pictures for Boerrancher

[idahoron]

Sine you sound like a guy that likes goats I thought I would show you the ones I had for hunting. Ron

http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/pack%20goats/CHIP_2-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/pack%20goats/CLINT_1-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/pack%20goats/ARCHERY3-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/pack%20goats/BIG_CR_2-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/pack%20goats/IRON_BOG-1.jpg
http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd294/idahoron/pack%20goats/WEST_CR.jpg

[longbow]

I like goats! Goats have character and they are fun.

I read an article in Primitive Archer (I think) many years ago about a fellow in Montana that used pack goats for hunting just like you are. He said they were great and low maintenance.

Great pictures!

Longbow

[rhbrink]

longbow I remember reading the same article. Seemed like he said that if one got to acting up or got mean he just used him for target practice the rest of them straightened up real quick.

Richard

[GabbyM]

I see you all are still carrying back packs. So I assume you don't trust the goats with expensive items or what you must have to get home.

Nice pics.

[sharps4590]

Great pics!!! When we lived in Wyoming we had a neighbor that used Nubians, (I'm pretty sure they were Nubians anyway), for his pack animals. Rick & Megan liked them better than horses. I have to say after watching them in use I was impressed.

[rodwha]

That's so cool!!!
How much weight can a goat carry?

[Lonegun1894]

Looks like a great idea to me. How hard is it to train them? Not that it matters as SWMBO would never let me get any anyway. She had issues with the one that "lived" in our freezer for a while til I finished eating him.

[rodwha]

How did he taste Lonegun? I've been looking for cabrito down here in Texas, but can't seem to find anywhere that sells it around me.

[mocons]

rodwha;
That's my question too! Ive been thinking of raising some Boer Goats for meat as i've been told that they are the BEST meat goats around. I want to try it first as the cost for a kid is high around where I live. I like the idea of the "less than fussy" appetite and the more manageable finished weight. I'm still raising beef, but that seems to be more of a luxury these days... feed costs and processing costs make it more expensive that just buying the meat as needed.

[RhodeHunter]

rodwha;
That's my question too! Ive been thinking of raising some Boer Goats for meat as i've been told that they are the BEST meat goats around. I want to try it first as the cost for a kid is high around where I live. I like the idea of the "less than fussy" appetite and the more manageable finished weight. I'm still raising beef, but that seems to be more of a luxury these days... feed costs and processing costs make it more expensive that just buying the meat as needed.

I'm sorry we're getting off topic, but in response to the above, at least you know what the beef are fed, and how they are raised. Meat from the grocery store can come from some awful treatment of living things that are fed unnatural products.

[Longwood]

I see you all are still carrying back packs. So I assume you don't trust the goats with expensive items or what you must have to get home.

Nice pics.

That is where the Beer is.:kidding:

[SamTexas49]

So ? Does is that real "goat roping" ?

[Boerrancher]

Pack goats are great. The doe that I had for a pack goat would haul between 50 and 75 lbs. I got rid of my heard because I couldn't get the cougar killed that kept eating my goats, and when it finally killed my pack goat I knew it was time for the herd to go. I was loosing a goat a week. Maybe some day I will get more goats but until the cat is gone it is pointless.

As far as eating goats, a Boer goat or Boer cross is some mighty fine eating. Just like eating a good grain fed deer.

Best wishes,

Joe

[LIMPINGJ]

rodwha most cabrito is DIY check out the for sale and notices board at a feed store or a vets office, I see a goats for sale add in most of the ones I go in. Young ones are what you want.

[idahoron]

Very low maintenance. I never carried any food for them at all. The big white ones would carry up to 100 pounds down hill. Up hill I would not push them that hard. I carried a back pack on the trips in to get there a bit faster. I also carried my "breakable" stuff. Goats tend to fight at times so a set of bino's or a spotting scope was never put in a pack.

When we were packing up hill to camp I would only pack them with 25 or 30 pounds. The colder the weather the better for them. They did over heat easy. I got them as babies so they went on hikes every week. That was just what they knew. I had two that were adults when I got them. They were lazy and didn't do as well.

One time we were hunting spike elk. We found a large heard that had two spikes in the center. My friend and I each grabbed a goat by the collar and duck walked between them We went right up to the spike bulls and killed them both. We packed out 6 bulls with those goats.
Ron

[RBak]

Good story Ron!
Back in the early 190's, while hunting Kelly Creek on the North Fork of the Clearwater River in the Bitterroot Mtns in Idaho, I came across a fellow with two large white goats, all decked out with harness, small A-Frame Pack Saddles, and looking very much like the pictures you just posted.
He lived in Pierce ID at the time and said he and his family had hunted that area with Goats for many years.

Is there any chance that was you? Or maybe a family member?

I remember the scene as clear as if it was yesterday, but for the life of me I just can't remember the young man's name!

Russ

[idahoron]

No I have never hunted there with those goats. I did hunt the Little lost and the Sawtooths. Ron

[Lonegun1894]

As to the taste, I loved it. Some went on the grill seasoned and wrapped in bacon, but most ended up in stews and chili in the crockpot just so I could start it going, go to sleep, and have a good meal ready before work (due to working a lot of nights). As to what they get fed, I dont buy mine at a store, but have a friend who has a small farm and breeds them, so I buy the occasional extra one that for whatever reason isn't up to breeding standards for the show circuit she works with. The price is very right, they are mostly free range, and the processing doesn't cost me anything but the time it takes me to do it myself. I have never looked into buying any from any store so wouldn't even know where to look. If you're willing to process it yourself like I do, I'd say just stop and ask a farmer sometime if you drive by a place that has some goats, they just may be willing to sell you some on occasion. As far as maintenance, I can't speak there. I think the longest I have had one was just under a week and the only things I had to do was make sure it had water available and then finish the mowing job it started in the yard, so I can't complain. SWMBO wont let me keep goats though, she complains about the chickens enough...

[nanuk]

Pack goats are great. The doe that I had for a pack goat would haul between 50 and 75 lbs. I got rid of my heard because I couldn't get the cougar killed that kept eating my goats, and when it finally killed my pack goat I knew it was time for the herd to go. I was loosing a goat a week. Maybe some day I will get more goats but until the cat is gone it is pointless.

As far as eating goats, a Boer goat or Boer cross is some mighty fine eating. Just like eating a good grain fed deer.

Best wishes,

Joe

as for meat, my cousin raises Katadin's... any idea the compatability between them and Boers? I know around here, NO ONE wants sheep around due to scrapies and cross contamination into the Elk herds.

[idahoron]

Typically pack goats are not in a heard. 2 to 4 is about all that is kept. Most people that have them take them to the vet for check ups and keep them very healthy. A sick pack goat would be of no use. Ron