The pack you carry depends on what you plan on doing with it. You said you're staying in a cabin - does the provider of the cabin pack the animal out for you, or will you pack it on your own.
If you don't have to worry about packing meat, you can choose a much smaller pack. For me, I prefer a daypack I picked up at Cabela's a couple years ago. It has a large padded waist belt (extremely important on any pack you'll be hiking long in), a padded back panel that helps keep your back cool, has three various sized zippered pockets that carry things like knives, flashlights, game bags, extra clothes, a garbage bag (has a multitude of back country uses), rain jacket, and has a water bladder - also extremely important. There is also an expandable open-topped pouch to haul large items, and some external lash points. There are two exterior "water bottle" pouches that work great for that purpose, or carrying a folding saw, scope, or other items you may use often. I keep my GPS on a belt pouch so it is readily available to mark waypoints should I want to easily return to a spot. The features that are important to me is that it rides low enough on my back to stay out of the way when I duck under limbs, and is narrow enough to not brush against every twig I pass by. Empty, it is fairly small, yet has capacity to do an overnight should I desire.
The only thing I don't like about the pack is that it is fairly heavy. I haven't weighed it, but think the empty pack weighs 3 - 5 pounds. Every pound on your back wears you down. The first couple days of a hunt I have about every conceivable need in my pack, by the last day I'm down to about a water bottle and a candy bar - get tired of hauling the weight around!
Topic: Backpacks for elk? (Read 1874 times)
