I’ve packed out and I’ve dragged out. Packing it out is definitely easier. However, when I drag them out and hang it up on a gambrel, I get a little more meat for ten times the work. For example, the meat between the ribs. But if I’m hunting where I can leave the carcass in the woods, I don’t miss that rib meat at all!
As far as a backpack for packing meat out, if you don’t wanna spend the money you can pick up an old-school external frame backpack on craigslist for 20 bucks or so and make a meat hauler out of it. That’s what I did. Right after I finished it, a friend gave me an awesome backpack that can do everything including packing meat out.