Recommendations- scouting/ travel/ saddle

[Clarson757]

Been looking for a good pack for day scouting muleys/ hiking. Want to be able to carry a tripod and Nalgene, layers etc.

Also would use for casual travel, and once a year out of state chasing whitetails via saddle/ ground hunting.

Currently have a Kuiu Divid 1500. Good pack for the most part. Organizes really well. But after several years with it, my back says no more. Loaded with saddle platform, climbing sticks and water bottle or even a heavy scouting trip for mule deer - it just isn’t rigid enough. It collapses into itself under too much load.

I’d like to find something that isn’t overly tacti-cool but still has function. I just picked up the Hill People Gear UMLINDI and it’s pretty close to what I’m looking for.

Any other suggestions? For reference my normal hunting pack is a mystery ranch metals or kifaru hellbender. Wouldn’t necessarily need a full frame bag for day scouting/ whitetail sit in a tree.

 

[Alpinedrifter]

Been looking for a good pack for day scouting muleys/ hiking. Want to be able to carry a tripod and Nalgene, layers etc.

Also would use for casual travel, and once a year out of state chasing whitetails via saddle/ ground hunting.

Currently have a Kuiu Divid 1500. Good pack for the most part. Organizes really well. But after several years with it, my back says no more. Loaded with saddle platform, climbing sticks and water bottle or even a heavy scouting trip for mule deer - it just isn’t rigid enough. It collapses into itself under too much load.

I’d like to find something that isn’t overly tacti-cool but still has function. I just picked up the Hill People Gear UMLINDI and it’s pretty close to what I’m looking for.

Any other suggestions? For reference my normal hunting pack is a mystery ranch metals or kifaru hellbender. Wouldn’t necessarily need a full frame bag for day scouting/ whitetail sit in a tree.

I have numerous Kifarus including the Hellbender, which is my main day hunting/hauling pack. What about a Kifaru internal frame pack like the Shapecharge at 32 liters or Minikeg at 45 liters?

 

[Clarson757]

I actually have a hellbender that I hunt with. It’s great. Bit more than what I need majority of the time. I’ll look at those bags you mention for sure. I love the bane style pouch for the saddle platform. My issue with saddle hunting is packing the climbing sticks. After 3 years haven’t really found a good bag for that purpose.

I have numerous Kifarus including the Hellbender, which is my main day hunting/hauling pack. What about a Kifaru internal frame pack like the Shapecharge at 32 liters or Minikeg at 45 liters?

 

[Jonputters]

Really enjoyed using my manimal this year

 

[Alpinedrifter]

I actually have a hellbender that I hunt with. It’s great. Bit more than what I need majority of the time. I’ll look at those bags you mention for sure. I love the bane style pouch for the saddle platform. My issue with saddle hunting is packing the climbing sticks. After 3 years haven’t really found a good bag for that purpose.

Has the Hellbender and Kifaru frame setup been uncomfortable or not fit the bill for you in any way? The side pouch or a belt pouch is perfect for a Nalgene. Side pouch may or may not work for a tripod. I’m a big fan of the meat shelf for my platform. I don’t use sticks, but it seems the meat shelf would work great for them too.

If a smaller Kifaru external frame pack option is what you need.. check out the Stryker XL. I don’t own one, but it seems a lot of folks like it. As you may know, the Hellbender succeeded it for folks who wanted slightly more capacity and the easily cleanable X-pac meat shelf.

 

[Clarson757]

Has the Hellbender and Kifaru frame setup been uncomfortable or not fit the bill for you in any way? The side pouch or a belt pouch is perfect for a Nalgene. Side pouch may or may not work for a tripod. I’m a big fan of the meat shelf for my platform. I don’t use sticks, but it seems the meat shelf would work great for them too.

If a smaller Kifaru external frame pack option is what you need.. check out the Stryker XL. I don’t own one, but it seems a lot of folks like it. As you may know, the Hellbender succeeded it for folks who wanted slightly more capacity and the easily cleanable X-pac meat shelf.

I love my hellbender setup for actually hunting during season. White tail and as a travel bag it would be a bit overkill to carry a framed pack like that for saddle hunting. Some of the spots I hunt whitetail are a bit deeper in than most would usually go so that might be a consideration this season. But for mule deer scouting and hunting it’s been perfect. I do wish I could take up some slack in the meat shelf area when not in use. Other than that I have a few pouches added and the water bottle carrier is great since I’m not real big on running a water bladder setup.

I like the bane style pouch for saddle hunting because the platform slides right in. My issue has been finding a way to strap my climbing sticks to the bag in a way that still lets me access the main compartment easily. I try to get all my layers on etc. before climbing so it’s one less thing I need to accomplish 20’ + off the ground in the dark. Something in the 2000-2500 size would be perfect I think.

In an effort to be brief - I use my kuiu 1500 for air travel/ dad bag/ scouting. It’s just not really well suited for extended all day hunts in the whitetail woods when temps require layers and hunting gear. It’s almost perfect but hiking around with that much stuff more than a few miles, it really gets taxing.