Does anyone hike with their hunting packs?

Yup. Always used whatever packs I’ve owned at the time for whatever mountain activities I pursue, hunting or other. Down to one main pack now- SO Evo- and use it for everything.
 
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All the time. I have a sandbag setup that can easily add 30-60-90lbs to the pack. I take it out and hike in the mountains or walk fire roads as soon as the ice melts until it comes back.
 
Kifaru duplex with compression kit and guide lid for day hunts. You can pack an elk quarter easy with that setup. The best part about kifaru is all of the different combos you can make with the same gear and it’s about as light weight as you can get without giving up durability. I never hunt without my pack board anymore.


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Yep. For what packs cost and not having anything decent I wanted it pull double duty. Went with stone glacier xcurve and now the evo frame. Their load shelf is pretty slick if you want to go really light non hunting backpacking. It will cover and protect the bottom fourth of a dry bag.

Only slight cons is the frame is overly tall, hip belt is overkill if you’re just hiking to hike. I use a Walmart day pack for the quick out and back stuff.
 
SG Mrux frame and Solo bag has a lot of hiking miles behind it. I don't have a pavck strictly for hiking. If I thru-hiked then that would be a different story.
 
I have before. But I find I can do any backpacking trips under 7 or 8 days quite easily in a 2.5 lbs Osprey pack, which is nice weight savings. I suspect this may change quickly should there be any kids in the picture.
 
It's situational. I find most hiking packs to be a little too small to carry all my hiking gear. So if I'm going car camping I like to bring my Hunters Element boundary pack 35L just packing rations, ammo and water also somewhere to put my jumper if it gets to hot. It works pretty well, comfortable pack.
If I'm hiking into a spot and then shooting I bring my hiking pack and use the drink bottle pocket as a place to hold my stock and slip the barrel up through the tensioning straps, the only downside is once my camp is set up my hiking pack is too big to bring with me while I'm out stalking so I bring a bumbag with me for rations, water and extra ammo
 
Metcalf by Mystery Ranch!! The weight is worth the quality and load capability of the pack. And yes, use it on every hike. I typically take off my top hat. Also look into the guide lite frame. Significantly lighter without giving up to much
 
love my Kifaru Hunter frame/ 22mag bag. Makes a great day pack with tons of space but fairly light weight.. and perfect size to pack out a mule deer as well..
 
I do with my Sg 40/56, especially when I have my kid and dogs and have to pack a little more stuff. I’ve also used my kifaru to do a few long summer backpacking trips. I’ve tried some super light backpacking specific packs but when they get to 25-30lbs of gear and everything else, the hunting packs usually feel better anyways. I do have a Sierra designs pack that I use when I’m by myself and doing maybe longer faster trips but that one has a good frame and can handle a lot of weight compared to all the others. Price is good too. If you’re looking for a one pack do all, it’s hard to look past the SG 40/56.
 
Yes and no. We do some "luxury" over nighters where I'll use my Kifaru, but day hiking and light and fast backpacking we use designated non hunting packs.
I'm just not carrying a 6# pack when I don't need to.
 
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