hunting packs

[M_ray]

Thanks Jon!

[actionshooter]

Maybe this has been covered in here but I must have missed it, I know some of you must be (I hate to say "wide load" but) very broad in the shoulders and maybe a little high in the PSI if you know what I mean.

Are there any companies that make a "Big and Tall" hunting pack ?? I can't seem to wear most of the packs out there cause the straps are sewn too close together and I feel like I am in a full nelson all the time. Maybe it is a suggestion we can make to the manufacturers of some of these packs !!

 Check out the Mystery Ranch packs, They are designed by By Dana Gleason, Owner of Dana Design before they sold out to a foriegn company They have models that are built for big guys. I use an old Dana internal that I have and I'm 6'-5" and 275. I've had a 100+ in it a few times and its as comfortable as a pack can be with that kind of weight.

 I went and bought a Badlands 2800 at the portland sportsmans show, partially due to a past post on this site. I took it on a 7 mile hike last weekend. Its a good pack but I have issues with the amount it can carry. You can get a ton of meat on it the way Mray shows in the pics but the main compartment is too small. I can't get my winter bag in the sleeping bag compartment, probably b/c its an extra long. I think an average size bag would fit OK. I think the 2800 would make an excellent day pack or hunting in the summer as a 3-day pack max.
 Just my opinion.

[Branden]

The not Man enough comment was directed at the 2 guys that called me a liar. bowhuntin and valleywalker. Nobody else.

As for M-ray I weighed my buddies bull from Washington state. The head and cape exactly how you have yours and it only weighed 75-76 pounds. So there is no way that your pack is over 80 since his bull was bigger. Your meat packs were probably more like 50-60.

Iceman. I think the pack was over 200 pounds. I have packed a weighed 135 pound pack and this one was way heavier. The reason I did not say how much I think it weighed is because I don't want to  come up with bogus numbers like m-ray. I could not pick up the pack. I had to lay on my back to get my arms in the straps and then roll over.

Here is a Question for all of you.
If a guy can Squat 315 pounds for reps, 3 sets, then why could he not pack a 200 plus pound pack up that hill? Squats are harder because you go way lower. I also used hiking sticks, which if you have never used them before then you would probably not believe how much weight they take off your legs.

 I don't really care if some guys on the internet believe me or not. Everybody I hunt with knows the truth.

I am sorry this got so off topic. Branden

[ICEMAN]

Branden, sorry if I came off wrong. At least for me, and I am big, over 300lbs buck naked  , I feel that it is unwise to try to take so much of a load. Lifting weights is in a controlled environment with a flat floor, and a medic nearby if needed. Packing your elk, you are on loose irregular ground, in the elements (hot or cold), with an elevated heart rate due to the excitement. If you get injured, your buddies must now drop the meat, and worry about you.

This whole gripe session is probably more about being safe, than macho. We are all macho. I for one am a big ass Mfing Macho MFer, who can guzzle booze, eat live meat, and blow fire out my ass and nose at the same time, I just aint going to risk getting myself hurt, or others, when we score an elk. When we have elk down, we slow down and enjoy the conclusion of a part of our hunt. Cherish this moment, dont risk or ruin it.

[Branden]

Iceman, I only packed it up the hill. I would never pack that much down. To hard on my knees. I would not have done it except that we had another bull down that the other guys had to cut up.

Also if you have never tried trekking poles you should. I brought my extra pairs for the guys in Colorado and now they are all getting a set. They really help no matter if going up or down hill. Branden

[ICEMAN]

Beenhiking for over thirty years. Hiking poles are great, the most benefit I found was on the down hill, and especially side hilling..... I have even bent my snowshoe poles while snowshoeing... Need heavier poles... 

[bucklucky]

I use a badlands 2200, I packed a bull out for a lady , a nice little 5x5 roosie. I put 1 hind quarter and 1 shoulder and 1 backstrap on my pack. Those were not boned. How much did that pack weigh? I had to do the same as Branden when I got up. I am not a big guy about 155. M-Ray knows he met me at the sportsmans show. I didnot have far to go only about 4-500 yards and it was flat and down hill.

[M_ray]

Branden, Now you can tell the wieght from a picture? wow you are somthin else! BTW I have pictures and Cabelas wieght scales to prove mine wheres yours? Remember I'm not the one who claimed I packed an entire boned elk out in one pack!

Spose you're gonna tell me this is a 50-60 pound pack too? well this one was wieghed too bud and not near as heavy as the elk head and allot more than 50-60! Next you're probably gonna tell me what's in this pack too huh?

[bowhuntin]

The not Man enough comment was directed at the 2 guys that called me a liar. bowhuntin and valleywalker. Nobody else.

As for M-ray I weighed my buddies bull from Washington state. The head and cape exactly how you have yours and it only weighed 75-76 pounds. So there is no way that your pack is over 80 since his bull was bigger. Your meat packs were probably more like 50-60.

Iceman. I think the pack was over 200 pounds. I have packed a weighed 135 pound pack and this one was way heavier. The reason I did not say how much I think it weighed is because I don't want to  come up with bogus numbers like m-ray. I could not pick up the pack. I had to lay on my back to get my arms in the straps and then roll over.

Here is a Question for all of you.
If a guy can Squat 315 pounds for reps, 3 sets, then why could he not pack a 200 plus pound pack up that hill? Squats are harder because you go way lower. I also used hiking sticks, which if you have never used them before then you would probably not believe how much weight they take off your legs.

 I don't really care if some guys on the internet believe me or not. Everybody I hunt with knows the truth.

I am sorry this got so off topic. Branden

The only reason I called you on that being BS is the picture you posted a picture of that country and you didn't give any details as to how far you had to go. If it was only up hills not to far with trekking poles, then I can see some one being able to do it and probably wouldn't even have bothered questioning it. I just assumed you were packing that much weight a long distance as in a few miles back to the truck. Maybe next time when you post something you should elaborate on it more, so people don't call you out. If you don't and say things like you did then people are going to call you on it.

[M_ray]

 

You can get a ton of meat on it the way Mray shows in the pics but the main compartment is too small. I can't get my winter bag in the sleeping bag compartment

Actionshooter, I was thinking the same thing ... What if you put your fart sack in one of those big huge zip locks along with anything else you might fit in there to keep dry and stowe it like the meat sacks on the inside strapped to the board?

Then you would have enough pocket space for all of your other items & I was thinking you might even get your tent and poles on the inside too! I have yet to try this out but I'll let you know if I do!

[bucklucky]

M-Ray is that a whole boned out muley in that pack? I had my whole buck boned out in my badlands this year with the head and cape and I weighed that on my cabelas scale at 140 lbs! I love my Badlands. I went up a steep clearcut about 300-350 yards and then about 6-800 yards uphill on the road and had to dump some meat. Just couldnt handle that much weight for that far. 90 Lbs isnt to bad downhill!

[M_ray]

Nahh Believe it or not that's 1/3 of it!  oh ya I have a little of my camp in there too but not much just a little cookware a stove & a 3 1/2 pound sleeping bag. I left the rest of my camp in there and had to come back for it! I wasn't willing to leave the Fart sack in there in case mice found it!

[bucklucky]

Thats cool! I like the picture , looks like a nice spot for a camp. Was that washington?

[Skyvalhunter]

M_Ray are both of those pictures of your packs Badland packs? I didn't recognize the black and silverish one.

[M_ray]

Bucklucky- Yeah that's Washington.

Skyval- The grey and black pack is a Infinity and I'm not sure which other you are talking about but My elk head is on a Cabelas Alaskan. My buddies I was with got a little tired of waiting as I tried to get the head on my Badlands (first time I tried to get something that big on it, I know how I would do it now) and talked me into putting it on the Cabalas. I did take my first 2 trips with the badlands 2800 and about 70 pound average and it handled it fine and most importantly it was comfortable.