Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Day pack for hunting

I'm going be getting a new day pack for hunting. Anyone bought one recently they can recommend.

Would be real nice if it was something that I could hook my rifle to so that I don't have to carry it on a sling.

It's vogue to carry a huge daypack containing a multitude of gadgets nowadays. I don't carry a range finder and my compass battery has never died so I have no GPS....just a few essentials in my beltless rucksack. I gave away some great packs to younger hunters wanting to pack a lot of gear.

The Badlands Superday pack is the best I've ever seen. My son had one and it was so comfortable and organized I just got one. It also has a rifle carrier built in that you can strap your rifle into to hike/climb hands free.

Bob

Eberlestock Minime is a pretty handy small day pack if you aren't someone that carries everything he owns on a day hunt.

Kifaru Daystalker or Scout

You need to decide just what and how much you want to carry first. As little as possible is a good rule.
I use a Bianchi Endurance pack at 800 ci to my Kifaru Spike Camp w/ 2200 ci plus with add on pouches. Depends on the weather conditions and what I need to hunt with.
Things like extra clothing, particularly if you sit for a while in really cold weather, to food, optics like binocular(s) or a spotting scope, and the head and meat of a kill.
Kifaru makes a Gun Bearer system that can be purchased separately for use on other packs. Easy, and fast to use, allowing one to free both hands for rough going.
If you are planning on carrying much weight, be sure to get a pack that is properly designed for that. Such packs cost alot more but are really worth it in rough, steep country. E

Whatever you decide to get, do yourself a favor and pick up a Kifaru Gun Bearer. Once I figured out exactly how I wanted it adjusted, it became one of my favorite pieces of gear.

A slingsaver is the best rifle carrier I have found yet. It is basically a hook that velcros onto a padded pack shoulder strap. I usually carry a 3 liter day pack w/ no waist band and it works great. For bigger loads I use a 5 liter kelty that holds cold weather gear, spotting scope and tripod and foxpro. A Slingsaver on each side allows you to swap shoulders as needed. Since I tried the SS I have not used my Gunbearer. I hang my rifle on a Montana sling and forget it. full arm swing and no barrel in your face. Your pack must have a chest strap to make this work. Sorry about the diatribe but I have spent the last 8 days using this gadget and I love it.

mike r

What is your "haul meat out of the woods" logistics? Separate pack?

I use a Badlands 2200 with a Gunslinger Corral.

I love my badlands 2200, and I just ordered a sling saver.

Bison gear. And it will pack meat

Interesting. This is the first time I've heard of the slingsaver. It looks like a good and simple idea.

This would be my vote if the money is there. Kifaru is always a good bet.

A cheap alternative to the Sling Saver is a large button sewn to the top of each shoulder strap.

Same here.

The only drawback: I like to use the pocket in which the rifle tote is stored for extra batteries. If you need to use the rifle tote you can't use the pocket for anything else. Only a minor inconvenience for me.

This needs to be addressed IMO. I'm too lazy to hike back for a seperate pack for meat. I want my daypack to be capable of hauling meat. While I'd like something a bit smaller at times, I use the same 7200ci pack for day hunts or pack ins.

That said, a smaller one like the aforementioned Kifarus or a Mystery Ranch Metcalf would be a welcome addition for day only hunts.

This� or the Diablo� both are awesome day packs for loads up to as much as 50 lbs (think hauling out the first quarter to the truck to get your pack board)� My son and I keep our pack weight to around 20 lbs for day hunts, up to 25 in colder weather due to more layers. Both have a great hip belt to take the weight off of your shoulders, and load lifter straps.

Foxx

If you plan on being successful the Eberlestock X2 is hard to beat. When you kill something you can open it up and carry a pretty decent load (boned elk front quarters and back straps were in mine a couple weeks ago). It is easy to add the scabbard or bow holder with all the straps. It is a bit big empty as a day pack but worth it when you kill something and are able to go out on the first trip heavy.

What is your "haul meat out of the woods" logistics? Separate pack?[/quote]

Right now more like rely on the guide ;-)

Figure if I am hauling out meat myself I will get a bigger pack some day. For the upcoming antelope hunt in Wyoming and my other deer bow hunting on my own property all I need is a day pack.

Wow. This looks real nice.

Badlands Superday it is. Found one at a decent price on ebay.

Kifaru gunbearer ordered. Thanks folks.

Check out Kifaru, you can go large or small and the gun bearer works well. Less is more.

daily needs
hunting needs
navigational needs
game care needs
emergency overnight needs.

you decide.

ive got the Eberlestock x2 works great for me. hauled out deer, antelope, elk back straps shoulders boned out used bigger pack for hind quarters.

Day pack size is meaningful to me.

It's not what you can carry during the hunt that matters. It's if you can pack out an animal without making two trips.

Badlands 2800 with a Kifaru Gunbearer.

that's what horses are for....

Bison Gear Lost River has been on my back over 10 years

5 states and even Africa

Made by hand one at a time in the USA and waranted forever!

Carried an old Cabelas fleece w/ leather bottom daypack on a lot of hunts. Bought it for $5 at a garage sale with a blown zipper and had my mother inlaw sew a new one way zipper in it. It's basically a schoolbook bag but built pretty sturdy. I've carried many backstraps, or backstrap singular in the case of moose, out for the first load to get my freighter for the rest of the animal. It will also fit a skint grizzly skull btw.

Last year I found a brand spanking new, tags still attached, unused Badlands Source at our local thrift store for $30. I snatched it right up and threw the water bladder away as soon as I got it home. It has a great suspension system and is very comfortable to carry, even loaded. The problem is that it has so many pockets and compartments compared to my old pack that I can't really carry anything. If it's bigger than a snickers bar there's no place to put it. I had to rethink a lot of my gear and make some changes but I'm still not fully sold. Kinda miss the old, "one giant compartment" of my Cabelas pack.

Another thing I do is, if say I'm going to hike a couple miles to a ridgetop to glass for caribou. I will put the shoulder straps of my daypack over the frame horns of my freighter. That way I have the ability to haul a full load of meat without a light load/ wasted trip. I don't like to haul meat inside the bags that come on frame packs, one more thing I have to clean up when I get home. I just take a 100' roll of nylon clothesline to lash quarters on the pack.

Firstcoues,did you use the sling saver? How does it work?

Looks simple enough,i hunt a few spots where I cross shoulder my sling when hiking in(steep in spots) and I hunt with a fanny pack. But I want a pack w/ more room so I'm looking @ a backpack but need something to hold the rifle secure.

I use a crew cab by mystery ranch. But if just scouting, I use the day pack lid

http://www.mysteryranch.com/hunting/hunting-pack-accessories/nice-daypack-lid

Mystery Ranch Dragon Slayer

Two years of using it and no real complaints. Will haul some meat if you need it to. I believe it's rated for 80lbs or so.

My Badlands Superday arrived. Nice pack.

Some day I will get a bigger one designed to also carry game back out. Needed a smaller one this time around and to keep calls etc. all in one place and have ready for a trip to the blind on my property. Just to grab and go in the am when I feel like hunting.

+1....use a Cabelas fanny pack for everything, and put it on my pack frame if traveling far from the rig....

I started w/a Badlands 2200 and I do still like it as a day pack. Next I bought an Eberlestock Dragonfly J107, it handles a heavy load out better and has what I think is a wonderful rifle scabbard but it's nearly 10# dry. Very recently I nabbed a Stone Glacier Approach W/weapon sling. My initial thoughts after having 40# strapped to it and walking ~5mi 3 times/wk for a month is that the bag size is going to be about right for day pack use, and the load shelf expansion allows one to carry a load very close to the body and very secure. @ ~3.5# dry I'm going to have a ~12-15# load including having the rifle strapped on in a pack that's capable of hauling out more meat than I am capable if carrying.