Daypack - Eberlestock or Badlands - $200
Meat pack - Kelty Cache Hauler - $125
GPS - Garmin 62st - $300 [on sale]
Total - $625
If you are willing to use one pack as a hauler/daypack you can go top of the line, kifaru, MR, Stone Glacier, Exo, Kuiu, etc. those can all be had in the $6-700 range (or less). That leaves you $3-400 for gps. You can pick up a Garmin Oregon 400 for way less than that if you watch the sales.
You've got great choices if you have that cash to spend. Makes the choices a lot harder!
Good luck, have fun shopping.
--Jim
So to answer your question....100% agree with Jim's post above.
I have kuiu ultra in both 1850 and 6000. Loving it and the Oregon is good to go as well.
Have fun.
A) Most hunters hunt within a mile or so of their vehicle,
and
B) All bowsiters are hunters,
then
Why all the fuss about $700 packs? I know, maybe all the wilderness hunters who are built like Navy Seals come here, but really ... there are some very popular and successful methods of hunting that don't require them.
(Disclaimer: I really am just jealous, and wish I had a use for one of the upper-end packs. I'll admit it. But, still ...)
I'm into decreasing my load lately. I wear a simple fanny pack while elk hunting. I sacrifice the "first trip out" because almost all of my "first trip out"s are empty, and when they're not, well, I look at that as an extension of the adventure, if not of the season itself.
The pay-off, for me, is that I don't have a sweaty back, getting stinky under a non-breathing pack, and I have no incentive to get carried away with too much gear on my daily hunts.
Kifaru bikini or duplex, $376
cargo panel, $140
light back pouch 1000ci, $36
Garmin GPS, $300
The setup above is a Bikini frame, 750 ci long pocket, and a GENII meat bag. $450 total.
These new packs are weighing less then 6 lbs and offer great support under large loads and double as a day pack. I hate having to walk back to the truck empty handed to come all the way back in to start the pack out...
Huh???
If you make more than one trip packing out meat you're not going to be packing nothing when you go back for the next load.
At least I don't
Ditto the Kifaru comments. I used a bikini and nomad for my day hunting pack this past season. This past fall, the ability to take a load of meat out on the first trip allowed us to get most of the meat from a moose out before dark in grizzly country. The Kifaru carried the ~100# quarter better than I did. ;-)
I would probably buy an Eberlestock or similar. The Blue Widow is nice at $350. It can be used as a daypack or even cover you for a 3 day bivy hunt. If/When you get an animal down. I typically prep the animal and pack out the head and as much "trimmed meat" as I can with my Eberlestock. Take that down and come back up with a pack frame to get the quarters and the rest.
For a pack frame try a couple out. Walk around the store with them on.. put some weight on it and test it out. I would spend $125-200 on a pack frame, nothing fancy, just something that fits you well will save you lot's of PAIN later.
So far we are up to $425-$550. This leaves you $400 - 575 for a GPS. With this I would stick with one that is not touch screen. I've had issues with touchscreens in bad weather. Garmin is respected line and the 62 or the 64 would be in your range about $329. This is a great mid to high level GPS that has everything you need. If you want to be a techno geek you will spend more.
You can get into all of this for $750 and still have enough to buy a new headlight/survival gear and a light weight rain coat. Can you spend less and still get the desired items, sure. If that was my budget, that is what I would buy. That is also a good price range as you are getting mid-high level items you can depend on for many years.
For you who cannot spend as much or are starting out. I hunted years with a $50 school backpack, $75 Garmin etrex and a $50 pack frame that I reinforced with padding. It may not have been ideal but it worked.
I don't like getting my day pack bloody with quarters. I don't mind walking out one the first trip with backstraps and loins wrapped up nicely. I don't mind walking with nothing in my pack and don't consider it waste of time or energy.
You're done hunting. The elk is dead. Enjoy the time. That's when memories are made
With dad, my first trip out is both our bows, both our day packs, and backstraps. I return with 2 packs and 4 treking poles while dad drags the meat from the carcass, makes a fire, and cooks us some tenderloin :)
Good times :)
Have no room to travel with daypacks. And with the right backpack no need either.
The right pack will haul all you can handle AND kick a day pack all over the mountain for comfort. My system is similar to WapitiBob's. Takes time to dial it in but once you do, very happy with it.
WRT GPS, if you are hunting with anyone else I'm a converted fan of the rino. Knowing exactly where everybody is has a lot going for it. Might go a bit over your grand "limit" a little new. Used you'll have cash left over for more gear.
Nothing wrong with used packs, when in good shape, either. You could easily outfit yourself well for half your budget. A used Kifaru Longhunter or even a Late Season would do what you want admirably well.
With the change I would go have a good lunch at shotgun willies:-)
