Your favorite Elk pack

[OhioState84]

Looking for a pack that will help an aging hunter tackle the Washington outback....... Want to use it for air travel from the midwest, will be working from a base camp, must be packout capable...... lighter the better...... have never used a hydration unit - so not sure of the benefit . comfort a must - appreciate your input

 

[Trr15]

As a Penn State alum, it pains me to provide you with any suggestions , but check out Stone Glacier. I’ve experimented with a lot of high end packs over the past several years and Stone Glacier’s frames just feel the best to me in terms of fit and overall comfort. They’re very light too. I would be nervous checking them for air travel though, but not any more nervous than I would be with any other lightweight frame pack.


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[OhioState84]

Thanks Trr15!!! Which fram did you choose with which pack?

 

[roosiebull]

my favorite elk pack is for my somewhat niche needs in a pack, and it's the mystery ranch pop up 18. most of my elk hunting is day tripping for roosies on the coast, and the pop up is custom tailored to that type of hunting.... love that little thing.

that being said, it's not what I would recommend for most people for a do all pack.

you cannot go wrong with kifaru, stone glacier, or mystery ranch, or EXO basically you need to decide on a general size, then look at features. stone glacier makes a beautiful lightweight pack, but I have no personal experience, but they are highly regarded.

Kifaru has a huge line for anyone's needs, and are probably the most popular. I have only packed 1 bull with a kifaru so I don't have a lot of experience on them either, but you can't go wrong with them.

I hunted an EXO 3500 one season, and loved it, light comfortable and well designed.... did good with a load, all around great pack.

I also hunted a kuiu for a season, and I like kuiu a lot, own lots of their gear, but imo, packs aren't their game, it was the biggest letdown of packs I have owned.

Mystery Ranch is my favorite packs, they aren't the lightest or heaviest, but they are TOUGH and well thought out. I would have no qualms buying any I mentioned besides kuiu, and I did get by with it for a season, not bashing them, but they are a lot of money vs their capability..... the rest mentioned are better in every way but weight.

seek outside is another notable brand, and build some good ultralight packs, but I again, have no experience with them.

there are some budget packs that will get you by, but are heavy and unrefined. I have a horn hunter full curl that's a workhorse, just kind of rudimentary compared to the high end packs. it hauls weight well, and mine has had a lot of heavy hard packs, and just a couple weeks ago i broke a buckle cinching down an elk quarter.... only failure on that pack and it's been beat up. they have a good warranty so no biggie

 

[OhioState84]

my favorite elk pack is for my somewhat niche needs in a pack, and it's the mystery ranch pop up 18. most of my elk hunting is day tripping for roosies on the coast, and the pop up is custom tailored to that type of hunting.... love that little thing.

that being said, it's not what I would recommend for most people for a do all pack.

you cannot go wrong with kifaru, stone glacier, or mystery ranch, or EXO basically you need to decide on a general size, then look at features. stone glacier makes a beautiful lightweight pack, but I have no personal experience, but they are highly regarded.

Kifaru has a huge line for anyone's needs, and are probably the most popular. I have only packed 1 bull with a kifaru so I don't have a lot of experience on them either, but you can't go wrong with them.

I hunted an EXO 3500 one season, and loved it, light comfortable and well designed.... did good with a load, all around great pack.

I also hunted a kuiu for a season, and I like kuiu a lot, own lots of their gear, but imo, packs aren't their game, it was the biggest letdown of packs I have owned.

Mystery Ranch is my favorite packs, they aren't the lightest or heaviest, but they are TOUGH and well thought out. I would have no qualms buying any I mentioned besides kuiu, and I did get by with it for a season, not bashing them, but they are a lot of money vs their capability..... the rest mentioned are better in every way but weight.

seek outside is another notable brand, and build some good ultralight packs, but I again, have no experience with them.

there are some budget packs that will get you by, but are heavy and unrefined. I have a horn hunter full curl that's a workhorse, just kind of rudimentary compared to the high end packs. it hauls weight well, and mine has had a lot of heavy hard packs, and just a couple weeks ago i broke a buckle cinching down an elk quarter.... only failure on that pack and it's been beat up. they have a good warranty so no biggie

Why only one season with the EXO 3500?

 

[MT257]

Stone Glacier solo 3300

 

[Osubuck]

O-H-I-O!!!!! I really like The MR Mule. Lightweight daypack with a frame and meatshelf.

 

[87TT]

EXO for me all the way. Had Kuiu and didn't ever get to liking it no matter how much I tried. I have the EXO K2 3500 and don't think I'll ever give it up.

 

[TheArdentOutdoorsman]

Go Bucks! I prefer MR, myself. Cant deny the other top brands but I've seen MR have some great sales that got my business.

 

[Ross]

Been running exo the last several season after a kifaru t3....t3 was just a little small...the 3500 gives me just enough room for 3 days and use it as a daypack as well....I fall into the old hunter category and have a l5 s1 issue so big pack days are gone have been able to carry 65pds comfortably and no complaints on the setup....lots of miles and packs in the 45 pd range with no failuresrun the horn hunter packs during shed season and swap about between the k2 and k3 frames

 

[justin davis]

Kifaru EMR 2 is my favorite pack

 

[Clayniss]

Well the kifaru 44 mag is 20 percent off right now. I just ordered one. Hard to argue with buying any of the above though.

 

[Clayniss]

I'll sell ya my kifaru woodsman if you're interested. I don't need it as I have a 44 mag on order.

 

[87TT]

Just exactly where is the "old hunter" category?

 

[Firehole Hunter]

Looking for a pack that will help an aging hunter tackle the Washington outback....... Want to use it for air travel from the midwest, will be working from a base camp, must be packout capable...... lighter the better...... have never used a hydration unit - so not sure of the benefit . comfort a must - appreciate your input

Boooo bucks, so sick of that Maroon and Gray. Not really just a little envious. I grew up on the banks of the Ohio in WV and am a WVU fan and graduated WVU in 84. But my grandfather was on the track team with Jesse and he came to my sports banquet in high school. My dad and brother both studied on the banks of the Olentangy. But this Mountaineer likes a KUIU Pro pack (6000 if camping off your back but a 3600 otherwise). Lightweight, modest price and feature packed they are.

 

[roosiebull]

Why only one season with the EXO 3500?

it was starting to get a few wear spots from packing a rifle around, so I decided to sell it before they became big wear spots... it was gonna happen. it was an excellent pack, but between spring bear and calling lions, it had a rifle stock rubbing it for a bunch of miles.

my kuiu got shredded in those same areas, and well as my horn hunter... not the fault of the pack, it just happens. my pop up is holding strong so far, which is telling to me, those packs are so tough. the normal wear spots are a little fuzzy, but nothing like my other packs, and the pop up has had more exposure to wear now.

again, nothing bad to say about EXO, it was the most comfortable pack I have owned, and I regret selling it a little. not the pack's fault, it's my fault how I pack a rifle. the EXO is a sweet pack. if it wasn't for MR being as bomb proof as they were, I would have an EXO.

once I got the pop up, the EXO was gonna be a rifle hunting only pack, so it was just gonna get worse.

the little pop up has exceeded my expectations by a good margin. I have tried to exceed it's limitations but have been unable to. I have packed a few elk out with it and a bunch of whole deer.

 

[Ross]

Anything over 50 is old

 

[87TT]

Anything over 50 is old

Damn, missed the cut by 17 years

 

[Wapiti1]

I have had EXO, Stone Glacier (1st gen frame), MR, SEEK, and Eberlestock. I still have MR and SEEK.

Eberlestock fell apart. EXO was fine, but never felt great under load. Same with Stone Glacier.

The MR NICE frame or Guidelight fit me well, and work well with big loads. I still have one of each. The SEEK Revolution frame is my go to if I know I'll be hauling heavy. It's just loud with the type of pack cloth they use. The SEEK is the most comfy that I have used outside of a Barneys under big loads (100+lbs).

They are all pretty good, even the EXO and Stone with 50-70lb loads. Each is a durable, quality product, but fit is critical, IMO. I kept the ones that fit me best. Kind of like boots. A poor fitting pack will grind you to the ground on a pack out.

Jeremy

 

[trophyhill]

Gonna buy another Kifaru I think. Just not sure which one yet. Oh and by the way, it's Thee Ohio State University. C'mon man, where you guys been the last 20 years?