Our largest llamas can carry over 150 pounds. By boning this Montana elk, we can easily carry out the hide, antlers and meat with two llamas.
By using llamas, we can
easily get into the area where the bulls are located. We don't have
to worry about where we shoot them as the llamas can go about anywhere
we can. Here we haul out two nice bulls in Wyoming.
On several occasions, we have placed game animals on llamas on their
second packing trip. The llamas its no big deal attitude always impresses
me. We're packing a desert mule deer on the first llama and a javelina
on the second llama during a New Mexico hunt. The second llama was
on his second pack trip. We easily loaded him, and he packed the
javelina to camp without any problems.
When
we packed out a friend's elk in Montana, the snow was so deep near the
harvest site that the packs drug furrows in the snow. By using a
llama, I was able to hike up into the mountains where we were the only
hunters to harvest a fine pronghorn buck. Our stud, Bandit packs
the pronghorn meat, head and my personal stuff. In the picture on
the right, I carry my only my rifle; sometimes the llama carries it also.
We packed up a drainage and had a big camp with all the luxuries of
home, including grommet meals, enough food for 10 days, plenty of food
for the llamas. We shot this 7 year 4 month old bull the second day,
so we had lots to carry out. The lead llama is caring about 150 pounds
and all the rest are carrying between 110 and 135 pounds. We put
all the meat, hide and antlers on three llamas.
Bow hunters really like hunting with llamas. They are quiet on
the trail. Dwight Schuh, Senior Editor for Bow hunter magazine and
field editor, Sports Afield, purchased Snake River Llamas. Stan Roush
and many other bow hunters also purchased our llamas.