I just noticed this thread. Been packing with goats for 2 years now, for my style of hunting they have worked great. I will be honest I was skeptical of them at first, I was told they can be slow, some lazy, and not always able to handle the loads that might make them worth it. I was also unsure of how they would handle some of the places I go, I didn't think it would be possible for a pack animal to scramble over some of the obstacles and extremely steep slopes to get into some of my spots I also heard a few success stories about the extreme things they could do. I was blown away by what they are capable of. A big mature alpine packer can haul as much as 70 ibs (40-60 if you are going really far or a lot of uphill), I've had my goats go as much as 21 miles with 5,000 elevation gain in a single day. They have gone through some terrain that no mule horse or llama could make it in, I push the backcountry to the extreme and the goats have handled just about everything I have thrown at them. That sounds 'all good' however there is a lot of work that goes into getting the right goats and getting your goats trained and in good enough shape to perform well. If you are in areas where you don't have extreme terrain or your sticking to trails, a goat cannot do weight wise or endurance wise what a horse or mule will do on a trail. They are basically the Super Cub of pack animals, they will go to spots no other pack animal can get to, but they can't carry as much weight.
Advantages:
-don't need to pack food even in the snow
-go 4-5 days without water if the feed is decent
-no leash follow you everywhere
-puts game animals at ease (have had deer walk right up to me with goats around)
-not afraid of dead animals/ blood, no problem even packing out bears
-load up in the back of the truck
-not too hard to train
-very intelligent
-they have unmatched agility compared to other pack animals
-very low maintenance on the trail and while hunting.
Disadvantages:
-cant pack full loads until they are 4
-short pack life (6 yrs hard packing)
-can't carry as much weight per animal
-don't have the natural endurance of a horse or mule
-have to be really consistent with exercise/ hikes to keep them in shape (this is one of biggest make or break it parts of why goats work for some and not others)
-they will get into everything, endless curiosity (can be trained out of them with a lot of persistence, or keep them tied around camp)
-can't leave them alone tied in camp when you hunt (predators)
-very co-dependent
-They can have a brutal pecking order amongst themselves