This is no contest for me, pruning trails is not an option for the miles I hike in and my back is trashed so ducking whips and such is not happening, for the light loads I carry with my stand set up the popup hopefully will be the ticket, I totally agree having a dedicated pack for meat is the only way to go, mine stays in the truck all season, old school dana design long bed.
I hope the pop up works for you. I can, and have done in the past, minimally prune thorny brush when blazing a trial. Not illegal for the majority of my hunts. And, in the majority of my hunting grounds, if I find I need to prune stickers, it isn’t just happening at shoulder or head level.
I would love to hear of everyone’s successes while using the pop up. Maybe I can find a way to make it work better for me. I am hoping I can fabricate a minimalist type of meat shelf / bag for it.