Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Pack suggestion

Looking for a new daypack/scout pack
Lightest possible but with a rigid frame. Just big enough to carry the essentials extra knife, few snacks, a little water and an extra jacket kind of load.
But want it to have a shelf I can strap a quarter or backstraps to for first load out where ill grab my big frame pack.
Have an older badlands with an arched frame that holds main panel of pack away from my back that I LOVE but is a heavy empty and lacks the shelf feature.

I used a Badlands 2200 for many years, two years ago an Eberlestock Mainframe with a small bag strapped to it. Ultimately they just weren't for me/my frame. I'm 5'10" about 165 - 170 lbs.

This year I switched to a Mystery Ranch Pintler. Awesome pack. I've used it this year so far for quite a bit of meat hauling. I probably won't bring my frame pack (the Eberlestock) again, the Pintler hauled meat better than the frame pack did. Something like the Mystery Ranch Mule is even smaller than the Pintler as a minimalist daypack option.

I'll check into those mystery ranch, thanks

Black Diamond or Mountain Hardwear.

Sierra Trading, Gear Exchange, Moosejaw, etc....great prices and sales.

any particular models?

Mystery ranch...

Seek outside. I like my unaweep.

sounds like you’re describing the Mystery Ranch Pop-up- 18 or 28 liters, it’s a “daypack” that morphs into a hauler. Have trained with mine most of the summer with loads 35-75 lbs, very good concept that they executed very well

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.

Kuiu Venture 2300 is a great pack

I'm quite happy with my Pop-Up 28!

Seek outside packs are lightweight and have frame extensions that can be added when the load gets heavy.

look at the 1700 and 1800 daypacks from stone glacier.

I have been using a Pop-up 28 myself and am really impressed with its capabilities.

This is my wife's 2300 Kuiu Venture

So far its been a great day pack but doesn't have much room for a spotter in a zippered spot.

Pop up looks promising, gotta find a retailer where i can try one on now!

That looks nice, think you could get 4 quarters from a whitetail into/on it?

Tough to get 4 whitetail quarters in/on ANY ***day pack***...

? Works ok with my Badlands 2200. All 4 quarters, backstraps, etc.