New pack

[snake]

So I may have jumped the gun a little on buying a backpack for my upcoming hunt. I thought the hunt would be for 5 days only, but now it is going to be for 7 days. I bought a Badlands Sacrifice, but I don't think that this is going to be big enough now. What should I do now? Should I try and sell this backpack and buy a bigger one? If I do, what should I get? I want to make sure that I have adequate storage for all my gear and still be able to pack some meat out if I do happen to get one. Any recommendations would be appreciated. Thanks.

[LckyTylr]

IMO, go bigger.

I have a "large-enough" pack for my purposes, but I have trouble keeping things out of it that don't really need to be in there.

Go bigger, stay diligent and keep it light. Leave that extra space for MEAT!

[Heartwood]

I'd keep the pack and try to figure a way to carry less gear. Unless you are already a seasoned backpacker, there will be items you really don't need.
I've seen how my own gear choices have evolved over the years and I'm always tending toward less.
One of our crew is an ex world cup rugby player. He is always in great condition for the hunt and can go from sea level to 9000 feet without any time to acclimate. He is also very tough in a humble and matter of fact way. Anyways, in 2011 we started his hunt off with a nice 3 day backpack loop into one of my favorite spots. When we arrived back at base camp 3 days later, he started culling gear from his pack like there was no tomorrow. I'm talking video cameras, extra cloths, and some things that I had duplicates of in my pack. He was much better off for the rest of the hunt without the "extras". He is certainly strong enough to carry extra stuff but it still takes extra energy to do so. My point is there is usually gear that can be culled without sacrificing safety. Its just a process that we must go through to arrive at the essentials. He ended up shooting a 6x at 8 yards as the bull was lured in by level 2 of "the threat". (thanks Paul) He packed most of the meat off the ridge while I took a nap! Just a human pack animal.
Personally I like a pack that is just big enough so I'm not tempted to pack extras. The sacrifice is a great pack and should work well for an extended trip.

[ElkNut1]

Matt, you are more than welcome! I appreciate your solid well rounded advice & sharing what your buddy did in using common sense to lighten his load.

Jacob, another thing to consider is if you are taking enough food & gear for 7 days there is no way you will be hauling out elk quarters on top of that 5-7 miles back to camp or the rig. A bigger pack would do you no good if you can't haul 150#+ & that's what you'd be looking at. That's unreal real world wt that few could ever do through rugged terrain. You may want to consider to stay with what you have & shorten your days out to 3 days then come back, refresh & reload, you may even want to move to a different area if not many elk are being found!

ElkNut1

[>>>---WW---->]

The only difference between a 3 day, 5 day, and 7 day pack should be the amount of food you carry. Your basic pack weight minus food should be the same. And if you know anything about packing in, you food should be about 1 1/2 - 2 pounds per day.

Just be sure you have a plan on how you are going to get your meat out if one or both of you gets lucky. You should be willing to give up a day of hunting to help your partner out and he should be willing to do the same for you. If you are way back in, a horse packer is worth every penny you pay him.

[foxvalley]

You also might consider keeping your pack,and investing in a "freighter frame"for the meat. I beleive you can still buy the frame without the pack,Mine is the alaskan freighter frame from cabelas.You can strap your pack onto the freighter getting to camp,then leave it in camp untill you kill.The frame weighs around a pound or so,but is by far the best way to haul meat out,without a horse.

[RockChucker30]

I've had a lot of high end packs over the last few years looking for the "ultimate" backpack. That list includes 9 Kifaru packs, two Mystery Ranch, a canadian made arcteryx bora, two Dana externals, and a Bozeman made Dana Arcflex Stillwater internal frame.

The problem I've had with them all is belt deformation and slippage under heavy loads. I recently picked up a Kelty Cache Hauler for $95 shipped and tested it with 100 lbs of sandbags and it carries MUCH better for me than any of the $600+ packs I've had.

So, in your situation what I would do is to follow this link and buy a Cache Hauler.

http://www.mountainsports.com/msmain.as ... Frame+only

Then I would take the load shelf and the padded wings off it along with the top bar. This should get it down around 4 lbs.

Then I would go to this site:

http://www.backwoodsdaydreamer.com/products-page/

And buy some 1" webbing and some Stealth dual adjust side release buckles. Then I would make two bottom, two top, and three side compression straps to put on the Kelty frame.

Then I would go to:

http://www.zpacks.com/accessories/dry_bags.shtml

And get either an extra large roll top dry bag, or a custom sized roll top dry bag to hold my sleeping bag, pad, tent, cloting, etc.

Then I would strap the Sacrifice on the back of the Kelty and pack into camp. Total weight should be around 5 lbs for the Kelty, plus 3.5 for the Sacrifice = 8.5 lbs which isn't ultralight, but not terrible.

Then I would drop the Kelty at camp and day hunt with the sacrifice. When I got an elk down I would take a first load with the Sacrifice(backstraps, tenderloins, neck, rib, etc) back to camp and then swap to the Kelty to pack the meat.

IMO that would be your best and cheapest solution.

[Black Wolf]

After a few years of going light and minimal...I now will not go without my Badlands Ox backpack.

What time and experience has taught me is that packing out an elk is much easier with a frame pack...like daaaaaaaah

I'm 6'1" and 250lbs. and ever since I started calling for friends and family...I've been packing out 4 to 5 elk every archery season...and I'm the one who ends up carring the majority of the meat out.

I've used non-frame packs such as the Badlands 2800 with good results....but the Ox has become my favorite. I've never had 200lbs. of meat and gear feel so comfortable on my back and shoulders as this pack accomodates the weight...if comfortable is even the right term...LOL

Like Vortex's warrenty...Badland's leads the industry with the BEST lifetime warrenty available.

If anyone is looking into a frame pack....definitely check out Badlands Ox pack.

Ray