Posts: 2
Threads: 1
Joined: Mar 2020
Hello all my name is Elijah and I am a pastoral nomad. I have started living a lifestyle where I travel around in national forests and blm land, camping for short periods of time while grazing my animals(I harvest their milk, meat, and hides). I currently have 2 goats(nubians) and 6 sheep I am training as pack animals. Yes you heard me I am using sheep as pack animals. There are no sheep packing forums as far as I know and I can't really find any info on it aside from a friend who uses his ram as a pack animal, so it seems this would be the best place for information, it seems to be a great community. I also have been wondering about several conundrums I face. Not sure if I should make a separate thread for it. Please tell me if I should. I was wondering about laws and what not concerning sheep as pack animals. So far I can't find any laws against it. I literally live right next to umpqua national forest at the farm I shepherd for in the winter. It's a two minute walk from my cabin to dense old growth forest and subalpine meadows. As long as I move frequently I believe I should be fine. Haven't gotten in trouble yet, as I haven't encountered anyone. There's plenty of blm land to, although they say that 5 sheep or goats equal 1 head of cattle, and to allow them to graze a grazing permit has to be bought, which you can only get if you own land. Although it seems this rule applies only to the 21,000 grazing allotments they have in the u.s. I also practice a strict leave no trace policy, even covering footprints. If you guys have any info on legalities or suggestions let me know!
Posts: 4,594
Threads: 333
Joined: Dec 2013
Welcome! Hardly anyone uses sheep as pack animals so of course there is very little info out there about that. There are also very few laws about sheep as pack animals, although I have read a few places that recommend banning packgoats also mention sheep. Sheep are definitely a species of concern when it comes to causing mass scale pneumonia die-offs in bighorn sheep so the main thing is to be careful where you take them and to haze bighorns away from your camp if they come close. Good luck!
Posts: 2
Threads: 1
Joined: Mar 2020
(03-03-2020, 07:57 AM)Nanno Wrote: Welcome! Hardly anyone uses sheep as pack animals so of course there is very little info out there about that. There are also very few laws about sheep as pack animals, although I have read a few places that recommend banning packgoats also mention sheep. Sheep are definitely a species of concern when it comes to causing mass scale pneumonia die-offs in bighorn sheep so the main thing is to be careful where you take them and to haze bighorns away from your camp if they come close. Good luck!
Thank you for the info! As far as for bighorn sheep go I have looked into it quite a bit and where I'm at in the umpqua there are many sheep farmers around, and the bighorn sheep aren't to common here unless you get to the rouge umpqua divide wilderness area, which I am quite far away from, I doubt it'll be anywhere near my pastoral route. Elk and deer dominate the woodlands and meadows here. And all my sheep have been treated for the major no no sicknesses and are gonna get tested so that I have paperwork for it. Clean, healthy and well behaved animals are a must.
Chat
