50#. Even really big and in-shape llamas can only pack 80-100 lb each. My friends take 4 of them on an outing.
The advantage is they will go for days on no food and little water, and can climb where no horse or llama would ever think of going. Makes them perfect for mtn sheep, mtn goats, or muley bucks above timberline.
A friend of mine had 2 goats that were pack animals when he hunted Montana. They wore blaze orange coats and helped him pack out his mule deer. Great animals to have around. Easy to care for, dont get spooked smelling blood. They work great.
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