Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Backpack advice

This probably has been covered a dozen times on here, and if so, I apologize.
I need a set-up for day hunts capable of carrying my gear for the day, and also carrying a boned out deer (or part of a boned out elk) back to the truck. Currently, I have a Kelty pack frame that seems too big and awkward to carry all day so I leave that in the truck. I carry my survival gear and extra clothes in a soft backpack.
I typically hunt in some pretty steep terrain, up to three or four miles from the truck, if that makes a difference.
Yesterday, I shot a deer, dragged half to the truck, went back with the pack frame and packed the rest out. Got to be a better way.
Thanks for any help.

Royce

Fred,

I'm liking the new Paradox Evolution. You are welcome to have a look at the one I have and try it out if you like.

The best I can suggest is bone him out and carry what you can.
As to a pack, I like the larger Kifarus.
I, for one, in many of the places I hunt, can't handle more than 65 lbs. off trail. So, multiple trips for me as well. E

Ed t
What is the approximate price on the Evolution?
Fred

Which begs the question of what you're willing to spend.

The 3 to 5 day pack review will be published very soon, it will answer a lot of questions on packs that will be discussed in a thread like this.

You live in Montana, IIRC?

Go to Bozeman, get the folks at Mystery Ranch to fit you with one of their medium-sized internal framed packs, specifically built for hunting. The "Bighorn" would be an outstanding choice, I have had two complete NICE systems for several years and, IF and WHEN, correctly fitted to you, I can do this for myself, but, why not have them do it and check out that rack of "returns", etc. that they are reputed to have, and you will have one of the best, production packs I have ever used in 57+ years of carrying various packs in Canada's wilderness.

I would also check out the Paradox pack as Ed suggests, it is a modded frame and I want one, but, have several MR and Bozo-built Dana Design packs now, so, ......wellll, maybe next fall...

I have owned, used and worn out many packs and MR/Dana packs have consistently been at the TOP in terms of quality, comfort and their customer service is the best in the gear industry.

BTW, I have found several, AS NEW, for around $200-300, used and especially the Danas, which I prefer, anyway. Their framepack absolutely kicks ANY other I have used, especially with heavy loads and it is not as bulky as Camp Trails, Kelty and so on.

I bet you could find a used one for $200, that would do all that you want it to.

I don't have a fixed amount that I want to spend- I have no idea what the price range is on a decent pack-

Is something like this what you have in mind? There are several packs available these days that allow you to separate the bag from the frame to sandwich a load between them. Most of them are $500-ish.

Fred,

In the basic set up like I have,the frame with a compression panel, the Paradox runs $329.
http://store.seekoutside.com/paradox-packs-suspension-and-basic-compression-panel/

Ed- do you use a dry bag as your pack bag?

Take a look at Hill People Gear Ute pack. Seems like a good pack.

Yes. 15 liter for day use, 25 liter for overnights and weekend and 50-70 liter for longer trips or late season trips where bulky clothing and sleep gear is along

Ed T
I'll take you up on the offer to look at your pack. Just PM me as to the when and where, I am free all week.
Thanks
Fred

Hi Fred,

PM sent

EdT, with a 70 liter bag, that gives about 4200+ cu. in. Can another bag be added, say around 25 liter to bring capacity up to around 6000 cu.in.? (Or two 50 liters, etc.) In other words, is it feasible to stack bags or rather "sandwich" them back to back to increase/decrease capacity as needed? And if so, will it hold everything stable, without shifting and ride okay?

I'm dissatisfied with what I have now, not bad, just heavy and I've tried several routes. This may be what I want but would like to have up to around 6000 cu.in. capacity for multi day trips or when I take my little gal on overnighters...to carry all that is needed for (her) comfort.

Snubbie,

I'd say no to two 50 liter because it would be impractical due to the front to back thickness. You can however use a 25 liter with say a sleeping bag horizontal in the bottom of the pack and then a 70 liter setting on top. It is nice to have extra room, but I have done week long backpack hunts in 0 degree temps with a 65 liter, it's tight but doable.

A 4800 Pack bag with a base Talon on the Paradox is 5800 Cubic inches and still allows extra storage at the bottom, between the talon and packbag, between the packbag and framing and finally on top. Lots of places for expansion.

For a 3 day november trip, I had an 8 man tipi and 5 degree bag, as well as a Exped mat and everything else all in the bag / talon combo. Tight yes, but doable.

as Eremicus said his limitation is in the 65lb range so it would be for many of us. I have seen a fellow hunter with a pack on tell me his load was 110lbs yet when I lifted it to the back of the tailgate it was likely not 75lbs.

Truth be told most pack capacity stories are much like the " one that got away" it's no problem for a healthy adult man of average fitness to carry big loads on level trails. It's completely different to climb a steep hill in the bush without a trail and branches and shrubs that will pull out of the ground when used as hand holds.

It's also by a huge margin safer to do this in two or three smaller loads then all at once. If you have ever fallen and rolled backwards down a steep hill with a pack on you know what I'm talking about.

The majority of my packing out now is with alpine bears. This past sept my son and I packed out the usable remains of a 404 lb black bear. We took two trips each. One rather heavy, the second for each of us was a bit lighter.

Both my loads were in the 60-70 lb range. The two for my 11 year old were in the 20-25 lb range this would be 200lbs plus or minus. I could have cut this by a huge amount if we did not keep the hide. My son wanted it. The point is, your work can be reduced by a significant amount by learning to dissect the animals and bring out only what you eat or save. One hour of time max, can whittle down your load in a huge way.

I've stood in amazement at how much scrap I have packed out in the past. Like a full five gallon pail of bear fat off the hide! The amount of tendon filled front legs. Never again. I take what I eat, the birds and coyotes can enjoy the rest.

Over the last few years( decade or so) I've reduced what I pack in a huge way with no loss or waste of meat.

The problem with the Metcalf in this set up is that you lose all of the shoulder lift gained when they added the frame extensions to the bag. The designs of the load shelf on Paradox, Stone Glacier and Kifaru all have shoulder lift.

The Paradox and Stone Glacier load shelves are the easiest to use. Both can be opened up on the side of the bag, stuff the meat, or whatever else in you want to use.

I put a really thick Thermarest in the load shelf for this trip.


In this picture of the SG I have my SO 6 man and clothing in the load shelf.