I’ve been considering stock for hunting for the last few years but until recently really didn’t have a place to keep them. We recently bought a place with a two acre pasture, It’s fenced with two strand barb wire on top and hog wire the rest the way to the ground, it keeps my hound dog in so I’m sure goats would be fine.
I’ve looked into donkeys, llamas and goats. I’ve hunted on horses and IMO they aren’t worth the effort, we spent more time walking them than ridding in steep terrain and when using them in snow we’ve constantly had to keep there feet cleaned out from icing up, I could go on and on about issues every time we’ve tried hunting from horses.
My biggest concern is not being able to go where I want. We’re planning a hunt next year where we will be 2 miles and 1500’ up from the nearest cut trail, this is super rugged country and I know there is no way a horse could traverse it and I don’t want to have to base camp and go that far back and forth each day to care for an animal. I assume a donkey will have similar issues as a horse, I thought maybe since they are much smaller and supposably more sure footed maybe they would be better? I have had a hard time researching donkeys and llamas except for the weights they can carry.
How sure footed is a llama? Will it follow in rugged terrain or do you have to limit yourself similar to a horse? I know goats should be able to go where a person can. My concern with goats is whether or not they would be up for hauling out an elk if I go in solo and kill one. Is 6-8 miles and 3-4K feet too much to ask a goat to carry a 50lb pack? Is having to manage 4 goats while hunting going to be worth the couple extra trips it would take to haul a load solo?
We are planning on hunting the area next year with a friend with mules but I already know we will have to park them at the bottom of the drainage and hunt up and down each day which IMO sucks, that’s a lot of extra hiking each day. Having the mules will save us 6-8 trail miles once we get the elk back to camp though which will be awesome assuming we get a couple bulls.
If I end up with goats I’m hoping to just be able to have my pack in day pack mode and have them pack camp around which I typically carry. I get to spend 30-50 days hunting each year so whatever I end up will be getting used, it would also be great to be able to throw my wife and kids gear on an animal, I feel like they would be much more enthusiastic to go on backpacking trips if they didn’t have to pack there gear.
Looking for pros and cons of each from people who have used them.
I’ve looked into donkeys, llamas and goats. I’ve hunted on horses and IMO they aren’t worth the effort, we spent more time walking them than ridding in steep terrain and when using them in snow we’ve constantly had to keep there feet cleaned out from icing up, I could go on and on about issues every time we’ve tried hunting from horses.
My biggest concern is not being able to go where I want. We’re planning a hunt next year where we will be 2 miles and 1500’ up from the nearest cut trail, this is super rugged country and I know there is no way a horse could traverse it and I don’t want to have to base camp and go that far back and forth each day to care for an animal. I assume a donkey will have similar issues as a horse, I thought maybe since they are much smaller and supposably more sure footed maybe they would be better? I have had a hard time researching donkeys and llamas except for the weights they can carry.
How sure footed is a llama? Will it follow in rugged terrain or do you have to limit yourself similar to a horse? I know goats should be able to go where a person can. My concern with goats is whether or not they would be up for hauling out an elk if I go in solo and kill one. Is 6-8 miles and 3-4K feet too much to ask a goat to carry a 50lb pack? Is having to manage 4 goats while hunting going to be worth the couple extra trips it would take to haul a load solo?
We are planning on hunting the area next year with a friend with mules but I already know we will have to park them at the bottom of the drainage and hunt up and down each day which IMO sucks, that’s a lot of extra hiking each day. Having the mules will save us 6-8 trail miles once we get the elk back to camp though which will be awesome assuming we get a couple bulls.
If I end up with goats I’m hoping to just be able to have my pack in day pack mode and have them pack camp around which I typically carry. I get to spend 30-50 days hunting each year so whatever I end up will be getting used, it would also be great to be able to throw my wife and kids gear on an animal, I feel like they would be much more enthusiastic to go on backpacking trips if they didn’t have to pack there gear.
Looking for pros and cons of each from people who have used them.