Horse and Mule Packer Jobs: Skills, Pay and Who Hires

A packer is the freight hauler of the backcountry. You load mules and horses, tie the loads on, lead the string to a hunting camp, a trail crew or a fire line, and look after the animals when you get there. Hunting outfitters, Sierra pack stations, national parks and the Forest Service all hire packers, and most of them publish what they pay.

What does a horse and mule packer do?

A packer builds loads, balances them on pack saddles, ties them on with hitches, and leads a string of mules or horses where there are no roads. A Forest Service Animal Packer posting for the 2026 season in Ukiah, Oregon lists the freight: food, tents, crosscut saws and rock drills for trail crews, lumber, gravel and bridge materials for construction, and fragile survey equipment. The packer builds pack bags, slings, boxes and manty loads with sling ropes, ties box, diamond and sling hitches, fits riding and pack saddles, hauls stock trailers with up to 8 head, gives shots and treats wounds, and camps with the stock for up to 10 days (USAJOBS, accessed Sep 13, 2026).

The most common pack saddles are the sawbuck and the Decker, according to the Montana Board of Outfitters. Side loads go in pack boxes, pack bags, or slings and mantied loads for bulky objects, with a top load over them. The board’s packing manual says each side should weigh close to the same and suggests a portable scale to check (Montana Board of Outfitters, Packing Services Reference Manual, rev. Dec 2017). On a real job that looks like the Forest Service’s Northern Region Pack Train in 2025: canvas-wrapped boxes of hand tools, and some mules carrying two eight-foot six-by-six timbers, one on each flank, on a lumber bunk.

Leading the string is its own skill. The same manual says a new packer should start with one pack animal and add more with experience, put the heaviest loads toward the front, never tie the string to the horse you are riding, and ideally run two riders per string, a puller and a drag. Stock care fills the rest of the day. A 2025 Sequoia National Park posting put one packer in charge of 6 to 10 mules and 4 to 6 saddle horses, including emergency field shoeing.

Who hires packers?

Five kinds of employers: the Forest Service, the National Park Service, park concessioners, hunting and pack-trip outfitters, and pack stations. The Forest Service hires under the title Animal Packer in series 5001, Miscellaneous Plant and Animal Work, at grades such as WG-5 and WG-7. It also runs two full regional specialty strings, the Northern Region Pack Train and the Rocky Mountain Region Specialty Pack String (Forest Service, accessed Sep 13, 2026).

The Northern Region Pack Train is based at the Ninemile Ranger District on Montana’s Lolo National Forest, where the Ninemile Remount Depot winters about 200 head of stock. A pack team is two packers, two riding horses and eight mules, working mid-May to October on projects that last less than a week. In 2024 the train packed 685 miles and about 28,100 pounds on 28 projects. In California, the Region 5 Pack Stock Center of Excellence recruits and trains four apprentices a year.

The Park Service hires seasonal packers at Yosemite, Sequoia, Grand Canyon, Glacier and Rocky Mountain. Yosemite’s packers belong to the park’s Roads and Trails Branch and haul food and project materials to trail crews; they were named the 2019 World Champion Pack Team at Bishop Mule Days. Grand Canyon’s NPS packers carry groceries and equipment to inner-canyon bunkhouses and spike camps. Outfitters hire for summer pack trips and fall hunts: Circle 8 Outfitters in the Bob Marshall Wilderness runs 15 to 35 head on each trip, and Elk Fork Outfitters in Cody puts packers 10 miles into the wilderness for 4 to 10 days at a time.

Employer	Example	Season	Published pay	Housing
Forest Service, seasonal	Animal Packer WG-5 and WG-7, Joseph and Ukiah, OR; Pomeroy, WA	Start Apr 19–Jun 14, 2026; up to 6 months	WG-5 $21.73–$22.30/hr; WG-7 $26.32/hr	Varies by location
Forest Service, permanent	Animal Packer (Fire Support) WG-7, Inyo NF, Bishop, CA	Full time or 13 or 18 pay periods a year	$29.83–$34.78/hr (Mar 2026)	May be available
National Park Service	Sequoia WG-6 (2025); Grand Canyon WG-7 (2026); Glacier packer leader WL-8 (2026)	Up to 1,039 hours; Glacier leader up to 1,560	$21.66–$25.27; $27.13–$31.61; $35.58–$41.51/hr	Government housing may be available
Park concessioner	Grand Canyon National Park Lodges mule packer, South Rim	Full time, typically 40 hours a week	$19.75/hr (Jun 2026)	Private room in shared apartment, $267/month
Hunting outfitter	NW Colorado elk outfitter (2024); Buck Horn Outfitters, Yellow Pine, ID	Sep 1–mid Nov; May 1–Nov 10	$2,000/month plus tips; $2,500/month, $3,500 from Sep 1	Room and board, cabin or wall tent
Pack station or backcountry lodge	Golden Trout Wilderness Packtrains, CA (2024); WildCountry Packing, Cove, OR (2026)	Summer, set by snow	$2,000/month plus tips; $2,000–$2,500/month	Bunkhouse; “maybe”

Sources: USAJOBS, FireUp, RanchWork.com, Outfitter Marketplace and Ranch Jobs USA listings, accessed Sep 13, 2026.

How much do packers make?

Federal packer postings in 2025 and 2026 ran from $21.66 to $34.78 an hour below the leader level, and outfitter packers earn about $2,000 to $3,500 a month with room and board. The federal numbers are published on every posting. The same grade, WG-7, was posted at $26.32 an hour in Ukiah, Oregon and $29.83 to $34.78 in Bishop, California. The Bishop job is permanent and may be filled full time or as permanent seasonal, with work guaranteed for 13 or 18 pay periods a year and unpaid time off the rest.

Most Park Service seasonal packer jobs are capped at 1,039 hours a year. Sequoia paid $21.66 to $25.27 at WG-6 for 2025 and Grand Canyon $27.13 to $31.61 at WG-7 in an August 2026 posting. Near the top of the seasonal ladder, Glacier’s Seasonal Animal Packer Leader, WL-8, paid $35.58 to $41.51 an hour in 2026 to care for about 60 horses and mules, and required a Class B commercial driver’s license.

Outfitters pay less in cash but cover room and board. Buck Horn Outfitters in Idaho lists $2,500 a month from May 1 with room, board and tips, rising to $3,500 a month on September 1 for elk season. A northwest Colorado outfitter paid packer-wranglers $2,000 a month plus tips, meals and shared housing in a cabin or wall tent from September 1 to mid-November 2024. Elk Fork, Cheff and Cameron Outfitters post pay as “DOE” or “call for details,” so ask before you drive out.

Do packers need a guide license?

Sometimes, when the packing is part of an outfitted hunt or trip. The rules differ by state.

Wyoming is the most direct. State law says no person shall provide guide services or packing services for taking any big or trophy game animal unless licensed as an outfitter or professional guide, and it defines packing services as transporting hunters, game animals or equipment in the field for hire. The same law excludes from the professional guide definition anyone employed solely to care for, groom or saddle livestock, cook, cut wood, or transport people, equipment and personal property. Breaking the license rule is a misdemeanor with a fine up to $7,500 (W.S. 23-2-406, 23-2-407 and 23-2-417). A professional guide needs a first aid card, a hunter education card if born after January 1, 1966, and, for new guides, the board’s exam (Wyoming State Board of Outfitters, accessed Sep 13, 2026). Ask your outfitter which side of that line your job sits on.

Montana licenses anyone employed by a licensed outfitter who accompanies a client in the pursuit of fish or game. You must be 18, hold board-approved first aid and a wildlife conservation license, be endorsed by a licensed outfitter, and have finished a board-approved guide school or have the outfitter sign an affidavit. The application fee is $125 and licenses expire December 31 (Montana Board of Outfitters guide application, rev. Sept 2024). An unlicensed outfitter’s assistant is allowed only in an emergency and must be reported within 15 days (ARM 24.171.410).

Idaho lists “Animal Pack Trips” among the activities an outfitter checks on your guide license application. The license is valid only while you work for an Idaho licensed outfitter, requires Red Cross or comparable first aid, and for hunting or equestrian work requires at least 10 days of experience in the outfitter’s operating area (Idaho DOPL, IDAPA 24.35.01.103).

How do you learn to pack?

Get comfortable around stock, take a clinic, then pack for someone who will let you start with one mule. The Forest Service teaches the public at Ninemile, where the 2026 packing clinic, taught by the Northern Region packer, is aimed at people who already have some stock experience. Back Country Horsemen chapters run cheaper clinics: Cloud Peak Back Country Horsemen in Sheridan, Wyoming charged $20 for a 2025 pack clinic on pack saddles, panniers and balancing loads, free with a $42 to $47 membership. Back Country Horsemen of America, founded in 1973 in Montana’s Flathead Valley, has chapters in 31 states.

Program	Where	Length	Cost or pay	Notes
Ninemile packing clinic (Forest Service)	Huson, MT	5 days; May 4–8 or Jun 1–5, 2026	$650	8 students; covers saddles, tack, mantying, stock care
Ninemile horse handling	Huson, MT	2 days	$350	Meets Forest Service Region One Defensive Horse Safety training
Swan Mountain packing school	Swan Lake, MT	6 days; Apr 27–May 2, Jun 22–27, Jul 27–Aug 1, 2026	$2,500	Decker and sawbuck saddles, knots, basic shoeing; riding experience required
Cameron Outfitters mule packing school	South of Missoula, MT	6 days, July and August	$2,400	Hitches, load planning, emergency shoeing; 10 students
CCC Foundation packer intern	Shasta-Trinity NF, CA	14 weeks, May–August (2024)	Paid $16.95–$18.96/hr	Housing provided; with Forest Service and Backcountry Horsemen of California
Backcountry Horsemen of California intern	Inyo NF, Bishop, CA	12 weeks, summer	BCHC said it would pay about $16,400 in 2025 to support one intern	With the Region 5 Pack Stock Center of Excellence; recruiting starts in January
College courses	Feather River College, Reedley College, Cal Poly (CA)	For-credit courses	Tuition	Feather River’s AGEQ 107 is 3 units; Reedley’s NR 31 is Animal Packing

Sources: program pages listed below, accessed Sep 13, 2026.

College is a real route in California. Feather River College has run a Pack Station and Stable Operations program since 1981 and says its graduates find jobs as packers, stable managers and wranglers. Cal Poly says its packing class has led students to Forest Service and pack station careers, especially in wildland fire.

When is packing season, and when should you apply?

Summer pack trips and trail support run roughly May through September, fall hunting runs September through November, and federal jobs are posted months ahead. Forest Service temporary packers for 2026 started between April 19 and June 14, but the announcements were open only from October 15 to 30, 2025. Rocky Mountain’s llama packer job closed January 2, 2026, Glacier’s leader job was open February 10 to 24, 2026, the Inyo permanent job was open March 30 to April 9, 2026, and Grand Canyon’s WG-7 job was open August 3 to 14, 2026. Set a USAJOBS saved search for “Animal Packer” in October.

Private seasons stack. Cameron Outfitters hired packers for Idaho spring bear hunts from late April to early June 2026. Mammoth Lakes Pack Outfit’s summer runs June 23 through September 7 with 10 to 12 hour days. Cheff Outfitters in Montana hires mid-June through mid-October for summer pack trips and fall hunts in the Bob Marshall. Elk Fork Outfitters wants packers from May through November and asks for a commitment to the entire season. Fall-only jobs get posted late: the northwest Colorado job starting September 1 went up on August 4, 2024.

How do you get your first packing job?

Start in a job that puts you around a pack string, then count your strings. Some private employers train: Cameron Outfitters says “no experience required” for packers and assistant guides, Golden Trout Wilderness Packtrains says it will teach the right person, and Butte Creek Outfitters in Wyoming lists a camp jack and wrangler job with no experience needed. Wrangling at a guest ranch is the other common door; see dude ranch jobs and open wrangler jobs.

The federal jobs want proof. NPS postings at Sequoia and Yosemite screen for applicants who have routinely packed and led a string of 4 to 5 pack animals, and Grand Canyon’s concessioner wants three years with horses or mules, your own saddle and tack, and the ability to lift 100 pounds regularly. The Inyo posting says you may lift up to 125 pounds and ride up to 10 hours a day. Log every trip you pack and the number of head, because that log is your federal resume.

For hunting camps, read what outfitters look for. Open listings are at packer jobs, including Montana. To let outfitters find you, post a Job Wanted profile listing your stock experience and the saddles you can pack.