Hunting With Pack Goats
Reading Time: 7 minutes
Nathan Putnam of Putnam Pack Goats has utilized pack goats to assist with backpacking and, more uniquely, hunting with pack goats for nearly nine years. A member of the North American Packgoat Association (NAPgA), Putnam has even started his own equipment line, which includes leads, high lines, and panniers (containers made in pairs to be hung over pack animals).
Located in Mountain Home, Idaho, an area known for its agricultural production, family dairies, and ranches, Putnam has a herd of around 50 goats. A dozen or so are active packers, and the rest of the herd profile consists of breeders and younger goats. Every year, they have about 20 babies that are sold specifically as pack babies. Their special breed, called SaberPine, is a cross between Sable Saanen, Alpine, and Boer.
“We selected those breeds because we like really big-bodied, friendly, athletic goats,” Putnam explains. “We’re reducing the Boer percentage within our breed. Right now, we have a 50% Sable, 25% Alpine, 25% Boer cross. And we also have a 62.5% Alpine, 25% Sable, 12.5% Boer cross. Every year, we try to chip away at that Boer until we’ve found the perfect amount, because they’re a little bit slower, a little bit big, and aren’t the greatest personalities for packing. They have a lot of heart but don’t have a lot of drive sometimes.”
Putnam says Boers have great bone density, muscle mass, massive hoof structure, and a bubbly personality. However, they require more training, whereas other breeds can have a pack thrown on and be good to go. “They don’t really click for a couple of years. So, we wanted to bring all of those good qualities to the Alpine and Sable, who have very thin legs and little dinky hooves, and give them a little bit more muscle mass and bone density so they could be a little more rugged for the type of packing we do.”
The Pack Goat’s Career
At around two years, Putnam starts adding a percentage of weight to the goats. From two to three years old, they start with a pack saddle that weighs around 10% of their body weight. At four years old, they can carry 25% of their body weight, which is the maximum. And they can pack up to 10 years old. “Usually, about eight is when they hit their peak and start to taper. At age 9 or 10, we’ll run reduced loads on them, and after 10, they become baby trainers. We really can’t do a lot of packing with them, but we can do some light hikes.”
Transportation
As the name Mountain Home, Idaho, suggests, it’s easy to access the wilderness from Putnam Pack Goats’ farm. He uses his truck with a camper shell to transport 8 to 10 goats for his hikes.
“For a lot of the backcountry hunts that we’re doing, you can’t get a horse trailer into where we’re going,” Putnam explains. “The convenience of having pack goats is that I can drive on the worst roads imaginable with my pickup truck and just park wherever I want, unload the goats, and it’s just as simple as dropping the tailgate.”
Pack Herd Size
While Putnam is comfortable with 8 to 10 goats, he admits it’s typically more than most packers bring. This is especially true for the backpacking side. For elk hunting, closer to six is more typical, and for mule deer, three is a good herd size if hunting with pack goats. In addition to the packers, sometimes people bring a few babies to learn from the more experienced goats. “If I really want to do a quick and dirty hunt, I’ll bring six in with me, but the more the merrier, as far as my hunts go,” Putnam says.
Training Pack Goats
Training pack goats to follow you is very easy — if you have mature goats for the babies to follow. “Training kids takes the longest amount of time because you have to convince these little guys to follow you and not go and play on everything,” Putnam explains. “A lot of it is making it fun for them.” But once you have mature pack goats, Putnam says, you can just add goats. He starts by bringing babies with him when they’re about six months old. This is after he’s spent a lot of time socializing with them. These hundred-pound babies have a herd mentality and want to be with each other.
“As long as you have that strong lead, those new goats will want to follow you and the other goats. If you have a straggler here or there, falling behind, you’ll see they’ll sprint up and eventually learn that they just need to keep with the group constantly.” Not all goats have leads on while hiking, but all are required to wear a collar with Putnam’s contact information on it. He says it’s difficult to have them all strung; while a few occasionally compete for the lead position, most try to be in the middle and compete to be there, which keeps the herd motivated.
Trip Durations
While leads and leashes aren’t recommended for day hikes, it’s important to tie your animals at night. Many of Putnam’s hikes take 4 to 5 days, but one hike in September lasted 20 days.
“By day five, you’re just coming out to resupply and then turning around and heading back in,” Putnam says. “Sometimes, I’ll come and trade out goats if one is walking a little slow. Realistically, I could be in the backcountry for as long as I wanted to with those animals. It’s mostly just me wanting to get out and get a fresh pair of clothes, take a shower, and have somebody other than goats to talk to for a couple of days.” While Putnam has organized group hunting with pack goats, he estimates that 90% of his hunting with pack goats is solo.
“I’ve always kind of wanted to get into an area and poke around and look for things that people have forgotten about. There’s a ton of old mining history in Idaho,” Putnam says. “There’s all sorts of neat things you can find if you step off-trail.”
Goat Hunting Companions
To prepare the goats for the sound of the guns, Putnam trains them like a gun dog. He starts with shooting in the back of their pasture with smaller guns, then slightly louder sounds of starter pistols, and eventually rifles.
“A lot of this is close-quarter stuff, like when we’re muzzleloader hunting. So distances are within 10 to 100 yards on elk,” Putnam says. “We’ve had encounters with deer very close, and we’ve encountered bear that I’ve taken at five yards with a muzzleloader while the goats trailed me. Hunting with them is very natural just because they’re constantly trailing you. They’re making natural animal noises and don’t spook game like you think they would.”
Putnam carries a backpack with a rifle, and the goats carry everything else. After he quarters an elk and bones it out, which reduces the weight, the goats carry the meat and, occasionally, a hide. If the packs are balanced and 50 pounds or less, they’ll carry whatever he needs out of the backcountry.
Preserving the Meat on the Hike
In Idaho, when hunting with pack goats, September is a difficult time to keep meat fresh. Putnam recommends getting it off the mountain immediately. Hanging it at night with cool air helps prolong the meat if you’re deep in the backcountry. Aside from hanging, Putnam will cut pine boughs to cover the meat, so flies don’t get on it. He’s successfully hung meat for three days where it hasn’t spoiled, and others have experienced bone sour, where the carcass doesn’t cool down quickly enough, and bacteria rots the meat almost immediately.
“A lot of times, it just depends on the animal that was hunted, the amount you pushed it before you took it, and then how far it ran before you recovered it,” Putnam says. “There are so many factors.” While Putnam could go into the country, hunt immediately, and get out, that’s not his intention. “If you’re out there just to hunt and kill animals, then I don’t feel like you’ll have that great of an experience. For me, I’m just out there to spend time with my goats, to interact with animals, and to become a better hunter.”
Find out more at:
Instagram: PutnamPackGoats
Facebook.com/PutnamPackGoats
KENNY COOGAN earned a master’s degree in Global Sustainability and has published over 400 articles on pets, livestock, and gardening. He lives on a 1-acre homestead with a flock of Pekin ducks, managing a permaculture-style landscape. Coogan also runs a successful carnivorous plant nursery in Tampa. Listen to Coogan co-host podcasts by visiting Mother Earth News and Friends Podcast.
Originally published in the 2024 Fall issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.
