Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Pack Size

Hopefully going west for the first time to hunt next fall (2019) and I plan on purchasing a new pack. I’d like to get several miles from the road for 5-7 days and am trying to decide how big I need to go. I’m used to carrying around my issues ILBE pack which I believe is around 5500 cubic inches. I believe that would be big enough but was wondering if it’s almost too big? I’d also like to have something that can easily be converted to carry game bags. Open to pack suggestions for something that’s not crazy expensive.

Extra cubic inches are lightweight insurance. Go big...

I like Kifaru a lot and there's good deals to be had on lightly used ones on a couple different forums.

When you can find a sale...actually worth full price...

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...or the 105:

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Comfortable, really adjustable to shoulders, hip, torso length, etc., durable and...

WATERPROOF!

Have carried rifles in the pack or strapped to the sides.

I'm relatively new to backpack hunting but have found 5000+ to not be too small. I use 52-5500 cubic inch packs for 3-5 day hunts. I'm afraid to go bigger mainly because with all my packs, day and backpacks if I have room I keep adding stuff.

I'd suggest making a list of all your gear and lay it out on the floor. Buy a postal scale and weigh everything separately. Then throw it all together and see how much it weighs. Then start replacing items with lighter items and/or removing things from the pile. I find it funny that usually guys drag all kinds of stuff into camp and after the first day have all their stuff spread out on the ground and leaving a lot of it in the tent for future days. 😎

I'd suggest buying a good pack. A poor fitting pack will wear you out and likely be very uncomfortable. I personally like Kifaru and Mystery Ranch.

Good luck and have fun!

You can make a big pack small using the integral compression straps but you cannot make a small pack big. The few extra ounces of weight between a bigger vs smaller pack is a small price to pay for the added versatility.

+1. IMO 7000 cubic inches is a good place to be.

I personally need about 50L of space for gear and optics on a 3-4 day backpack hunt. If the meat has to go in too (i.e. no meat shelf), I need another 35-40L. I like a trim pack but it's not worth having junk dangling off like a newbie in Yellowstone; I'd err large to start with.

Good comments on bigger is better.
Just make sure you don’t fill the extra space on the trip in.

Bigger is better so long as you are disciplined not to toss it in. In fact you should get two packs. A 3500-4K one to load your gear in like you are going on a hunt....then toss it into your big pack and don't add anymore gear in the transfer.

yup, don't skimp on volume for a 7 day trip

I think that 4,000 cu. in. is a practical minimum. I have a couple of packs that size but I don't use them much any longer. I use an Osprey Aether 85, which is about 5,500 cu. in. or a Kuiu Ultra 6000. I can get by with a smaller pack but it's tough to get everything in and pack it properly.

KC

I haven't tried this technique but it sounds like a good idea.

Remember that everything weighs something and if you take care of the ounces, the pounds will take care of themselves.

I’ve become pretty good at packing light due to the Marines, but transporting food in still baffles me a little. I’ve never done this before, but it seems like a weeks worth of mountain house, MREs, whatever would take up a lot of space and weight. Even if you’re just packing for one meal a day and snacking on protein bars or jerky I think 7 packages of food plus the the snacks would be a killer to have to shove in a pack for a long hike in.

It's not as bad as you'd think, as long as all your gear especially the "big 3" (tent, bag, pad) are light.

Food does take a lot of space, and weighs more than any other single thing in my pack.

I just made up some bags of food (5-day, 3-day & 2-day bags) that I'm going to use this summer. I use mostly freeze-dried and dehydrated food and it weighs about a pound a day.

Cameron Hanes has a great book on hunting the back country, and has some great lists and tips etc,,,, look it up and get a copy.... Semper Fi

you’re doing pretty good if you have it down to a pound a day, I always figure about 1.5 lbs day and it seems to come out pretty close. I’m eating/snacking almost all day long, habit I picked up from long trail races. Three squares just doesn’t work for me in the mountains.

"Too Big" packs can lead to sloppy packing and bringing unnecessary stuff. "Too Small" packs are, well, too small! Think a woman's purse... if you have the space you will likely use it.

For multiday hunts I like something in the 80-90 liter range, though there's really nothing wrong with a 100 liter pack too, if you're disciplined not to fill it unnecessarily.

Be aware, Co's measure packs differently so not all Co's statistics are equal. The accepted industry standard used to be with ping pong balls, but most makers don't follow that practice any longer, though it is probably the best, and maybe only way, to keep consistency brand to brand for honest comparison. I've used packs rated as 60 liters that had more usable volume than ones rated at 75 liters.

IMO this depends 100% on the packer's level of experience, and whether they have their gear squared away. If you've winnowed down your gear, over-packing shouldn't be a problem.

I've found my Kifaru Reckoning bag to be enough for a 5-day hunt. Its about 82L-106L depending on how you use it. That includes a tipi tent and Ti stove. If I pack reasonably efficiently I don't need it's full capacity.

Yep, agreed... and said the same.

LOL, I should've read the whole thing I guess. The only thing I'd change in your quote would be to substitute "smart" for "disciplined."

There is some brilliance in that methodology!

If it helps, here is what I toss in my pack. This is for a OCT or NOV back country hunt and assumes it could be rather cold. The list is always evolving, but I know this works. It's broken into bags that pack individually. I'm sure others here could offer different ideas. This easily fits in a Kifaru Reckoning and I think it's a around 40-45lbs not including rifle or any water.

Pack
Kifaru
Pack rain cover
Rifle
Ammo (10)
Sleeping Bag (REI Magma)
BCS Tent
Ti Stove
Sleeping Pad
Pillow
Ground cover pad
Compass
Watch/Watchband compass
Map
Walking Sticks
Wyoming Saw
Spotting Scope
Tripod

Bino Harness
Rangefinder
Binoculars
Cow Call

Water
Water Purification (Steripen)
Water Purification (Sawyer)
Tablets
Water bag for camp
Water bottle (Nalgene)
Water bottle (Smart Water)

Cooking
Jet Boil Stove
Fuel (1x)
Ti plate
Lighters (2x)
Spork

Coffee
Coffee Cup
Coffee grinder
Coffee
v60
v60 filters

Meals
PowerBars (1/day)
Green Belly Bars (1 pack/day)
Mtn Home (1/day)
Nuts
Jerky
Hot Choc
Dried Fruit
Vitamins

Electrical
OnX (iPhone)
iPhone cord
Dark Energy Battery pack
Camera
Delorme InReach
Headlamps (2x)
Headlamp batteries
Flashlight
Flashlight Batteries

Supplies
Fire Starters (Trioxane)
Paracord (100')
Allen wrenches
Fabric patch kit
Pack buckles
Handwarmers
Sharpener
Multi-tool
Duct Tape
Waterproof matches

Important
License
Hunter Safety Card
Wallet
Kindle

Kill Kit
Knife - Havalon
Blades
Game bags
Trash bags
Gloves
Wipes
Zip lock bag
Orange Ribbon

Personal / First Aid
Wipes
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Moleskin
Eye drops
Rolaids
Nasal spray
Sinus meds
Chapstick
Ibuprofen
Clot pack
First Aid Kit

Clothing
Stocking Hat
Baseball Cap
Orange vest
Kuiu Rain jacket
Kifaru Lost Park
Arcteryx
Sitka Kelvin Active
Cabelas camp shirt
Kuiu puffy pants
Raingear - bottoms
Socks (1x)
U-wear (1x)
Gloves
Camp Shoes

Wearing
Prana Zion Hiking pants
First Lite merino wool bottoms
U-Wear
First Lite Aerowool top
Boots
Socks
Gaitors

You sound like me!

Tag

That's quite a bit of gear, to be honest.
If this works for you, great, but a guy could go for 5 days with easily 1/3 less.
You're packing the weight of all the backstrap, Tloins and trim meat off an elk simply in the weight of your camp.

I have a Kifaru Reckoning too and really like it...

Agreed. But I want to camp with someone that takes coffee that seriously.

I didn't see any coffee BEANS in that list....

That would be the "coffee" line!! I roast my own coffee!

The list seems long, but much of it is really small. Just about everything is there based on some previous experience. Example is the eye drops. Cut an overhead branch with moss on it and that got in my eyes and was a mess. I wouldn't take all those jackets, would depend on the weather as to what combo. Likely the Kelvin active and one other puffy for insulation. Some is just there to make it more comfortable, like fresh ground pourover coffee. My camp shirt is just a nice-to-have, I like back-up lighting (based on an experience), the spotting scope/tripod is location dependent.

T INMAN: I'd be genuinely interested to hear what you would not take.

On my average elk hunt (which I often do from the pickup---but I do also carry a camp often enough) From your list I'd omit:




I like to go light and don't mind leaving luxury behind to save weight and not have so much stuff to unpack/repack when I am camp.

If you're good with that entire list then good on ya...but that's way overkill for me.

Just highlighted what I don't bring (and in some cases have extra of).

Pack
Ti Stove
Pillow
Map
Wyoming Saw


Water
Water Purification (Steripen) - heard enough negatives that I don't trust it.
Tablets

Cooking
Fuel (1x) (I bring 2 now, because I ran out once and it really sucked.)
Ti plate

Coffee
Coffee Cup
Coffee grinder
Coffee
v60
v60 filters
I skip all of this and bring Via, but I like the way you're thinking.


Electrical
OnX (iPhone) I have a dedicated GPS that probably weighs about the same though.
iPhone cord
Dark Energy Battery pack
Delorme InReach
Headlamps (2X) I bring one headlamp, and no spares
Headlamp batteries
Flashlight
Flashlight Batteries

Supplies
Allen wrenches
Handwarmers
Sharpener
Multi-tool

Important
Kindle


Personal / First Aid
Toothpaste
Moleskin
Eye drops
Rolaids
Nasal spray
Sinus meds
Chapstick

Clothing
Orange vest
Cabelas camp shirt
Socks (1x) - I typically have 3 pair for a 14-15 day trip.

All good thoughts that should give the OP a good range of perspectives from which to inform a pack decision. My list is certainly not a minimal weight, or minimal comfort, list. Clearly I can trim weight and volume if I really decide to do so. But when it's 15-20 deg out and snowing and I'm warm and dry in a tipi tent with a Ti stove burning, sipping a fresh ground pour over cup of coffee, it's pretty good living!

Yes sir...everyone's needs/wants/"worth the weigh, volume and hassel" ratios are a bit different.

Nice to have these choices these days.

I’ll take a bigger pack and cinch it down any day of the week over a smaller pack. My current pack expands from 1800 ci to 7800 ci.