Let’s hear your pack setups for this season and experience so far with it.

[SMH1990]

Currently running an Eberlestock F1 mainframe with a Vapor 7500 and 2 batwings in doppelgänger mountain camo with a 3L hydro bladder . Not a ton of experience with a variety of brands but have yet to be let down by this setup .

[HarryToolips]

I too run the Eberlestock F1 mainframe, along with I believe it's call F65 littlebigtop bag, or something like that, then for the backpack hunts/camps, I also use the J2DB dry bag, setup works fine for me, I've packed out quite a few heavy loads, the only thing I've had to replace is the front buckle, and I've had the setup for 6-7 years now, so quite reliable..

[SMH1990]

Good to hear someone else having positive experience with this setup. They recently did a break test series on YouTube for all of their packs . The F1 mainframe had 1300lbs strapped to it and wouldn’t break. Well built and worth a watch.

[sako79]

Im running a kifaru muskeg large. Will be my second season. Super comfortable, even better with the more weight you put in it.

[savage10]

I got a Badlands MRK6 on sale last year. Got to put it to the test packing out my first bear this spring and it did pretty good. So far pretty happy with it considering it was half the price as most other packs in that size range. I’ve never used another pack so I can’t really comment on how it compares to others.

Just bought the girlfriend a mystery ranch metcalf for our upcoming elk/deer hunts. Hopefully we get to test it out.

[TheObserver]

Kifaru Fulcrum with duplex lite frame, will be getting the stryker xl as well to switch out but only had enough money for one bag so went with the bigger so I can compress down or do two weeks heavy on the minimalist. 3 back pack scouting trips with it so far two 2 nighters and one 3 nighter. ~6 hours to get to one spot, ~12 hours to another and a day and a half to next (probably won't take that route again) through brutal stuff Region 2. Had some chafing on waist and chest where shoulder straps run across, not sure if this is normal break in but i'm young so don't care.

No game in it yet, bought late May I think.

[SR80]

Exo K4 5000 for me this year, been using it since spring when they were released. I was a long time SG user, and had a couple different kifaru setups. For me, kifaru had a nice belt, but i hated their bag designs. Big floppy strappy messes, with terrible lids. SG was second comfortable for me, but their bag designs were the best and my favorite so i sacrificed comfort to bag layout and function-ability.

The exo K4 in my opinion is a mix between the two, really comfortable belt and frame, and well designed/functional bags. The load shelf is also the easiest and fastest to get into than any other pack, although i was never a fan of the load shelf, i always put meat inside the bag, I tried the load shelf once on the SG only and didnt really like it. I will be utilizing it with the K4 this year. Big fan of it, great company and great guys.

[Greenthumbed]

Mystery Ranch NICE frame with CrewCab bag for day hunts and the Metcalf for overnight trips. I’ve been uses this setup for 6 years, I’ve pack a fair bit of meat.
It isn’t the lightest setup, but man, it’s bomber and I know it well.

[Redthies]

I have a mid size Osprey for a day pack. Super comfy, carries weight amazingly well. I have a monstrous MEC pack that I’ve used on longer trips, but haven’t packed an animal on it. This year I may need a meat packer, but not sure what I’m going to do for that.

[mod7rem]

I’ve been using a custom Mchale Critical Mass ll since 2011 for all my backpack hunts and using it as a meat hauler for other hunts. It’s extremely comfortable, well designed and durable. Mine is made almost entirely of solid Dyneema fabric. The design is for mountaineering so it’s meant to haul very heavy loads and then can be adjusted to use as a summit pack. I have hauled a lot of animals with it and other than being dirty and fading, I can’t find any damage anywhere. I’ve never had a broken buckle, torn strap.
it cost me a lot of money in 2011, but I’m pretty sure it will outlast me and I have no plans on replacing it unless it somehow gets destroyed or stolen. If that happened I would want to replace it with another one.