Packing a goat?

[tekla]

I am off to kodiak on Saturday. I was wondering how much weight an average goat is boned out. Could a guy pack one by himself? I hope to have to find out the hard way. I have a lot of time so I will pack out as many trips as it takes. Thanks.

[mossyhorn]

I'd say no on packing one by yourself. I think two guys could do it in one trip, depending on terrain and what not. They are big critters!

[chinookee2004]

A mature billy will have a 100 lbs nasty boned meat.

[buckwear]

On a mature boned out billy you are looking at between 40-60 lbs of meat. Life size cape and horns dry weight approx. 30-40lbs. If it has been raining add another 10 lbs. I've personally been on 57 goat packs. It can be done one trip. Take your time on the way down. Don't be afraid to go down on your back side. Much safer. Be careful n good luck.
Bring two black garbage bags for meat m cape, havalon, small bone saw for horns. Go AS light as u can for the stalk.

[eatwildgame]

I had 4 quarters on my kuiu icon on Wednesday, with an extra coat and havalon times 2 very little else the pack was 97 lbs.

My first goat two guys gear for two nights so about 30 lbs each. We were 100 lbs each coming out that was with full hide and all meat boned out. Plan on 110 to 130 lbs. personally its not a one guy thing unless you are really empty to start with even then it depends on the terrain.

All three of my goats have resulted in a 100 lb pack with another guy, the second two (this year and two years ago) were up and back same day and I carried 100 and the second guy carried about 70. Also neither of those were real big,( 4 and 5 yo).

Sorry kinda scattered and JMHO

[tlingitwarrior]

Having just done this a few days ago I can say that one trip is a bear of a load. I know there are some big camels that can do it, but I am not one of them. I had 85 pounds of boned meat and hide and head was at least another 45 pounds. It took me three loads, but i had avery nasty route to take that would have been far too dangerous with anymore weight.

[Anythingalaska]

On a mature boned out billy you are looking at between 40-60 lbs of meat. Life size cape and horns dry weight approx. 30-40lbs. If it has been raining add another 10 lbs. I've personally been on 57 goat packs. It can be done one trip. Take your time on the way down. Don't be afraid to go down on your back side. Much safer. Be careful n good luck.
Bring two black garbage bags for meat m cape, havalon, small bone saw for horns. Go AS light as u can for the stalk.

I think that might be a bit of an understatement. I can get nearly 40-60 lbs of meat boned out; out of a blacktail buck. I shot a goat last year and packed it out myself boned out, and it was absolutely over 60lbs of boned out meat easy, probably much more. I shot a goat this year and I packed out half of the boned out meat plus the hide (and horns which are negligible), and I had 35lbs of meat in my pack. I would honestly say the "40-60lbs of boned meat" that you said is an understatement. Unless you are shooting small mountain goats. Mountain Goats are a beast, and definitely take some work to pack out. It was a slow and steady pack out, but easily doable. Of course I'm still young.

[BRWNBR]

I've weighed mature Kodiak billies boned out at 90-98lbs depending on bullet damage.

[Stickeen]

Just FYI - Last September I shot a 9.5" billy. He was old, incisors were non-existent, gummed over. I had 80 lbs. of boned out meat delivered to the butcher, not including backstraps and tenderloins. My Barney's pack was full of meat and camp and I had no room for the cape. Started hiking at 10 am and got to the boat on the river at 7pm.

[hoonahtic]

Possible, not recommended...

All three of my goats have resulted in a 100 lb pack with another guy, the second two (this year and two years ago) were up and back same day and I carried 100 and the second guy carried about 70. Also neither of those were real big,( 4 and 5 yo).

Tekla,

Yep, sounds about right for the medium billy's - I've been on a few goat hunts and a 10 year old goat had all three of our hunting parties' packs filled to the brim, plus some! Took whole (August) hide, hooves, and boned out meat of course. I had approx 25lbs going up for a single overnighter and came back with just over 100. Others went up with more but came down with similar weights. By the time we got back to the wheels I couldn't have made it another 100 yards without a serious rest.

Giving yourself some extra hunting time sounds like a smart move - two medium loads are a lot more safe than one overloaded trip! And I don't know about you but after a real hard day of hiking the next day i don't feel like pushing it much. A few medium days makes for a much more enjoyable trip, no big suffer-fest roud:

Wet 100 pound October goat hide could be 100 pounds itself?


Good luck and hope you have a skookum tent!

[kloshe]

I'm an advocate of bringing two packs up the mountain with you. Split the load between the two packs and leapfrog the loads down the mountain. You walk twice the distance and it might be a little slower then trying to do it all in one load, but it's so much safer and easier on the body.

[Yukoner]

I'm an advocate of bringing two packs up the mountain with you. Split the load between the two packs and leapfrog the loads down the mountain. You walk twice the distance and it might be a little slower then trying to do it all in one load, but it's so much safer and easier on the body.

Great idea. Walking back to the other pack while empty would make a nice break between heavy carries.

[flatt_lander]

It can be done in one load, but makes for a heavy pack. Crampons are a must even if no snow. They work great on the wet grassy slopes.

[Andy82Hoyt]

Last year I packed one bone in and full hide with head in forabout a half of mile. Then I met my friend who had his own billy down. I was completelymiserable. Once we met up I gave him the hide and it was better but I was stillover 100. I have since learned my lesson. This year I will be boning it out and we will not be shooting one goatper person. So my opinion I would nottry doing one yourself, two guys per goat. It’s just more comfortable but eitherway is doable.

[northway]

First goat I shot was a big billy from southeast. There was no ground shrinkage when I walked up to it! That pack was easily the heaviest i've ever carried off a mountain, and that was back when I had no issue packing heavy loads. I have no idea what it weighed, but all the boned out meat, plus a wet life size cape and head made for one hell of a hike off the mountain. It can be done though. Good luck!