Meat packing

DougP

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Aug 9, 2016
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Lafayette, LA
I get the mental part and the ability part and even the needs to get off the mountain part.

I'm not saying it can't be done or shouldn't be done. I've never had to pack an elk out further than a half mile to the truck so I have no experience beyond that. Usually the packouts were across clear cuts so it was easier to make multiple, lighter trips.

Kudos to those that do it, I'll have to wait and see what it's like to carry an elk out further than I have in the past.

If I get lucky this November I’ll give you a call if you’re really aching to find out, haha.


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Joined
Oct 6, 2014
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Wasilla, Alaska
Some guys seem to think it's an impossible task. I'm just saying that it's more than possible to carry 100lb loads out of the mountains. Maybe not for the 5'6" 140lb hunters I seem to run into these days, but for a lot of guys.......yes, it's very possible.

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5'6" 136 lbs. 100 lb load of Sheep/Gear. Chugach Mountains. Several miles of steep terrain. It is doable if you've trained hard enough and with enough weight to condition your body to that level of stress. I'll often bring a small, 2 ounce, digital luggage scale to base camp in order to help equal out loads.



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FlyGuy

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The Woodlands, TX
Ill never forget the 1st time i tried a loaded pack training walk. I was running the bivy 45 from sitka at the time. This was just 3 miles, very very flat. I used some of those bags of lead shot from my shooting sled (way too compact of weight, btw). Anyway, i was shocked at how hard it was. I was certain my pack was 90+lbs, and probably pushing 100. Hung it on a scale when i got back and it was just a little less than 60lbs... dumbfounded.

Anyway, i expect that is what happens to alot of folks. I started shopping for a new pack the next day.



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tttoadman

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OR Hunter back in Oregon
The burner for us last year was an average 5x5 in the Frank. 6 1/2 miles back to an airstrip. We had about 3 miles of up and down on a trail, then 3 miles to crash down to the airstrip. I took both hind qtrs. We rolled into the airstrip at daylight. Many breaks for us, even on flat ground. People said I probably had 140#. I weighed the bags and my pack at home and it was 96#. My brothers PT says the human body is not really designed to carry more than 75#, and I believe it. I packed 3 loads that heavy or close last year. I had hip problems that took 6 months to settle down. I am afraid, for me anyway, I need to be more dedicated to make multiple trips and not give in to one and done that will make those loads so heavy. The pressure to get back out there is hard to resist. I still had a deer tag, and didn't want to lose any hunting days.

As far as the packs go, I end up carrying a lot weight on my shoulders after it gets even 70#. It just seems to fit me better that way. Like everyone says, the SG and the Kifaru are work horses. The difference now from a few years ago, is I am not sore all over like the old days, and can get right back at it the next day.
 
Joined
Mar 6, 2016
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Ill never forget the 1st time i tried a loaded pack training walk. I was running the bivy 45 from sitka at the time. This was just 3 miles, very very flat. I used some of those bags of lead shot from my shooting sled (way too compact of weight, btw). Anyway, i was shocked at how hard it was. I was certain my pack was 90+lbs, and probably pushing 100. Hung it on a scale when i got back and it was just a little less than 60lbs... dumbfounded.

Anyway, i expect that is what happens to alot of folks. I started shopping for a new pack the next day.



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Something to be said for the compact weight. I started with pop can sized chunks of lead that are 20lbs a piece. Two right in the center sucked. I switched to all my gear in the pack instead at 53lbs and it was much easier to carry.
 

Poser

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Durango CO
I think anyone talking about having packed 100lb out needs to qualify how far and what type of terrain. I shot an elk 10 miles from the truck back in the Bob Marshall, and there was a 2500ft climb in between. I had 70-80lb in the pack on the first trip out, and it was one of the toughest things I've ever done. Conversely I shot one in the Missouri Breaks and it was 1.5 miles from the truck, with a few hundred feet climb. The 85F temps made it rough, but I did have a 100lb pack coming out on that one, not as bad.


Unless your hike is short, I don't care a lot about dead lift and squat numbers. Your cardio conditioning is going to mean a hell of a lot more.

If that were a true statement, then a 120# endurance runner would be the best suited athlete for packing out 100# of elk meat. Strength is force production. The stronger you are, the longer until your muscles fail under load. Additionally, your risk of injury under that same load is remarkably lower if your muscles and connective tissues are adapted to the stress of heavy loads. This is not to discount conditioning by any means, but when it comes to moving heavy loads, the person more adapted to moving heavy weight is superior. Sure, there is a mental toughness aspect, but mental toughness alone may just leave you with a compressed disc, blown out knees etc if the body is not acutely adapted to such forces. Ideally, a person packing 100# of elk meat out of the mountains is going to be physically strong, mentally strong and sufficiently conditioned. If I had to chose between strength and well conditioned, I'd choose strength. A person who is already strong should have no problem quickly adapting to conditioning demands. The inverse, however, is not true, since, again, the guy who just won the hard rock 100 race up in Silverton last weekend would crumble under a 100# pack. Hell, he dislocated his shoulder falling down under bodyweight during the race. How do you think he would have fared with 100# on his back. I'd take a guy with a strong body any day of the week over that Aushwitz looking victim.
 

P Carter

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Idaho
Um. I'd take kilian jronet or another mountaineer any day of the week. Taking a lighter pack and additional trips is always an option once you're out in the mountains. Reducing body mass in favor of better conditioning is not. Not to get too engaged in a hypothetical, un-winnable argument but writing off possibly the best mountain athlete of our time seems a tad silly. (Also, my understanding is that the dislocation was an existing injury from his years of ski mountaineering.)
 

5MilesBack

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I was certain my pack was 90+lbs, and probably pushing 100. Hung it on a scale when i got back and it was just a little less than 60lbs... dumbfounded. Anyway, i expect that is what happens to alot of folks.

Strap two 45lb Olympic weight plates to your pack and then you know you're at 90+.
 

Poser

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Take a mule for example. Is a mule infinity better at packing a heavy load because it is so much stronger with better leverages than a human or because it is so much better better at cardio than a human?


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Take a mule for example. Is a mule infinity better at packing a heavy load because it is so much stronger with better leverages than a human or because it is so much better better at cardio than a human?


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Who cares it doesn't matter who or what's better. What matters is these boys experiences. Taking a killer thread and trashing it because who's or what's better at packing out.
 
Joined
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Maryland
I think my younger self would say suck it up and go as heavy as possible, now I think it's take your time, plan on taking more than one trip and don't get injured doing it. 100 pounds on my back does me and my partner no good if I get injured 1/2 way back, now he has my load and his and has to help get my big behind out :cool: I would rather take less and risk loosing a little meat over taking more and risking injury and putting all the meat at risk.
 

cnelk

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Packs have definitely come a long ways in regards to comfort.

Ive used a lot of packs over the years and some were a precursor to a trip to the chiropractor, and others were pretty good.

Distance and terrain are key elements that will burn many out, and all you can do is your personal best.
Do it safely, take your time and embrace the pain, its only temporary :)

The Cabelas Alaskan II was a pretty good pack me back in the day.
It hauled lots of meat before it just flat wore out

Here it is hauling 1/2 elk [boned out] along with the antlers back in 2003 [0r maybe '04]
The pack was prob about 1.5 miles, so not so bad
 

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cnelk

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I took that same pack to Alaska back in 1998 on a caribou hunt.
1/2 caribou and rack, walking thru the tussocks SUCKED!
 

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cnelk

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The absolute worst pack frame I used was an old Camp Trails
What a POS

I had lent out my good pack to a buddy so I grabbed this one and was lucky enough to shoot an elk, but the 1/2 mile trek was damn near unbearable with it.
I did it, but never again
 

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cnelk

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In 2012, I used a Kifaru Siwash pack to bring out my bull.

That's a nice pack, rode well, and comfortable
 

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cnelk

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We have also used Kuiu and just strapping the head/antlers on a daypack to get a bull out :)
 

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cnelk

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In closing, It doesnt matter what you use to pack your meat out with, it all works.
Just some stuff is better than others.

A pair of trekking poles is also a great asset to have when hauling ANY poundage of meat

Good luck out there this fall - be safe
 

Odell

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Not sure what's to be dubious of. If my pack//camp and gear weighs 50 and I put an entire boned out mule Deer in it what does it weigh? I'm 6'2 250 and 45 years old and not in good shape. Needed help putting my pack on then walked it off the mountain mostly off trail. If I can do it why can't younger more fit guys do more?


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