My goat packing experiment

[KMarch]

This is very cool

 

[Rookie season]

Thanks to your post I reached out to my buddy who does metal work. He is going to make a few plywood cutouts until we figure out a decent size for the metal components. I'm excited thanks for posting this.

 

[Bachto]

Thanks to your post I reached out to my buddy who does metal work. He is going to make a few plywood cutouts until we figure out a decent size for the metal components. I'm excited thanks for posting this.

I love to hear it! I am currently working on my own (with the input from another goat packer) crossbuck design. I should be able to have a prototype worked up here in the coming month or so.

 

[Rookie season]

I love to hear it! I am currently working on my own (with the input from another goat packer) crossbuck design. I should be able to have a prototype worked up here in the coming month or so.

That's cool, let me know what you develop. Are you switching designs because you found a flaw with this current style or are you just wanting to try somthing new?

 

[GoatPackr]

Kris,
I dont see the pictures if you attached them. That's awesome to hear you gave the lamancha breed a chance! They do look a bit goofy and he has the personality to match! He is probably the smartest goat I have and the least food motivated. The lamancha is the alpha in the pasture and a follower on the trail. My alpine is smaller than I would like, my kiddo picked him, but super friendly and loyal.
I also have one saanen, I'm excited to see what he can do. My nubian is probably the most friendly and hardest working on the trail but he gets bullied in the pasture. I also have a mix goat who does pretty well.
Hopefully this year I can cover some miles with them before the hunting season!

Pics of some of the boys.
My son with Cosmo at the fair. He won the dress up competition as a Craigslist add.

 

[welkin]

This is a great idea. Nourishing goats milk with breakfast and then you'd be ready for anything

 

[Highdesertpursuit]

Do you prefer the Oberhasli/Alpine or Lamancha/Alpine cross?

 

[Bachto]

Do you prefer the Oberhasli/Alpine or Lamancha/Alpine cross?

That's tough, one of my lamancha crosses is huge and is a beast on the trail. kind of a slow and steady. My 2 ober crosses are smaller but way more nimble and agile. It's hard to pick but I do wish I had a few more goats that were bigger like my Lamancha cross if I had to choose.

 

[Highdesertpursuit]

That's great info. I mostly hunt mule deer in an area with lots of deadfall, so sounds like the Oberhasli/Alpine cross might work better for me. Thanks for sharing all this info!

 

[Bachto]

That's great info. I mostly hunt mule deer in an area with lots of deadfall, so sounds like the Oberhasli/Alpine cross might work better for me. Thanks for sharing all this info!

It also depends on where you get the goat from. Just like dogs a goat can vary some from breeder to breeder. I would look for something in between smaller/agile and large/workhorse. Or get a few of each to have a diverse pack string.

 

[Highdesertpursuit]

That makes sense. I actually picked up (2) 2-year old Oberhaslis earlier this year. I've been taking them out for exercise on the weekends, and don't plan on putting any weight on them, other than the saddle, until next year. I have been very impressed with them so far. They seem to be more athletic than the Lamanchas and Alpines that I've been around, but they are obviously much smaller. For this reason I was hopping that the Alpine/Oberhasli cross would give me a bit more size to round out my string and still maintain the athleticism. I do seem to hear of a lot more people liking the Lamancha/Alpine cross, so I was curious to hear your take on it. Sounds like you really like them, so I will have to give the cross some more thought. It would be nice to have something a bit bigger.

 

[Bachto]

That makes sense. I actually picked up (2) 2-year old Oberhaslis earlier this year. I've been taking them out for exercise on the weekends, and don't plan on putting any weight on them, other than the saddle, until next year. I have been very impressed with them so far. They seem to be more athletic than the Lamanchas and Alpines that I've been around, but they are obviously much smaller. For this reason I was hopping that the Alpine/Oberhasli cross would give me a bit more size to round out my string and still maintain the athleticism. I do seem to hear of a lot more people liking the Lamancha/Alpine cross, so I was curious to hear your take on it. Sounds like you really like them, so I will have to give the cross some more thought. It would be nice to have something a bit bigger.

I have one goat that I got gifted lol He's a Kiko/Boer cross and the guy is a brute. By far the strongest and beefiest goat I have. The only problem is he was not raised to be a packer so I am having to try and leash train a 250 pound goat. It's been a wild experience but he's coming along.

 

[Highdesertpursuit]

I have one goat that I got gifted lol He's a Kiko/Boer cross and the guy is a brute. By far the strongest and beefiest goat I have. The only problem is he was not raised to be a packer so I am having to try and leash train a 250 pound goat. It's been a wild experience but he's coming along.

I see. Luckily these guys were already leash trained and had some experience following experienced packers.

 

[GoatPackr]

I really like my Alpine crosses. My favorite is all Alpine. The Alpine Lamancha cross is my close second choice.
I highly recommend staying with the dairy breeds and only having small amounts of meat goat in your string.
Packing is a marathon not a strong man competition. You want lean goats with long legs that will move efficiently.
Big muscled goats will struggle with endurance and tend to have shorter legs. Think going over blow downs and dragging panniers in the brush.

Temperament can be genetic as much as breed. The Lamancha is very sweet as well as the Ober. But the Ober tends to be smaller. A good alpine will work his ass off and be typically bigger than the others but he's also going to be the ass hole in the string and bully the other goats more. My 200 lb Alpine is the nicest guy to humans but all he's gotta do is glance at the others and they jump out of his way. I'd take a string of goats just like him though.

Don't hesitate to put a small amount of weight on them at 2 years old.
Like 10lbs

Kris

 

[Bachto]

It’s training season!

 

[actionshooter]

One thing I have noticed through the years is that the Ober's have more heart... they aren't the biggest, but the have more drive and personality that some of the other breeds... I think Ober/Alpine crosses are the way to go, for myself anyway.

 

[Highdesertpursuit]

Here is a small update:
We have began doing our spring training of hiking weekly and are doing a spring bear hunt in idaho. Like I had mentioned before me and my dad are tackling the pack frames on our own and building them.

I drew up a close copy to Marc Warnke’s frames in a cad program and had a local company water jet them out of aluminum for us. We estimate we should be able to do all 5 packs for the cost of one Marc Warnke pack. Here are some photos:
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They need some cleaning up, like the sharp corners on the brackets on the pads. We will be sewing up covers and attaching strap systems to them as well.

Are you open to sharing your CAD file?

 

[Rookie season]

Hey man just checking in and am wondering how the prototype is going? I am still playing around with a design, i was looking at your breast collar, how did you achieve the padded circular shape?

 

[Bachto]

Hey man just checking in and am wondering how the prototype is going? I am still playing around with a design, i was looking at your breast collar, how did you achieve the padded circular shape?

Its just a foam cylinder I got from amazon that I cut to length. Though I will not be making this design in the future most likely. It is a pain to make and I will be going with a Sopris style breast strap.

 

[moxford]

Lol, we have about 60 show/meat goats (Boer) ... wonder how they'd work as packers ....