TURKEY HUNTING BACKPACK

[hillbilly69]

hello does anyone think its a good idea to use a camo backpack to replace a turkey vest? i always find it a pain to carry all my gear around in a vest.....

[SteelerFan]

Sure... It will hold your gear, and you can slip it off when you set up. Might not be quickly accessible for grabbing calls while you're moving, but would be fine once you're set up.

It's fascinating to watch (and participate in) this evolution "hamster wheel" of gear we as turkey hunters go through...

- Started walking the woods with a call or two in our pants pockets - need more room
- Along comes the "turkey vest"! Great! More room, start carrying more gear, more calls
- Now carrying too much gear, ditch the vest. Need a pack or shoulder bag!
- Bag / vest doesn't have the pockets of the vest, can't get to my stuff easily. Time for a new vest!

Lol

[hillbilly69]

yea i agree im trying to design a back pack just for turkey hunting i know ive seen a few top bird hunters carry all there calls in a bag because you never wich call a bird will want on a certain day i dont know just a thought but i agree were taking a LOT more in now days

[HFultzjr]

Sure... It will hold your gear, and you can slip it off when you set up. Might not be quickly accessible for grabbing calls while you're moving, but would be fine once you're set up.

It's fascinating to watch (and participate in) this evolution "hamster wheel" of gear we as turkey hunters go through...

- Started walking the woods with a call or two in our pants pockets - need more room
- Along comes the "turkey vest"! Great! More room, start carrying more gear, more calls
- Now carrying too much gear, ditch the vest. Need a pack or shoulder bag!
- Bag / vest doesn't have the pockets of the vest, can't get to my stuff easily. Time for a new vest!

Lol

You forgot one.................

- Now saying the heck with it, I just want to have fun. Gun, Shells, Calls, Knife.....everything else is a luxury!

[TRG3]

I gave up on the turkey vest in favor of a large fanny pack which allows me to carry all of my gear with the exception of my decoys which fold neatly and can be carried in my fold-up ground lounger which sports a sling that goes over the head/shoulder leaving the other shoulder free to carry my shotgun via a sling. I tried a back pack as well as a vest but settled on the combo described.

[Marc]

My issue with a backpack is that if I am walking a long enough distance to need a backpack as opposed to a vest, then the walk back with a turkey will be miserable.

I have a property with a long uphill walk back to the car, and made the hike once with no vest...  A 1.5 mile uphill walk with a turkey slung over your shoulder is not fun times...  I have since made the walk with a bird in the vest, and although not great, it is far better than slinging it over my shoulder.

If it were not for the game bag, I would go with one of the many turkey purses, bags, or backpacks available.  As it is, the vests have evolved and distribute weight much better now, and are well organized for carrying all the crap we do not need...  My problem is, the more the vest will hold, the more I feel I need to take...

[J-Shaped]

My issue with a backpack is that if I am walking a long enough distance to need a backpack as opposed to a vest, then the walk back with a turkey will be miserable.

I have a property with a long uphill walk back to the car, and made the hike once with no vest...  A 1.5 mile uphill walk with a turkey slung over your shoulder is not fun times...  I have since made the walk with a bird in the vest, and although not great, it is far better than slinging it over my shoulder.

If it were not for the game bag, I would go with one of the many turkey purses, bags, or backpacks available.  As it is, the vests have evolved and distribute weight much better now, and are well organized for carrying all the crap we do not need...  My problem is, the more the vest will hold, the more I feel I need to take...

Not to hijack the thread, but I've found the sling style totes, such as the leather or paracord models that several folks sell on this site, to be more comfortable than carrying one out in a vest. While most all of the vests have a game bag, I think many of them (not all) are poorly designed for carrying the weight a long distance. I've started using the tote even when wearing my vest. I toted one out over two miles earlier this season without a hitch. Just a thought if you wanted to try to get away from the vest.

[TRG3]

I'll second that sling tote for carrying out a turkey. I made one with a thick piece of leather similar to a shoe tongue and some strong cord. While it worked, I'll be adding a thin rubber sheet to the slick leather in order to keep it more firmly on my shoulder.

[TauntoHawk]

Sure I still use a vest at times but if I'm going to be away from the truck for 7hrs running and gunning and plan on covering more than 5+ miles I find a back pack better.

I can carry coffee, water, food, rain gear, thermoacell.. Along with calls and a decoy. I have several pockets and holsters I can interchange on the belt for calls accessible while wearing the pack plus if it rains I can stuff calls inside the pack to keep dry.

A vest is easy if I'm checking a spot getting in the truck and checking another or just a quick morning hunt

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[TauntoHawk]

My issue with a backpack is that if I am walking a long enough distance to need a backpack as opposed to a vest, then the walk back with a turkey will be miserable.

I have a property with a long uphill walk back to the car, and made the hike once with no vest...  A 1.5 mile uphill walk with a turkey slung over your shoulder is not fun times...  I have since made the walk with a bird in the vest, and although not great, it is far better than slinging it over my shoulder.

If it were not for the game bag, I would go with one of the many turkey purses, bags, or backpacks available.  As it is, the vests have evolved and distribute weight much better now, and are well organized for carrying all the crap we do not need...  My problem is, the more the vest will hold, the more I feel I need to take...

Turkey tote carries better than a vest bag personally and 20-25lbs isn't that bad even for 2 miles or more it sure beats packing 65lbs of venison out of the mountains or dragging a deer that out weights me. 

[Marc]

Not to hijack the thread, but I've found the sling style totes, such as the leather or paracord models that several folks sell on this site, to be more comfortable than carrying one out in a vest. While most all of the vests have a game bag, I think many of them (not all) are poorly designed for carrying the weight a long distance. I've started using the tote even when wearing my vest. I toted one out over two miles earlier this season without a hitch. Just a thought if you wanted to try to get away from the vest.

I do not want to hijack the thread either, but I do feel the transport of the turkey is a valid discussion point for the topic at hand...  My issue with the totes, is that it puts all the weight (and stress) on one shoulder, whereas the vest distributes the weight more evenly between both shoulders.  Is there a tote that distributes weight more evenly?

[J-Shaped]

Not sure if we're talking about the same type of tote. I'm talking about the sling type that allows you to carry the whole bird on one side of your body, at about waist level, not the type that hangs the bird over your back by the feet. I've got a nice one I bought off a member on here made out of paracord with a wide band in the middle and another custom made leather one. They both distribute the weight evenly across your body and the sling doesn't dig into my shoulder at all.

On the other hand, I've carried some in vests that were downright uncomfortable, especially depending on the style of shoulder straps. In the end, it's what works best for your style of hunting, but I wish I'd have started using the slings years ago.

[howl]

Thermaseat   has a lumbar pack and seat pad combo.

[Dr Juice]

If I carried a back pack it would weigh about 100-lbs, mostly consisting of my call inventory :-)

[davesonic444]

I went to a diy tote this year. I used a detach sling on my gun and remove it and attach the head to one end and the feet to the other with zip ties. Worked great with a 24# bird. I did switch shoulders a couple times on way to the truck, was much easier than other carries i have tried.
Dave