Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting More on the packgoats

And now for their first overnight pack trip. We kept everyone except Thor under 10% of their body weight. Thor got 20 pounds on the way in, which was maybe 11%. Most awkward aspects was dealing with the sleeping pads that didn't roll up very small. They definitely wanted to upset the loads when wagging back and forth. Also an issue was getting enough weight into each small pannier. The goats had more capacity than the panniers could handle with low density stuff like clothing or loose tents without poles(in our packs). Also brought in more gear than was needed because I wasn't sure how I was going to tie them up at night. Repacking on the return trip we did a lot better job balancing loads. I brought the scale in and kept things with a pound, but still needed a balance rock here and there.
Anyway, they did fantastic. No issues with stamina or cooperation, and the all adapted to trail life and carrying packs extremely well. The boys realized that when we stopped for a breather, they could sit down or browse if they wanted to. Quickly realized the deathly power of a squirt gun could keep them out of the main camp area with the tents and cooking gear. They actively avoided eating poisonous plants like larkspur. They had at least 15 creek crossings over 12 miles, including with some deep and fast moving stuff. It took some coaxing on the fastest stream on the way in, but no problems after that. No hesitation on the return. We still couldn't get up high enough and what was planned as a one way trip turned into an in and out return trip.
Also of interest to me was how disinterested in drinking water they were. I don't know if it was because they had green vegetation to eat, but only two goats took small sips of muddy water on the way in. And four of the six (Gunnar still out) drank in muddy puddles on the way down. They had lots of opportunities at clear creeks, even with the packs off.
All in all, this felt like a success, even though I still couldn't get to the highest basins for my mountain goat hunt, but could glass the rocks from below.







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