Couple trains goats as pack animals

By Patrick Filbin
Gillette News Record
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
GILLETTE — Their names are inspired by the outdoors.
Scree, Summit, Tenkara, Saddle, Satchel, Rocky and Ridges. They have distinct personalities, as most goats do.
Although they are different in a lot of ways, together they are trained to work as a unit. When called, they respond to a sharp whistle, followed by a “Goats!” call.
When Justin Starck yells it out, the seven stand at attention. They stop nibbling at the earth or burrowing their horns into short shrubbery and fix their eyes on the leader of the pack.
Goats are natural followers, and while they display their individual personalities, they’re seldom independent. They’re stronger and more astute in a tribe.
That helps when Justin and Desarae Starck want to use their herd of goats to carry out a 500-pound elk after its been shot.
“People think that this sort of thing can only be done with a horse,” Desarae said. “There’s this misconception about pack goats, but if they are raised and trained into this lifestyle then they can be so much more versatile.”
More than two years ago, Desarae and Justin would go on hunting, hiking and camping trips by themselves, carrying all their gear with them as many do.
They recently bought a home and 20 acres of land in Rozet and were ready to start a family.
When their son, Rhett, was born, they started to realize that bringing along a young child would be difficult because they didn’t have enough manpower to carry all the gear while also carrying Rhett.
That’s when they started researching pack goats.
For hunters, hikers or just generally outdoorsy people, a goat is rarely the first creature to take on a hunting or camping trip as a pack animal.
Horses are generally used for carrying equipment for trail riders and campers. They’re also used to haul out game during hunting season.
Starck learned a lot about pack goats from packgoats.com. There she learned that it’s best to start training goats for hiking and hauling gear as soon as possible and that training older goats is not a good idea.
“We started bottle-feeding at 2, 3 weeks (old) just so they can start a strong bond with us early on,” Desarae said. “Bottle-feeding is the key.”
The family started with two goats and in 18 months has grown the herd to seven.
Desarae also has turned her interest in pack goats into activism, serving as a board member for the North American Packgoat Association.
Training the animals started soon after the bottle-feeding began.
It’s not strenuous work. For the most part, Desarae and Justin will walk around their 20 acres, getting the goats accustomed to following the leader, knowing their place in line and sticking together.
Goats also have to have their hooves trimmed at least once every two months to maintain stamina and keep their feet stable.
The other key maintenance task when it comes to goats is a lot of conditioning. Unlike horses, goats aren’t natural long-distance animals.
Marc Warnke, the creator of the website and pack goat guru, said it’s crucial to have the goats out for walks and runs with no weight and to “scale them into weight as the season progresses.”
“An out-of-shape goat will struggle with 20 percent of his body weight and an in-shape goat will cruise through 30 percent,” Warnke says.
It also takes a bit for the goats to get used to wearing the harnesses that will carry gear like sleeping bags, tents and other small equipment.
While trainable, not all goats are meant for packing. Common breeds for packing are Alpine, Oberhasli and Saneen goats.
“When people think of pack goats they think of little pygmy goats or little meat goats,” Desarae said. “When these goats are full size, they can mimic a miniature horse.”
Another advantage of using pack goats over horses is that horses spook easily.
“They’ll run away,” Desarae said. “If goats get spooked, they’ll run (toward you) because they’re coming back to their herd leader.”
The goats only carry about seven to eight pounds when backpacking, but hauling out an animal causes more heavy lifting.
Justin pulled an elk tag for the fall and he’s training the goats to take out an elk by themselves.
“Four goats is the equivalent to about one horsepower,” he said with a laugh.
At full size when they are 3 years old, the goats can weigh anywhere from 180 to 220 pounds.
Desarae said it’s important to take the goats along on trips even when they’re not of packing age for the experience.
Pack goats also can be used by older people who don’t have the stamina to haul a heavy pack.
Getting ready for the trip
The Starck family has been on a handful of backpacking trips this summer in preparation for hunting season. One key thing they learned while doing their research is to never leave goats alone while on a trip.
The reason is simple.
“They have a lot of predators,” Desarae said. “A goat is supposed to stay by your side the entire hunt.”
Other animals are curious of goats in the wild, she said. Some might think that goats will spook game, but it’s quite the opposite.
“They see another animal with horns and they want to get in closer and see what it is,” she said about the reaction big game has to the goats.
Desarae shot an elk last year with the goats following her the whole time.
The oldest goats of the herd still have to wait another 18 months to be ready to carry out an elk. The last two years has been a learning and enjoyable experience for the whole family, she said.
On Wednesday night, Desarae and Justin took Rhett and the seven goats out for a hike.
Rhett was put in a carry-on backpack for the first half of the trip. But after a while Desarae had to put him on the ground down because he wanted to make the trek up the steep hills himself.
It’s as though Justin and Desarae are raising eight loyal, hard-working and dedicated followers, eager to be a part of the tribe.
Seven of them just happen to be goats.