Pack Goats

[packgoatguy]

My thoughts exactly; but to take it a step further, many times a lack of conditioning can be mistaken for a lack of 'heart' or 'work ethic,' and I myself have owned goats that initially seemed to be terrible workers, but once they had a few trips under them, they turned around. Sure, there are always a few bad eggs, but they are usually culled from pack goat herds very early on. As long as you stay within the main packing breeds, you generally wont have to deal with too many attitude issues, at least not any that cant be fixed with trail time and more conditioning.

[Jake Levi]

I agree, the best breeds for packing I have seen are Saanens and Alpines and crosses of them, a number of people on the packgoat forum have some excellent ones with a 1/4 to a 1/3rd Boer in them which has given them some bigger goats, I have one Boer/Alpine cross and he is going to be big, otoh I have a Boer/Kiko doeling out of a big Kiko doe who is very shortlegged, from the Boer sire. She does weigh up nice, I am going to breed her in the spring back to a Kiko, as well as my Alpine does to a large framed Kiko and hope for some of those 200+ wethers for pack goats.

I am hoping to pack out one of our Wa elk in a year or two with them.

[packgoatguy]

Why wait a year or two? it sounds like you already have some packers, wont they do the job just the same on an elk? Boned out, (which you have to do with goats anyways,) an elk wont be more than 200lbs (quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins) especially if you do some of your trimming onsite. So, worst case you need 4 goats, and if the bull is a little smaller, you only need 3 goats. When I bow hunt, Im ten miles back in, all by my lonesome, and I just take just 3 goats and 28lbs of gear for 3-5 days at a time. I can get out with a boned out elk by myself on a one way trip back to the truck no problem. I typically have a couple obers and a lamancha, or three obers, or a couple obers and an alpine with me. Alpines are great, but I like the Obers for their color (its just my opinion, but I figure they look kind of like a calf elk, so I figure they are less distracting to my quarry) and their work ethic. They arent that big, but they work hard. That said, I will reiterait one of my previous concepts, breed to breed you will have good and bad. Out of my 3 top goats (out of 17), one is an Ober, one is a Lamancha, and one is a Sannen. Perhaps someday someone will come up with the perfect combination of cross breeding to make the 'perfect' pack goat, but for me, the goats of today do the job just fine, and have exceeded all of my own expectations.

[Jake Levi]

I dont have a permit this year, I am hoping for one next year, and will be hopefully packing out a couple of deer next year. I am selecting the Kiko buck in one of the darker colors, they come in all, one that I like is a brown, but may see another one I like better, it will depend on the frame and temperament. My two Alpine/Sannens are white, and the Boer/Alpine is a white body with darker head. From what I am reading and talking to people neither elk or deer are put off by the goats color, we shall see.

I have confidence that the guys I have now will do well packing out meat. I might be getting two more older ones that a guy needs to sell. With them I'll have a pretty good string.

[royinidaho]

What about the "rib cage issue". Had a friend that had to go back and pack out the rib cage to appease the fish cop.

Not a biggie, I wouldn't think, as I like elk and deer ribs, as an after meal discussion/story tellin' nibbling thing.

Another plus for goats is that the will 'bark' a russian olive tree and I have tons of those suckers.

[Jake Levi]

Not an issue for me either, I like them, they can go on the outside layer of the panniers. Meat in, and the ribs to the outside, just like the goat is wearing.

[MHO]

That is great. Thanks for sharing.