Pack size

Just a question and no doubt everyone will have a preference but now I am hitting the hills a bit and eventually will get a deer my little varmint packs fill up pretty quick.
Things like a water bottle, meat bag, range finder etc seem to fill a small pack up very quickly and that's without a boned out animal in.
I think my current little Ridgeline pack is probably 25ltr or so.
I don't do over night trips ( love my bed to much ) but do some odd full days in the hills so need the space to carry a days worth of gear and room for boned out animal ( maybe not the whole thing )
What size works that will give me some space but not be a bulky lump on my back ?

Viper

catch 22 isnt it????
if you leave back wheels in one lump ,you can fit front end meat boned out in reasonably small pack..... if you want to bone it all out you will need something over 25ltrs as the meat will take up that much...I can just fit boned out deer into 2x15ltr buckets to go in fridge...talking adult red deer...not yearling or fallow.often I will carry my old frame pack...60ish litres for day bag if out in open..... my pikau for bush stalking is about 40ltrs at most.

35-40 litres I reckon.

Plenty of room for bits and pieces. If its winter even on a day trip its nice to carry a small cooker.

Always need the basics, first aid kit, water, wet weather gear, head torch, binos, food etc.

Sinch in all the straps and then open them up and stuff it with meat when you need to [emoji106]



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For the amount of gear I take, around 40 litres is good. If you get one that you can compress smaller when not full it helps. And one that doesn't have a top that sticks up and catches on supplejack all the f###ing time too! :yuush:

My cheap warehouse 40-50 litre jobby works for me. Side pockets for the gear, water bottle and plastic bowl for pooch in the main,and meat of course.
Plenty of straps to cinch it all in and hold coat, jumper etc.Attachment 155789

Yeah a 35-45L pack will suffice nicely for day trips & accommodate meat. I’ve got a Markhor Elk Mtn 45L which I use for anything from day trips up to 3-4 days. The compression straps mean I can squish it down pretty small for day trips, but it’ll easily hold a decent chunk of meat. Took my old flatmate on a 3 day hunt where we shot a yearling, a 4pt red, & a wild sheep. Split the meat evenly between us. On the way out I had to strap my sleeping bag & sleeping mat to the outside of my pack, but it fit the rest of my gear & my share of the meat fine. I use that method pretty regularly. For longer trips or 3+ day winter trips with more gear I’d use a bigger pack.