Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting When packed in what pack do you use i.e. daypack, fanny pack,ect

I have been packing in for deer for a couple years now and have not made up my mind what works best. I have used a frame pack to get to camp then used a day pack from there. I have also used a regular pack to pack in then used it to hunt with as well. I like to be able to pack meat out on the first trip back to camp so a small day pack or fanny pack is not for me. What do most of you guys do? From a spike or main back country camp do you hunt with your main pack, a fanny pack, or a day pack?

What's a "regular" pack?

So long as my main hunting pack compresses down fine when empty I use that to hunt out of once I am hunting out of my spike camp I packed in. Really don't have a use for a pack that can't haul my day hunt gear and meat.

Agreed. The only time I switch over, is if I'm on a backpack hunt while bowhunting for mulies or Coues whitetails. In terms of rifle hunting, I always use an external frame pack for everything, no matter where I'm at in North America.

Agreed +2.

Yep, always a good idea to carry some of the critter out on the first load. Every bit helps. Various combos I have tried include an empty pack frame with a summit pack tied to it, nearly empty. A fleece jacket over the frame dampens noise when walking/hunting with it, and I put the jacket on when sitting. Diamond hitch or strap meat in a meat sack to the frame and leap frog it with the other pack on the way out.

Another option: If you do take a second pack for day hunts out of camp, what they used to call a summit pack is a very large day pack, big enough to carry several days worth of overnight gear. That size pack will carry a lot of meat, as much as I want to stagger along with on rough ground, and I've hunted quite a bit with one of those in the 3000-3500 cubic inch range. When loaded with meat, bulky camp gear/clothing can go in a garbage bag tied outside. I have also lined the main bag with a strong garbage bag that extended well above the top of the pack and filled it with meat a good six inches higher than the pack sides. Lacing parachute cord around the extended part of the garbage bag supports it enough to hold the meat if you are careful. That size pack with hold all of the meat from one smallish boned out buck.

I really don't like to carry in a full sized pack with a smaller pack merely for day hunting stuffed inside it, but have done it. In that scenario I prefer to take my 4000+ cubic inch Golite pack, which is little more than a stuff sack with straps, extremely compact and light when empty, and hunt with that. With that arrangement, I fill both packs and leap frog them when heading out with meat.

Mostly I hunt with a full size pack that has very little in it, enough for a minimal overnight bivy and room for lots of meat. An average mule deer fork horn boned out makes one load one way with all such camp gear included. A heavy mature buck or having lots of camp gear may force two loads, and rough terrain may make it safer to carry two smaller loads.

Edited to add: I missed several good replies posted while I wrote! Agreed that I'd rather carry a larger pack nearly empty than a small one no good for larger loads.

Okanagan:

How in the world do you through a diamond on a pack frame?

Maverick

Excuse me .... throw .... not "through.

I have a huge bias toward packs similar to the ULA epic, where it it essentially a small pack, where you can put a large dry sack or the like in and compress down. Now, I don't think the Epic is suitable for heavy loads without modification, but something like that could be made pretty light that could carry a large load.

Easy to show but impossible for me to describe. I don't have any digital photos but will try to lash something up and photograph it, though that may be awhile. You can make it a single diamond, double, or as many as you want until it becomes a virtual net. It will hold a bag of jello in place.

The frame has to have some kind of cross bar or lashing point top and bottom, plus access to side frames in at least a few places.

I see. I've thrown a lot of hitches on horses and pack frames. Just had a hard time envisioning a diamond thrown on a pack.

Had a short hike into camp this year and had a Mountainsmith FrostfireII and a Dana Big Horn available. The Big Horn worked the best by far. Lighter is the main reason. Still big enough to carry out a load. It just seems to keep turning in on itself and worked well as a daypack with the ability to carry out a load.
Only time I carry a daypack anymore is hunting where I know I'm coming out every day. Even then, I'd rather load up pockets and simply have a fanny pack than carry anything.

put all my small essentails in a liteweight fanny, but use a kifaru siwash to carry all & be my day pak also...looking to get a timberline...will still be a daypack...the fanny goes from pack to truck to atv to whatever i'm doing carring licenses, knives, firestarters & what not & i don't have to worry about where or what when i need it

By regular pack I mean the pack that you use to carry all our gear to camp. I like the look of the Epic. I have been looking at the LL Bean carry all. Same idea as epic but a lot cheaper. The epic looks like it would be easy to hunt with.

Glad you posted this thread. I've had the same questions, having spent no time actually backpack hunting. I have an Eberlestock X-1 for day hunts, capable of packing out a whole whitetail, though fully loaded. However, not enough room in that to pack in a spike camp for several days.
I have a Kelty Coyote for packing in, but it's a little big for a daypack though can be cinched down fairly compact.

Couldn't see carrying an extra pack just for day hunting and I am certainly in the camp of "packing the first load back to camp" and needing enough pack to do that.

Using my main pack for a daypack makes more sense to me.

Interesting - it'll pack a whole load of whitetail deer meat, but yet, won't pack a simple camp? Very interesting.

Interesting mayber but not really that hard to understand.
Tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, multi day's food, extra clothes, water filters etc etc etc, gear needed for multiple days out, eat up a lot of space.
Could maybe lash a number of these items to the outside, but no, the X-1 isn't large enough to backpack in a multi day camp. At least it wouldn't be my first choice. I'm sure it could maybe be done, but I'm not a minimalist. Heck, you can pack in "camp" in a stuff sack. Just depends on one's definition of "camp". One man's necessities are another man's luxury.

Yes, it is (just)large enough to handle a butchered whitetail, to that I can attest.

I'm not one of the "experts" on here, just here trying to learn.

I have a soft-shell day pack made by Camelback with a pocket for a water bladder and enough room for the essentials. It weighs almost nothing. It doesn't have much for a hip belt, only a strap with no hip pad but I don't put more than ten pounds or so into it anyway. It has a daisy chain that makes it just about the same as a Kifaru pod for riding piggyback on the back of my main pack (a Longhunter) using their dock & lock straps. When I'm packing in camp, it doubles as an external pocket and I keep small stuff in it that I want easy access to like snacks.

Huh, must be some small whitetails, I guess. Anyway .....

Nah, I'm probably just not "expert" enough to shootbig ones.