Dedicated hunting pack?

[kglacken]

I like quiet materials. Like brushed nylon or fleece    I been looking closely at the Yukon frame combo from wildernesspacks.com

You cant go wrong with wilderness packs. Although they are a sponsor of ours at ZG Outdoors, we have been using them for years! Id recommend them to anyone, sponsorship or not. They are tough. (They actually ran a frame over with a tank and did not break. I like a "plastic" type frame rather than aluminum. We use the combo frame and pack for longer hikes and hunts. as well as meat packs for straping quarters to as the bag comes off the frame in a few seconds. and we also use the muley pack for quick hikes and day trips.

[IslandStorm62]

I have a Alaskan Pack Tray I got from Cabelas several years ago while in Colorado. Last Year I found a great deal on the Cabelas brand Back Pack, looks just like the prestige; it marries up nicely with the Pack Tray and has a capaity of 80L.  Guessing, I don't remember the specific model.  Combined their pretty light.

I can leave the Back Pack at camp and hunt with the pack tray and a Day/Kill Pack attached to it.

Off Topic question - Is there anyway to keep track of my posts? or even contact the moderator of this forum?

[kglacken]

[dasbear]

I know this thread is a little old but I have been needing a hunting pack as well and am rather intrigued by the REI pack mentioned although I have been using a Lowe Australis 80 internal 35-4500 ci for 18 years now. It has done very well in the back country camping arena but have also used it for all my hunting the last 10 years and it is not built for the loads 2 bears I had to haul out 80+lbs loads I could not keep it from swaying and hip belt kept sliding down. I am really not excited about spending 300-400 bucks on a
TRUE HUNTING Pack now I'm hoping I can find something in between with camo or a neutral grey/tan color instead of aqua grn/blue that shows up so well on ridge tops. I guess I'll take note of all packs mentioned and do some research.

[Hunter mike]

One thing that separates the REI XT-85 from most other mountaineering packs is it has a rigid metal frame around the outside and tied into the belt.  It fits like an internal, but has some characteristics of an external.  I find it very comfortable and I even use mine for day hikes most of the time - it pretty much never gets fully unloaded.  It runs $289, but you can get 10% by signing up for REI gearmail I believe.  I picked it up following reviews on Rokslide and Hill People Gear.  I was looking at $600 or so for what I would have wanted from Kifaru etc.

I was really interested in the Wilderness pack frames, but found that I get no load lift from the MOLLE style frames.  The REI is the first pack I've had with adequate load lift (and plenty to spare as well).  Being able to really dial the pack in for any load is great.  I'll probably not be putting more than about 80 lbs on my knees from here on out if I can help it, just getting to be too much wear and tear. 

[dasbear]

My main backpacking rig was a Lowe Australus 80 works really well for back country to 5-7 days the last 15 yrs it turned into a hunting pack now the volume part works really well but when it came to packing out a bear and gear at 80-90lbs each trip I was ready for something task specific. This pack has carried 2 bears out and I will do it again if I have to but I am looking really hard for something better. So are there some hunting internal packs vs external hunting packs that anyone should consider?

[swift]

I pulled the trigger on a Stone glacier solo last week loaded it up with my standard 3 day high hunt gear and hand gun and water to a weight of 38# and took it for a 5 mile ridge hike today and it's the best $$ I've spent on lightweight gear !!

[fillthefreezer]

My main backpacking rig was a Lowe Australus 80 works really well for back country to 5-7 days the last 15 yrs it turned into a hunting pack now the volume part works really well but when it came to packing out a bear and gear at 80-90lbs each trip I was ready for something task specific. This pack has carried 2 bears out and I will do it again if I have to but I am looking really hard for something better. So are there some hunting internal packs vs external hunting packs that anyone should consider?

looking at this pack on google images, it looks pretty nice. very similar to the osprey atmos imo. probably not designed to carrry more than 60lbs with any comfort though. quite a few packs nowadays designed to do those 100+ loads, depends how much you want to spend.

[swashington2128]

I just got the J65 Elberlestock and love it. Completed a 6 mile hike with 30 lbs yesterday and then hit the archery range. Shot with the pack on. After 6 miles with average weight it did not hurt the shoulders or back and I was able to shoot accurately still. I admit it is definitely different having a pack on while I shoot. Center of gravity is much different.

When shopping for a pack I was looking for a pack that I could go in with, set up camp and shrink it down to a day pack and wear it all day while hunting. I don't want to have to return to camp just to get the pack to get meat back. The J34 with a super spike camp duffel is more capacity that I can comfortably carry. When I remove the duffel it shrinks down very nicely.

A lot of the bags mentioned here do the same things. Just a matter of personal preference and how much you want to spend. I would have gone with a Kirafu but could not justify the cost.

Have fun with the choice.