Downsize from Multi-Day pack to Day pack?

[Chris in TN]

So last year we drove to CO planning on hiking in and camping. Ended up in a cabin for the whole trip. We swapped to day packs, threw our big packs in a cooler to get them safely out of the way, and kept a pack frame in the car in case we shot something.

In years past I have hunted here at home with a daypack - I mean it's been with me hundreds of times - and the only time I killed something too far from the road to just drag it out, I deboned her in the field, stuffed her into the daypack, and strolled out with 40+ pounds of meat and my rifle and various other gear, on my back. Doing that in the eastern US is nothing akin to doing it with an elk in mountains, but it does sort of proof the concept of having a day pack and using it to move the first load of meat back to the car where you can swap out for a frame for the rest of the meat. With careful planning I think I could get all the important parts of a mule deer into a single day pack. Wouldn't be ideal but it would be do-able, especially if there were two hunters together and they could split it between them.

 

[Steve300xcw]

Deboned in a pack not made to haul meat really really really brings the suck IMO. Its the kinda experience that will make a guy spend $700 as soon as he gets home

Maybe I am just lazy, but I will never understand going back to the rig to get a frame.

 

[Hnthrdr]

K4 with a smaller bag is the solution. I guess if there was 0 chance at hauling meat any small backpack would do, but I’ve never thought my k4 was excessively heavy or bulky with the 3600 pack on it. Gets dang small when I want it to. I have switched to using a fanny pack sometimes to run and gun during archery season knowing full well 1) im typically close to a road or camp 2) I will have to go get a pack, but post a shot, usually will have plenty of time to back out go get pack and then ready to start tracking when I get back

 

[Chris in TN]

Deboned in a pack not made to haul meat really really really brings the suck IMO. Its the kinda experience that will make a guy spend $700 as soon as he gets home

Maybe I am just lazy, but I will never understand going back to the rig to get a frame.

Two hunters packing one elk, if one of those hunters is a teenaged girl, you’re looking at two trips no matter what. If my daughter and I get an elk down and we get 40 pounds of meat in my pack and 20 in hers for our first trip then go back with a proper frame pack and I get 60 pounds of meat and she gets 40 (now wearing my pack) that’s 160 pounds. That’ll cover most elk. With a bit of a buffer left for larger critters. Packing on good terrain I can pack more than 60 for sure.

For a solo hunter I’m not saying it would always work that way. But the math behind a day pack isn’t entirely unreasonable for some of us. There’s no single universal best solution here.

 

[wapitibob]

You will be just fine with a small bag for day hunting and hauling meat when you fill your tag, provided your frame has a load shelf. We've been doing it for years.
We use a custom day bag that Pods8 made us and a Stone Glacier frame.

 

[Poser]

When I'm hunting, I have a frame pack. Period. Never know where the day may take you and where you may end up. With that in mind, I have a several different sized bags, ranging from 1800 to 6600 with lid and accessory bag options to augment.

 

[Harpy55]

I’ve walked around with a pack that could probably carry a small deer, and I’m just grabbing snacks and a water bottle. Sometimes I think the EXO is trying to compete in the Olympics for “heaviest pack in a day hike.” Day pack sounds way more my speed

 

[Steve300xcw]

You will be just fine with a small bag for day hunting and hauling meat when you fill your tag, provided your frame has a load shelf. We've been doing it for years.
We use a custom day bag that Pods8 made us and a Stone Glacier frame.

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Man, thats about the perfect size!

I would want a few compression straps going around the bag though. I find I use them a bunch to hold extra layers an such.

 

[wapitibob]

Man, thats about the perfect size!

I would want a few compression straps going around the bag though. I find I use them a bunch to hold extra layers.

There are 3 buckles down each side of the bag. Extra layers go under the bag and get synched by the strap that would normally attach to the btm of a larger bag.
This kind of shows the lower straps and you can see jordans tripod atached.

 

[GunsAreFun]

Anytime I have a frame pack that is barely loaded, especially when it’s warm/hot, I let the hips do all the holding and loosen the shoulder straps so my back isn’t touching the pack for better air flow.

 

[Steve300xcw]

There are 3 buckles down each side of the bag. Extra layers go under the bag and get synched by the strap that would normally attach to the btm of a larger bag.
This kind of shows the lower straps and you can see jordans tripod atached.

I like it

I'm just running the serac 1700. Have found that the easier it is to get to my extra layers, the more I use them..shocker lol

big fan of lil packs on a frame

 

[K_pem]

Two hunters packing one elk, if one of those hunters is a teenaged girl, you’re looking at two trips no matter what. If my daughter and I get an elk down and we get 40 pounds of meat in my pack and 20 in hers for our first trip then go back with a proper frame pack and I get 60 pounds of meat and she gets 40 (now wearing my pack) that’s 160 pounds. That’ll cover most elk. With a bit of a buffer left for larger critters. Packing on good terrain I can pack more than 60 for sure.

For a solo hunter I’m not saying it would always work that way. But the math behind a day pack isn’t entirely unreasonable for some of us. There’s no single universal best solution here

160lbs for an elk?!

How many elk have you killed ? Also how many animals have you packed on your back?

No offense man but I don’t think you really know what you’re getting into here and that may explain why you’re considering a daypack. You’re far underestimating the amount of work an elk is to get out of the mountains.