What's your biggest load?

[Wapiti Warrior]

After back surgery they will realize how stupid that is to carry such a load on your back!
Speaking from experience :-(

 

[Huntfit]

They say for every pound over 35 you will begin to do permanent damage. Can be a real conundrum, I guess, nobody wants to cover the same ground again. When your pack is that heavy it takes two others too lift you off the ground its probably too much.

 

[L. I. Yankee]

That is one heck of a pack out...my back could not handle that.....

 

[Zach]

Somewhere in the 70-80lb range, rear elk quarters plus misc meat. Somewhere around 9k elevation aprx 2 miles. Don't remember the total elevation change.

Maybe back in my 20's I'd attempt the loads over 100 lbs, but never now.



1 pointer, I'm guessing your betrothed will not be reading that 1 liner...

 

[hornart]

I packed a whole black bear, minus the innerds, when I was in my late teens, I am mobility impared now, and it wasnt a cub

 

[BRI]

I lashed an entire calf elk to my pack once but could only make it about 300 yards before I said screw that!

 

[putm2sleep]

Not sure of the biggest - do not bring a scale to camp?
>2 boned out hind quarters I suppose is biggest. Looks like 2 of the bags moose man is carrying.
So I do not end up like noharley, I went to renting a horses about 10 years ago.
I fear of a Bambistew story breaking a friggin leg or ankle or something.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

The single bonus to being a crummy hunter is that my packs weigh less on the way out.

 

[sbhooper]

My biggest was 110 pounds. I had to get the last load off the mountain, as it was the last day of the hunt and the Mescalero Apaches do not allow access after the last day of the season. I made it to the truck just as it was getting too dark to see without a light.

I also hauled many over the years that were 75 plus. I think that I am now paying for that stupidity. Making one extra trip is always better than hurting yourself.

 

[worm]

120lbs. 2/3 of it was down hill. Ankles and knees was jacked up for two weeks. I wouldn't be making your brother mad anytime soon!

 

[fowladdict]

This thread makes me feel like a giant wimp. I'm going to guess I've never had more than 50-60lbs in my pack. My first real pack out experience (in 2007) forced me to invest in a pack frame.

 

[Dinkshooter]

LB Brother's pack looks silly floppy, that would be the painful part I think. Flopping around kicking and beating you to the ground. Buy him some bungee cords for X-mas will you? It is the least you can do for the guy.

THe scale doesn't lie! Not the heaviest but one I actually weighed. A bone in Muley buck.

 

[tjones]

Trading in the visor for be the decoy Dink?

 

[Dinkshooter]

Trading in the visor for be the decoy Dink?

I'll never give up the visor!! Long live the visor.

This sucker stalked us?!?!

 

[Hem]

Shot a bull up in the Spanish Peaks just above "the Black Hole".Packed out a front and rear quarter with the entire hide. It was ugly,maybe I weighed 160 lbs. at the time.Never did weigh the pack. I would bet most estimations are based upon the pain factor and ego,....and are inaccurate.

 

[RobG]

I once threw a 100 pound hind leg in my backpacking pack and packed it up an 800' hill. Turns out the leg was 65# (but felt like 100 since it sat in the bottom of the pack) and the hill was only 260 feet high.

Unless it is a short trip I limit myself to a single elk ham + femur + a little gear. That's normally 50-60 pounds. One time I did 70# over about 4 miles, but my friend and I traded carrying the heavy pack while the other one carried the rifles + antlers. Taking it easy and positioning the weight between my shoulder blades on a good pack makes a big difference. I could probably do more, but I puke less now that I'm a little smarter about how I get the animal out.

 

[npaden]

Yep. I wonder how many of these heaviest loads were actually put on a scale. I think putting it on a scale takes 10 or 20 pounds off.

Right now my preferred load out on a bull elk goes in 4 trips. I've never weighed a pack, but I've weighed the meat when we got it home and mathed out the weight of the pack plus what else I was carrying at the time. (Always carry my rifle in grizzly country). Seems like 75 to 80 lbs total is about what I want to limit myself to. If you bone everything out you can get pretty close to that in 4 trips.

The largest bodied bull I've pack out was 60lbs each on the boned out hind quarters, 60lbs for both of the boned out front shoulders and 60lbs of loose meat (neck, backstraps, tenderloins, etc.). The antlers and cape on that bull weighed 60lbs too so it ended up being a 5 trip packout.

Here's that bull:

This bull that I shot in New Mexico in 2011 ended up going 45lbs each on the boned out hindquarters, 45lbs on both of the boned out front shoulders and 45lbs on the loose meat. Didn't cape him and the antlers on him only weighed 20lbs with the skull. He came out in 4 easy loads.

Seems like my ideal packout weight would be around 70lbs. Enough to get some meat moved on down the mountain, but not so much that you end up hurting yourself.

 

[DSull]

Elk quarters 90-100 lbs each, 300 foot elevation change and had to go 3/4 of a mile. My son and I each had a cow down I took 5 trips and he did the same. I was 63 at the time.

 

[ida homer]

Yep. I wonder how many of these heaviest loads were actually put on a scale. I think putting it on a scale takes 10 or 20 pounds off.

+1, lots of 100lb. pack myths out there. Not saying some guys can't, because they do, but they probably shouldn't if they want to hunt past 40.

I weighed mine last year at 91 lbs. Will never do that again. I'm 5' 7" 155lbs, 22 years young, in excellent shape, and it was miserable. You are just asking to roll an ankle (or worse) packing ridiculous loads on steep inclines in the places we all like to hunt. Will be limiting myself to 60ish pounds from now on.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Lots of 100lbs elk quarters out there until my truth sayer kicks in. Obviously not a big bull but the scale don't lie. Boned out.

I've weighed the leg bones before and they are usually around 12-15lbs.