Who has packed moose quarters with an Exo?

[mcseal2]

I'm headed to Alaska next September on a moose hunt. I bought an Exo 3500 this year and really like the pack so far. It moves with me very well and has been comfortable with a light or fairly heavy load. I've carried loads up to 80lbs training with it but didn't get to pack out any critters with it this fall. I had one muley hunt lined up and I was unsuccessful. The 80lbs I packed was 30lbs of gear in the bag and a 50lb sack of cattle mineral between the bag and frame, probably a more stable load than quarters.

I'm wanting to take this pack on the moose hunt but would like to know how it worked first from those who used one? I bought the Crib attachment for mine too and was curious if anyone used that. I'm thinking for packing quarters that size I'd probably remove the bag all together and just use the crib and paracord to attach the quarters after the first trip? I figured I should ask those who have actually done it before I try it myself and see what worked best for others.

I have a Cabelas Alaskan Guide frame and pack I could take that might be better for moose quarters. I know it would be more of a pain in the butt for carrying and getting through brush. With the weight constraints I'd prefer to take one pack for everything. If that's the better option in your opinion please share that also.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Outhunting]

My son and I both bought Exo 2000 packs for our Northern British Columbia moose hunt a few weeks ago. The pack was the perfect size for the airline carry on and a great day pack. My son shot his bull about 700 yards away from the water and we had to do some packing. On the first load out He pulled the bag away from the frame and cinched a rear quarter to the frame and the Exo handled it just fine. He was worried that his 52 year old dad wasn't going to be able to pack it out but it was super comfortable and not a problem at all.
He carried out the cape and the horns on his first load. I am not sure how much the rear quarter weighed but it still had the bone in minus the hoof and the Exo pack did great.

 

[nrh6.7]

There is a video of EXO testing their frame with 250lbs or weight to see if it would hold it...it did.

Here's a link. Load testing the Exo Skeleton frame with 250lbs on Vimeo

 

[lonedave]

I have a 2015 EXO 5500 and used it to pack out my Washington moose in 2015. I made 7 solo trips of just over 1 mile each with my largest load at about 85 - 90#. I had no issues and the pack worked great. I used it with the load hauler they sold prior to the crib, but very similar, I believe. I actually only carried one front shoulder with the leg bone in (my first trip out) and all the others were just meat bags (I did the gutless method on him). About the only problem I had was getting into the pack with the heavy loads. I had to sit down, put my arms into the shoulder straps, roll over onto my knees, and stand up. I never considered myself weak, but I don't know how some of these guys can pick up packs weighing 125 - 150#!!

 

[mcseal2]

Thanks everyone. I talked to Steve Speck before buying my pack and was confident it would be sturdy enough for the task. After seeing more pics of giant Alaskan moose hindquarters strapped to frames I was curious how tough it was to get one attached to the Exo frame compared to a wider packframe with more places to lash to.

 

[geriggs]

Pic

I talked to Steve about it and he sent me this pic. Also they went on a trip last year or year before and packed them out. we used kifarus this year and they worked great. First pic is exo second is kifaru with cargo net.