What would be the best Pack Animal for Backcountry Elk

[thebestusernamesaretaken]

What's the Best Pack Animal For Back Country Elk

 

[mtmuley]

E-bike. mtmuley

 

[Gerald Martin]

Your hunting buddy’s mules.

 

[dennis47]

Hunting buddy's

 

[buffybr]

I sure appreciated my horses when they packed out 20 some elk and 3 moose for me.

 

[MThuntr]

Since I have no animals and choose not afford the animals then I'd say a friend's back...very high likelihood they were involved in the hunt anyway

 

[belshawelk]

you and your buddy. its part of the hunt. I am on standby for many of my buddies if they harvest something, they know Ill come up and help pack out.

Last we we hauled out 4 elk. To me its when the fun starts, gutting, cutting and hauling. Two of them we shot a same time started at 5:00pm and I crawled into bed at 6:06am. 2 trips each at 6.2 miles each way up and down canyons. Awesome!!

 

[OntarioHunter]

Mules generally do not work well on their own. There are exceptions but most of the time they need to be with a horse. Donkeys do fine following a man on foot but mules not so much. A mule can pack a third of its weight but horses generally only a quarter their weight. That's dead weight of course. Both animals can carry more live weight. I preferred horses.

 

[406dn]

I'll show some love for horses. They have both taken me far from the trailhead, they have carried out whatever we've killed.

The downside to horses is they add an hour or so on each end of the day to feed, water, saddle, unsaddle, etc. The plus side is easily worth the downside.

 

[CPAjeff]

I've yet to use llamas, but horses are close to my heart when it comes to saving my legs and back from nasty pack outs. Plus, I can always find an excuse to use the line from Jeremiah Johnson of, "Elk don't know how many feet a horse has!"

 

[thebestusernamesaretaken]

I've yet to use llamas, but horses are close to my heart when it comes to saving my legs and back from nasty pack outs. Plus, I can always find an excuse to use the line from Jeremiah Johnson of, "Elk don't know how many feet a horse has!"

I think that's my fav line in that movie! so true

 

[ida homer]

Having owned a horse and multiple goats, goats can not be beat. Their singular (& most important) downfall is the disease issue.
Which is pretty much the only reason I don't pack with goats anymore.

Nothing carries more pound for pound, requires as little maintenance or consumes as little water. An in shape 200 lb goat can do 50-70 lbs.
None of the other stock can (nor should) safely haul 30% of their body weight.

 

[rwc101]

Cameramen.

 

[RoughCountry]

Horses

 

[brockel]

I'll show some love for horses. They have both taken me far from the trailhead, they have carried out whatever we've killed.

The downside to horses is they add an hour or so on each end of the day to feed, water, saddle, unsaddle, etc. The plus side is easily worth the downside.

As long as a person is willing to deal with them and work with them for the other 360 days of the year they aren’t being used for hunting

 

[brockel]

And hay prices at least out west are going to be brutal this year

 

[mtmuley]

As long as a person is willing to deal with them and work with them for the other 360 days of the year they aren’t being used for hunting

Horses are great. When someone else brings them. We had lots of them. Pack trips, hauling elk, trail rides. Too expensive for what they do for me now. mtmuley

 

[brockel]

Horses are great. When someone else brings them. We had lots of them. Pack trips, hauling elk, trail rides. Too expensive for what they do for me now. mtmuley

We’ve got 3 well I should say my wife has 3 that I get to feed. None of which I’d try putting an elk quarter on. Wouldn’t mind watching someone else try though. Crazy ass barrel horses.

Used to own mules and they were handy just not worth keeping around for 5 days of use

 

[OntarioHunter]

Having owned a horse and multiple goats, goats can not be beat. Their singular (& most important) downfall is the disease issue.
Which is pretty much the only reason I don't pack with goats anymore.

Nothing carries more pound for pound, requires as little maintenance or consumes as little water. An in shape 200 lb goat can do 50-70 lbs.
None of the other stock can (nor should) safely haul 30% of their body weight.

Thirty percent is the recommended dead weight load limit for a mule. I once packed a helluva lot more than that on a big Dodge City mule in a pinch on the California fires back in '77. The inversion and smoke kept helicopters grounded and I was packing food and supplies to a fire line about eight miles into the Marble Mountain area. There was a blow up and had to get gear for two sawyers and their helpers plus two HUGE saws and gas loaded on one big black mule. The rest of the animals were either up on the line or beat. Every time I stopped to let her blow a mud puddle of sweat pooled on the ground under her. Unbelievable animal. When we got back to the barn and pulled the saddle I expected the worst. That bunch of worn out sawbucks the USFS had for me to use were probably left over from the Gold Rush. Way too small for those animals. But I adjusted and padded them carefully and got by. She didn't have a single sore on her. Amazing. We were very hard pressed for livestock but I gave her a couple days off.

 

[SFC B]

Your hunting buddy’s mules.

^^^^^THIS!!!!