drtdeer
New member
Do you all have a recommended game bag(s)? I presume washable/reusable kind are better?
Game Bags
- Thread starter drtdeer
- Start date
Been using these ones and they are the best I have found. Made not too far down the road from you in Colorado.
http://www.biggamebags.com/Big_Game_Bags.html
Ted, the owner, is a great guy. If you call them, tell them you heard about it here.
http://www.biggamebags.com/Big_Game_Bags.html
Ted, the owner, is a great guy. If you call them, tell them you heard about it here.
mdunc8
Well-known member
I've used Alaska game bags the last few years. They've worked fairly well. There may be better options out there, but I don't have any experience with them.
vander34
Member
The Alaska Game bags have worked pretty good for me also, though not going to lie the ones that Fin posted look really nice. May be giving them a try.
Mudranger1
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 30, 2010
- Messages
- 2,861
I like Alaska game bags - though mostly look for the least expensive yet most effective (from my perspective) bags... Anything that has the look and feel of the expensive game bags...
So far, no problems... Incredible how much companies want for "game bags" - considering the cost involved in such...
So far, no problems... Incredible how much companies want for "game bags" - considering the cost involved in such...
npaden
Well-known member
I've used the Alaska Game Bags for the last 2 seasons. VERY important, get the 4 Pk Quarter bags, not the economy game bag. The quarter bags are tightly woven material that strech but don't rip, the economy game bag is not meant to bear any weight, it rips very easily. It is meant to put over a whole deer after it is already hanging to keep the flies off, not to stuff meat into and carry out of the back country.
I re-used the quarter bags to pack out 3 elk this year and they worked great on the first 2 and even the 3rd seemed to work, but I hired the 3rd packed out and by the time they got back those had ripped some. I think the guys doing the packing out drug them on the ground or rolled them and they didn't hold up to that.
Here's a picture of them hanging in the tree holding the 3rd elk of the year last year.
At $9.99 for the 4 quarter bags if you can get 3 elk out with them you would be money ahead buying new ones every year or two until you get to about 15 elk. If you think you're going to be packing out more than 15 animals, it probably is smarter to go with those expensive ones. Of course that's assuming the expensive ones will hold up to packing out 15+ animals. Those would probably rip too though if someone drug them or rolled them down the hill.
P.S. - That picture is a reminder of a lesson learned this year. I need to start carrying a small pulley in my pack. The friction of the rope over the limb of the tree was too strong to pull the weight of the quarters up any higher than I could reach pushing them up while my friend was pulling on the rope. We could only get them about 7 feet off the ground. If we had a pulley we could have gotten them plenty high enough. I worried about a bear getting them all night waiting for the packers to go get them the next morning. Thankfully nothing messed with them.
I re-used the quarter bags to pack out 3 elk this year and they worked great on the first 2 and even the 3rd seemed to work, but I hired the 3rd packed out and by the time they got back those had ripped some. I think the guys doing the packing out drug them on the ground or rolled them and they didn't hold up to that.
Here's a picture of them hanging in the tree holding the 3rd elk of the year last year.
At $9.99 for the 4 quarter bags if you can get 3 elk out with them you would be money ahead buying new ones every year or two until you get to about 15 elk. If you think you're going to be packing out more than 15 animals, it probably is smarter to go with those expensive ones. Of course that's assuming the expensive ones will hold up to packing out 15+ animals. Those would probably rip too though if someone drug them or rolled them down the hill.
P.S. - That picture is a reminder of a lesson learned this year. I need to start carrying a small pulley in my pack. The friction of the rope over the limb of the tree was too strong to pull the weight of the quarters up any higher than I could reach pushing them up while my friend was pulling on the rope. We could only get them about 7 feet off the ground. If we had a pulley we could have gotten them plenty high enough. I worried about a bear getting them all night waiting for the packers to go get them the next morning. Thankfully nothing messed with them.
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I carry a short 6 or 7 foot lariat with a nylon plastic type burner. It doesn't weigh much, I have found a lot of uses for it and para cord slips through it like butter.
drtdeer
New member
Fin-
Thanks for the link, I had found those before and save the site in my "hunting" folder. They do look nice.
NPaden & others-
Thanks for the feedback on the Alaska bags. I may get the Alaska 4 pk, then a couple singles of the Caribou Gear to try before I spring for the whole set.
Thanks for the link, I had found those before and save the site in my "hunting" folder. They do look nice.
NPaden & others-
Thanks for the feedback on the Alaska bags. I may get the Alaska 4 pk, then a couple singles of the Caribou Gear to try before I spring for the whole set.
Drake4
Well-known member
npaden
Well-known member
For those of you that have used both the Alaska Game Bags and the expensive ones, what's the biggest difference?
They don't appear to be as strechy and look a little more durable.
They don't appear to be as strechy and look a little more durable.
idnative1948
Well-known member
If you are just a meat hunter and hanging elk quarters or deer in camp, we have used burlap wool sacks for years, like the one in the foreground. Work really well cooling and keeps flies/wasps off thin meat sacks where they stick to the meat.
Antler King
New member
Usually I use the Alaska game bags but every year I also find myself using large Pillow cases that I have robbed from the house. They seem to work everybit as well. Just don't let the wife find out.
noharleyyet
Well-known member
Alaskan.....
npaden
Well-known member
Anyone else with experience on the high end game bags and if they are worth the extra $$?
http://www.biggamebags.com/ and http://www.pristineventures.com/products/game-bags.html are the two that I know of.
Looks like I would be into the Caribou brand bags for $60 + shipping for 5 bags and the T.A.G. bags would be $65 + shipping. I've never seen the elk sized bags not on backorder at the Caribou brand place though and that's the size I would want.
I need to order some new game bags soon and wanted to double check before pulling the trigger on some Alaskan quarter bags from Cabelas.
Thanks, Nathan
http://www.biggamebags.com/ and http://www.pristineventures.com/products/game-bags.html are the two that I know of.
Looks like I would be into the Caribou brand bags for $60 + shipping for 5 bags and the T.A.G. bags would be $65 + shipping. I've never seen the elk sized bags not on backorder at the Caribou brand place though and that's the size I would want.
I need to order some new game bags soon and wanted to double check before pulling the trigger on some Alaskan quarter bags from Cabelas.
Thanks, Nathan
Bambistew
Well-known member
I've been using TAG bags for the last 3 years. The new version is a little heavier material and so far has been imposible to tear. The old ones could be punctured pretty easily if the bag was loaded full. Ionly use these for backpack trips because they weigh half as much.
I've used the Alaskan bags, pilow cases, cotton/canvas bags, and IMO the best I've used so far are the TAG bags. For short trips, the cotton based bags work fine, but for extened trips with lots of meat handleing the synthetic bags seem to work better for me. They tend to dry out (usually over night) which is a huge plus, and the meat will actually crust inside the bag. The thing I don't care for with the Alaskan bags is you will still get the meat dirty if you're in dusty conditions (glacial silt/dust), they work and thier tough, but don't seem to offer quite as good of protection.
I think I have 3 sets of TAG bags one big and 2 regular, If I go on an extended hunt I'll taxe 2x as many as I need and rotate them out as I apply citric acid and rotate meat, wash them in a creek and dry for the next swap out. Cotton bags would take forever to dry, if at all in 40-50degree weather. The synthetic bags dry very quickly.
I wouldn't get the big TAG bags unless you plan a hunt where you must keep the bone in with moose quarters, They're big enough to slip over an entire hind quarter. I'd go with the standard set, a boned hind moose quarter will still fit in it. If you fill one with meat it will weigh 150lbs or more... The large bags can easily hold 2 boned moose quarters or more.
They're expensive, but with shipping maybe $10 each? They're reusable, and I imigine will last forever. I abuse the heck out of mine and haven't had any issues.
I've used the Alaskan bags, pilow cases, cotton/canvas bags, and IMO the best I've used so far are the TAG bags. For short trips, the cotton based bags work fine, but for extened trips with lots of meat handleing the synthetic bags seem to work better for me. They tend to dry out (usually over night) which is a huge plus, and the meat will actually crust inside the bag. The thing I don't care for with the Alaskan bags is you will still get the meat dirty if you're in dusty conditions (glacial silt/dust), they work and thier tough, but don't seem to offer quite as good of protection.
I think I have 3 sets of TAG bags one big and 2 regular, If I go on an extended hunt I'll taxe 2x as many as I need and rotate them out as I apply citric acid and rotate meat, wash them in a creek and dry for the next swap out. Cotton bags would take forever to dry, if at all in 40-50degree weather. The synthetic bags dry very quickly.
I wouldn't get the big TAG bags unless you plan a hunt where you must keep the bone in with moose quarters, They're big enough to slip over an entire hind quarter. I'd go with the standard set, a boned hind moose quarter will still fit in it. If you fill one with meat it will weigh 150lbs or more... The large bags can easily hold 2 boned moose quarters or more.
They're expensive, but with shipping maybe $10 each? They're reusable, and I imigine will last forever. I abuse the heck out of mine and haven't had any issues.
Pretty much the same story as Bambi with the TAGS bags. I have one or two sets of the old style and two new sets that I haven't tried yet. I kind of wish they still offered the lighter ones, because I had few problems with them. The big bags are really big...probably bigger than most people need. I accidently ordered a new set of big ones and just kept them instead of returning them when I reordered small ones. Only kept them in case I have a need to bag a whole hind quarter of an AK moose some day. 
krummholz
New member
Just started using the caribou brand bags and so far they have worked great. They are very lightweight and compact, but are still able to keep the dirt and bugs off the meat since they aren't stretchy. The problem we had with the normal game bags is once the meat is in them they tend to stretch out and allow dirt and bugs to reach the meat. Bugs aren't much of an issue during the later seasons, but can be trouble during the early season.
