Any other hunters on here?

[Michael Pinkus]

If so, do you hunt UL? I plan on a few UL hunts this coming fall. Now i'm trying to find out a way to make a light packframe and bag. Thoughts? Ideas?

[Mike Oxford]

UL hunting is easily doable, the biggest question is "how to pack it out." Only thing you need to change out, really, is the pack.

http://www.butcher-packer.com/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&cPath=36&products_id=331

If your terrain supports it, you could also leave the skin on and line-drag it, or use drag-poles.

Don't forget that if you're humping out 100 lbs of meat, you'll want a pack that can also handle your bow/rifle. That leaves your hands free for trekking poles or for scrambling.

The extra gear you'll carry (binos, possibly a spotter, game care gear, bags, etc all add up, but there's no reason your base-UL gear won't work.

After all, until you shoot something you're really just hiking/camping anyways. :)

-mox

[Thomas Vree]

Starting to get into it.

I have a Kifaru hauler which I love, but I'm building a pack system to go with it. The frame is perfect for hauling heavy stuff, but I would like the bag that goes on it to be lighter.

Kuiu is also doing some neat stuff. Not so much a hauler, but I appreciate what they're doing as far as pack design.
http://shop.kuiu.com/packs-c7.aspx

[Nathan Coleman]

Backpack hunting for large animals presents some challenges that no other sport can match. You can go in super light but if successful you are faced with transporting up to several hundred pounds of meat back to your vehicle. Warm weather adds the wrinkle of a time crunch.

I'm the codesigner for Paradox Packs. Our pack was designed with UL hunting in mind. In my opinion it is the most comfortable pack on the market with heavy loads, but it is also very comfortable with light loads.

Paradox Packs

Dave Chennault here at BPL has been testing one of our packs for several months and will have a review published in the upcoming months. Keep an eye out for it.

Nathan

[peter vacco]

northern sled works makes a pretty nice pulk. if there's snow, they slide sweet. not so hot on gravel. but if the world is white, you can pull a LOT of mass easily.

i have had good luck hauling with a pack, which engages both the hip and shoulder straps. not very good luck pulling just from the hips (much pain).

good luck,
v.

[David Chenault]

My article will be done by the end of the week. In short, the Paradox system is the real deal. It'll carry as much weight as you can. An obvious candidate for backcountry hunting, especially if like me you don't have a butt and thus suffer with lumbar pads.

[Desert Dweller]

I'm hunting elk now. Been at it for a week and have five days left. It snowed like heck and temps dropped down to -1 so things have been pretty frigid for this still hunter. Unfortunately the elk headed down, and we followed, just made the hunt more exciting with the two hour 3 AM drive in a foot of nice squeaky powder! Having a blast. Nothing against the Paradox pack, I'm sure they are really nice, but I use Eberlestock packs to get the meat back to the truck. I would love to try a Paradox pack some day.

[Ike Jutkowitz]

This was a timely posting. I'd been looking at offerings from KUIU and kifaru but was put off by all the pockets, zippers and unneccessary weight. The paradox in xpac looks like a solid option. I'll be looking forward to the review.

[Rick Adams]

You might see a paradox on gear swap soon. I bought one and before it made it to my door a vendor of mine offered to pay for a mchale. Going thru demo now. The paradox is a little rich for a loaner and it doesn't look cool enough for my 14yo. Will probably sell when mchale finished. The paradox carries better than any other pack I've used to date.

[David Thomas]

I was on Adak Island in the Aleutians 5 days ago for caribou. I supplied most of the UL quilts, sleeping pads, etc for overnighting and people really liked the lower weight. My insulation layers and rain wear was a LOT lighter than the Cabela's stuff.

As everyone has said, what do you do when you have meat to haul out? Mostly, we divide ourselves into the more experienced hunters who dress the animals while the young turks and I start doing round trips. If we're within 5-10 miles of the truck, then we can schlep meat without any other gear beyond a sandwich and a water bottle along.

So far, we've gone with traditional meat packs – one large compartment with two big side pockets. There are potentially 2 pounds to be saved there, but the versatility of tossing quarters or rib meat or whatever into the big compartment is nice. A frame only works for lashing on one or two quarters but isn't so flexible. All my camp gear and clothing goes in a UL stuff sack IN the big bag on the way and lashed UNDER the big bag when hauling meat out.

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