When you’re miles deep in the backcountry and well beyond the reach of your truck, cell service, or any other kind of help, it pays to have a reliable partner. A pal that doesn’t spook easy and can carry their own weight, or with any luck, a quartered-out game animal. For some folks, that pal might be a horse or a mule. Us? We’ll take a llama.
You read that right: A llama. This summer and fall, we’ll be working with onX Hunt and long-time dedicated backcountry hunter Randy Newberg to provide a unique look at public lands through the eyes of his new hunting partner, Marcus the Llama. Sharing his first name with Marcus Leupold – son of legendary co-founder Fred Leupold and the man who changed the course of the company more than 70 years ago by vowing to start making better rifle scopes – the llama will serve as Newberg’s lead pack animal on public land hunts throughout the western portion of the United States.
Provided by Beau and Kristin Baty of Wilderness Ridge Trail Llamas, Marcus comes from a herd of Ccara Pack llamas. Ccara’s are representative of the traditional llama breed and make for excellent pack animals thanks to their athleticism, strength, and trainability.
When you break it down, llamas are simply built for the backcountry. They don’t consume a ton of food and water (in comparison to larger-bodied pack animals), they carry the majority of their body weight on their front legs, and their feet have leather pads and a split toe – traits that make them excellent in the rough terrain that’s often found deep in any wilderness. Combine that with their calm disposition, and you’ve got a hunting partner that won’t easily let you down.
