Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Daypack with meat hauler

Functionally I believe I'm at where you are. You day hunt, carry minimal gear and need a pack that compresses down enough to fit in an airline overhead.

My solution for the last 10 or so years has been the Seek Outside Evolution. It is lightweight, compresses down to nothing, but hauls heavy loads comfortably like a mofo. Between my son needing packs as he's grown and my desire to find the better mousetrap, I've had detours with the MR Pintler, MR Popup, Kifaru Stryker on a Bikini Frame and a few others. And each time I come back to the Evolution. It just rides better, compresses down smaller and carries a heavy load better than anything else I've tried.

My Evolution has fit nicely in an overhead, but since I fly single engines most a lot now, it most oten rides on my lap. After chasing cheaper options for my son, he's now ended up with a Revolution of his own purchased used but like new right here on the fire.

EXO K4 2200 & done

MR guidelight frame with mule bag

The old med. ALICE pack system, with the cargo shelf and an extra set of straps, works pretty well.

Use the frame/shelf for hauling, and make a chest rig out of the bag with the extra straps.



Makes for a good counter-balance as well.




GR

For a pack that will carry weight for long backpacking trips and or meat hauling, going to spend a little more.

I have been happy with my EXO. Have couple different bags (1800,3200,4600) that I can flip for longer trips. The 3200 collapses and compresses well of only using one bag.

Bags that are a little fuller (1800) sometimes make a better rifle rest.

Lots of good brands. Good luck

I use a MR Pop Up 28 - have hauled 3 elk and several deer with it. Have not found anything better......yet.

MR Cabinet or Mule will do the trick.

MR Popup would work great. Honestly most of the top of the line hunting packs compress really well and work as day packs. HPG packs have a sweet compression setup, and I think the Ute is a great daypack for hunting.

Check out seek outside packs. They look a little goofy at first but the set up is perfect for a glass heavy hunter. I use the peregrine and have packed a lot of meat and camps with it. It's perfect for day hunting and can do a 3 day with aplomb. The frame and rigging is some of the comfiest I have ever used. I would also look hard at kifaru hellbender if you wan to only be able to do a daypack/meat carrying option. My buddy just got one and their meat tray system is unbelievably simple and easy. If they weren't so expensive I would buy one for sure.

If you’ll never need a pack for multiple days, I think the MR Pop Up is the closest thing to a true daypack.

Otherwise I think a better option is something that is a dedicated hauler frame/bag. Almost all offer smaller bags and almost all do a good job of cinching down when not utilizing all the volume of the bag.

I’m currently also using a Seek Outside Peregrine for day hunts and trips up to 5 days. Really long trips I use one of their larger bags.

I’ve used Stone Glacier and Kifaru packs as well and would easily recommend either. I’ve gone to the Seek as it’s the lightest option (but with very heavy loads comes in behind both SG and Kifaru)

I'm still looking for ideal.

Mostly I use a MR Pop Up 28. It's a little small for just easily tossing take-off clothing into but I have used the expansion area between bag and frame to stuff a jacket or vest and that works ok. It doesn't have quite as much organization as I'd like, another zip pocket or two would help a lot. I find it uncomfortable by the end of the day if I'm walking a lot of hours. The very thick padding on the hip belt which is nice under heavier loads puts pressure on my hips "funny" when loaded lightly leaving me kinda sore for the drive home.

My other pack is an Eberlestock F1 mainframe. I haven't found the ideal bag combination for that frame. The batwings are nice in some way but since they are two, one left, one right, it is difficult to balance weight and bulk side to side, plus I haven't found a good way to carry a water bladder centered so it isn't throwing me off balance .. I can balance left to right but then if I drink some of the water, it's off balance again. I have the 2500 .. it's ok ish but needs more organization. I've got the waterproof rolltop bag.

Once it gets too cold to be shedding layers as the day progresses .. and is not raining .. I use the F1 frame and attach a HPG Tarahumara bag-only to the Eberlestock frame with grimlok fasteners. This is pretty darn good, carries meat bags, "processing" tools, etc with just enough space left for a small water bladder and enough snack to get me back to the truck without wanting to mug the nearest hunter for his lunch.

To me a perfect pack .. Eberlestock would bring back the M1 carrier frame (or offer an F1 variant with a foldable bottom shelf), we'd get a bag with all of the organization features of the 5.11 Rush 24 minus shoulder harness, and we'd have extensions like the MR Pop-Up frame for corralling quarters by the bone.

IMHO of course.

In the mean time, there's no perfect, all options are compromise which includes some aspects that piss me off by the end of the day.

no!

I hated that pack when I served in the military. I've put in 100's of miles in this pos pack


Its a pos even for a 20 year old

EXO

Kuiu Pro series. I have one and it’s so comfy I forget it’s on my back. Can also interchange different size packs on the same frame for day pack vs trips. Wait for the sales to come around, should be able to get 20-30 percent off.

Kifaru stupidly discontinued the Marauder.

If you could find one that would be great. ~2,000 cubic inch panel loader. Here's mine with a chainsaw and a Duplex belt. 18" stays...

[img]http://https://photos.app.goo.gl/M4A6Fr5UXFTQvuZK9[/img]

I'd add MR Pop-ups to the list, I had an 18. It was about the size as my Kifaru Scout, and could flip stays up, but wasn't as robust as a pack frame, so a bit gimmicky, no experience with the bigger pop-ups with more robust overload.

My Crewcab is probably my favorite "Daypack" designed to haul bigger, especially since putting it on a 1st gen Guidelight frame...