SEAlpine,
The CMII is huge. It will not be undersized. I have a CM II. If I had it to do over, I would probably look at an S-Sarc instead. The sizes are the same but the hip belt is different. I say this because I have one of his guide harness small packs. It carries heavy weight well. The S-Sarc is CM II sized, has the bayonets and and bypass harness but it is a little lighter in weight. The CM waist belt is very comfortable and holds well on the hips even with very heavy loads. The regular Sarc waist belt is also very good with heavy loads compared to most other packs and it's a little more compact than the CM setup.
For a hunting pack, the bayonet feature is nice. Having the bayonets in not only allows you more packing room but the vertical stack makes it much easier to balance out a heavy load when you have a variety of stuff to pack such as on the walk in or out. But when you are taking a smaller load, such as roaming out from the main camp, you pull the bayonets and the pack collapses down below your shoulder line and does not hang up the way a taller pack will when bushwhacking.
I am very happy with my CM pack. It is just a little too much for most of what I actually get to do. As I said above, if I had realized then how capable the regular Sarc setup was, I would have just ordered that instead.
On the other hand, if you will regularly carry very heavy loads, that CM waist belt is fantastic. Get the cam buckles for heavy weights. They are easier to cinch and much easier to release with one hand, even with gloves or mittens.
You can't compare MCHale's stated capacities to other mfg.'s specs. McHale's are much more conservative. Try a CM II demo and see if it has more than enough room for you. I'll bet it will.
