Pack Mules or Pack Goats?

[torrey.harris.5]

Pros and cons on each


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[BigAntlerGetter]

Mules, 150-180 lbs of packing per animal goats are like 20 lbs each. If ur not experienced with mules they are a handful, but goats can be as well. Feed is about the same for each, can graze them both.


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[torrey.harris.5]

Where do u buy the pack mules??


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[BigAntlerGetter]

I buy them from all over just depends where I find a good one. Craigslist always has listings, auctions, and personal sellers but I would suggest learnin about them before you just go out and buy them or lease them. It's not like throwing gear on top of them and going. There's a lot of work going into all of this packing mules and you can get urself, or the mule hurt by not knowing. Or lose all of ur gear


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[maninthemaze]

I'm not sure where you are hunting but this is copied straight out of the Colorado Parks And Wildlife hunting brochure.

Pack Animals
Some people use animals other than horses to pack in gear to hunt
camps. Please, do not use goats. These animals can spread disease to
Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep. Llamas, however, are acceptable.

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[torrey.harris.5]

Good to know
It'll be mules , not a fan of llamas


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[Regul8r1]

Pack goats can carry 30 percent of their weight if trained and in shape and many weigh 180-200 lbs, so that is easily over 50lbs. Goats won't hurt you like a horse or mule and far less spooky in my opinion. They also follow you without a lead and can be hauled in pickup with a cap.
Lots of controversy with sheep. Studies going on right now working to help prove that pack goats are safe around wild sheep.

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[BigAntlerGetter]

Your other option is llamas, guys packed some into our area this year. They bout caused a huge wreck with our pack string in a really rocky spot not the guys fault or ours just horses and mules don't seem to like llamas much. One thing they did tell us was that the guy that rented the llamas to them said you do not pack antlers on them. I'm wondering how the goats would do with an elk. How many goats would that take to pack out one elk.


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[Regul8r1]

I am new to goats, 7 months, and normally hunt archery and get rag horn bulls. De-boned a little less than 200 lbs of meat, so I figure that 4 goats would pack one with me carrying antlers. For a bigger 6x6 I would imagine 5 goats and me carrying some meat as well. A friend of mine has packed bulls with goats and he has carried 60-70 lbs on his. Just need to cut the pieces smaller, but once I start deboning it is a meat glob anyways! I got lucky on a rifle draw this year and hope my guys will be packing big bulls in 2 weeks.

 

[poisonarrow]

Why not donkeys? buy the book Packing With Donkeys. I just got two donkeys. They weigh 600# and 670# They can pack 25 percent of their body weight. That is 150 # each. They eat half as much as a horse by weight and get by on grass hay only. They are very easy to train with a little patience. I bought mine for $350.00 each and are trained to lead, load, come when called ect.
Donkeys have been used for thousands of years for packing.

 

[cuerro viejo]

A good well trail hardend mule is hard to beat.

Pack animals are like bird dogs. If You only hunt them once a year... you're going to spend a lot of time cussing them.

If you ever hunt wolf country not so sure I'd want goats, sounds like a remake of "the ghost and the darkness "

 

[damer]

Check out ponies. We have a pony riding business that we take to events and have kids ride them. A bigger pony would be a great pack animal. Can carry good weight, and can get in more places than a big horse. They are also super easy to train and take care of. I also feel they don't spook and blow up like horses do. This is my opinion

 

[Stefan]

I would suspect that a properly maintained goat would be of no threat to minimal risk for the native animals in an area. Keep them quarantined until you are certain they are free of disease before introducing new members to your heard, vaccinate, worm on a schedule and you should be good to go. But with what I have read goats might not be the best with what appears to be a movement to stop goats from entrance onto public lands. Any thoughts on my assessment?

 

[307]

Goats are not allowed in a lot of areas due to concern about big horn sheep diseases. A friend of mine had a pack goat guiding business and told me there is a lot of pressure to keep goats out of the mountains in sheep areas.

 

[Stefan]

Same thing I have read. Sucks because pack goats seems to be a rather innovative way to travel. They are easy to maintain and goofy companions but fun.

 

[Bubblehide]

Personally, if I want a pack animal, I'd go with Mules. However, you need to be experienced with mules. Horses are totally different. What I mean is that you can force a horse to do things, you can not force a mule. If you try to force a mule, you ARE going to lose. Mules are sure footed, dependable animals, that can be grazed almost anywhere. Natural feed wise, mules do much better than horses, and most other animals.

 

[cfdjay]

We used goats on our Montana Elk hunt. They were incredible. Each had 40lbs of meat. They followed anywhere and as far as deadfalls and topo navigation there is no way anything other than a goat was going to navigate the terrain we were in.

 

[GKPrice]

worked around mules a lot, great if you have the patience, equipment and room/funds to keep them - horses can be alright, worked with and owned a bunch of them, more tempermental GENERALLY and much easier to get one injured - no goats but a friend used the bigger ones a lot as he worked up to mules, he mostly liked them, most goats are easy prey for lions and wolves so keep that in mind, goats are pretty easy to get attached to - no experience with llamas but they do pack a lot of weight vs. their size and YES, horses and mules seem to not like them much - ALL that said a good mule that's vetted, maybe trained to ride is expensive but if you're prepared they're awesome animals to have on your side, humorous to watch too in the herd too (and a lot of mules will flat kill a dog if given the chance)

 

[NHRedleg]

Good info on pack goats here: Hunting with Pack Goats — Hunt Backcountry Podcast Episode 81 – Exo Mountain Gear

 

[kellytc45]

Love my goats , but keep them away for griz country. Luckly never had any problems with wolves or cats