Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Best setup for packing out meat

Last year I shot one about 2 miles in on the State forest in Potter Co. I managed to get the whole boned out deer on my MR Sawtooth and made it out in one trip thanks to the load shelf. Most of it was uphill. FWIW, If I had to do it again I'd make 2 trips out. I was spent, but happy.

Barney’s frame.

It may have been mentioned, but if you don't have trekking poles I'd suggest getting them. I use them all the time in rough terrain packing. If I had a torn ACL I'd want all the stability I could get. Best of luck.

I'm rolling lol... yep... safety first!

Most people think of trekking poles as something to help carry the weight. Where they shine is with helping you keep your balance. With 50+ lb on your back, it's easy to twist an ankle or knee if you aren't careful. The poles really help to catch a trip or fall before it happens.

This

A sharp knife and strong legs.
I'm still doing it at 61 years old.
This was last month.

So, what setup do you use?

sally, that looks awful, uhh, labor intensive.....

Nice setup. So easy a dog can do it.

For just packing meat, Its tough to beat a bull pack. Very strong and very comfortable.

You use the buckskinners blanket too! The more you skin & bone the more workspace you’ve got. Walked downhill with lots of clean meat using the skin as my workspace.

Keep rockin’ at 61!

I use a wheelbarrow on whitetails all the time.

I used to have an old one I took the "legs" off and just had the wheel. REALLY makes it go through the brush better. Any kind of trail at all and you are set to travel.

I hunt with an Eberlestock X2 day pack, and can pack out an elk quarter on the first trip. In the truck is a Kelly meat hauler pack with a shelf that makes subsequent trips.

I also carry a light small plastic tarp to put meat on as I’m working up an animal.

Works for me…and I’m 67.

I use a milsurp ILBE pack and bag the game, bone in or bone out. It’s about the cheapest way to get an excellent suspension system with more capacity than I can carry.

Trekking poles are a given.

Eberlestock Just One is what I have been using the last 10 plus years.

Nice bucks Huntsman.

I left hundreds of dollars of kifaru in the closet in favor of an 80s vintage Dana Design Alpine. 6000ci capacity, single tubular bag construction, the bottom 1/3 easily cinches down to nothing for daypacking and humping meat, the dana "beavertail" good for strapping foam pads, boots or shoes, and layers when the inside volume is used up. Side pockets fit a rifle butt and compression straps keep it tight against the side of your pack, in a manner that allows easy rest-sitting on a rock or stump (the kifaru gunbearer requires doffing your rifle to sit on anything, which sucks when there's nothing handy to lean it on...). I use the gunbearer while hunting, but strap the rifle to the pack if packing a long ways to get the rifle out of my armpit (and the barrel out of my headlamp glare if hiking in the dark).

I bought that pack for $50 a few years back. This year I 3-tripped a raghorn elk plus hot tent camp out a few miles with it.

The packwheel options are pretty interesting. Easy rolling with a 29" wheel.

Mystery Ranch Sawtooth worked great this year. Hauled out 3 elk & 2 deer this season farthest 4 miles in through rough terrain with 2 younger guys helping on the elk & 1 of the deer. 4th day of the hunt was 13 miles with 4,000 ft of climb 1/2 with a 90 lb pack - not bad for over 60 & 6,000 ft higher elevation than home. One guy had an MR metcalf that worked well. The other had an Alpz that won’t hold up for another season.

A good solid external frame and about 15 ft of line. Don't care for a shelf as they sometimes force one to elevate a heavy load.