Average Weight for Day Hunts? What’s in Your Pack?

[Wilderness Disciple]

Depending on season and animal I am hunting. Elk or mule deer I am right around 20# with tripod and 15's, rain gear, water etc etc. Black tail closer to ten #'s since I don't carry my glassing gear and am wearing my rain gear.

 

[sneaky]

I'm around 225 for day hunts at the moment. Damn Covid.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Tick]

15-17lbs. Add about 6lbs if I take a tripod/spotter.

Snacks, 2L water, kill, rain jacket, insulation layer, camera, gps, headlamp in pack for deer/elk.

 

[Brian_Holcombe]

For September elk in Colorado, most days I carry the following, stacked from bottom up:

First aid kit (Adventure Medical Sportsman 200 plus C-Splint, inflatable CPR mask and additional meds)
Kill kit (game bags, blades, flagging, 4 contractor bags, electrical tape, license, paracord)
Survival kit (firestarter, 3 AAA batteries, hand warmers, 2 Iodine tabs)
Trowel & TP
Rain pants (if rain is in the forecast)
Warm hat and gloves
Puffy jacket
Rain shell
Nalgene bottle
Water purifier press
Food

Weight is about 20lbs, though I have a Stone Glacier Solo on the way and will re-shape and weight the set up once it's here.

I'll carry a spotter and tripod, which adds about 10lbs, if I'm hunting open country for the day.

 

[swampthing]

Mine is north of 25lbs with 4l of water. The older I get the more damn crap I figure I need, and the harder it is to carry!

 

[PineBrook413]

Feel like I need to improve my packing and gear selection but I figure our last hunt where I was just glassing most of the time my pack had to be over 30lbs. Between normal gear, food, glass, tripod and water it was a lot of stuff.

 

[Gunaddict]

23 to 25 lbs in my daypack.
No spotter or tripod. I carry more survival items, since my hunting partner got lost 18 yrs ago. He was missing for 14 hours. He did not have his daypack or a coat with him. When he left the p.u. it was 47 degrees and when we found him it was 32 degrees. He was very lucky.

 

[hunting1]

I am normally between 20-25 lbs. The pack is already 6+ lbs, 3L water, FA kit, Game bags, Rain Gear, Kill Kit, food, lamp, tags, GPS, Phone, Gun/Bow, ammo, binos.

 

[papawheelie]

I am right around 25#.

Tripod, BTX and water make up the majority of the weight. I love elk hunting because I can drop the Big Glass. Lol.

 

[zion zig zag]

23 to 25 lbs in my daypack.
No spotter or tripod. I carry more survival items, since my hunting partner got lost 18 yrs ago. He was missing for 14 hours. He did not have his daypack or a coat with him. When he left the p.u. it was 47 degrees and when we found him it was 32 degrees. He was very lucky.

Yeah, I tend to think about what I'd need to survive, and of course that changes based on where and when. I was hunting late season cow yesterday and it was -3 at the trailhead. In those temps a twisted ankle could be deadly if improperly prepared. When I sat down to glass for half an hour the last thing I cared about was the extra few pounds in my pack.

 

[Wmmichael20]

23 to 25 lbs in my daypack.
No spotter or tripod. I carry more survival items, since my hunting partner got lost 18 yrs ago. He was missing for 14 hours. He did not have his daypack or a coat with him. When he left the p.u. it was 47 degrees and when we found him it was 32 degrees. He was very lucky.

This is another reason I always have a lighter and knife in my pants pockets at all times,and I'm not a smoker lol

 

[accurat]

Tripod, spotter, 40 oz of water, 2 knives, first aid kit, headlamp, backup AA light, nitrile gloves, rangefinder, small camera, multi tool, maybe a small camp axe, lighters, 100' of paracord, 5 extra rounds of ammo, 2 Clifbars, a bag of trail mix, 6oz of jerky and a few small miscellaneous items. (A 4oz flask of Willetts Small Batch 4yo Rye might be in there somewhere as well....in a titanium flask because, you know, I'm really trying to save weight damnit!! LOL!)) All packed in one of the older Camelbak HAWGs with 4 additional pouches, it comes in at 17lbs. This is for 4-8 mile, all-day out-and-backs for the most part, but I usually don't go all that far. Gotta have the gear at the ready though.

 

[webhak]

Just getting in to backpack day hunts in the west and will hopefully resurrect the thread for a minute. My pack (Exo K4 5000) came in about 30 pounds. Add a 9-ish pound rifle to that and I'd like to get at least 10 lbs shaved off. Usual stuff as every one listed here plus a JetBoil and small fuel canister for brewing something warm up as the temps drop. I'm not sure a small thermos would save any weight but will have to check.

Anyway, for those with the smaller packs, how are you packing game out?

 

[Jeff_Gibbons]

Timely thread for me as was wondering the same last weekend while humping up a hill. 24# with spotter and tripod little water. I carry too much crap

 

[mtwarden]

I know a few guys that hunt with a larger daypack, but keep a frame in their truck.

If I knew I was only going a couple of miles, I’d consider this strategy, but it’s usually more and getting a good first load out is worth the 3-4 lbs extra lbs of a framed pack. Also with a good fitting framed pack, 25-30 lbs feels pretty light

 

[webhak]

I'm typically about 3-4 miles and about 2K feet elevation gain from the trailhead so I'd like to keep it to one trip. Took me about an hour to cover a half mile through some dense foliage on the last outing. Going through that obstacle course gave me some appreciation for lighter weight and shorter rifle barrels -- and suppressor covers that don't get pulled off by branches.

I was surprised at how heavy the setup was when I got home. 40lbs wasn't bad. But 20 would be much, much better. Especially if I have the good fortune of coming out heavy at the end of the day.