# Found lost pack goat



## kevinkopp (Oct 29, 2013)

Hi all, Up hunting in the Crazy mountains of Montana for elk this weekend and a lost goat befriended us and followed us home. Sure would like to find his people if at all possible. Dehorned, pure white and a hunters orange dog collar.
Please contact Kevin at 406-585-3504 or [email protected]
Thanks any and all for the help


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## Catahoula (Feb 12, 2013)

That's funny. I know...not really. Hope you cam find his owner.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Have you looked in his ears or under his tail for tattoos? Clean the insides of the ears well (alcohol helps) and shine a bright flashlight through the ear to see if you can see any identification. He may be registered with ADGA or with the state. I hope he's lost and not just dumped by someone who couldn't afford to feed him through the winter. If he's lost, the owner will be looking for him and will probably contact the sheriffs departments in the area and will likely be keeping their eye on the local papers and post office bulletins. I'll bet if you get the word out in the local area, the owners will find you pretty quick. 

This should be a good reminder to all of us to make sure our goats have ID tags with our name and contact info. Accidents happen, even at home. It never occurred to me that Cuzco might need an ID tag until he got chased off our property by coyotes last year and ended up several miles from home. I just got super lucky that the guy who found Cuzco happened to tell my next-door neighbor a funny story about a giant one-horned goat on his porch in the middle of the night. Without ID, here was no way for the man to know who the goat belonged to, so he just chased him off the porch like a nuisance animal instead of seeing him as a pet. All my goats wear ID now because you just never know.


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## kevinkopp (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks for the tip, I'll check it out.
Also someone sent a PM that I'm not able to open.
Kevin


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

The owner of this goat knew I hunted the Crazy Mountains and he had contacted me. He is calling the goatfinder this evening. 
*Please never ever leave your goats unsecured at night*. 
This is a very good, and thank god a smart and hardy packgoat. That being said his other packmates may not have been so lucky. There is no word of the other 2 weathers. They wander off sometime during the night or early morning. They had been left unsecured one night and did great the next night they disappeared. They could not be found after days of searching. ID tags are critical. I am so glad for this forum and all the people here you care about packgoats.


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## Huckleberry (Mar 12, 2010)

Praying they make it back home safe and sound.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Wow... I held no hope of him ever getting back to his owner. That part is great to hear. Sad and odd that all three were not found together. As herding animals, they woulda stayed close to each other if at all possible. Not good


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

This herd had been together one year. The found sannen was the biggest, the alpine was a good size and the Oberhasli was mid-size. This area has cougars and black bears but no wolves. Lots of hunters so who knows what happened to the others but a sannen is hard to mistake for wild game. They all had hunter orange collars. The weather that killed all those cattle in he Dakota's in early October was very nasty in these mountains. My money would have been on sannen during those storms. The goats went missing in early to mid September.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

I'm glad the goat has an owner and wasn't somebody's problem that got dumped off. Maybe there's still hope for the other two. Are there fliers with photos posted in the area so people and hunters can be on the lookout? Thank you, Kevin, for being proactive to find this goat's owner! Many people would laugh to see a goat in the woods and not even think to do anything about it. 

I can't help but think that this is a critical "teaching moment" for us all, especially right now with the National Forest Service trying to ban pack goats for fear they will get loose and spread disease among bighorn sheep. We cannot risk giving them ammo in the fight to ban our goats. Even the most well-bonded goat could be scared away from camp at night by a curious bear wandering by and be unable (or unwilling after such a fright) to find his way back. I could see myself making this very mistake a couple of years ago, and I'm glad for the sober reminder that a loose goat may well become a lost goat.


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## turbot (Jun 6, 2010)

I hunt the Crazies with packgoats frequently and know there are wolves in these mountains, as well as a passing grizzly. They are very rugged and the goats always have a blast up there. This range has the highest population of mountain goats in the lower 48, so the sannen was probably the least safe from hunters. I can see the goats surviving for a period of time, if they stay up high, but the weather gets bad in that coutry early. With the onset of rifle season, I think they will turn up,if they are still alive. Hopefully, they are. As Nancy stated, always secure the goats at night, because they will wander off or think you may have left them.(this is from experience) Luckily, I found them 2 miles into a 4 mile trip back to the truck. They acted like I was the one that was lost and should feel lucky they found me. I can only imagine what the owner feels like.


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## kevinkopp (Oct 29, 2013)

Thanks for all the help folks, I believe his people will be here on Saturday to pick him up.


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## Catahoula (Feb 12, 2013)

Wow, would love to be there for the reunion. Wonder if it would be like a lost dog seeing its owner. I was fostering a found dog but we never found his owner. Great dog...glad I was able to find him a great home too.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Heh-heh. If he's anything like Cuzco, he'll punish his owner for leaving him in the woods. Before we got other goats, Cuzco was allowed free roam of our wraparound deck, where he spent a lot of his time sunning on one doormat or the other. He never ever messed on the porch, but if we left overnight, we'd come home to a large pile on the welcome mat and an indignant Cuzco who would put his hackles up, turn his back toward us, and walk away if we tried to talk to him for the first hour or two. Only a large peace offering of cookies could assuage his wounded feelings.

I'm still so happy that this this fella is being reunited with his home. My first thought was "dumped goat" because I'd just been reading about a recent horror here in Colorado where a man abandoned his entire goat farm and many of the goats died on a dry lot before they were found. There were dead goats in the water tank, and the survivors lived off the dead goats' fur. I was thinking "if only he'd at least opened the gate." It's horrible to abandon your animals to fend for themselves, but it's even worse to leave them in a place where they can't even do that.


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## imported_ashley (Jun 9, 2011)

Oh, nanno! I got soooo angry reading your post about the a$$ hole that left his goats to die!! Why are people so horribly cruel? I can't imagine... Did they find him or know who he is? We've had a lot of bad abuse cases here in Idaho..people are broke and not taking care of their pets..I don't get it...


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## Stykbowmt (Nov 4, 2013)

Thank you to every one on this forum who helped me find one third of my pack string! IdahoNancy told the story very accurately and I especially thank her for calling me and telling me my goat was found. Now to let you know what we were thinking..

I did a scouting trip with 2/3 of my goats originally in August, mostly due to the fact that we would be gaining 3K' in elevation, and I didn't want my saanen (the oldest and comically the one who was found) to have a tough time in the heat of the summer. So 'snowflake' stayed home with his horse buddies and the trip was grueling none the less. We elected to actually hunt in a different drainage (2 of my friends were lucky enough to draw mountain goat tags) which was much less of a climb, so on September 1st we took all three up to goat camp. Snowflake was carrying probably no more than 20 lbs but he still brought up the rear and I had to lead him into base camp by leash for the last mile or so. After arriving at camp the goats and I had roughly the same duties. We would nap, and occasionally look through a spotting scope as well as give goat hunters hand signals high up the hillside. There were 5 of us total and 2 had goat permits, so there just wasn't much to do except hang out and watch.

The first night I had the goats all tied up respectfully to 'scrub pines' under a lean two fashioned out of a tarp, and in the morning they had that tarp all messed up. One goat somehow got on top of it, and I realized we needed to find a better system. My buddy convinced me to leave them untied the next night, although I may blame some of those decisions on whiskey around a campfire. Regardless, the goats were laying 15' away from the tent the next morning like they slept there every night. I was impressed, my friends were impressed, and the next night it was shaping up to be an easy decision. 2 of the party had to take off and go to work on Tuesday I remember, so we were left with 1 hunter, 2 spotters, and 3 goats. (This was Labor Day Weekend) 

Later that day we made a goat hunting plan on Willard. Yes we named the biggest billie goat on the hill Willard, and as my buddy was getting ready to go we did spy a small black bear just above camp... After a close call with Willard we elected to hit the hay and woke up to a goatless camp. I went back in to look 3 more times. Twice looking for my goats and once to pack Willard out after my buddy gave up on his recurve and gave him the ol' 45-70. In all that time looking I cut 1 set of pack goat tracks near our original camp but no sign of them. I put signs on the trailhead, left a sign in the Wilsall Bar, Called the USFS, and all but had them wrote off after 2 months in some very harsh country. I am sure I am spacing on many of the stories and events that lead up to this mess but the message is clear: TIE UP YOUR DAMN GOATS AT NIGHT!

I again thank Nancy who called me, and Ian the goatfinder. I will do my best to posts some pics of Snowflake who is living the high life in Livingston with another goat packing buddy and a couple of packing prospects. He sent me a picture tonight and I quote: 

"Goat version of Las Vegas buffet. All he can eat grain/alfalfa pellet mix and Bridger Mountain Grass Hay until he gets weight back." I will do my best to share some pics although it may take some time as I have too many kids and not enough patience for re-sizing photos successfully.

Thanks again,
Doug


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## Catahoula (Feb 12, 2013)

So glad you at least got one of your goats back. I hope the other two will be found too. Bet Snowflake is happy to be back in the herd with you.


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