Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting 10-11-12 Bull Part 2

Any elk hunter knows that once the elk is down, the real work begins. No different this time around. If the elk slid just a little, he would sail down off a couple cliffs and end up at the bottom of the canyon, causing even more work to pack him out.

So, I secured his antlers to a patch of deadfall. It seemed as though I spent almost as much time cutting limbs as working on the elk. I knew how important it was to have a clear of an area to work in from a safety aspect.

The photos don't really show the steepness, but it was on a 38 degree slope. I set to boning the elk, setting large pieces in the snow to cool before placing them in dry bags. This process took what seemed forever, as I didn't have much room to maneuver the elk. I almost forgot to leave evidence of sex, but thought of it at the last minute.

The killing shot by the way was a shattered spine. Damn near overshot him!

When I finally had all the meat removed, I opened the chest cavity, removed the liver and heart and tenderloins, and then sawed the ribs out. I love to cure and smoke elk ribs and it is worth carrying the extra weight of the bone.

By now, I was getting pretty well tuckered. All I had eaten all day was a cup of tea, an apple and a coconut bar.

I loaded the meat into three bags with the backstraps, loins, liver heart and a few other parts going into my pack for the 1st trip out.

The other two bags I hung from a couple different trees. There wasn't much option on where to hang.



I hoped if a griz or wolves came into the kill site they wouldn't bother with the hanging bags.

My trip out was about two miles, with a climb of about 500 feet vertical and sidehill across loose, snow covered shale. Thank God for MicroSpikes and trekking poles. The rest of the trip consisted of a long descent on a ridge back to the cabin. Pack weight was 65 lbs and very manageable. I was using my modified ULA Epic on this day.

I built fires in the wood stoves, ate two big bowls of stew, had toast of Irish whiskey and went to bed before 7:00.

The next morning, from the cabin window I could see one of my bags hanging through the spotting scope. Everything looked OK and there looked to be a number of birds on the kill. A good sign, I hoped that something bigger wasn't around.

After a light breakfast, I set out to get the rest of the meat, as well as the antlers, which were still attached to the elk at this point. I figured this would be a good test of the Paradox Evolution pack that I had been alternating all season with my Epic.

There was ice on the pond:



And leaves frozen into the ice:



At the kill site, nothing big and scary was around. I sawed out the antlers with my Sawvivor, then loaded the biggest bag of meat and the antlers on the Paradox.

The only way I could get the pack on was to sit downhill from it, slip into the shoulder straps and then roll over to my knees and push up. That is always a strange sensation in grizzly country, a large chunk of elk on my back and me on my knees with my ass in the air:)

I adjusted the pack, then posed for a few photos using a Gorilla-pod and the self timer. The pack felt comfortable at first.



I wasn't sure how much weight was in the pack. I knew it was heavier than the day before but it wasn't until I got down that I realized it was 96 lbs. My comments to Kevin on how the pack carried are below:

> My first thought to write you on how the Paradox was with 96 lbs: it sucked....... but it sucked a lot less than most packs with 96 lbs
> Overall I liked it a lot.

> <The hip belt is excellent. Stays put and doesn't slide down.

> < Very stable with a big load even on steep loose sidehills

> < Compression system is well though out and overall excellent. Placement of straps is just where you need them

> < The orange Base Talon is perfect for a small amount of gear and works great as a compression panel

> < The frame, after several tweaking sessions fits me very well

> < Shoulder suspension is one area in need of improvement. No matter how I adjusted I had too much pressure on the fronts of my shoulders. I think this is mainly the effect of the suspension
being too narrow to distribute the load. The suspension that comes with the new production packs might have this issue solved.

> < The addition of a Pals waist belt would make this pretty close to an ideal pack. It carries great with small loads yet the frame and suspension will handle a lot more than me

> One change I would suggest is to replace the wing nut attachments with a nylock nut. I put some Loctite on the wing nuts as It would suck to loose one

As I said, overall. I am very impressed with the pack which is an early prototype. I look forward to trying the new lighter frame as well as the wider shoulder suspension with better EVA foam. I also think the new production hip belt with Pals webbing looks great and I look forward to trying this as well.

When Kevin asked my about testing the Paradox, I said sure, I'd like to try it out, but that I wasn't in the market for a new pack. After a lot of days in the field with a prototype Paradox, I have to say that I think I will be carrying one of these for a lot more miles in the future.

I really like my modified Epic, but know it wouldn't have carried the close to 100 lbs as well, it at all. I also worry about how many, 60+ pound loads the Epic has in it. I have no such worries with the Paradox.

Back to the hunting story. I schlepped the big load off the mountain, had a bite of lunch and returned for the last bag, which was a more manageable 70 pounds.

One more photo of some great rugged country:



As a side note, this might be the most delicious elk I have ever had. As I write this most of the elk is in the freezer and the ribs are curing and will get smoked this weekend.

Entertaining writeup, Ed, thanks.

What's your mix for curing the ribs if you don't mind me asking?

Smoke,

I've just always used the Morton's Tender Quick. Rub it in good and heavy. Keep the ribs at about 40 degrees for several days until the cured color goes through. Then about 3 smokes with alder or apple wood.

I like to simmer them in water in a big kettle for several hours and then add red potatoes and cabbage to the pot.

Right on Ed...great breakdown of your thoughts on the Paradox. I think its a great pack as well, however I felt the waistbelt was a bit wasn't as comfortable as some other packs I've used (granted still more comfy than 90% of the packs out there) while the shoulder harness was very comfortable. Funny how packs feel differently to different people.

Congrats again on the elk.

Thanks Luke!
Yeah the waist belt was probably the biggest plus for me on the Paradox, but then again, any pack with a lumbar pad is very uncomfortable to painful for me. I'd be interested to know if you had the wider shoulder suspension. Kevin could probably answer that best.

Yeah not sure about which model I had....was impressed with it though overall. I think its another great option for those wanting a lightweight pack that can haul some serious weight for sure! The more options out there the better it is for us consumers certainly, while not the best pack for me atleast with the hipbelt that was on it, it might be for someone else.

AL, I'm almost positive you had the new shoulder harness, but pretty sure that Kevin will answer that.

That would make sense as I did not find that part of the pack lacking at all.

Great write up. Always look forward to your adventures.

The prototype packs went out with V1 harness, and the feedback was similar to Ed's in many cases. We made some adjustments to the harness which was V2 and what went out on early production. Very few complaints, but mostly from broader shouldered / larger framed people. We also made a small adjustment to load lifter placement which seems to help some people as well. We have been testing a V3 harness, and I have a dozen 8 hr days or more under it myself and I think that will fix any issues for broader shouldered people, while not having any negative affect on smaller framed folks. I don't think there will be any changes after V3. Luke had a V2 harness, with a few prototype parts thrown in other spots, just due to time constraints on our end.

Hipbelts, we are now offering a large as well and PALS is added in. PALS is not as functional on a small belt due to space constraints.

I'll post some updated photos here in a few days. I think you will be very impressed. The construction is fabulous.

Great write-up! Also enjoyed part 1 !