What should I pack for a backcountry elk hunt?

A framed pack that can haul meat, a shelter and a sleep system for the coldest night of the trip, a kill kit (knife, game bags, saw, gloves, flagging, and a headlamp), spare layers, water treatment, and the bow or rifle you have already tuned. Archery and rifle lists share that spine. The weapon, the bag, and how much insulation you carry are what change.

Do archery and rifle elk hunts use the same gear list?

They should start from the same list. Archery kits add a bow, arrows, a release, and calls if you call, and they often use a lighter bag. Rifle kits add the rifle, a counted amount of ammunition, a rangefinder, and warmer clothing. Keep both as loadouts if you hunt both seasons, instead of one bloated list.

How heavy is an elk hunting pack?

There is no single honest number. The pack-weight guide gives typical planning ranges for base weight and labels them as planning ranges, not as measurements from this app. Weigh your own kit. Food, water, and the weapon move the total more than swapping one stuff sack.

Where can I see elk loadouts from other hunters?

Public elk loadouts are on the elk page in Discover. Weights there are whatever the hunter entered. Treat them as examples, and check the gear catalog if a weight looks off.

Elk hunting

Elk Hunting Gear List for Archery and Rifle

By Austin Christensen · Updated October 23, 2026

A backcountry elk kit is a shelter, a sleep system, a pack that can haul meat, and a kill kit you have already sharpened. Archery and rifle hunts share that spine. The season changes the clothing, the bag, and the weapon.

Write the list down before you pack it

A list in your head loses the game bags. Build the kit in the loadout builder, or open public elk loadouts and delete what you will not carry. Weights in the gear catalog are community-reported. Flag one that looks wrong. This page does not rank brands.

Split the weight the way you will carry it

Worn: boots, the clothes you hike in, and binoculars on a harness.
Base: shelter, sleep system, cook kit, extra clothing, kill kit, and the pack. In Backcountry Hunter, base weight is every item not marked worn, not marked consumable, and not marked left at camp.
Consumables: food, water, and fuel. Mark them consumable so they do not hide inside base weight.
Weapon: the bow or the rifle. It is still weight on the mountain if it is on a sling instead of in the pack.
Meat, later: do not add the elk to the hike-in weight. The pack-out is a different load. See backcountry elk pack weight.

Pack

Use a framed hunting pack or an external frame, with a meat shelf or a way to lash a quarter. A day-hunt lumbar pack is the wrong list if you might bone an elk and walk it out. Volume matters on the way out more than on the way in.

Shelter and sleep

Bring a tent or tarp you have already pitched in wind, and count the stakes and guylines. Early September still frosts. If you spike out, the shelter has to work every night, not only for a photo at the trailhead.

Match the bag or quilt to the coldest night you will actually lie there, not to the afternoon high. The pad matters as much as the bag on frozen ground. An archery-season bag and a November rifle bag are not the same piece of gear. If you are unsure, carry the warmer one and leave it on the loadout so you can see what it weighs.

Clothing

Pack a base layer, insulation, a shell, spare socks, a beanie, and gloves. Leave cotton at the truck. Rifle season usually means more insulation in the pack, not only a heavier jacket on your back. Keep a dry layer you can sleep in when the hike-in layer is wet.

Kill kit

This is the part a backpacking list forgets. Pack it as its own group so it cannot get left in the garage.

A knife you have sharpened, and a second edge or a sharpener.
Game bags. Bone a whole elk and you will want more bags than a weekend deer hunt taught you to carry.
Gloves you can throw away.
Cord and flagging.
A saw that will get through the pelvis and the brisket.
A headlamp and spare cells. Quartering runs past dark.

Glassing, water, and cook kit

Wear binoculars you will actually glass with all day. Add a tripod or sticks if you glass for hours from a spike camp. A rangefinder (Buy at Hoyt Archery) earns its weight on a rifle hunt, when the shot can be past archery distance. Many archery hunters leave it behind.

Carry treatment that still works when the creek is silty or low. Count stove fuel for the nights you will actually cook. If you cold-soak breakfast, write that on the loadout so the stove does not ride along out of habit. How to count water is on the pack weight guide.

Navigation, light, and paper

Backcountry Hunter does not show maps, property boundaries, or waypoints. Download the unit in the offline maps app you already use. In the pack: a headlamp, a fire starter, and a first-aid kit you know how to use. If you carry a satellite messenger, it goes on the list. Tell someone the trailhead and the day you will be overdue. The rest of that plan is the elk hunt checklist.

Put the license, the tag, and any carcass validation your state requires in a waterproof bag. Read the regulations for the unit. This page does not reprint them.

Archery elk gear

Archery season is often warmer, and you may be out longer. The shared kit still goes. Change these pieces, and record the bow itself as a weapon build (sight, rest, stabilizer, release, quiver) so the pack list stays about what is on your back.

Bow, the arrows you will hunt with, broadheads, a release, and a plan if the release or the string fails.
Calls, if you call: a cow call at minimum, and a bugle only if you use one.
A lighter bag is common. A rain shell and a puffy still go in the pack.
More nights in a spike camp, so the sleep system has to work more than once.
Shots are close. Pack the kill kit as if the bull shows up in the last hour.

Rifle elk gear

Rifle season is often colder, and the shot can be farther. The pack still has to haul meat on the way out. A rifle on the sling (Buy at Invader Concepts) plus a quarter in the pack is not the weight you hiked in with.

The rifle you zeroed, a sling, and a counted number of cartridges. Confirm zero before the drive, not in the dark at the trailhead.
The optic that was on the rifle when you zeroed.
A rangefinder.
A warmer bag and more insulation. A September quilt is a long November night.
A bipod is optional. On a spot-and-stalk it may never come off the pack. If you shoot from a glassing knob, it earns the space.

Leave it at the truck

A second shelter.
A camp chair you have never carried past the trailhead.
A spare cook set packed for guests who are not coming.
Cotton.
A knife you have not sharpened.
Ammunition you will not shoot.

Give a partner the same list

Publish the loadout, or keep it private and send the link. Public elk loadouts are there to compare approaches, not to copy ounce for ounce. The pack calculator works with no account if you only want a number tonight. After the hunt, take off anything that never left the pack. That is next year's list.

Common questions

What should I pack for a backcountry elk hunt?: A framed pack that can haul meat, a shelter and a sleep system for the coldest night of the trip, a kill kit (knife, game bags, saw, gloves, flagging, and a headlamp), spare layers, water treatment, and the bow or rifle you have already tuned. Archery and rifle lists share that spine. The weapon, the bag, and how much insulation you carry are what change.
Do archery and rifle elk hunts use the same gear list?: They should start from the same list. Archery kits add a bow, arrows, a release, and calls if you call, and they often use a lighter bag. Rifle kits add the rifle, a counted amount of ammunition, a rangefinder, and warmer clothing. Keep both as loadouts if you hunt both seasons, instead of one bloated list.
How heavy is an elk hunting pack?

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