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"The official saddle hunting backpack thread"

Here's my setup:
1. Kestrel Flex. On the flex I have two large kifaru pouches, one rangefinder pouch, and one fleece pouch from Dano for my doyles.
2. Pack--Popup 28 with MR lid and two small waist pockets.

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Underneath left pouch is my fleece pouch from dano for my Doyle.
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Left side pouch: Oplux tether and oplux bridge. Extra safety rescue webbing rated for 6000#'s as spare tether, bridge or whatever I need it for.





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MR Pop up 28 with extra lid and two extra waist pockets

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Bottom pouch of lid...my kill kit. Wyoming saw (will stay home but for now that's where it resides. Christmas present from F-I-Law)
game bag and two havalon knives plus 4 pairs of rubber gloves.



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Top pouch of lid...deer drag, extra bridge for when I DDRT. Extra 6mm friction hitch and deer grunt tube.





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Left waist pocket...pruners and small hand saw.



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Right side pocket...headlamp and extra battery.



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Left side of pack is my morph pro bow holder...I'll break it down into what I need to bring and put it the top pocket of lid.

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Morph pro open


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Left side of pack pocket...Shikar mini stick and 3 step aider and daisy chain.


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Center pouch of pack..extra gear strap.


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This is a bag that Squirrel made which holds 52' of oplux rappel rope...next pic.


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52' of oplux rope, safeguard, carabiner, pull rope for rappel rope, REI triangle connector and 3 folding steps.


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Inside of predator bag is my predator and yeti thermos holder that squirrel made for me.
 
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This past season I used the predator bag for early season and did not care for it as it was not comfortable putting anything other than the predator.

I then used the popup for mid to late season as it was getting colder and needed more room for cooler temps.

Late season I broke out my kifaru woodlands frame pack for my first lite sancuatary bibs and woodlawn coat. Plus whatever I decided to bring for food and coffee, water, snacks, etc.

I was one sticking, then went to four cut down leverage sticks and finally back to one stick. This year it's one sticking (shikar mini--two step aider)and DDRT (preset trees)
 
barlow96 said:
I went through the whole thread. Took me 4 days. Thinking of picking up one of the new MR pop ups. I have the mule now.
Click to expand...
If the Mule bag is older, you may want to contact them and see if it works on the new frame. I thought they updated it but I could be wrong. Anyway, that is the combo I have and I think it will work well (popup + mule).
Though, if you don't mind the pack always sticking above your shoulders, I think the pintler or sawtooth on the new MT frame would nice as well.
 
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Kyle Hey said:
If the Mule bag is older, you may want to contact them and see if it works on the new frame. I thought they updated it but I could be wrong. Anyway, that is the combo I have and I think it will work well.
Though, if you don't mind the pack always sticking above your shoulders, I think the pintler or sawtooth on the new frame would nice as well.
Click to expand...

my mule was purchased last year with the guidelite frame. If they would have made the pop up 18 with the frame this year I would be jumping on it. But not sure if I need all the room of the 28.The mule is plenty of room for me. But like you said the frame is up all the time.
 
I had a pop up 18 and now have a mule/guide light frame and i like the mule/GL alot more than the pop up personally. If you do want to run the mule on the new pop up frame you can call MR and order a buckle kit to be able to use your older mule bag on the new pop up frame.


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Sure do, it compresses down to a slim profile. Early season i sometimes take off the mule and just run the backstrap. But the mule isnt as big as it looks online.
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Bowtech12 said:
How about the treehouse come mpared ti the pop up 18 which is hard to find
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I had a treehouse as well and it was a nice pack but no meat hauling capabilities like the pop up. As far as layout of bag i preferred the treehouse over the pop up 18.
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TCaltagirone said:
I had a treehouse as well and it was a nice pack but no meat hauling capabilities like the pop up. As far as layout of bag i preferred the treehouse over the pop up 18.
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Click to expand...
I would think you could put those sticks in the bag?

also couldn’t you put a couple of whitetail quarters in the bag?
 
@Bowtech12 sticks would be a snug fit inside the bag and i dont know if youve ever had a beast stick but they are sharp and will tear up your bag, plus if you have other stuff in the bag they wont fit. As far as packing out meat yeah anything is possible but its definately not what its designed to do.
 
TCaltagirone said:
I had a treehouse as well and it was a nice pack but no meat hauling capabilities like the pop up. As far as layout of bag i preferred the treehouse over the pop up 18.
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Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
That is what I have found as the major drawback to MR Pop-ups and the mule. You gain meat packing capability but lose the organization of the treehouse and some of their other products. I wish they just threw in some simple mesh pockets on the inside of the PU 38,28, and mule. Not a deal-breaker but it would be nice.
 
@Kyle Hey i 100% agree with you which is why im currently thinking about adding some molle webbing to the mule inside and out to be able to attach a few zip pockets. Right noe i currently use MR zoid bags to organize stuff in the pack
 
I am thinking of selling my mule now and buy the new pop up 28 and then later buy the bag on option for the mule to attach to the pop up frame. Just not sure. I wrote MR about my mule attaching to the pop up frame. Mine is a 2019 with the guide light frame. The buckles look different.
 
I think my ideal pack would be a cross between the Sitka Fanatic pack & the Hill People Gear Connor v2. I like the internal frame, option for a removable belt, load carry capability, and strap placement of the Connor. The more I think about it, a fleece Connor would probably be the ticket.
 
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