Wyoming’s rugged backcountry is teeming with big game, but the farther into the wild hunters go to shoot deer and elk, the longer and more brutal packing their game out will be.
Some hunters rely on their own strength and use backpacks to haul out meat and antlers. Others get help from pack horses, mules, or pack goats.
A pair of Wyoming hunters, Anthony Natale and Austin Griffith, think llamas are the perfect wilderness pack animals. Llamas may not be native to Wyoming, but they’re perfectly suited for Wyoming’s high country terrain and the wilderness. The pair started out a few years ago with just a couple of the gangly critters, which are native to the perilous mountains of South America.
They’ve built up a stable of 26 llamas, which they rent out through their Encampment-based business, the 307 Llama Company.
Llamas are available to rent to anybody seeking wilderness adventure. But the core of their customer base is made up of hunters looking for an efficient way to pack out their game meat and trophies.
We Should Be Sharing Them’
Griffith told Cowboy State Daily that he’d previously rented pack llamas, so they came to mind when he and Natale started looking for pack animals to take hunting.
Natale agreed that it sounded like a good idea.
“Throughout the long winter, dreaming about hunting season, we were trying to get some pack stock to aid us on the multi-day excursions we go on,” he told Cowboy State Daily.
When it came to getting around in the mountains, llamas proved to be more than up for the task, he said. “We got a couple for ourselves and we thought, ‘Man, these things are awesome. We should be sharing them,’” Natale said. That’s when they decided to launch a llama rental business.
Don’t Expect Llamas To Be Your Friends
If there's a downside to llamas, it’s that they’re not particularly friendly. In fact, they’re notorious for being ornery, cranky and actually spitting on people.
However, neither are they vicious, as is sometimes rumored, Natale said.
“They’re not mean at all. That’s kind of a misconception,” he said, adding that llamas focus on work and aren’t interested in socializing with humans.
“They’re stoic. I would say that. They’re serious,” Natale said. "They don’t want their backs scratched or anything like that. These guys are all business. You get them to the trailhead and you can see they’re mentally locked in." ...
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.