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This year I am using my old Camp Trails ‘freighter frame” for a meat hauler. No frills, the shoulder straps don’t even have a chest strap, and even though the center of gravity is a bit high, it still seems the best option for hauling heavy loads of meat.
What are you using and why?
todd
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Todd, I have and still use the same pack as yours, which is near 30 years old and has likely hauled a ton of meat. I keep it in the back of my truck with a couple of extra game bags strapped on, ready to go when needed. I always haul out the backstraps and tenderloins — in my hunting pack if there’s room (I always carry two large elk quarter bags while hunting), or in my arms if necessary, no matter how late and dark it is. If a bear gets the rest of the meat, at least I’ll have the high-grade portions.
That said, the past couple of elk I’ve packed out, in both cases with one friend helping, we’ve just slung the meat bags over our shoulders and humped it out like Santa Claus … two bags each, leapfrogging our way down the mountain so we don’t have to make the long walks back up. If you’re fit enough to be hunting well, you’re fit enough to pack elk. All large packages can be cut down to manageable size. It’s the industry that has convinced folks they need an ATV to do it. First rule: only hunt uphill; that way you can pack downhill. 💡
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skifrk wrote: Gander mountain frame for hauling large chunks of meat but I am going to try with the daypack i have to haul out the first piece if I get an elk.
Yes, me too! I plan to hunt with a fairly lightweight day pack. The one I have is the Sitka Gear Flash 20, it’s main compartment is divided so I can’t really toss a game bag of meat in there. Still, the exterior might allow me to strap on a good sized bag of meat. We shall see.
Does your Gander Mountain frame have a meat shelf?
todd
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The Gander Mountain has one big shelf at the bottom and then has a type of solid material with buckles to clip into the sides to support the meat so it does not fall off. The daypack I have from horn hunter has on both sides of it adjustable straps to put pieces of meat or other items in.
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skifrk wrote: The Gander Mountain has one big shelf at the bottom and then has a type of solid material with buckles to clip into the sides to support the meat so it does not fall off. The daypack I have from horn hunter has on both sides of it adjustable straps to put pieces of meat or other items in.
Those two packs sound excellent. Thanks!! todd
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David Petersen wrote: Todd, I have and still use the same pack as yours, which is near 30 years old and has likely hauled a ton of meat. I keep it in the back of my truck with a couple of extra game bags strapped on, ready to go when needed. I always haul out the backstraps and tenderloins — in my hunting pack if there’s room (I always carry two large elk quarter bags while hunting), or in my arms if necessary, no matter how late and dark it is. If a bear gets the rest of the meat, at least I’ll have the high-grade portions.
That said, the past couple of elk I’ve packed out, in both cases with one friend helping, we’ve just slung the meat bags over our shoulders and humped it out like Santa Claus … two bags each, leapfrogging our way down the mountain so we don’t have to make the long walks back up. If you’re fit enough to be hunting well, you’re fit enough to pack elk. All large packages can be cut down to manageable size. It’s the industry that has convinced folks they need an ATV to do it. First rule: only hunt uphill; that way you can pack downhill. 💡
David,
I have not hauled as much meat as you, but the pack always seemed to come through when I needed it. I appreciate the tip for carrying the game bags in my day pack because I whole-heartedly agree with you… Why not carry out the best cuts the first trip out?
Thanks for your feedback, I appreciate it!!
Hopefully I will be carrying out the backstraps in question in a couple of weeks… 😀
todd
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I use the Mystery Ranch Crew Cab…Over the years I have used pack frames but decided in 09 to have a pack that would be flexible enough to hunt with all the time and then when you take an animal, (in my case usually an elk miles from the nearest road) you can load up the meat immediately and take a load out…Instead of what I have always done, which is shoot a bull, cut it up, put it in gamebags, and then walk out to my truck, grab the packframe and head back on in to go for another load. Figured out that my previous method is a waste of a trip. I have solved that problem with the MR Crew Cab. I love this pack. Comfortable for daily hunting and then its adjustable enough to load up a back ham or loin meat, and take a load out on the first run…T
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T Downing wrote: I use the Mystery Ranch Crew Cab…Over the years I have used pack frames but decided in 09 to have a pack that would be flexible enough to hunt with all the time and then when you take an animal, (in my case usually an elk miles from the nearest road) you can load up the meat immediately and take a load out…Instead of what I have always done, which is shoot a bull, cut it up, put it in gamebags, and then walk out to my truck, grab the packframe and head back on in to go for another load. Figured out that my previous method is a waste of a trip. I have solved that problem with the MR Crew Cab. I love this pack. Comfortable for daily hunting and then its adjustable enough to load up a back ham or loin meat, and take a load out on the first run…T
Thanks T, I will look into that pack and see what it’s like. Have a great season!! todd
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I use an eberlestock X2 as my day pack. It can, and has, easily handle(d) a hind quarter. The only problem I have with my X2 is that its a bit big and I have tendancey to fill it for no reason other than that there is space available (i.e. an extra everything plus more food than I could eat in a day).
Then I have a Kelty Cache hauler that can handle more weight than I’m willing to put on my back which I use for the work aspect of the hunt.
Few years back I took a hind quarter off firt trip with my X2 and the 2nd hind, 2 fronts, and remainder (loins etc.) on the second trip. But that was a rifle hunt and a testement to hunting above the truck.
Last years archery cow, again hunting above the truck, I was able to get all of my camping gear and a front 1/4 first trip with my kelty and a hind plus steaks on the second. Luckily that day I had help to take the other front and hind 1/4s or I would have had to make a third trip.
I would highly recommend either of those packs to anybody looking for new ones.
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I hunt with this http://eberlestock.com/J34%20Just%20One.htm its cool, as you can use it both as a daypack, and freighter. It unzips to a meat hauler. I just got the spike duffel that zips on to increase its capacity to over 8000 ci. In Oregon, if you want to hunt elk, that act like elk you have to go into the wilderness to get away from all the bugling ATV’s. I like being able to pack camp in, then zip the pack back together, and use it for my day pack. If I get an elk down, I can unzip it and haul out a quarter at a time. I carry a full set of quarter bags, and a couple of pillow cases, (for scrap meat) at all times, and enough rope to make a meat pole. I use the Gutless method, and then hang the quarters in the shade as it might take me a couple of days to get all the meat out if I’m real far in. If the weather won’t let the meat hang that long I find a different solution. I make sure each qtr is hung high enough a bear can’t get it.
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SDMFer wrote: I use an eberlestock X2 as my day pack. It can, and has, easily handle(d) a hind quarter. The only problem I have with my X2 is that its a bit big and I have tendancey to fill it for no reason other than that there is space available (i.e. an extra everything plus more food than I could eat in a day).
Then I have a Kelty Cache hauler that can handle more weight than I’m willing to put on my back which I use for the work aspect of the hunt.
Few years back I took a hind quarter off firt trip with my X2 and the 2nd hind, 2 fronts, and remainder (loins etc.) on the second trip. But that was a rifle hunt and a testement to hunting above the truck.
Last years archery cow, again hunting above the truck, I was able to get all of my camping gear and a front 1/4 first trip with my kelty and a hind plus steaks on the second. Luckily that day I had help to take the other front and hind 1/4s or I would have had to make a third trip.
I would highly recommend either of those packs to anybody looking for new ones.
That Kelty Cache looks fantastic. Not a bad price at Sportsman’s Guide either. I traded for an Eberleestock pack once, but it didn’t fit my short frame well at all, and was not adjustable. I would have to have one of those X2’s in front of me to try on before buying one…
Thanks for sharing… todd
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skifrk wrote: T does that Crew Cab expand enough to take almost a whole elk in one trip or are you still only taking out pieces of the elk? It looks like it expands using straps have you had any reliability problems with hem.
If he’s taking a whole elk out in one trip remind me not to mess with him:shock:
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Nate — I get your joke and thought the same thing. What I can say is that Thomas has packed half an elk out at once — that is, after it’s quartered and boned the average meat payoff is around 150lbs. (we don’t take neck or rib overmeat, which on an elk is so fibrous as to be unusable). So half an elk, 75lbs more or less, is doable for a reasonably short pack-out of a mile or two if there’s no steep uphill. T has done it, Alex Bugnon has done it, Dave Sigurslid has done it and others here no doubt, and when I was younger I carried over 100 on a couple of occasions. (Always hunt elk uphill!). But the average load is three packs of meat plus antlers if there are any, so two trips for two packers, no big deal.
Back to packs — I love my new Badlands Diablo, easily the best hunting daypack I’ve ever owned. But it’s not big enough or made for packing meat. If I want to pack a full load of meat with the same pack I hunt with, my favorite is the Dwight Schew hunting pack which is one very big compartment with a small pocket in the flap and a good sized fanny pack below, both attached to a Peak I Kevlar frame. It’s fleeze material so very quiet, holds all my stuff even when it gets cold and I’m up to 30-35 pounds for a full day’s hunt gear, and will pack a whole elk quarter strapped onto the outside of the bag with supplied straps. It’s an old design … Dwight gave me the one I still use at least 20 years ago. And best of all, compared to other big hunting and packing packs, it’s cheap. Now made by Fieldline and available at the usual amoral but well-supplied big-box outdoor mail order outfits. Just another possibility …
But first, you need an elk. 😛
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David Petersen wrote: Nate — I get your joke and thought the same thing. What I can say is that Thomas has packed half an elk out at once — that is, after it’s quartered and boned the average meat payoff is around 150lbs. (we don’t take neck or rib overmeat, which on an elk is so fibrous as to be unusable). So half an elk, 75lbs more or less, is doable for a reasonably short pack-out of a mile or two if there’s no steep uphill. T has done it, Alex Bugnon has done it, Dave Sigurslid has done it and others here no doubt, and when I was younger I carried over 100 on a couple of occasions. (Always hunt elk uphill!). But the average load is three packs of meat plus antlers if there are any, so two trips for two packers, no big deal.
Back to packs — I love my new Badlands Diablo, easily the best hunting daypack I’ve ever owned. But it’s not big enough or made for packing meat. If I want to pack a full load of meat with the same pack I hunt with, my favorite is the Dwight Schew hunting pack which is one very big compartment with a small pocket in the flap and a good sized fanny pack below, both attached to a Peak I Kevlar frame. It’s fleeze material so very quiet, holds all my stuff even when it gets cold and I’m up to 30-35 pounds for a full day’s hunt gear, and will pack a whole elk quarter strapped onto the outside of the bag with supplied straps. It’s an old design … Dwight gave me the one I still use at least 20 years ago. And best of all, compared to other big hunting and packing packs, it’s cheap. Now made by Fieldline and available at the usual amoral but well-supplied big-box outdoor mail order outfits. Just another possibility …
But first, you need an elk. 😛
David,
That’s great! The pack I opted to leave behind for the Camp Trails freighter IS the frame the Dwight Schue is based on. Kathy Kelly made me a BIG fleece pack bag for it and I bought a heavy duty suspension system from Uncle Ray many moons ago… It just didn’t seem to handle the heavy load as well as the freighter and didn’t seem to allow me to pack as much in it for my spike camp.
And then too there is that very valid point about the elk that hasn’t been reduced to my possession as of yet… 😆
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I was wondering the same but when I first read T’s piece it sounded like he was carrying the whole elk out in one trip. 😀 My reading comprehension must have been poor. Anyway I looked at the Mystery Ranch out of curiosity but the 490.00 price for the pack for a person my size has me choking a little. You are right I need to seal the deal on my elk to get a chance to try my new pack and see how it works.
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I can’t recall the exact model type (I think it was the model II), but Cabela’s was having a sale on one of their Alaskan pack frames so I picked one up for cheap ($175ish).
Overall I am quite impressed with the 4,300 cu. in. capacity, and pocket space. Nice to have the H20 Camel pack option as well. Used it to haul out the wife’s Elk last year and it performed well and was comfortable. All in all pretty good stuff, ecspecially when you consider how much it cost.
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Nate Bailey wrote: [quote=skifrk]T does that Crew Cab expand enough to take almost a whole elk in one trip or are you still only taking out pieces of the elk? It looks like it expands using straps have you had any reliability problems with hem.
If he’s taking a whole elk out in one trip remind me not to mess with him:shock:
I hope this didn’t come Across as snarky, It wasn’t meant that way.
With that said I have to also add that my very best pack has been my Wilderness Pack Specialties. I have a large day pack from them that they just overhauled, for free. I have been hunting with that pack for close to 15 years and some of the webbing was starting to wear. I dropped it off (they are guaranteed for life) and it came back with more than webbing– new zippers and some patches that repaired some holes caused by a popping campfire in 2005. These people are a small business and make each and every pack in Klamath Falls Oregon. This is by far the best single purchase I have ever made.
Check em out here Your text to link here…
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Nate — Not even close to snarky … just downright funny. 😀 I’m sure Thomas would and will agree — he’s in elk camp with his father in the high country, where they generally hunt downhill and have to pack ’em back up, contrary to my First Rule of elk hunting. 😛
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Nate no worry’s not snarky but funny I enjoyed it. I just remember that recently one of hunting buddies tried a new area and due to worry’s about bear he carried his whole deboned bull elk out in one trip horns and all. Granted he slept for like 12 hours after that 😀
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No brand names in particular to tout (mine is an ancient Kelty), but for serious meat packing I’m a fan of a good aluminum frame and nothing else. With a few ounces of line you can tie a whole quarter on (caribou and elk anyway–moose are another story.) If you’ve boned everything in the field, you can do the same with a good game bag and a few basket hitches. You don’t really need the pack bag–just more weight and hassle. A chest strap and a padded belt will make the process a whole lot more comfortable. Wildschwein, check all the fittings on that Cabelas pack. The pins on the one I had were made of cheap metal and several failed on me. Unfortunately, I was 25 miles back in the Brooks Range when that happened. I improvised with something and got camp out, but that was my last pack from them. I don’t know where they get the “guides” who field test there “Alaska Guide Models.” Los Angeles, maybe. Don
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Having never killed an elk or been in the company of any who have, I cannot comment usefully on hauling quarters of the same. However, I have used various packs for many years as a SAR dog handler, backpacker and hunter (all the way back to Kelty external frames like some other greybeards here …). I also sold backpacks for five years.
I bought the Eberlestock X2 a year ago and it is exactly as advertised. The one difference I noted immediately compared to high-quality backpacks was the somewhat thinner padding on the shoulder straps. That’s obviously intended to help the long gun shooters, so I can accept that. The pack is extremely versatile, surprisingly good at carrying heavy loads, and designed with hunters in mind. If you get a chance to try one on with some weight in it, you might find it a pretty good compromise.
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I second Dr. Thomas on no need for a game bag on a meat pack. In fact it’s a nuisance. All you need is a good frame with padded hip and shoulder straps and some sort of a shelf. Most aluminum moders have fold-down shelves. Dave Sigurslid hunts with a bare frame pack with his hunting daypack lashed on. When he kills, he takes the daypack off and carries it out by hand with a load of meat on the pack. “The more you know, the less you need to carry.”
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Actually, you don’t even need the shelf if you’ve got 15 feet or so of good rope. One of these days I’ll take some pictures of how I tie off a hindquarter (or a game bag full of trim, if I’m a long way in and don’t feel like carrying bone.) Just don’t ask me to pack out a moose quarter, with anything! I’m too old… Don
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donthomas wrote: No brand names in particular to tout (mine is an ancient Kelty), but for serious meat packing I’m a fan of a good aluminum frame and nothing else. With a few ounces of line you can tie a whole quarter on (caribou and elk anyway–moose are another story.) If you’ve boned everything in the field, you can do the same with a good game bag and a few basket hitches. You don’t really need the pack bag–just more weight and hassle. A chest strap and a padded belt will make the process a whole lot more comfortable. Wildschwein, check all the fittings on that Cabelas pack. The pins on the one I had were made of cheap metal and several failed on me. Unfortunately, I was 25 miles back in the Brooks Range when that happened. I improvised with something and got camp out, but that was my last pack from them. I don’t know where they get the “guides” who field test there “Alaska Guide Models.” Los Angeles, maybe. Don
Yikes! Thanks for the heads up Dr. Thomas, I’ll give the pack a good going over.
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David Petersen wrote: I second Dr. Thomas on no need for a game bag on a meat pack. In fact it’s a nuisance. All you need is a good frame with padded hip and shoulder straps and some sort of a shelf. Most aluminum moders have fold-down shelves. Dave Sigurslid hunts with a bare frame pack with his hunting daypack lashed on. When he kills, he takes the daypack off and carries it out by hand with a load of meat on the pack. “The more you know, the less you need to carry.”
I hunt miles away away from my vehicle, so I feel that I have to put a bag on the meat that I leave behind; as I can’t pack out a whole elk in one trip. I like to keep the blowflys off.
I have boned and packed out several deer at a time while hunting In Kodiak, so I might try to bone out a elk and see if it helps that much. I still think Ill have to make more than one trip. I can pack a lot of weight, but the average rosey bull weighs 700-1000lbs – if half of that weight is meat I think 350lbs would kill me over 4 miles.
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Nate, we are talking about the bags that come on packs to carry stuff in — not about meat bags, which as you note are essential. I carry two huge, tough cotton meat bags with draw strings at all times in my hunting pack, and two more waiting on my meat pack in the truck. When I kill and quarter an elk I can get all of the meat into those two bags, bone still in, pull the draw strings tight to keep out bugs, and drag them away from the gut pile and stash under a low-limbed shade tree until morning (I most often kill in the evenings) when I return with pack frame and two more bags to break the meat down into packable loads. These are the same bags that a friend and I have twice have packed elk out in without a pack frame — just sling ’em over our shoulders. Here’s a pic of a yearling cow I killed several years ago, maybe 350 pounds live weight, with a game bag spread out to show size. I’ve had some of these bags for twenty years and just wash them and use them again, and again.
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David Petersen wrote: Nate, we are talking about the bags that come on packs to carry stuff in — not about meat bags, which as you note are essential. I carry two huge, tough cotton meat bags with draw strings at all times in my hunting pack, and two more waiting on my meat pack in the truck. When I kill and quarter an elk I can get all of the meat into those two bags, bone still in, pull the draw strings tight to keep out bugs, and drag them away from the gut pile and stash under a low-limbed shade tree until morning (I most often kill in the evenings) when I return with pack frame and two more bags to break the meat down into packable loads. These are the same bags that a friend and I have twice have packed elk out in without a pack frame — just sling ’em over our shoulders. Here’s a pic of a yearling cow I killed several years ago, maybe 350 pounds live weight, with a game bag spread out to show size. I’ve had some of these bags for twenty years and just wash them and use them again, and again.
Dave, looking at your picture almost made me taste the back strap–ill bet that elk was one of the best you ever ate! I have the same kind of bags. They mean a lot to me as My grandmother made them for us back in the 80’s. every time I unfold them it takes me back to elk camp with her. The year before she passed away we limited out in the camp, ill never forget how happy she was. I also carry pillow cases for rib meat, neck meat, and scraps.
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I hunt alone in SE Wyoming. I am usually no more than 2 miles from the truck but it is rough country. Even 1/2 mile can seem like a long way to carry out meat. Add beetle kill blow downs, snow, darkness…you get the picture. The hard work starts after the shot.
I rarely have time to take out more than one load on the day of kill. I quarter, bag and hang the rest and leave at kill site over night. Never had a problem with critters except some bird damage when I left raw meat uncovered. The next day I go back in to complete skinning and boning.
Any decent backpack can serve. I’ve used a Bull Pac on which I upgraded the hip belt. Also used smaller hunting packs and large frameless trekking backpack.
Warning: the larger the pack capacity the more likely you will overload yourself and that can be dangerous. I try to keep load weight reasonable and make extra trips. A large cow or spike can come out in five trips for me. Some years that has taken at least parts of three days (day of kill one load out; 2 or 3 trips in and out the next day; final load on third day).
Recommendation: use a set of trekking poles any time you are humping a heavy load. I have Lekki poles. They allow much greater stability in rough going and just may save you from a blown ACL or a bad fall.
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Here is my pack, It has yet to pack any meat this season:(
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I have two ww2 packboards, that I use. Nothing fancy but functional. After all these years they still smell of cosmoline. Once I get them to the road I switch to the game cart.
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David Petersen wrote: Nate — Not even close to snarky … just downright funny. 😀 I’m sure Thomas would and will agree — he’s in elk camp with his father in the high country, where they generally hunt downhill and have to pack ’em back up, contrary to my First Rule of elk hunting. 😛
Mr petersen I love your first rule of always hunt uphill now if you could get the elk to follow it would be great for some reson i always find them in the bottom of the nasties hell hole
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David Petersen wrote: “The more you know, the less you need to carry.”
Love it!! I ran across a survival type website once and they had a slogan of, “Because knowledge weighs nothing.”
Thanks guys! I did not take an elk, none of us did so there was no meat to be hauled. I did pack out my spike camp though and found the Freighter frame, at least with the bag I have on it, to ride pretty top heavy. I bet a load of meat would ride much better, in fact, I would really like to test that theory!! 😉
Have a great season all… 😀 todd
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I have a badlands 2200 and just recently was fortunate to try it. I skinned and disassembled the elk and put the back straps with the rear quarters and the front quarters together. I was able to make it out in 3 trips and the pack performed nicely.This is not my favorite pack. The things I dislike are that they have cheap zipper pulls that break off and too many foo foo compartments that don’t seem to have a function and you have to take the pack off to use them.The thing I do like was that it was real comfy with a heavy load and over time I would hope that they would make some changes and they could make this pack a great pack.
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Hope all you fine hunters have had wonderful adventures this hunting season. A couple of thoughts regarding packs that haul meat…My MR CrewCab and my father’s MR Longbow performed flawlessly recently packing out my bull. It took us two and a half trips. I made the mistake of keeping bones in my two back hams. I was concerned about the heat, so time was of the essence. Pop deboned both front shoulders, which cut weight down considerably. I carried out one back ham on the first trip out. Pop took care of the loins and other misc meat on his first trip. The next morning, I policed up the other back ham. Then went back and grabbed both deboned front shoulders. Pop carried the head on the final trip out. These packs can load 100 lbs of meat but that is too much weight for my skinny legs to handle…These packs are pricy but worth every penny when it comes to comfort and durability.
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