As a woman, my biggest priorities in a pack are that it is lightweight to start with (because my max capacity is going to be less than a mans due to my smaller stature) and that it adjusts to fit my body so that I can get some of the weight off of my shoulders and onto my hips. Pack fit is tremendously personal, so what works for me may not work as well for your wife. I have never found anything about pack fit that is gender specific, so I don't see the need for something "women's specific". I also haven't had any issues at all running longer stays than my stature would require...having too much lift is never a problem, but not having enough is miserable especially with heavy loads. I typically run 26" stays simply because it makes it easier for me to swap packs with taller users, and then I always have enough lift with heavy loads. In the last 10 years I have used a lot of packs, and more often than not Kifaru packs have carried best for me. The Kifaru small waist belt adjusts small enough for me at 5'3 and about 130lbs, and I know it could go even smaller than what I need it to. In the last year or two I have also spent a fair amount of time using the Kuiu Ultra 6000 upgraded with the Icon Pro Frame, and it has also worked well for me.
Packing out a Dall Sheep cape, horns and some of the meat in my Kifaru KU5200
Using a Kifaru Bikini Frame with Highcamp bag on a summer pack rafting trip (I am on the left)
Packing a load of caribou and misc gear, Bikini frame again but this time with the Rondevous bag
Most often for hunting anymore, I run an EMR2 on the lightweight hunting frame with arrow stays. It will haul more weight than I can, and the batwing design is great for securing meat loads
Hauling Deer in the EMR2
Hauling packrafting and camping gear on a Kodiak brown bear hunt with the EMR2
I used an Arcteryx Bora for several seasons, but it never fit me well enough to get the weight transferred to my waist, which made it uncomfortable at heavier loads. They are quality packs, and usually pretty reasonably priced. Just didn't fit me well, especially at weights above 40lbs.
I used a Mystery Ranch NICE frame with 6500 bag and really liked how it fit and carried weight, but it was like 10lbs empty. Since my max load is around 80lbs, and I prefer to carry more like 50-60lbs if it's for any longer distance, having the weight of the pack be 10lbs empty reduced the amount of weight I could put in it.
Packing a packraft and misc gear in my Mystery Ranch
Hauling a packraft and my half of our gear in the Kuiu Ultra for a weeklong summer trip
Quite a bit of footage in this video of the Kuiu in action last summer as well. We kept my load under 40lbs for this trip because I was 16 weeks pregnant.
http://www.rokslide.com/forums/gene...couting-2017-alaska-packraft-rondy-route.html
Lots of pack options available, and don't feel like you need to limit yourself to a women's specific pack. I would recommend erring on the side of a larger volume pack bag...you can always cinch up the extra space, but once you get an animal down you can't make a small pack larger. Even if she doesn't plan to carry many heavy loads, you can fill her pack with high volume stuff like sleeping bags and puffy gear.
