# The perfect answer



## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

The boys and I were on our usual walkabout and black audi car pulled over to side of the road in front of us. This was not the usual Idaho pickup truck but a shiny sporty black maufia looking car. The man gets out of the car and proceeds to ask all the usual questions about the breed of the goats. I state they are Oberhasli and they state "Oh what?" At least he was sensitive to fact that "you probably get these questions all the time". This man had recently done a week long trip in the Beartooth range in MT above Yellowstone. He said he was through with horses. He then stated my boys "would make great packgoats, you know goats are the perfect answer." I did not tell him they were packgoats. Usually I do not mention packgoats until I'm relatively sure the person I'm talking to knows what a goat is. This is the first person in 3 years that pulled over and knew the word packgoat. Packgoats, the perfect answer, the word is spreading. 
IdahoNancy Oberpacker


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## feederseaters (Nov 8, 2009)

idahonancy said:


> Usually I do not mention packgoats until I'm relatively sure the person I'm talking to knows what a goat is. IdahoNancy Oberpacker


LMAO I know the feeling.

At least your mystery man had the decency to pull over to talk to you. Some folks around here damn near crash their car trying to get a drive-by picture they can post of their facebook page. I just smile and wave.


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## Rockytopsis (Oct 5, 2007)

What I get when I mention that some of my goats carry light packs and one pulls a wagon I get "OH" "Really?" I usually reply then, "Yes, goats do more than eat tin cans and cigarett butts" at this point they will start asking questions and I give straight answers about what we do with goats.
Nancy


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## TOU (Aug 18, 2013)

idahonancy said:


> The boys and I were on our usual walkabout and black audi car pulled over to side of the road in front of us. This was not the usual Idaho pickup truck but a shiny sporty black maufia looking car. The man gets out of the car and proceeds to ask all the usual questions about the breed of the goats. I state they are Oberhasli and they state "Oh what?" At least he was sensitive to fact that "you probably get these questions all the time". This man had recently done a week long trip in the Beartooth range in MT above Yellowstone. He said he was through with horses. He then stated my boys "would make great packgoats, you know goats are the perfect answer." I did not tell him they were packgoats. Usually I do not mention packgoats until I'm relatively sure the person I'm talking to knows what a goat is. This is the first person in 3 years that pulled over and knew the word packgoat. Packgoats, the perfect answer, the word is spreading.
> IdahoNancy Oberpacker


Great post! Those that have packed with horses either get it or they don't...it seems that there is nothing in between.

I grew up with both horses & goats...I love both. That said, I have personally packed with horses on a few occasions...not a fan anymore. My last trip (last May) on a two day, 19 mile trip with 4000 ft elevation up & 4000 ft down with no water sources convinced me that I was done with them & I would have goats next time. I now have my first two and am looking for just the right two additional while I raise up my 4 new kids that I have ordered for next spring.

Take care!

TOU


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Interesting. I think people will start to look more and more at pack goats. Less to feed and smaller to handle. Especially as people are getting older.


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## TOU (Aug 18, 2013)

As I have become fond of saying..."I am convinced, that if you don't have to ride, there isn't a better option than goats for packing & hiking."


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

When you go to Montana people there are a little different. You want to see people stare at goats. Some people there are absolutely beyond confusion when you put a pack on a goat. Stopping anywhere in that county people want to know what I have in the mini stock trailer. Men and women walk right up and put their nose in the window, stand back and scratch there heads. 
At 4 am we parked at a trail head in Montana for our elk hunt. It is difficult to ready myself and my goats for a hunt in the dark at 4 am. An outfitter with horses came over to me and started asking questions he was baffled by the packgoat idea and wanted to talk. He told me if we got an elk down we could give him a call and he would take it out on his horses. I told him if his got one down where his horses could not go he could call me. Conversation ended. 
Really I think it will be along time before the idea takes off in that country. I often get the feeling they think I have a bad illness and need medication.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Reminds me of earlier this year when I was taking Legion down to the river to go fishing. Truck drives, turns around and pulls over. The guy yells out "I wasnt sure so I had to turn back around to make sure. Thats a goat! Is that your pet?" Me, "Yep, he is a pack goat and we are going fishing." The guy smiles a HUGE smile and yells out "You're a fn ******* aren't you?" Me, "Hell ya I am!" with an equally HUGE smile on my face  We chuckled and went on our way.


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## Deschutes Dawn (Sep 24, 2013)

I got some of the same reactions when on a bowhunt in NE Oregon. My hunting partner (another female) and I came out of a wilderness trailhead and met a couple 20 something guys headed back to their truck. They looked, kinda grinned, and murmered something about "packgoats?" All we could do was grin back through the camo face paint and keep walking back to camp. Love it!


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

I guess I have to ask what are the advantages of pack goat vs pack horses or pack burros or pack mules? I know there would be some places that a goat could go that an equine couldn't but honestly I probably wouldn't want to go there either so that would let me out to begin with.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

You dont have to pack in food for pack goats. They eat along the way and at camp. That and they are much more likely to follow you regardless where you go. Other pack animals, not so much. A well trained pack goat is a plug and play kinda pack animal.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

That explains a lot. Makes sense. I know you guys are all roughing it a lot more than I ever want to. I am glad the options are there for those who do want to pack, and hike, and hunt though.


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## Charlie Horse (Dec 16, 2012)

You guys think you get questions while walking goats?

I got a zillion when I'd go out walking the goats, the llama, german shep, and....










the Yak.

SUVs would always slow down and roll down the window and ask "What kind of animal is that?!"

"She's a German Sheppard" was my reply.

"No the.... "

Big laughs. Worked every single time.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

^^ :rofl:


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Oh cool!!! I love the Yak!


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

What a beautiful animal. They have great fiber as well. Do you save the fiber and do anything with it? I have spin it before.


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## TOU (Aug 18, 2013)

That really is a stunning animal...love to see it in person sometime. BTW did you end up with that Alpine out of Laramie?


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## Charlie Horse (Dec 16, 2012)

Sorry TOU, Tibetty isn't with us anymore. While I did bottle raise her, and she was sweet and adorable, it turns out when she got her hormones at 2 1/2 she got pissy. Turns out I had the bad luck of getting an alpha yak that stays bitchy all fall/winter and is sweet in spring/summer. Even though she's shorter than you'd think from the pictures, she was a hazard to the other animals and me. I now know she needed another yak to spar with and take her frustrations out on. I got a female because I wanted a smaller yak, but apparently to get the even temper you'd want in a pack animal it needs to be a steer (Or, I suppose, a super submissive non-hormonal cow). I sold her to a breeder in Nebraska that had yaks and a hundred acres and like me wasn't into the butchering side of the biz. It was yak heaven and she was doing great. Then she got ... I forget what it was exactly..."EHD" or something. Its a fly-borne type of deer ebola. Took her down quick and that was that for Tibetty. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have checked into getting her spayed or something. But thats life.

And no, I didn't get that goat. /


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Charlie Horse said:


> Sorry TOU, Tibetty isn't with us anymore. While I did bottle raise her, and she was sweet and adorable, it turns out when she got her hormones at 2 1/2 she got pissy. Turns out I had the bad luck of getting an alpha yak that stays bitchy all fall/winter and is sweet in spring/summer. Even though she's shorter than you'd think from the pictures, she was a hazard to the other animals and me. I now know she needed another yak to spar with and take her frustrations out on. I got a female because I wanted a smaller yak, but apparently to get the even temper you'd want in a pack animal it needs to be a steer (Or, I suppose, a super submissive non-hormonal cow). I sold her to a breeder in Nebraska that had yaks and a hundred acres and like me wasn't into the butchering side of the biz. It was yak heaven and she was doing great. Then she got ... I forget what it was exactly..."EHD" or something. Its a fly-borne type of deer ebola. Took her down quick and that was that for Tibetty. If I knew then what I know now, I probably would have checked into getting her spayed or something. But thats life.
> 
> And no, I didn't get that goat. /


I wonder how she would have acted had she been bred? I wonder if that would have calmed her down, moot point now I know, but I am just pondering in typeface here.


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