Bush Pack

E

evbouret

Joined
Aug 1, 2007
Messages
283
Hiking through Hawai'is forests requires a different sort of bag. Something that sits low on your back, at shoulder level or below. While travelling in New Zealand I cam across my idea of the ideal pack. This pack is to be used as a daypack for hunting, hiking as well as 1-3 night hunting trips. The pack had to be able to carry enough gear to keep me dry, warm and fed for a number of nights as well as be capable of carrying a load of pork, beef, sheep or goat out up to 11 miles to the car. I appreciate traditional as opposed to modern looking gear. This bag is quiet when I squeeze through bushes, and waterproof to keep my gear dry. It also has a removable smaller daypack that can be removed. This is where I keep my knife, ceramic stick, rope, basic survival stuff and any other gear that I feel may be useful while stalking or preparing my kill for the carry back to the main pack. Its big rucksack design allows me to fit odd bulky items and bone in quarters into the pack. It even fits a 5 gal bucket in there (just barely). Most importantly for stalking, it sits well below my shoulders and is narrower than my rather narrow frame.

Thought I'd share what I consider the ideal pack.

bivvg.jpg
 
neat. I like your idea with the 5 gal pail inside the pack. Kinda like a modern day pack basket. That little pack almost looks like you could wear it as a chest rig......
 
The picture may be deceiving but to me the waistbelt rides too high to carry any appreciable weight. I do like the modular design though, and would swing that small pack to the front and hang it from the pack straps to offset balance the rear pack when full. Nothing a few D rings and a bit of sewing can't fix, Mahalo.
 
If you sewed a sternum strap onto the smaller pack it could probably be used as a chest pack. You can fit a small nalgene as well as a days worth of stuff in there if you go light.
 
Ive carried ~60-65lb loads of beef 3 miles from this feral cow in the pack. The belt supports the weight pretty well. Not as good as a fancy backpacking belt though. It has thin shoulder straps too, better for shouldering a rifle. Cinches down really small when not full and isn't any bigger than an average sized daypack.

evcow.jpg
 
I like the looks of it. What is it made out of?

Who makes it and do you have a link to the manufacture?
 
Very cool, I have been looking for a good pack.

Can you tell me how tall you are?
 
Thanks, your abit taller than me (shut up Jake!)

I'm 5'8" 164lbs, I'm always on the look out for a pack that will fit my frame right.

That ones a bit out of my budget, but seams great.
 
Still pricey, but keep in mind prices are New Zealand dollars...shipping'll probably kill ya too.
 
Ev, nice Hereford stray you got there. I have had so many backpacks over the years that waistbelts become a point of whether or not I like a pack, depending upon how much weight I'm intending to haul in it. You make do with what you have and it works for you.
 
tonym said:
Thanks, your abit taller than me (shut up Jake!)

I'm 5'8" 164lbs, I'm always on the look out for a pack that will fit my frame right.

That ones a bit out of my budget, but seams great.
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHA! One of us had to jump on this comment! Hey Shorty, I TOWER over you at 5'8 and 3/4". I outweigh you too, peewee. LOL! :D

The pack is good looking, thanks for the link. What makes a cow feral?
 
That's a pretty cool looking pack. I agree, when you're busting through thick brush there's little worse than packs and clothes that catch on everything.

Nice levergun too, that's a pretty one. Feral cow hunting just sounds like a hoot to me, coming from a farm in Nebraska. Only "feral" cows around here are the ones from the neighbors who don't make their fences right!
 
This was part of a feral cattle eradication hunt on the island of Hawaii (Big Island). These are trespass cattle that have been wild for over 70 years and for multiple generations since their arrival by George Vancouver. They are 100% wild in every sense of the word. 2 miles minimum from the nearest road and 22 miles from the nearest human settlement. These cows were shot more than 3 miles in through swampy fern tangles. They are over 5+ miles from their home pasture and have spread through the native forest like a plague, eating all the native vegetation and knocking down all saplings in their path. The state of hawaii has opened a special control hunt for them. The limit is 2 cows per person per day. Heres a photo, we estimated its weight at ~1000+ lbs.

evbull.jpg




The gun is a 30-30 Winchester Ranger M94. I was completely undergunned for an animal of this size, which I learned on my next hunt. I unloaded my whole magazine directly into the lungs of the 1000lb bull, he looked as though nothing happened. This turned into a REAL LIFE survival situation. I turned tail and ran, he charged. We ran past my buddy who unloaded 3 shotgun slugs into the cow then dove over a large log breaking his hand and losing the gun. At this point he had fallen to his knees and we finished the job.
 
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