Back in my younger years when I was young, dumb and full of….piss and vinegar I used to think that I was invincible. I didn’t see the need for a good quality hunting pack. Also mind you that this was before the Internet, Sportsmen’s Warehouse and Cabela’s. At least they weren’t in my home state. I used to head down to the local K-mart. That’s where all of us good ol boys would buy most of their gear. Sure there were a few local gun shops but their selection of hunting packs and boots were non-existent.
Back then we would either use some school type backpack or worse. I can’t even remember some of the brands that I used to buy from K-mart back in the day. I do remember the boots that I used to buy from there. They were solid, tough leather and I had to water proof them. So the night before opening day I spent my time heating up those boots in the oven and spreading leather sealant on them. That’d last for about half a day if it was really wet while we were hunting.
Fast forward 10 years and we finally get some hunting stores that stock some great backpacks. When I first saw what a real hunting pack looked like it was like seeing a hot gorgeous babe for the first time. Not only that it was in camo. I was in hunting bliss.
Last year I really learned how important it is to have a good quality pack. After I killed my mule deer meat buck and I cut him up into sections I had the job of packing his heavy fanny back to camp. Since I was about 3 miles from my truck I decided that I’d better bone him out. So I sliced all of the meat off the bone, stuffed the meat into garbage sacks and put him into my high-quality hunting pack. By the way I could barely get the zipper closed because of all of the meat. Also the pack that I had wasn’t a meat pack. It’s just a good hunting pack.
I was able to haul every piece of him and get back to my truck in one trip. I’m not sure if I could’ve made two trips that day. Since the first 3 miles were straight uphill.
As I was hiking along with his heavy fanny on my back last year. I kept thinking how bad of a situation I’d be in if I didn’t have a good pack. I also thought back to those packs I used to use back in the 90’s and I’d let out a laugh. Those packs were anything but hunting packs.
I’m not going to recommend packs by name on here since there are a ton of great packs out there and I don’t want to exclude any. Also every one has their own preference. Different terrain also calls for different kinds of packs. So does the animal that you’re hunting and how far you plan on hiking.
In the end don’t skimp when you’re buying a hunting pack. You do get what you pay for and you don’t want to be paying for it in the field, miles away from your truck.
Be safe and good hunting my friends.
