Pack board question?

[Alan K]

My BullPac has worked great for me! 

[throttlejocky20]

Thanx for all the good tips after looking at all your suggestions I think im going with mystery ranch.

[TheHunt]

My Bullpac has worked great.  Very comfortable pack with a lot of weight

[p-ohana]

I have a nimrod and I love it. A few years ago carried half a boned out elk 2 miles, and it was an easier packout than I bought it would be, but it still sucked.

[GoldTip]

Back when I was a kid I used those army packboards to pack elk. They are certainly indestructible, of that I have no doubt.  They are also a long way from being comfortable or any word you can find in a thesaurus that would in any way relate to the word comfortable.  If money were no object I would look very hard at the Mystery ranch packs.  That being said, I used my Cabelas Alaskan external frame pack  to pack quite a few elk, and a couple Moose as well with no problems and for the money, they are a good and pretty comfortable pack.

[throttlejocky20]

We have 3 army packs and I will say they are strong and well built. I would like to get something more comfortible.

[huntingfool7]

Mystery Ranch looks like a great frame.  I have a bullpac and hybrid that I put together.  Quality, well fitting belt and shoulder straps are where its at.

[halflife65]

Maybe not the most interesting pictures, but a couple of a Mystery Ranch at work.  You'll love it - I love mine.  I ended up with the NICE frame and Crew Cab but will supplement with a Longbow for times when I'm not hunting or don't think that I'll need to pack much.  Even with the Longbow you can get the extension straps and pack a bunch, though.

Packs down small enough to crawl through the brush, shoot your bow (I shot the deer when I was wearing the pack) and expands big enough to fit an entire deer, minus head and cape.  I'm actually positive I could've put those in there, too, but had a buddy with me that took the head, cape, backstraps for me and I carried the rest.  I have waterbottles sticking up in the back because I popped my Platypus bag and it was leaking all over the place - but the pack does take one (and I usually use one).

[CementFinisher]

has anyone here used the badlands ox?

[7mag.]

I have a nimrod and I love it. A few years ago carried half a boned out elk 2 miles, and it was an easier packout than I bought it would be, but it still sucked.

+1 on the Nimrod. I've tried several pack frames, and my Nimrod is by far the best I've used.

[Jamieb]

I like my J-107 as a backpack but use one of the old arm wood pack boards for meat. I don't want to put meat inside a pack, besides getting blood in the pack, it seems the pack would hinder air movement and cooling of the meat.

[couesbitten]

Kelty Cache Hauler or Freighter frame, will comfortably pack more than you can carry.  Love mine, wouldn't trade it for anything, except maybe a Mystery Ranch.

[colockumelk]

I have a nimrod and I love it. A few years ago carried half a boned out elk 2 miles, and it was an easier packout than I bought it would be, but it still sucked.

+1 on the Nimrod. I've tried several pack frames, and my Nimrod is by far the best I've used.

I've heard some good stuff on the nimrods.  Which pack do you use with your Nimrod?  Do any of you do any wilderness 4 day trips with them?

[Coastal_native]

For packing-out elk quarters; nothing holds a candle to the old Army-surplus laminated wood & canvas packboards.  I've inherited two that have more than 40 years history of hauling out Idaho elk and they're still going strong.  I plan on passing them on to my boys someday.  I haven't needed to look but I hear they're hard to find anymore.  If you can find them, buy them. 

I agree...those old packboards are more durable and can secure most objects (especially head & antlers w/capes) better than a lot of the newer packs out there...but they are definitely lacking in comfort when packing out long distances.  I typically use a combination of both, but I tend to baby my newer pack frame because it seems a little fragile with a 100+ lb bone-in hind quarter on it.  You gotta respect old school ruggedness and durability...but you also have to be willing to accept the comfort of state of the art technology.