Backpack Hunting

Joined
Dec 29, 2014
Messages
309
Location
Nebraska
Do any of you hunt with your pack for every hunting season (turkey, deer, elk, ....)? I want to get used to hunting out of a pack so its second nature when I get to the mountains someday. Any of you do this?
 

Ray

WKR
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
1,097
Location
Alaska
Yes. I never leave the truck or boat or tent without a way to carry meat back to it. Tundra has a way of teaching you to not be wasteful of your time and energy. Plus up here you need to be prepared to spend a night out. Can't safely do that with just what I can carry in my pockets. The only hunting I do without a pack is waterfowl. Sitting in the boat or blind and am not moving across the land so the gear stays in one spot. There are times and places that I even salmon fish with a pack on. Keeps the bears from steeling my lunch.
 

Moe.JKU

FNG
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
74
Location
British Columbia
I would have to agree with Ray, I have always been a big fan of bringing my pack frame everywhere. It holds some survival gear just in case and snacks if i get stuck out there for a night. And if you get something far away from camp you don't want to go all the way back to grab something to bring your game back. I barely notice it anymore, and it also gives you a rest to shoot from.
Turkey its usually a small pack or hipbelt, not to much to carry and the places we hunt aren't to far from camp usually.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2012
Messages
1,100
Location
Annapolis, MD
I carry a pack everytime I hit the woods, either a lumbar or regular full height backpack. It contains my normal huntin gear (kill kit, calls, extra bowstring, ammo, etc.) plus whatever I need for an emergency (first aid kit, three ways to make fire, flashlights, lightweight shelter, a space blanket and lightweight bivvy sack, some extra food, etc.).
 
Joined
Apr 22, 2012
Messages
7,452
Location
Chugiak, Alaska
I always carry a pack while hunting. Even on day hikes I'll carry a loaded pack for a couple of reasons. I usually put a lot of stuff in it in case of an emergency (I like to be prepared for the worst) and also I like to carry wt. because I tend to turn every hike into a training exercise.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 22, 2013
Messages
518
Location
Central Oregon
In my younger years I didn't mind deadheading back to camp for a pack frame or throwing an elk quarter over my shoulder and heading out. Not anymore. These days I feel naked hitting the woods without my Bikini.....
 

KH_bowfly

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 1, 2014
Messages
159
Location
Vancouver, WA
When I know the area and am confident about where I plan to day hike then I take a lumbar pack. In BC you can stay away from people and still not be too far from the logging roads. Especially in bow season. Otherwise it's the full pack.
 

wyodan

WKR
Joined
Jan 11, 2013
Messages
730
I carry a pack for anything outdoors. You never know when or what you'll find that you need to carry out.
 

stevenm2

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 11, 2014
Messages
237
I used to do the daypack thing now its a pack frame and less stuff but still enough to get by if needed.
 

Kevin_t

WKR
Rokslide Sponsor
Joined
Dec 2, 2012
Messages
1,162
Location
Colorado
I always have a pack and if it is big game I almost always have enough for a night out
 

arffdog875

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Messages
136
Location
Clifton, CO.
Agree with Kevin T, doesn't matter if I am hunting or hiking or out for the day always have a pack and have enough stuff for a night out. Learned the hard way when I was younger and not as smart as I thought I was...
 

husky390

WKR
Joined
Aug 21, 2013
Messages
1,054
Location
Colorado
Yup, even used my EMR II when I was hunting KS farm fields and only a 1/2 mile from the truck. I'd feel naked without some sort of pack on me in the woods.
 

Beastmode

WKR
Joined
May 9, 2012
Messages
1,307
Location
Shasta County, CA
I guess I'm the odd man out on this one. There are a ton of spots that I have seen animals that are just out of sight of road hunters. Within a mile of the truck. It's not worth it for me to carry my emr 2 when I'm hunting locations like this. There are many times I do carry my pack but definitely not every time I go hunting. Sometimes the most obvious places are the least obvious. I have killed deer within a half mile from the TH because guys think deer only live 5+ miles back. This isn't always the case but definitely something to think about.
 
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Messages
4,708
Location
Colorado
I guess I'm the odd man out on this one. There are a ton of spots that I have seen animals that are just out of sight of road hunters. Within a mile of the truck. It's not worth it for me to carry my emr 2 when I'm hunting locations like this. There are many times I do carry my pack but definitely not every time I go hunting. Sometimes the most obvious places are the least obvious. I have killed deer within a half mile from the TH because guys think deer only live 5+ miles back. This isn't always the case but definitely something to think about.

Shhhhh. 😳

I agree. A lot of people march past all the animals.
 
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