Recommend Meat Hauling Packs

You gotta just Cam Hanes that shit

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My day pack with hauling capability has been a Badlands 2800. It's a nice, light pack that will easily haul out a pronghorn. I've done it many times. A whole mule deer once as well.
 
Thanks for the replies. Great info.

I tend to subscribe to the "buy once cry once" idea. I'd love to pull the trigger a Stryker or a Hellbender. That said, I cannot justify the expense of a Kifaru pack.

I keep circling back to the Mystery Ranch Pop Up 30. With a couple Eberlestock packs being the runners up.

Thanks!

—WookieBowcaster
 
Thanks for the replies. Great info.

I tend to subscribe to the "buy once cry once" idea. I'd love to pull the trigger a Stryker or a Hellbender. That said, I cannot justify the expense of a Kifaru pack.

I keep circling back to the Mystery Ranch Pop Up 30. With a couple Eberlestock packs being the runners up.

Thanks!

—WookieBowcaster

The good thing with the popup series is it’s a nice complement to a top in frame pack to have them setup for different things or lend them out. It’s a rare exception to the buy once cry once mentality.
 
What’s your budget?
Will this pack be used again?
How many western hunts do you plan to do?
What does your normal hunting in your home state look like?
Do you ever plan on packing in on a hunt?
 
I’m going to move from a Eberlestock “just one” j34 to a Eberlestock F1 mainframe with a vapor 5000 bag. The F1 frame with just a couple batwings would be a killer setup for day hunts. I ran into a cubic inch problem with my j34 when I started doing more multi day backcountry hunting but for day hunts it worked just fine.
 
Thanks for the replies. Great info.

I tend to subscribe to the "buy once cry once" idea. I'd love to pull the trigger a Stryker or a Hellbender. That said, I cannot justify the expense of a Kifaru pack.

I keep circling back to the Mystery Ranch Pop Up 30. With a couple Eberlestock packs being the runners up.

Thanks!

—WookieBowcaster
Good choice.
It might not be as chic and cha cha as Exo or Kifaro, but those Pop Ups are built like tanks and hunt hard. For hauling more than 60 lbs, I'd opt for a stouter frame, but 35 lbs of antelope meat is a breeze.
The most important thing, no matter what pack you choose, is making sure it fits your body well and is comfortable with some weight.
Best of luck on your hunt!
 
What’s your budget?
Will this pack be used again?
How many western hunts do you plan to do?
What does your normal hunting in your home state look like?
Do you ever plan on packing in on a hunt?
  1. < $400
  2. Pack will be used again for whitetail, hogs, turkey (here in the east.) If possible, perhaps when I try a first mule deer or elk hunt.
  3. My plan is to do at least 1 hunt each for antelope, mule deer, elk. Also in the mix is Iowa, not western, but it is in the works too.
  4. I'm on the east coast. Normal hunting scenarios, I can can get by with a frameless day pack. Getting animals out of the woods I have mainly dragged or used a sled.
  5. TBD on packing in on a hunt. Maybe. But I mainly want to hunt and I could be too "long in the tooth" to add the backpack hunt variable.
 
I’m going to move from a Eberlestock “just one” j34 to a Eberlestock F1 mainframe with a vapor 5000 bag. The F1 frame with just a couple batwings would be a killer setup for day hunts. I ran into a cubic inch problem with my j34 when I started doing more multi day backcountry hunting but for day hunts it worked just fine.
That's what I got and I love it so far, but I haven't used it on a hunt yet. Lord willing I'll give it a try this October.
 
Get a badlands 2200 on sale for 100-125 and you’d be set for any of those hunts. Great back for WT as well packing stands sticks etc.

I’ve seen them new online as low as 99, here is a used that looks like a deal as well.

 
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Packed out the wife’s doe antelope quarters with a frameless pack, I have since purchased an MR pop up. It was both of our first experience with hauling out an animal in a pack and admittedly could have done things a lot better. Some sort of framed pack should do much better.
 
  1. < $400
  2. Pack will be used again for whitetail, hogs, turkey (here in the east.) If possible, perhaps when I try a first mule deer or elk hunt.
  3. My plan is to do at least 1 hunt each for antelope, mule deer, elk. Also in the mix is Iowa, not western, but it is in the works too.
  4. I'm on the east coast. Normal hunting scenarios, I can can get by with a frameless day pack. Getting animals out of the woods I have mainly dragged or used a sled.
  5. TBD on packing in on a hunt. Maybe. But I mainly want to hunt and I could be too "long in the tooth" to add the backpack hunt variable.
A badlands 2200 would be well under your budget and a solid choice. The mystery ranch pop up packs would be another one to look at as well in your price range. If you look used or spend a bit more money a mystery ranch pintler and frame would work well for your current use, and if you ever decide to pack in you would only need to purchase a bigger bag for the frame.
 
Look around and check out the surplus Alice frames and packs, get a attachable shelf for it. Large alice pack frame and shelf should set you back less than 150 dollars, Tough as nails and can handle any pack out you may have.
Yeah but they are heavy compared to modern frames.
 
11 lbs. completely assembled. frame, shelf, shoulder straps and pads, waist belt and pad. Can comfortably handle up to 100 lbs of freight.
 
The best antelope pack you could buy today is probably an Exo K4 2200.
I came here to say this. Exo literally just launched the 2200, a day pack meat packing machine. Like others said, if it's a one time thing, maybe don't worry about it, but if long pack outs with heavy loads is your new thing, that's your pack.
 
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