Newb to pack Hunting

[offsmith0322]

Hey, the title says it. I am going to be going on my first pack hunt with friends. I am headed to Colorado, hunt will be 6-8 days long and it is going to be for bow season (2019). Yes this post is far in advance. Both of my buddies use Kuiu packs 3200 I believe. I have been looking at some Kifaru and Seek packs. I was leaning towards Seek Revolution 4600. The other possibility was the Tarryal, Woodsmen or Fulcrum. I see for Kifaru I have to buy the frame separate which makes it pricey but I also understand the packs are considered some of the best there is and you get what you pay for.

Anyway I see Kifaru recommends 7,000 CI packs for 7+ day hunts, just seeing what everyone had for experience as I don't want to short myself gear but also don't want a massive heavy load. Thanks for any info.

 

[rbljack]

I upgraded to a kifaru pack this season and just got back from my elk hunt. I must say that I was impressed with how it carried the weight. I didn't get an elk, but packed in pretty heavy. I carried all my gear plus a kifaru sawtooth shelter with liner, and the kifaru medium box stove. I didn't weight it fully loaded, but the pack was a little over 61 pounds with food water based on the weights of each piece and my spreadsheet calculations. That weight does not include the weapon, clothes I was wearing or boots.

The pack I went with was the reckoning with duplex hunter frame, and I was very impressed with the layout. Center zip was very nice and added convenience to get gear out during day hunting. I added pockets to it, and it has the guide lid I had plenty of room for all my gear. We packed in for 5 days. I had enough room in the pack to go 7 or 8 days, but I would have had to go lighter on shelter options and stove. What I like about the bags with the meat shelf is this: if I need extra space, I can expand the packs hauling capability by separating the bag and using the meat shelf with a dry bag for more gear as an option. the I was able to place a hydration bladder in there and the stove bag without having to expand the bag from the normal frame mounting set up. Another item that will fit in there is a cut down piece of a thermarest ridge rest sleep pad. I cut one to fit into that slot for kneeling on around camp, or sitting on during glass sessions. But I should also mention that last minute I swapped that out for my other 4 foot ridge rest pad, and just rolled it up and secured it under the lid. I went with it because it snowed a foot up there, and I wanted the extra room of the 4 foot length pad. It is definitely hard to balance the amount of gear you need, and stay at reasonable weights. I was going for a target weight of 52 pounds, but ended up close to 62. One of my takeaways from this trip is that I could have run a lighter shelter option with a smaller footprint, and a lighter stove option.

Oh hey....quick tip: get some trioxane! I have used the wet fire and cotton balls with vasoline, but let me tell ya, that trioxane stuff (recommended by aron Snyder and a few others around here) definitely works great. We had to get a fire going in my stove when we got to our campsite after the snow had dumped, and it was a bit of a challenge to get a fire going initially. The trioxane worked great!! Its an add to my kit this year that will ALWAYS be in there now!!

Good luck in your decision, im just rambling as I sit here recapping my trip....LOL. Didn't get an elk, but we had a great time (looking back). Im sore and wore out, but hell....application season is right around the corner for 2019! you have a full year to research gear and advice on this site which is good. Im no expert, but hope there was some helpful info somewhere within this post....LOL. good luck!

 

[Jbehredt]

6-8 days out of a 3200 is a tall order. Especially if you’re new to backpacking. For that trip I’d look reckoning with a lid and larger when on the kifaru site. Don’t know seek well enough to advise. I do know that my buddy with an exo 3500 was really eyeballing my 5500 on our backpack trip. Compressed they’re nearly identical but I never had to think twice about where to put things when breaking camp.

 

[offsmith0322]

Thanks for some of the info. I definitely need to weigh all of my stuff that will be in the pack, extra clothes, shelter, stove, food and water. In addition I was just looking the Seek pack is 4800 CI, the talon is another 1400 so brings it to 6200 CI. My buddies told me the 3200 wasn't enough, they upgraded this year to 5500.

Please keep the input coming.

 

[deerhunter628]

I have the Kifaru Woodsman and love it. Its a great day pack but WAY to small for what you are wanting to do. Some very experienced ultra lightweight backpack hunters can probably pull it off but its WAY to small for most wanting to do 6-8 days.

 

[LaHunter]

6-8 days for a first time pack in hunt is a long time. Later in the season adds more to consider in the way of weather possibilities. I would say you would want to be looking at a pack with 5500+ bag volume.

 

[Bubblehide]

I say minimum 5500. Your going to need a lot more than a pack, and everything gear should be ultra-light. I strongly recommend you settle on a pack, get your gear together, and make some weekend, 3 day, and 4 day backpacking trips, on the short side, say 5 and 10 miles, just to get a feel for it. packing into a spot and hunting from it is one thing, packing up and moving is a whole different animal. Let know how it's progressing.

 

[Newtosavage]

6-8 days for a first time pack in hunt is a long time. Later in the season adds more to consider in the way of weather possibilities. I would say you would want to be looking at a pack with 5500+ bag volume.

Agreed. Long time for a first time pack hunt. I hope you get a chance to do a backpacking trip for the same duration between now and then.

 

[offsmith0322]

In response to trips, I have done backpacking trips before but only 2-3 day trips. I have a small pack for those and a small 1 men tent, that is ultralight as well as a bed and sleeping bag. I just pulled the trigger last night on a Seek 4800, with day talon and a top lid. Total in all is 7200 CI. Packs are extremely light and waterproof which will save on a fly for the bag.

The trip is early September for Bow. Thanks for the replies and help

 

[MTSabo]

Good choice. I am a big fan of the seek suspension especially on the revolution packs. The kifaru hunter frame I tried barreled badly under heavy loads.