Have you considered hunting with your pack frame and attaching the other stuff in a small duffle or day pack? I did that 15 years ago and I'm thinking of going back to it, at least in semi open country where the shots are longer and the occasional squeak isn't going to scare game. Sometimes I used a CamelBak "non-bottle", a bladder with an insulated sleeve and tabs for attaching to something else, no shoulder harness, but most times I'd use a Badlands Reactor as my "bag" on the pack frame.
Back in the timber it is still hard to beat the old Badlands 2200. It doesn't stick up above my head and snag on trees 'n' stuff I'm going under the way the pack frame does.
The new 2200s seem to come with a meat shelf, soft, but well attached, that can be lashed to the pack once loaded. For deer, with my older 2200, I gut / skin / quarter, load the quarters in small custom meat sacks which I hang from tree limbs to cool and air while I work on the rest of the carcass, then load them all into a single elk quarter bag to keep them sort of contained, and lash that to the pack for the haul out. Works so well it's almost cheating.
I'm thinking about replacing my old 2200 with a newer one since they've added some features. Also looking at the Clutch .. replacement for the old 2800.
Yes, these are heavier packs, feel heavy held at arms length, but they fit me so well the weight disappears when I put them on .. more like a piece of clothing than a day pack.
