Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Which day pack configuration works better for you

Truck'n around the mountains can be hard, which backpack configuration (low small back pack or the good old fashioned backpack) works best for you.


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My hands down favorite day pack is my Kifaru Express, with the cargo chair attachment. It fits and carries wonderfully, and with the chair on the back it can easily handle a full hind quarter of a bull elk on the first trip back to the rig. Then I use a Kifaru freighter system for the rest of the packing job. I've used probably every other quality pack out there and nothing is even close in my opinion to the Kifaru system. Some packs are fine daypacks, fit well and carry comfortably, but they can't handle any substantial amount of elk on the first trip out. This makes them severely limited for my type of hunting. Just my $.02.

For a daypack, I prefer a quality pack of not less than 2,100 cubic inches with a hydration bladder. I like side pockets for the rangefinder, etc., and a long pocket for my spotting scope. I am currently using a Bianchi, but I it is several years old and there are probably better ones on the market today. I no longer use my daypack to carry meat, but rather depend on a packframe if that becomes necessary.

For elk hunting I like around 3,000 ci's.

I currently use an Arcteryx Bora 50.

I like my Eberlestock Just One and my MR Nice frame with load sling for the heavy work. I would like to have one of those Kifaru Express. They look like the ultimate day pack. The Osprey packs are very comftorble, but do not know how well it would handle the weight.

Which Osprey?

The Atmos series, but I see they do not offer them in black for 07 on the website. I tried them on at REI and they were very comftorble. I was thinking of getting one just for backpacking. The mesh area is nice and does well at keeping the pack away from your back.

I have an Eberlestock Just One and it works out pretty well.

i use a badlands 2200 or my 2800 if my GF has the 2200

I also like the Badlands 2200.

badlands 2800 for me and a frame to haul some monster loads where ever my camp/rig is. I like the 2800 as I can pack a big spotter and trekking poles without issue, yet it compresses down to nothing.

I wouls say though FIT IS FIRST! a hot pink pack that fits you well is gonna be your friend more that the hottest new camo that rubs you raw.

On my last nine day wilderness trip this past month, I used my Mystery Ranch NICE Frame plus 6500 bag and my Mystery Ranch NICE OK frame plus Crew Cab with extra top lid, my all time favourite among "day packs".

I have also used about everything out there, including my Kifaru Siwash and Longhunter, as well as packs from Europe, the USA, Canada and Asia, nothing compares to the Mystery Ranch packs I have in comfort, quality, design or practicality in BC mountain conditions and they "top pack"on horses well, due to their comapct design.

Mystery Ranch packs, of which I have four recent production, Bozeman-made ones, are the BEST packs I have ever seen and I won't buy anything else now.

This pack is not bad. It was never designed for elk hunting. I don't use it to pack meat - I do that with parachute cord strung through tubular webbing.

I like this pack because it is comfortable and as the day warms up I can shed my jacket and the pack accordions out (new verb there) nicely and is still comfortable.

THis year was my first time with the Badlands 2200 in Elk Camp
1 week in Oregon Desert, ATV transport

1 week in Wyoming Roadless camp Horses for transport.

In Both cases the 2200 met my expectations and fit the bill. It didn't ride too low and pinch my butt against the cantle, and hugged my body when I had to mount and dismount.

Plenty of room for spare layers,Spotting Scope and Tripod, an emergency kit plus MRE,a Wyoming saw and an alaskan game bag.

While the horses packed the quarters, I utilized the meat shelf for the antlers, while the liver rode inside the pack (in a garbage sack) on the 6 mile hike back to camp. I have become a real believer in the internal frame, and the Badlands line of packs.

One of my things with a daypack is that I want to carry a quarter on my way out from a kill. I carried a Nimrod lumbar pack that has a packsack that attaches to the shoulder straps to use as a meat bag for a number of years and carried five or six quarters with it. It worked, but was very uncomfortable with a quarter. It was great for hunting, out of the way and quiet. Last year I got an Eberlestock J-105. Much heavier, still pretty quiet. I carried three quarters with it, but only for a short, steep carry. It seemed pretty comfortable to me. 2 more cents.

Right on!
I've been researching packs for the past few months and pretty much had it narrowed down to the 2200. I checked them out at SW and to my untrained eye they appeared to be pretty nice.
Your post may put me over the edge....grin



BTW, that dark colored bay in the second pic is a HUGE horse! Damn...

Since I don't have to tote meat out on my back and so am just needing a "day" pack this is what I usually use.



MM

eberlestock J107 "dragonfly" will be here shortly!

Anyone looking for a daypack that can also haul meat should take a serious look at the Blacks-Creek Jim Horn Signature Series Alaskan or Canadian. If you don't need the meat hauling capabilities, take a look at the Western. I'm a huge fan of Badlands, but the Blacks-Creek packs seem to be built every bit as good and offer a whole lot more features, plus they're a little easier on the wallet.

Here's a link to their webpage: (check out the videos!)

http://www.blacks-creek.com/jimhorn.php

I used the badlands 2200 this last week in Colorado.

It rode good but was a compromise in many regards.

We hiked back in for a spike camp and it was just too small by the time you got a bivy sack, sleeping bag and pad, plus snivel gear and 4 MRE's and 4 quarts of water. Hated he fact that it had no attachments. I wished I would of taken my Arc Teryx. It rides like a dream with twice the load.

For the day trips, the 2200 was irritating because it lacks organization and pockets. The streamline effect is not desirable on two mile humps. I want a place for everything. Not just stuffed into a sack. I used my Camelback BFM for those trips. You have pockets for all your gear and a killer hydration system. It's my go to pack for just plain old hunting.

So there you have it, the 2200 is neither fish nor fowl. Too small for serious humping and too large and unorginized for day hunts.