ALPS OutdoorZ Crossbuck Hunting Pack

If you read my blog on the items I typically keep in my pack titled “What’s in your PACK?” then this might be a slight follow up to that as I needed a new pack to take with me. So, since it being so close to hunting season when I purchased the bag and I wasn’t looking for something that would be more than carrying the essentials the bag I chose was the ALPS OutdoorZ Crossbuck Hunting Pack.Reason I chose this bag was for the purpose that I wanted a smaller backpack that would fit the essentials for a morning or evening hunt with notion of coming into camp for lunch. Out of the box I was fairly surprised by the size of the pack. The looks are fairly small in size (expected) and the part I found very nice about the pack was it is extremely quiet. At this point, I have used the pack outdoors twice now, Saturday morning and Sunday morning.So as for the overall size, it certainly is small, though I did fit pretty much everything I needed in the pack. Though, again it is just for the basics not really an all day hunting pack. I was able to get my essentials in the pack, along with binoculars, my quiver, three of my deer calls, bow hanger, small hand saw for any small limbs and about every version of rope you can imagine. At this point the pack was fairly full, though still getting it on wasn’t an issue and hauling was simple.Once up in the tree, the zippers were certainly quiet and the little loops included with it helped wonders. Though, it did take a little bit of two handed holding to unzip or fully zip up depending on the angle I was at. Not a big deal, but enough to worth of note. The straps seem fairly well made this and there are extra buckles all over for securing around the chest or with the side ones, was able to strap to my tree stand so I didn’t need to use a bow holder to hold the bag.Overall the pack worked well, though at the end of the day, I like having just a bit more room in the bag as most times I always endup wanting to bring additional items that at this point will not fit. So I think as the season moves forward, my daughter that hunts with me sometimes will inherit this bag and I’ll then get the next size up bag. As I think, this bag works well for 99% of what I needed, there’s always that piece that I’ll need and want to stuff in my pack the morning I’m heading out. [...]