Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting A good pack for a beginner

Trying to plan a moose trip and need a pack for carrying gear and hopefully bringing back a moose. Any recommendations? I am a beginner at backpack hunting so I am hoping to get something I can use until I figure out what I like or don't. Something off the shelf vs. custom I guess is what I am trying to say.

First I will add a caveat. I used to think backpack hunting meant that you loaded your house (including the sink) into the biggest backpack you could find and hiked for a couple of hours before collapsing in exhaustion. Where-ever you happened to fall over was your new campsite. If you had found a big enough backpack, it made a nice tent for the night while you recovered enough energy to get it off of you and unpack. There was also the added benefit of bear protection while laying under the pack, the average Grizzly would have exerted too much energy to get the pack off of you that they would end up burning more calories then you would provide.

But I digress. The point of the caveat is that I was used to carrying way more weight than I needed. Last year I hunted with a pack that was full up 40 lbs. This is significantly less than I had tried to do in the past and it worked out well. I bought a used MR 6500 from a friend and used that. It was very stout and sturdy and comfortable.

I know there are lighter packs out there, but I am not trying to go as light as possible. I think this pack is about as durable as they get and worked well for me. It is what I would recommend to someone who isn't really trying to go ultra-lite, but wants a quality pack.

http://www.mysteryranch.com/hunting/hunting-expedition-packs/nice-6500-pack

Keep an eye out on e-bay or other places like the classifieds here for a used Kifaru Longhunter. If you can get a quality pack for a good price there's no reason to go on the cheap. Same thing goes for your boots. Those two items are where it really pays to get quality stuff from the start because if you go cheap or get either that doesn't fit right you'll have a hard time making it past the beginner stage.

Go buy a military, Desert Storm one from Sportsmen's Whse. You wont regret it. Comes with a smaller attached day pack complete with shoulder straps. I don't think these can be beat. Just mho.

I am wanting a frame pack to carry out quarters in as well. Sorry should add that. What I am hearing is the hunt I am wanting to do they only let you take 50 pounds for 2 weeks.

USMC ILBE. Ebay should get you one for about $50. You may never need to upgrade.

If the USMC bags are good why do people buy the more expensive ones? I am always skeptical when something seems to good to be true. Would suck to have one fail somewhere remote.

Lol, like Afghanistan or Iraq? Why do people buy a Benz when a Kia will get you from A to B? More expensive ones are lighter, carry weight a touch better, cost a ton more. I've got a Kifaru and 3 ILBE. I've hauled critters in both.

FWIW, I don't like to use a pack to hunt with and have to have a seperate pack to haul with. At a minimum I want the pack I hunt with to be able to carry out a good sized first load. I'm fat and generally lazy, so I don't like the idea of having to hike back for a hauler. So far, I've been able to get by with one pack, a Kifaru Longhunter. I hunt with it and haul with it.

Two things I don't like to "make do" with are boots and a pack. I need both of those to fit and work well.

Amen to that. That said, after reading this thread I just ordered a USMC ILBE pack off fleabay. Every fall people want to borrow my Kifaru stuff. Now they get the USMC and I don't have to worry about it for $58 delivered.

I'd like to check that pack out one of theses days, if you don't mind.

Its a pack for untrained neophytes. I am afraid that you would blow the seams right out of it. If you promise to only pack 90 or so pounds in it, then we can talk. Will keep you posted when it arrives.

I have a MR, Kifaru Longhunter and an ILBE at home. I agree with the comments. The ILBE is a great pack for the price but it's not the same level as the MR or Kifaru packs.

Right, and I'll only go 20 miles a day too, if you want.

Hi All:

I have been backpacking and mountaineering for about 30 years, and I used to do some pretty serious stuff. I have owned danas, gregories, a custom mchale, arc-teryx, etc. I have used a kifaru fairly extensively.

I use a granite gear for really light non hunting trips of 2-4 days, I am getting old and worn down , not quite out yet. I am carrying lighter and lighter stuff. (For elk season prep, I have so far forgone conditioning and instead have just had neck surgery, just getting back into actual fitness...we shall see).

A couple of suggestions and thoughts. I really like the newer packs with the load shelves. Really expensive. I have been looking at Kuius and will have a chance to test one coming up.

My pack into basecamp setup is a pretty simple affair, i don't like having a big and heavy duty pack on my back while I am spot and stalk hunting or sneaking thru timber. So...I haul camp on on a kely cache hauler, and I have been using an eberlestock x2 which i unstrap, use for day trips, and can just use for a single night spike. I have broken it with an elk quarter, and repaired it. It is OK, I am looking to upgrade.

The cache hauler really is a great big load carrier. i have carried a whole boned out blacktail and my camp, and have used it for elk quarters.

I think the ll bean frame in their hunting catalog looks interesting for this type of setup, but haven't used one.

I just took deliveryof the USMC ILBE pack discussed above. The suspension is very similar to my old arxteryx bora, everything seems high quality and well designed and made. these clearly are cheap because there is a whole pile of them out there, and not because they were cheap to make. I am impressed. and I am picky. I think these should be excellent, especially for a beginner(because they will work and are cheap and are much better in terms of design and ergos that previous milsurp, after figured things out you can spend more if you need /want to), I am going to get another for friends that come visit to use, this one was for the stepson.

I paid 40 plus 20 shipping for a used one in good shape minus assault pack add on and hydration system. Another point, they have different belt sizes, so if you get one and it is not quite right you can get a different belt. the one I just got is supposed to be a large. I have a 35 waist, 19 torso, seems to fit me well (I am 6'1") Anyway, that is my take.

by the way, the younger tougher and less beat up/falling apart you are, the cheaper and more ill fitting your gear can be...I think...

Good to know. I always worry it is some flea market mil surp stuff you see for sale. It sounds like this is a good pack.

Since the high-dollar crowd is throwing out their suggestions then you may as well add this one to the consideration list.

http://store.seekoutside.com/packs/

I suppose the milsurp would certainly work, sounds like they're well made. I don't believe you need to drop $500-$600 for a decent pack that will work for you. Different things work for different folks.

Some apparently believe it's a crap pack if you don't spend 6 bills. Others get by for years and are perfectly happy with a $75-$150 LL Bean, REI, or Cabelas pack.

I took my first backpack hunt with a used Dana Design Terraplane I bought on ebay for cheap. It is a great pack and I still use it for backpacking. I've bought a like-new Eberlestock J-107 Dragonfly on ebay, used it on a backpack hunt last Fall then I sold it. Not a quality issue, just I didn't much like it for me. I've had a Kelty, and another Eberlestock and some daypacks.

I've ended up with the Paradox above and I believe it will be the last pack I buy as it has the features I want, is lightweight, more versatile than any pack I've used, and just a quality product. I believe it more than capable of hauling a moose, not that I likely ever will.

Anyway, my point is, it may take a few near misses and trying several packs to settle on what you want.

So far as my observations on here, it seems the Kifaru, Mystery Ranch, and Paradox lovers, truly love what they have and would not switch for any other pack.

The ILBE is a 'heavy internal'. If you want to carry the same weight in the same comfort, but have the pack itself weigh less, you are gonna have to pay about $100 per pound in terms of weight saved.

I really like mine, but light it is not ...

It can carry much more than I can.

Shameless connection to a very good pack for the $$.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbth...6/WTS_Dana_Design_Terraframe#Post9056296