If you want to keep hunting the more remote places into older age, you'll want some kind of stock to pack with. I've used goats many times as well as horses and mules. Goats can be a hand full packing meat out of a deep hole but it's nothing like hauling it out on your back. You see some of these old timers (35 - 40) who have many years of packing meat out on their backs. Amongst other things, their knees are gravel. Good goats are great.
Pack Goats
- Thread starter adamsoa
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Things are pickin' up in the pack goat arena.....
Had a visit the other day w/packgoatguy. Took a look at his goats. About all a guy can say is that "they ugly!" Friendly but bonier than all get out.
Checked out the goat hauling equipment. Have about everything needed. That's good.
My fences suc to say the least. Will have to workaround that or upgrade over time.
Checked out an add in the Thrifty Nickel.
Lady has been raising Saanens for 50 years. Said she had some wethers @ 100 lbs. Just right for butchering. Very well fed young ones. They must grow like a lamb. About a pound a day for 100 days.
Was shocked to see the bucks that sired these fellas. Biggest **** goats I've ever seen. Conservatively estimated by owner to be over 300 pounds. Stunk like hell......
I think I bit the boolit and committed to 2 of the little suckers. Gonna be hell to pay around the house when I bring 'em in.
Not quite ready for them but since when am I ready for anything I start.
I'm figgering these suckers will be ready for at least some light packing by this fall.
Till then I'm gonna be larnin' how ta train a goat. and how to keep the suckers at home..... May have to turn into a Bedouin.
Had a visit the other day w/packgoatguy. Took a look at his goats. About all a guy can say is that "they ugly!" Friendly but bonier than all get out.
Checked out the goat hauling equipment. Have about everything needed. That's good.
My fences suc to say the least. Will have to workaround that or upgrade over time.
Checked out an add in the Thrifty Nickel.
Lady has been raising Saanens for 50 years. Said she had some wethers @ 100 lbs. Just right for butchering. Very well fed young ones. They must grow like a lamb. About a pound a day for 100 days.
Was shocked to see the bucks that sired these fellas. Biggest **** goats I've ever seen. Conservatively estimated by owner to be over 300 pounds. Stunk like hell......
I think I bit the boolit and committed to 2 of the little suckers. Gonna be hell to pay around the house when I bring 'em in.
Not quite ready for them but since when am I ready for anything I start.
I'm figgering these suckers will be ready for at least some light packing by this fall.
Till then I'm gonna be larnin' how ta train a goat.
and how to keep the suckers at home..... May have to turn into a Bedouin.
jmden
Well-Known Member
Things are pickin' up in the pack goat arena.....
Had a visit the other day w/packgoatguy. Took a look at his goats. About all a guy can say is that "they ugly!" Friendly but bonier than all get out.
Checked out the goat hauling equipment. Have about everything needed. That's good.
My fences suc to say the least. Will have to workaround that or upgrade over time.
Checked out an add in the Thrifty Nickel.
Lady has been raising Saanens for 50 years. Said she had some wethers @ 100 lbs. Just right for butchering. Very well fed young ones. They must grow like a lamb. About a pound a day for 100 days.
Was shocked to see the bucks that sired these fellas. Biggest **** goats I've ever seen. Conservatively estimated by owner to be over 300 pounds. Stunk like hell......
I think I bit the boolit and committed to 2 of the little suckers. Gonna be hell to pay around the house when I bring 'em in.
Not quite ready for them but since when am I ready for anything I start.
I'm figgering these suckers will be ready for at least some light packing by this fall.
Till then I'm gonna be larnin' how ta train a goat.
Oh, man, Roy! Now you gone and done it! This should be good to sit back and watch!
Really...good luck, man. I'll be watching closely. Time is marching on and at some point, packing 100+ lb loads routinely is going to lose it's romance and the goat thing intrigues me.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
@ the ripe old age of 69, I can still get around the mountains pretty well. Just slower since all of this bad parts removal has been going on.
I have till Monday to back out on the deal, then the little fellas go for taco meat or somethin'. I think they'd be happier as pack goats.
I was assured that they will very closely approach the weight of their daddy. Kirt packed out, a short distance (about a mile) a nice 6X6 bull on two goats that may go 170 if really fat.
This thing may be a real cartoon show. Pretty much like breakin' my first horse at the age of 40. What a disaster that was.
tomorrow start the pen building to get a bit of a handle on 'em. It took about an half hour for two of them to pick me out. I just stood around and pretty soon two were attempting to chonk down on my jeans. Did I hear someone say "Goat Whisperer".
When in the hell am I ever gonna grow up?
BTW, I've been thinking hard about one of your tents. I came up with a best choice for me as the cowboy tent of which yours is light years ahead.
I have till Monday to back out on the deal, then the little fellas go for taco meat or somethin'. I think they'd be happier as pack goats.
I was assured that they will very closely approach the weight of their daddy. Kirt packed out, a short distance (about a mile) a nice 6X6 bull on two goats that may go 170 if really fat.
This thing may be a real cartoon show.
Pretty much like breakin' my first horse at the age of 40. What a disaster that was.tomorrow start the pen building to get a bit of a handle on 'em. It took about an half hour for two of them to pick me out. I just stood around and pretty soon two were attempting to chonk down on my jeans. Did I hear someone say "Goat Whisperer".
When in the hell am I ever gonna grow up?
BTW, I've been thinking hard about one of your tents. I came up with a best choice for me as the cowboy tent of which yours is light years ahead.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Progress. . .
Made up some collars patterned after dog collars made for when I was in the stock dog training phase of life. Rigged some long leads for initial handling of the little suckers. Used about 20 feet of cotton clothes line rope. (Hope they don't eat it)
Made a couple of ground ties with clips and light chain. Gonna tie 'em like dogs on a 10 foot change until they have a bit of a handle on 'em. @ a bit over 100# I won't simply be pickin' 'em up and shoving 'em in the trailer.
Speaking of trailers, when visiting w/packgoatguy I saw his goat hauling rigs. They ranged from very large enclosed things that it would take a 3/4 ton rig to tug around, a chopped of rear part of a pick up truck (I've had those) to a cobbled up cow panel set up on a small 4x4 trailer.
The small 4x4 trailer caught my attention. I have a 4x8 trailer that folds for storage. Its too small for big work and too large for little work. . . I have some of the came cattle panels and will spend this morning cobbling the thing into a goat hauler. This should be really good. Standard rules apply. No more than one trip to town and two visits to Jim's to bum stuff (Did I mention that he has several of everything, if he can find them.)
Tomorrow I get the goats... I will have no physical help as the lady that has them is a spry and wise lady who won't touch them. She has her milker ewes pretty well trained. I flanked a 125# calf last Saturday and survived so we'll see about tomorrow. Funny videos, here we come.
Made up some collars patterned after dog collars made for when I was in the stock dog training phase of life. Rigged some long leads for initial handling of the little suckers. Used about 20 feet of cotton clothes line rope. (Hope they don't eat it)
Made a couple of ground ties with clips and light chain. Gonna tie 'em like dogs on a 10 foot change until they have a bit of a handle on 'em. @ a bit over 100# I won't simply be pickin' 'em up and shoving 'em in the trailer.
Speaking of trailers, when visiting w/packgoatguy I saw his goat hauling rigs. They ranged from very large enclosed things that it would take a 3/4 ton rig to tug around, a chopped of rear part of a pick up truck (I've had those
) to a cobbled up cow panel set up on a small 4x4 trailer.The small 4x4 trailer caught my attention. I have a 4x8 trailer that folds for storage. Its too small for big work and too large for little work. . . I have some of the came cattle panels and will spend this morning cobbling the thing into a goat hauler. This should be really good.
Standard rules apply. No more than one trip to town and two visits to Jim's to bum stuff (Did I mention that he has several of everything, if he can find them.)Tomorrow I get the goats... I will have no physical help as the lady that has them is a spry and wise lady who won't touch them. She has her milker ewes pretty well trained. I flanked a 125# calf last Saturday and survived so we'll see about tomorrow. Funny videos, here we come.
I saw goats on a pack trail to a lake in the Sawtooths this weekend. They were happy to be carrying and the hikers were thrilled to have nothing to carry! What a great relationship. The more I see these in action the more they impress me.
Anxious to see how you get along with the new adventure! I have about 4 acres that may turn into goat pasture!
Scot E.
Anxious to see how you get along with the new adventure! I have about 4 acres that may turn into goat pasture!
Scot E.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Today, the big activity was cobbling up a goat hauling trailer. Rules for this type of activity is that ya gotta use what's laying around the place, 1 trip to town and 2 trips to Jim's, the neighbor that has one each of anything.
packgoatguy has a trailer that is the front half of the one I have and hauls 3 goats. So the front half of mine otta do for a couple of little fellas.
Here's what I started with.
The first task was to come up with what we call around here, a cattle panel. 15.x X 40 inches. Not much searching brought me to what I needed that was part of a "scare fence". I'll worry about replacing it when the neighbor puts the horses back in the pasture.
The next task was to bend the the panel into a 3 sided configuration 4' x 4' x whatever ( the gap will be the door.).
Here's my first attempt at building a "bender". It didn't work out so well.
After scratching my noggin for a bit, I decide to use one of my trips to Jim's.
After some description and a crude drawing, a few hunting stories and wacking a couple of starlings, I returned with two pieces of 1/2 x 4 x 40 steel plate. (did I mention that Jim has a couple of anything.)
I replaced the cedar fence lath with the steel put the handle from the Handyman jack on the 2" pipe wrench (none of my tools are very large) and WhoopDeeDo a clean bend.
About that time I got hungry for breakfast. Looked like a good opportunity to pretend I was up in the mountains. Hey a fella can dream anytime he wishes.
I broke out the Maytag washer lid, uncovered the bbq and got the stuff together for some french toast. (If ya ever wanted a best of the best camp griddles, the Maytag washer lid, from the ancient wringer model my mother had, is the best of the best. You can be one of the goats will be packin' that sucker.
Seeing as I was at the house while this dream was happening, I grabbed my nifty Harbor Freight IR temp thingy to determine griddle temperature. The french toast was lookin' good. This is the temp. This thing is great for reading cartridge, chamber and barrel temperatures. Gave some meaningful data for input into Shooter for MV vs temperature.
Most projects have a tool list. Here's the list for this one.
A sad moment occurred during the activities. My long time faithful Habitat Invasion Vehicle Model 2 (HIV-II) was taken to the recycling yard. (Tears go here) Son-in-law ran her w/o oil, freezing the cams. (More tears go here.)
It's sad to note that I had to use my one alloted trip to town for parts. Made the run for a latch for the door. Didn't feel too bad about that. I made up for it by using a piece of clothes line rope to ensure that the locking snap for the latch wouldn't be misplaced.
It ain't purty, but what the heck does a goat know? One of these days the junk piles around the place are gonna get depleted and I'll be forced to give the local economy a boost.
Tomorrow the rodeo happens. Gotta figure a way, without bustin' a kidney loose or anything else for that matter, to get the goats through that door for the first time. Heck, it would take some convincing for me to jump through that sucker.
This is gonna be good. BTW, wiffie blew up, kind of, when she learned what I was working on was for. She grew up on a farm and knows I know nothing about getting ready before hand for dogs, horses, angora goats, and now these things. She mentioned I'm crazy. Guess she can't envision a goat carrying anything.
packgoatguy has a trailer that is the front half of the one I have and hauls 3 goats. So the front half of mine otta do for a couple of little fellas.
Here's what I started with.
The first task was to come up with what we call around here, a cattle panel. 15.x X 40 inches. Not much searching brought me to what I needed that was part of a "scare fence". I'll worry about replacing it when the neighbor puts the horses back in the pasture.
The next task was to bend the the panel into a 3 sided configuration 4' x 4' x whatever ( the gap will be the door.).
Here's my first attempt at building a "bender". It didn't work out so well.
After scratching my noggin for a bit, I decide to use one of my trips to Jim's.
After some description and a crude drawing, a few hunting stories and wacking a couple of starlings, I returned with two pieces of 1/2 x 4 x 40 steel plate. (did I mention that Jim has a couple of anything.
)I replaced the cedar fence lath with the steel put the handle from the Handyman jack on the 2" pipe wrench (none of my tools are very large
) and WhoopDeeDo a clean bend.
About that time I got hungry for breakfast. Looked like a good opportunity to pretend I was up in the mountains. Hey a fella can dream anytime he wishes.
I broke out the Maytag washer lid, uncovered the bbq and got the stuff together for some french toast. (If ya ever wanted a best of the best camp griddles, the Maytag washer lid, from the ancient wringer model my mother had, is the best of the best. You can be one of the goats will be packin' that sucker.
Seeing as I was at the house while this dream was happening, I grabbed my nifty Harbor Freight IR temp thingy to determine griddle temperature. The french toast was lookin' good. This is the temp. This thing is great for reading cartridge, chamber and barrel temperatures. Gave some meaningful data for input into Shooter for MV vs temperature.
Most projects have a tool list. Here's the list for this one.
A sad moment occurred during the activities. My long time faithful Habitat Invasion Vehicle Model 2 (HIV-II) was taken to the recycling yard. (Tears go here
) Son-in-law ran her w/o oil, freezing the cams. (More tears go here.)
It's sad to note that I had to use my one alloted trip to town for parts. Made the run for a latch for the door. Didn't feel too bad about that. I made up for it by using a piece of clothes line rope to ensure that the locking snap for the latch wouldn't be misplaced.
It ain't purty, but what the heck does a goat know?
One of these days the junk piles around the place are gonna get depleted and I'll be forced to give the local economy a boost.
Tomorrow the rodeo happens. Gotta figure a way, without bustin' a kidney loose or anything else for that matter, to get the goats through that door for the first time. Heck, it would take some convincing for me to jump through that sucker.
This is gonna be good. BTW, wiffie blew up, kind of, when she learned what I was working on was for. She grew up on a farm and knows I know nothing about getting ready before hand for dogs, horses, angora goats, and now these things. She mentioned I'm crazy. Guess she can't envision a goat carrying anything.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Darn things jump like gazelles!!!
Yep, its gotta top, same as the sides.
Yep, its gotta top, same as the sides.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
Well, that sure wasn't much of a rodeo. Took things slow and deliberate. Do I hear Goat Whisperer!!
Took about 10 minutes to get the one I was handling to lead. Mostly because the other guy was dragging his and mine wanted to keep up. He tossed his into the trailer. Mine loaded itself.
Loaded and ready to go:
Here's the sires. One is two the other is three. All I can say is they are big suckers.
Looks like theses Saanens are fully grown by maybe two years old???
Here's the goat lady saying bye bye.
Its sure different pulling that little trailer w/a 4.7 Durango than a 1.96 Zuki
Unloading @ my place.
This is gonna be a fun project. He hard part will be holding myself back and packin' them way too early.
I put 20 foot leads on the and tied them to the fence for awhile while I just messed around with them.
Then went for a 400 yard down and back walk. Said "Come on, Let's go" and started. By the time we got back they were following with ropes dragging and even checking themselves up when they went to pass me on a spurt of energy.
I have some fencing to do and don't think I'll have a problem with what I already have until they get larger.
So far, so good. Wiffee softened quite a bit thinking they are cute.
Took about 10 minutes to get the one I was handling to lead. Mostly because the other guy was dragging his and mine wanted to keep up.
He tossed his into the trailer. Mine loaded itself.Loaded and ready to go:
Here's the sires. One is two the other is three. All I can say is they are big suckers.
Looks like theses Saanens are fully grown by maybe two years old???
Here's the goat lady saying bye bye.
Its sure different pulling that little trailer w/a 4.7 Durango than a 1.96 Zuki
Unloading @ my place.
This is gonna be a fun project. He hard part will be holding myself back and packin' them way too early.
I put 20 foot leads on the and tied them to the fence for awhile while I just messed around with them.
Then went for a 400 yard down and back walk. Said "Come on, Let's go" and started. By the time we got back they were following with ropes dragging and even checking themselves up when they went to pass me on a spurt of energy.
I have some fencing to do and don't think I'll have a problem with what I already have until they get larger.
So far, so good. Wiffee softened quite a bit thinking they are cute.
barnesuser28
Well-Known Member
On the first pic either you dropped some rasins in there to help lure them in there, or the owner put some laxative in their food just to mess with you.
royinidaho
Well-Known Member
When a goat gets nervous they have two options, poop, pee or both!
On the first pic either you dropped some rasins in there to help lure them in there, or the owner put some laxative in their food just to mess with you.
