swbuckmaster
Long Time Member
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I tried to post this in the general hunting but got a 504 error so pleas bear with me.
I have had several pm?s lately concerning pack goats. So I thought I would post a little information on them. Pack goats have been around for thousands of years but only recently have been used in the United States for packing. Pack goats are the poor mans pack stock. They don't pack anything close to what a horse can carry but come close to what a lama can carry. There are people working on a few breeds that are coming very close to what a Lama can carry right now. I will list their names later.
A typical pack goat can carry 25%-30% of their weight. If you get a goat from a pack goat breeder they typically weigh around 200 lbs and up to as much as 300 lbs. This equates to 60-90 lbs of gear. I don't pack mine any were near that much. I usually don't go over 45 to 55 lbs on any of my goats. Don?t expect a goat to keep up with you when you aren't carrying anything especially if he has been sitting in the pasture all year long. Goats need to be kept in shape if expected to perform well.
Goats after initial start up are fairly cheep. Here is the break down on cost. $1000.00 for a 8x10 trailer with 4? sides. The will load in the back of a truck though. My fence and shelter cost about $1000.00. You can't skimp on fencing because a goat can jump out of a 5 foot enclosure if they want. They also like to stand on the fence. If you have seven goats like I do and they all stand on the fence at the same time they can smash your tee post to the ground. My friend just stakes his goats to a tee post and rotates them around and hasn't had any problems yet! The cost of a goat is $50 to $250 per goat depending on who you get them from. I would only buy on the higher end now. You get what you pay for. A single goat can probably eat a flake of hay a day off a small bail. Which equals $5.00 or less a week per goat. If you have land it will cost less to feed them in the summer.
Their gear can be purchased from several different companies. I really like North West Pack Goat Supply for their saddles and packs, although I have saddles and packs from Owyhee Packgoat Supplies. Packs and Saddles combination will cost anywhere from $150-$300 per goat depending on who you get them from.
As for training a goat I just let them follow me around when they are young and when they are big enough I put a saddle on them and have never had a problem. The first few I had took off with the packs and were pretty funny watching them try to rub them off on everything but after a few minutes they were fine and I haven't had any problems since. My goats that have been with older working goats always took the pack with out any problems. The hardest thing to train for is water crossings. Goats don't care for water. I usually just left them and kept on walking once you get out of sight they will come running. Mine just step in and cross now.
For hunting with your goats you can do really well with a rifle with your goats buy your side with their packs. I have to take off the packs if I want to get close to anything with my bow. Elk don't seem to be too scared of goats. We have gotten as close as 15 yards away from a 6 point elk with two guys and 6 goats buy our side. We simply just walked up to the heard and started flinging arrows. This is also a spike only area with a lot of sheep and having white goats might have had something to do with that. Deer are a lot more skittish. I have called them in the rut and if they can't smell you or see you the sounds of goats eating and walking brings them in ultra close. I posted pictures of that deer last year. I'll post them again along with a few other pictures.
In Utah you can rent goats from High Uinta Pack Goats for $20 a day. They come with every thing needed.
If you are interested in a great book on pack goats you can get one from ECPG for $17.95+3.00 for shipping it is called Practical Goatpacking. Call them at 1-503-637-3021 or send them an e-mail at [email protected]
Here are a few other web sights I would recommend to get you started
www.northwestpackgoats.com
www.owyheepackgoatsupplies.com
Here is a picture of a great line of pack goats they don't get much bigger than these right now. This goat is over 250 lbs and close to 40 inches tall at the shoulder. This is also a two and a half year old with a lot of growing to go. They don't mature until they are around 4 years old. Info on this line of goats contact [email protected]
Here is a picture of some of Clay?s goats from High Uinta Pack Goats His were the larger ones. Mine were only a year old at that time. www.highuintapackgoats.com For renting goats in Tooele Utah
successful 2004,2005, and 2006 archery hunts using goats for scouting or packing meat out.
Scouting with my kids
My friend Andy's goat with my daughter.
And finaly you simply cant hunt any lighter and more comfortable than using a Clark Jungle Hammock. Most serious goat packers are using these 4 season tents. They only weigh 3 lbs stuff into a sack about the size of a volley ball and set up in less than 5 minutes. www.junglehammock.com
A Bive sack with a pad is still this heavy and sleaping on the ground sucks...
I have had several pm?s lately concerning pack goats. So I thought I would post a little information on them. Pack goats have been around for thousands of years but only recently have been used in the United States for packing. Pack goats are the poor mans pack stock. They don't pack anything close to what a horse can carry but come close to what a lama can carry. There are people working on a few breeds that are coming very close to what a Lama can carry right now. I will list their names later.
A typical pack goat can carry 25%-30% of their weight. If you get a goat from a pack goat breeder they typically weigh around 200 lbs and up to as much as 300 lbs. This equates to 60-90 lbs of gear. I don't pack mine any were near that much. I usually don't go over 45 to 55 lbs on any of my goats. Don?t expect a goat to keep up with you when you aren't carrying anything especially if he has been sitting in the pasture all year long. Goats need to be kept in shape if expected to perform well.
Goats after initial start up are fairly cheep. Here is the break down on cost. $1000.00 for a 8x10 trailer with 4? sides. The will load in the back of a truck though. My fence and shelter cost about $1000.00. You can't skimp on fencing because a goat can jump out of a 5 foot enclosure if they want. They also like to stand on the fence. If you have seven goats like I do and they all stand on the fence at the same time they can smash your tee post to the ground. My friend just stakes his goats to a tee post and rotates them around and hasn't had any problems yet! The cost of a goat is $50 to $250 per goat depending on who you get them from. I would only buy on the higher end now. You get what you pay for. A single goat can probably eat a flake of hay a day off a small bail. Which equals $5.00 or less a week per goat. If you have land it will cost less to feed them in the summer.
Their gear can be purchased from several different companies. I really like North West Pack Goat Supply for their saddles and packs, although I have saddles and packs from Owyhee Packgoat Supplies. Packs and Saddles combination will cost anywhere from $150-$300 per goat depending on who you get them from.
As for training a goat I just let them follow me around when they are young and when they are big enough I put a saddle on them and have never had a problem. The first few I had took off with the packs and were pretty funny watching them try to rub them off on everything but after a few minutes they were fine and I haven't had any problems since. My goats that have been with older working goats always took the pack with out any problems. The hardest thing to train for is water crossings. Goats don't care for water. I usually just left them and kept on walking once you get out of sight they will come running. Mine just step in and cross now.
For hunting with your goats you can do really well with a rifle with your goats buy your side with their packs. I have to take off the packs if I want to get close to anything with my bow. Elk don't seem to be too scared of goats. We have gotten as close as 15 yards away from a 6 point elk with two guys and 6 goats buy our side. We simply just walked up to the heard and started flinging arrows. This is also a spike only area with a lot of sheep and having white goats might have had something to do with that. Deer are a lot more skittish. I have called them in the rut and if they can't smell you or see you the sounds of goats eating and walking brings them in ultra close. I posted pictures of that deer last year. I'll post them again along with a few other pictures.
In Utah you can rent goats from High Uinta Pack Goats for $20 a day. They come with every thing needed.
If you are interested in a great book on pack goats you can get one from ECPG for $17.95+3.00 for shipping it is called Practical Goatpacking. Call them at 1-503-637-3021 or send them an e-mail at [email protected]
Here are a few other web sights I would recommend to get you started
www.northwestpackgoats.com
www.owyheepackgoatsupplies.com
Here is a picture of a great line of pack goats they don't get much bigger than these right now. This goat is over 250 lbs and close to 40 inches tall at the shoulder. This is also a two and a half year old with a lot of growing to go. They don't mature until they are around 4 years old. Info on this line of goats contact [email protected]
Here is a picture of some of Clay?s goats from High Uinta Pack Goats His were the larger ones. Mine were only a year old at that time. www.highuintapackgoats.com For renting goats in Tooele Utah
successful 2004,2005, and 2006 archery hunts using goats for scouting or packing meat out.
Scouting with my kids
My friend Andy's goat with my daughter.
And finaly you simply cant hunt any lighter and more comfortable than using a Clark Jungle Hammock. Most serious goat packers are using these 4 season tents. They only weigh 3 lbs stuff into a sack about the size of a volley ball and set up in less than 5 minutes. www.junglehammock.com
A Bive sack with a pad is still this heavy and sleaping on the ground sucks...
