Pack help - heavy ruck & whitetail

[fatlander]

EXO k4 with the crib load sling, k4 lid, any molle compatible pouches you want to put on the sling. The Kifaru large belt pouch is much larger than exos for sticking stuff to the outside of the load sling. I’ve carried a bunch of whitetail does out whole with that set up.

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[WV Mountaineer]

That is NOT 95% of Eastern Whitetail Hunters. Just a fact brother.

Now, you like hauling an extra 30lbs around all that slope and miles 60 hunts a years that’s cool.

The question wasn’t about the average eastern whitetail hunter to begin with. It also wasn’t how you hunt eastern whitetail. It was a question that had zero to do with your response actually.

 

[fatlander]

To further expand on my other post, and maybe shed some context as to why a guy whitetail hunting needs a hunting frame. . . If I’ve got to solo drag a whitetail doe more than a few hundred yards, I put it in a pack. Most of the farms I hunt, the farmers don’t want me driving across/around fields. There isn’t a road system in the timber on those farms. It’s way easier to carry an ~85# doe 500 yards than drag that dead weight. When I shoot bucks, it’s infrequently enough, and they’ve got enough head gear, that calling a buddy or two to help drag is part of the celebratory ritual.

Back to the OPs original question, I’ve rucked a ton, hauled elk out west and carried whitetails back east with all of the following packs: kifaru duplex light with a 44 mag, stone glacier xcurve with a 5900, EXO k3 4800, and currently have an EXO k4 7200 plus a crib panel.

The k4 with the crib, lid, and molle pouches on the crib checks the most boxes for what he wants. My 7200 bag only goes on my pack for trips out west. It’s the crib for 90% of the year be that I’m rucking or carrying whitetails.


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[Predator_SD]

The question wasn’t about the average eastern whitetail hunter to begin with. It also wasn’t how you hunt eastern whitetail. It was a question that had zero to do with your response actually.

Dumb to lug a pack around for whitetail THE ENTIRE HUNT. Leave it at the truck, kill deer, go back to truck get pack, pack deer out. Work smart

My response was absolutely relevant as i suggested an Exo 2000. Unless youre camping there is ZERO need for anything bigger for whitetail, literally none. Leave it at the truck with your kill kit. I packed an entire gutted doe in my Exo just strapped in the meat shelf. Can’t IMAGINE what a guy would need to carry around on a day hunt to require more room than that!

 

[dgfavor]

Dumb to lug a pack around for whitetail THE ENTIRE HUNT. Leave it at the truck, kill deer, go back to truck get pack, pack deer out. Work smart

To each their own of course but deadheading out to the truck and back seems like unecessary extra work to me. I'm taking my pack.

It doesn't get alot of love here but I sure like the simplicity of my F1 mainframe and the variety of configurations I can use with it. It for sure sees way more rucking duty with a sand bag on it than hunting time. The only thing always attached is the "sustenance pouch" molle'd on and containing a hydration bladder and extra gatekeeper straps - other than it just depends on what I'm up to for the day.
Ruck setup:


Day setup with a couple small batwings and spotter:


Day setup with single large batwing:


Hauling in camp setup with two small batwings with day gear and a 4Kcc zip-on dry bag with camp in it:


Single large batwing with bone-in front/hind mule deer quarters:




Two batwing day set up with an elk noggin:

Single large batwing with a ram noggin and cape:

Two batwings, camp, an elk noggin, and whatever else we could hang off it:

Anyway...it did take me a little while to get the fit dialed to where I liked it but it works really good for me and might be a reasonable versatile setup the OP is looking for to ruck, hunt, etc.

Just Say No to deadheading...

 

[fatlander]

Dumb to lug a pack around for whitetail THE ENTIRE HUNT. Leave it at the truck, kill deer, go back to truck get pack, pack deer out. Work smart

Everyone is different, with different pieces of ground to hunt and different skill levels. If I leave the truck on doe patrol in October, it’s really infrequent that a doe doesn’t die that day. Walking an extra mile to save a carrying 7 extra pounds in the woods ain’t my cup of tea.


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[Predator_SD]

Everyone is different, with different pieces of ground to hunt and different skill levels. If I leave the truck on doe patrol in October, it’s really infrequent that a doe doesn’t die that day. Walking an extra mile to save a carrying 7 extra pounds in the woods ain’t my cup of tea.


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60 something hints this year and killed 1 buck/2does with bow. 1 Doe with gun. I hunt from 100 yards to 5 miles one way from the truck. That is a LOT of hauling around a pack for nothing tbh. So much easier to move light and fast and walk the extra 4 +\- TOTAL when those 4 deer died.

But this is Rokslide not archery talk of the Beast Forum. No doubt this is a more pack crazed forum here. I prefer to carry nothing at all. Knife and bow….stand if i’m using one.

Ya gotta let that deer go off and die anyways that mile walk is nothing imo and lets that deer go dead before i get back.

 

[fatlander]

60 something hints this year and killed 1 buck/2does with bow. 1 Doe with gun. I hunt from 100 yards to 5 miles one way from the truck. That is a LOT of hauling around a pack for nothing tbh. So much easier to move light and fast and walk the extra 4 +\- TOTAL when those 4 deer died.

But this is Rokslide not archery talk of the Beast Forum. No doubt this is a more pack crazed forum here. I prefer to carry nothing at all. Knife and bow….stand if i’m using one.

Ya gotta let that deer go off and die anyways that mile walk is nothing imo and lets that deer go dead before i get back.

Like I said, everyone does things differently in different places. Fast and light covering ground is archery elk or turkey hunting to me. I went deer hunting less than a couple dozen times this year. 2 bucks, 6 does, and a coyote. The majority of my sits were during the rut buck hunting. I killed does more days than I didn’t when I was hunting them.


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[oldskool67]

Love the modularity of my F1

To each their own of course but deadheading out to the truck and back seems like unecessary extra work to me. I'm taking my pack.

It doesn't get alot of love here but I sure like the simplicity of my F1 mainframe and the variety of configurations I can use with it. It for sure sees way more rucking duty with a sand bag on it than hunting time. The only thing always attached is the "sustenance pouch" molle'd on and containing a hydration bladder and extra gatekeeper straps - other than it just depends on what I'm up to for the day.
Ruck setup:
View attachment 828262

Day setup with a couple small batwings and spotter:
View attachment 828295

Day setup with single large batwing:
View attachment 828296

Hauling in camp setup with two small batwings with day gear and a 4Kcc zip-on dry bag with camp in it:
View attachment 828297

Single large batwing with bone-in front/hind mule deer quarters:
View attachment 828298

View attachment 828299

Two batwing day set up with an elk noggin:

Single large batwing with a ram noggin and cape:

Two batwings, camp, an elk noggin, and whatever else we could hang off it:

Anyway...it did take me a little while to get the fit dialed to where I liked it but it works really good for me and might be a reasonable versatile setup the OP is looking for to ruck, hunt, etc.

Just Say No to deadheading...

 

[Mtn_Nomad]

To each their own of course but deadheading out to the truck and back seems like unecessary extra work to me. I'm taking my pack.

It doesn't get alot of love here but I sure like the simplicity of my F1 mainframe and the variety of configurations I can use with it. It for sure sees way more rucking duty with a sand bag on it than hunting time. The only thing always attached is the "sustenance pouch" molle'd on and containing a hydration bladder and extra gatekeeper straps - other than it just depends on what I'm up to for the day.
Ruck setup:
View attachment 828262

Day setup with a couple small batwings and spotter:
View attachment 828295

Day setup with single large batwing:
View attachment 828296

Hauling in camp setup with two small batwings with day gear and a 4Kcc zip-on dry bag with camp in it:
View attachment 828297

Single large batwing with bone-in front/hind mule deer quarters:
View attachment 828298

View attachment 828299

Two batwing day set up with an elk noggin:

Single large batwing with a ram noggin and cape:

Two batwings, camp, an elk noggin, and whatever else we could hang off it:

Anyway...it did take me a little while to get the fit dialed to where I liked it but it works really good for me and might be a reasonable versatile setup the OP is looking for to ruck, hunt, etc.

Just Say No to deadheading...

Ive really been eyeballing the F1 for whitetail in the Appalachian Mountains. Looks like a very simple and minimalist frame when necessary or geared up for spike camp.

 

[dgfavor]

Ive really been eyeballing the F1 for whitetail in the Appalachian Mountains. Looks like a very simple and minimalist frame when necessary or geared up for spike camp.

...or for rucking around a 40lb bag of water softener salt while you mow the lawn (weird shiz like that keeps my neighbors away)

 

[Whitetailaddict]

I train in the summer with my Kifaru ultralight frame with the quarter panel with a 50# goruck sand bag. Then use the same frame with the striker for whitetail come hunting season. The pack can sometimes be to big or the frame i should say but i wouldnt change a thing. I also have the 26" frame.

 

[deliberate_strength]

Personally, I love Kifaru frames. But, have only cared for three of their bags I’ve owned. Mostly because the flippin’ things flop around unless you’ve got them stuffed.





I’ve had the Stryker, the hellbender, the Apollo, several 22 mags, the mountain warrior, the 44 mag, and three or four others. The only bags they’ve ever made I care for are the woodsman for day hunting and packing game out. And my DT2 and 3 for backpacking trips with the family.


Exo I have zero experience with.


Many eastern guys love the hellbender. It ain’t bad if you intend to carry stuff in the meat shelf packing in to hunt.

Personally, carrying gear in the meat shelf makes zero sense to me. I use my packs to haul gear and deer in one trip. I’m not interested in making multiple trips because I’m hauling gear in my heat shelf instead of meat.

I have the hoodlum which I love - it's a big pack but you can cinch it down tight for daytrips.