Gear Guides
The Best Hunting Backpacks With a Gun Sling
Two completely different things are sold under the phrase 'rifle holder'. One is a pair of straps on the outside. One is an enclosed compartment. The gift buyer pictures the second and almost always receives the first.
Buy the TIDEWE 40L. It publishes a rifle and bow carry system as a named feature rather than implying one in a photo, it is the capacity a day hunter actually uses, and the rain cover is included instead of sold separately. If the recipient needs the gun fully enclosed and protected rather than strapped to the outside, that is a different product and the Fox Outdoor rifle pack is the one on this page that does it.
Here is the thing nobody says plainly in this category. A "gun holder" on a hunting pack is usually two straps and a cup — a sling system that holds the long gun vertically against the back of the pack so the hunter's hands are free on the walk in. It is genuinely useful. It is also not a scabbard, and a buyer who reads "rifle holder" on a listing and pictures a padded, zippered, enclosed case is going to be surprised when the box arrives.
That distinction is the whole page. Below, every pack has a gun-carry system named in the manufacturer's own published product information — not inferred from a product photo — and each one is labeled as either a sling or an enclosed compartment, so you know which you are giving. Prices come live from Amazon. For the category without the gun-carry requirement, see best hunting backpacks.
- 1TIDEWE 40L Hunting BackpackThe pick, and the only pack here that gets every part of the brief right at once. TIDEWE publishes a rifle and bow carry system, 40 liters of storage, silent fabric and an included rain cover - and that last item matters more than it sounds, because a rain cover is the accessory hunters buy second and lose first, and a pack that ships with one in a matched color is one fewer thing to get wrong. 40 liters is the honest day-hunt size: room for layers shed on the walk in, lunch, a kill kit and a thermos, without being so big the hunter half-fills it. The carry system handles a bow as well as a long gun, which widens who the gift suits. Honest cons: it is a sling, not a scabbard - the gun rides on the outside, exposed to rain and brush. At 40 liters loaded it is a real weight on a budget suspension, and the hip belt is a comfort belt rather than a load-transferring one. And TIDEWE is a direct-to-Amazon brand with no dealer network, so a warranty claim is an email rather than a counter.Best for: Best overall (sling system)
- 2
BLISSWILL 40L Pack with Padded Weapon CarryThe step up from a bare strap, and the pick for a hunter whose walk in is measured in miles rather than minutes. BLISSWILL publishes this 40-liter pack with a padded weapon carry for a bow or a rifle, and padding is the difference between a gun that rides and a gun that saws at the pack fabric and at the shoulder of whoever is carrying it. On a short walk from a truck you will not notice; on an hour-long climb in the dark you absolutely will, and so will the stock of the gun. Same 40-liter day-hunt capacity as the top pick. Honest cons: still a sling rather than an enclosure - padded does not mean protected from weather. BLISSWILL prices and listings in this category move frequently and variants proliferate, so check that the pack in the cart is the padded 40-liter one rather than a sibling. And the suspension is budget-grade, which is the ceiling on every pack under about $100 - see the under-$100 roundup linked below for what that actually costs you.Best for: Best padded carry on a long walk in - 3
YVLEEN Camo Day Pack (Rifle & Bow Holder)The pick for the hunter who shoots a bow in October and a rifle in November, which describes a great many whitetail hunters and almost none of the packs built for them. YVLEEN publishes this as a waterproof camo day pack with a rifle and bow holder - one holder, both weapons - which means the gift does not become useless the week the season changes. It is also the pick if you genuinely do not know which weapon the recipient uses, and asking would spoil the surprise. The waterproof fabric claim is the manufacturer's and is the kind of thing to treat as water-resistant in practice. Honest cons: a holder that handles both is a compromise at both, and a dedicated bow carry grips a riser better than a universal one does. It is a day pack, so there is no meat-hauling capability at all. And like every pack in this price band, the sizing of the carry is built around average-length guns - an unusually long shotgun or a scoped magnum sits less securely than the photos suggest.Best for: Best for a hunter who switches weapons by season - 4
BLISSWILL Hunting Day PackThe pick when the budget is tight and you still want the feature rather than the suggestion of it. BLISSWILL publishes a rifle and bow carry system and silent fabric on this one, and it is the cheapest pack on this site that names a gun-carry system as a feature rather than leaving a buyer to guess from a photo of someone holding a rifle. For a hunter who walks ten minutes from a truck to a stand and wants their hands free for the climb, it does the job the expensive packs do. Honest cons: it is the smallest and least structured pack here, so a hunter who carries a lot will outgrow it in a season. The shoulder straps are thin and there is no meaningful hip belt, which means the whole load hangs off the shoulders. And a sling is a sling: the gun is on the outside, in the rain, taking the brush.Best for: Best cheapest with a published carry system - 5
Fox Outdoor Universal Rifle PackThe one pack here that is what most buyers think they are buying. Fox Outdoor publishes this as a universal rifle pack with a full-length compartment sized for rifles and shotguns, plus MOLLE attachment webbing and hydration ports - so the gun goes inside the pack rather than strapped to the outside of it, which is the whole difference. That makes it the pick for transporting a long gun to a hunt, for a hunter who walks through heavy brush, and for anyone who wants the gun out of sight and out of the weather. Honest cons: this is tactical-market gear rather than hunting gear, and it looks like it - the recipient gets coyote tan and webbing rather than camo, which some hunters like and some do not. It is the heaviest and by a wide margin the most expensive pack on this page, and most of that weight is the gun compartment, so as a general day pack it is worse than any of the picks above. And the gun inside is not a gun in the hand: this is a carry-to-the-spot pack, not a hunt-with-it pack.Best for: Best actual enclosed gun compartment
| # | Gift | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | TIDEWE 40L Hunting BackpackThe pick, and the only pack here that gets every part of the brief right at once. TIDEWE publishes a rifle and bow carry system, 40 liters of storage, silent fabric and an included rain cover - and that last item matters more than it sounds, because a rain cover is the accessory hunters buy second and lose first, and a pack that ships with one in a matched color is one fewer thing to get wrong. 40 liters is the honest day-hunt size: room for layers shed on the walk in, lunch, a kill kit and a thermos, without being so big the hunter half-fills it. The carry system handles a bow as well as a long gun, which widens who the gift suits. Honest cons: it is a sling, not a scabbard - the gun rides on the outside, exposed to rain and brush. At 40 liters loaded it is a real weight on a budget suspension, and the hip belt is a comfort belt rather than a load-transferring one. And TIDEWE is a direct-to-Amazon brand with no dealer network, so a warranty claim is an email rather than a counter. | Best overall (sling system) | $69.99View on Amazon |
| 2 | BLISSWILL 40L Pack with Padded Weapon CarryThe step up from a bare strap, and the pick for a hunter whose walk in is measured in miles rather than minutes. BLISSWILL publishes this 40-liter pack with a padded weapon carry for a bow or a rifle, and padding is the difference between a gun that rides and a gun that saws at the pack fabric and at the shoulder of whoever is carrying it. On a short walk from a truck you will not notice; on an hour-long climb in the dark you absolutely will, and so will the stock of the gun. Same 40-liter day-hunt capacity as the top pick. Honest cons: still a sling rather than an enclosure - padded does not mean protected from weather. BLISSWILL prices and listings in this category move frequently and variants proliferate, so check that the pack in the cart is the padded 40-liter one rather than a sibling. And the suspension is budget-grade, which is the ceiling on every pack under about $100 - see the under-$100 roundup linked below for what that actually costs you. | Best padded carry on a long walk in | $59.99View on Amazon |
| 3 | YVLEEN Camo Day Pack (Rifle & Bow Holder)The pick for the hunter who shoots a bow in October and a rifle in November, which describes a great many whitetail hunters and almost none of the packs built for them. YVLEEN publishes this as a waterproof camo day pack with a rifle and bow holder - one holder, both weapons - which means the gift does not become useless the week the season changes. It is also the pick if you genuinely do not know which weapon the recipient uses, and asking would spoil the surprise. The waterproof fabric claim is the manufacturer's and is the kind of thing to treat as water-resistant in practice. Honest cons: a holder that handles both is a compromise at both, and a dedicated bow carry grips a riser better than a universal one does. It is a day pack, so there is no meat-hauling capability at all. And like every pack in this price band, the sizing of the carry is built around average-length guns - an unusually long shotgun or a scoped magnum sits less securely than the photos suggest. | Best for a hunter who switches weapons by season | $54.99View on Amazon |
| 4 | BLISSWILL Hunting Day PackThe pick when the budget is tight and you still want the feature rather than the suggestion of it. BLISSWILL publishes a rifle and bow carry system and silent fabric on this one, and it is the cheapest pack on this site that names a gun-carry system as a feature rather than leaving a buyer to guess from a photo of someone holding a rifle. For a hunter who walks ten minutes from a truck to a stand and wants their hands free for the climb, it does the job the expensive packs do. Honest cons: it is the smallest and least structured pack here, so a hunter who carries a lot will outgrow it in a season. The shoulder straps are thin and there is no meaningful hip belt, which means the whole load hangs off the shoulders. And a sling is a sling: the gun is on the outside, in the rain, taking the brush. | Best cheapest with a published carry system | $46.99View on Amazon |
| 5 | Fox Outdoor Universal Rifle PackThe one pack here that is what most buyers think they are buying. Fox Outdoor publishes this as a universal rifle pack with a full-length compartment sized for rifles and shotguns, plus MOLLE attachment webbing and hydration ports - so the gun goes inside the pack rather than strapped to the outside of it, which is the whole difference. That makes it the pick for transporting a long gun to a hunt, for a hunter who walks through heavy brush, and for anyone who wants the gun out of sight and out of the weather. Honest cons: this is tactical-market gear rather than hunting gear, and it looks like it - the recipient gets coyote tan and webbing rather than camo, which some hunters like and some do not. It is the heaviest and by a wide margin the most expensive pack on this page, and most of that weight is the gun compartment, so as a general day pack it is worse than any of the picks above. And the gun inside is not a gun in the hand: this is a carry-to-the-spot pack, not a hunt-with-it pack. | Best actual enclosed gun compartment | $141.73View on Amazon |
Prices from Amazon as of October 13, 2026 and change often — the button always opens the current listing. Some links earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.
TIDEWE 40L Hunting Backpack
The pick, and the only pack here that gets every part of the brief right at once. TIDEWE publishes a rifle and bow carry system, 40 liters of storage, silent fabric and an included rain cover - and that last item matters more than it sounds, because a rain cover is the accessory hunters buy second and lose first, and a pack that ships with one in a matched color is one fewer thing to get wrong. 40 liters is the honest day-hunt size: room for layers shed on the walk in, lunch, a kill kit and a thermos, without being so big the hunter half-fills it. The carry system handles a bow as well as a long gun, which widens who the gift suits. Honest cons: it is a sling, not a scabbard - the gun rides on the outside, exposed to rain and brush. At 40 liters loaded it is a real weight on a budget suspension, and the hip belt is a comfort belt rather than a load-transferring one. And TIDEWE is a direct-to-Amazon brand with no dealer network, so a warranty claim is an email rather than a counter.
#ad · Price as of October 13, 2026. We may earn a commission.
BLISSWILL 40L Pack with Padded Weapon Carry
The step up from a bare strap, and the pick for a hunter whose walk in is measured in miles rather than minutes. BLISSWILL publishes this 40-liter pack with a padded weapon carry for a bow or a rifle, and padding is the difference between a gun that rides and a gun that saws at the pack fabric and at the shoulder of whoever is carrying it. On a short walk from a truck you will not notice; on an hour-long climb in the dark you absolutely will, and so will the stock of the gun. Same 40-liter day-hunt capacity as the top pick. Honest cons: still a sling rather than an enclosure - padded does not mean protected from weather. BLISSWILL prices and listings in this category move frequently and variants proliferate, so check that the pack in the cart is the padded 40-liter one rather than a sibling. And the suspension is budget-grade, which is the ceiling on every pack under about $100 - see the under-$100 roundup linked below for what that actually costs you.
#ad · Price as of October 13, 2026. We may earn a commission.
YVLEEN Camo Day Pack (Rifle & Bow Holder)
The pick for the hunter who shoots a bow in October and a rifle in November, which describes a great many whitetail hunters and almost none of the packs built for them. YVLEEN publishes this as a waterproof camo day pack with a rifle and bow holder - one holder, both weapons - which means the gift does not become useless the week the season changes. It is also the pick if you genuinely do not know which weapon the recipient uses, and asking would spoil the surprise. The waterproof fabric claim is the manufacturer's and is the kind of thing to treat as water-resistant in practice. Honest cons: a holder that handles both is a compromise at both, and a dedicated bow carry grips a riser better than a universal one does. It is a day pack, so there is no meat-hauling capability at all. And like every pack in this price band, the sizing of the carry is built around average-length guns - an unusually long shotgun or a scoped magnum sits less securely than the photos suggest.
#ad · Price as of October 13, 2026. We may earn a commission.
BLISSWILL Hunting Day Pack
The pick when the budget is tight and you still want the feature rather than the suggestion of it. BLISSWILL publishes a rifle and bow carry system and silent fabric on this one, and it is the cheapest pack on this site that names a gun-carry system as a feature rather than leaving a buyer to guess from a photo of someone holding a rifle. For a hunter who walks ten minutes from a truck to a stand and wants their hands free for the climb, it does the job the expensive packs do. Honest cons: it is the smallest and least structured pack here, so a hunter who carries a lot will outgrow it in a season. The shoulder straps are thin and there is no meaningful hip belt, which means the whole load hangs off the shoulders. And a sling is a sling: the gun is on the outside, in the rain, taking the brush.
#ad · Price as of October 13, 2026. We may earn a commission.
Fox Outdoor Universal Rifle Pack
The one pack here that is what most buyers think they are buying. Fox Outdoor publishes this as a universal rifle pack with a full-length compartment sized for rifles and shotguns, plus MOLLE attachment webbing and hydration ports - so the gun goes inside the pack rather than strapped to the outside of it, which is the whole difference. That makes it the pick for transporting a long gun to a hunt, for a hunter who walks through heavy brush, and for anyone who wants the gun out of sight and out of the weather. Honest cons: this is tactical-market gear rather than hunting gear, and it looks like it - the recipient gets coyote tan and webbing rather than camo, which some hunters like and some do not. It is the heaviest and by a wide margin the most expensive pack on this page, and most of that weight is the gun compartment, so as a general day pack it is worse than any of the picks above. And the gun inside is not a gun in the hand: this is a carry-to-the-spot pack, not a hunt-with-it pack.
#ad · Price as of October 13, 2026. We may earn a commission.
Sling or scabbard: the difference you are actually choosing
| Sling system (4 of 5 picks) | Enclosed compartment (Fox Outdoor) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the gun sits | Vertically against the outside of the pack | Inside a full-length compartment |
| Protection from rain and brush | None - the gun is exposed | Real - the gun is enclosed |
| Speed getting the gun into the hands | Fast - unclip and lift | Slower - open the pack |
| Added weight | Negligible | Significant |
| How it looks | Camo hunting pack | Tactical, not camo |
| Works with a bow too | Usually yes | No - sized for long guns |
| Price band | Budget | Roughly double |
One line is the whole decision: a sling frees the hunter's hands, and an enclosure protects the gun. Most hunters want the first, because most hunters are walking a short distance to a stand and want to climb a ladder without a rifle over one shoulder. The buyers who want the second usually know they do.
The four criteria that actually sort these packs
1. Is the gun-carry system published, or implied?This is the filter that removed most of the category before the ranking started. A huge number of hunting packs are photographed with a rifle leaning against them and sold on the keyword; far fewer name the carry system in the manufacturer's own product information. Every pack above does.
2. Is the carry padded?Unpadded straps work and they also wear on both the pack and the gun's finish over a season of long walks. Padding is the cheapest real upgrade in this category.
3. Does the capacity match the hunt?Forty liters is the day-hunt number and four of these five sit at or near it. Capacity is also the specification buyers most often get wrong by going bigger — what size hunting pack do I need works through it, and what to pack in a hunting backpack is the list that decides the answer.
4. What is the suspension? Under about $100 you are buying a frame sheet rather than a frame and a comfort hip belt rather than a load-transferring one. That is a real limit and it is the subject of best hunting backpack under $100. It matters most for the heaviest loads, which is why none of these is the right pack for packing meat off a mountain.
When a gun sling is the wrong thing to shop for
Two cases. The first is the hunter who hunts from a ground blind or a permanent stand twenty yards from the truck: the gun is never on their back long enough for the feature to matter, and the pack should be chosen on organization and quiet fabric instead.
The second is the elk or backcountry hunter. A gun sling on a day pack is irrelevant next to the thing that decides those hunts, which is whether the pack can carry meat — best hunting backpack for elk hunting is the right page for that hunter, and the answer there is a frame pack, not a sling.
There is also the bowhunter, who has a different problem: a bow is an awkward shape and a universal holder grips it less well than a dedicated one. Three of the picks above handle a bow, and all of them are compromises at it. If the recipient is primarily an archer, the carry system is a bonus rather than the reason to buy.
Is a pack with a gun sling a good gift?
It is one of the better gear gifts on this site, for a specific reason: a pack is a thing almost every hunter needs, has no size to get wrong, and is still being substituted with a school bag by a surprising number of people. Add a gun-carry system and you have given something a gun hunter notices on the first walk in rather than in week six.
The one thing to get right is the capacity, not the carry. A 40-liter day pack suits almost everybody; a 90-liter frame pack suits a hunter who packs animals out on foot and nobody else, and giving the second to someone who needed the first is the most common pack mistake there is. If you are not sure, how to choose a hunting backpack is the page to read first, and gifts for deer hunters ranks the wider category by budget.
How we chose these
We do not run a test lab and we have not walked a mile with any of these packs loaded. Every capacity, carry system, fabric and rain-cover detail above is the manufacturer's own published product information, cited below, and the ranking is reasoning about which hunt each pack suits rather than a measured result. The specific filter for this page was stricter than usual and it is worth stating: a pack only qualified if its gun-carry system appears in the published product information, which is why several popular packs with a rifle in the product photo are not here. No pack carries a score or an award from us, because we have not run a test that would justify one. Our method is on the how we choose page, and prices come live from Amazon with the capture date stamped beside them.
Keep browsing
Best hunting backpacks ranks the category by capacity with no gun-carry requirement. Best hunting backpack under $100 explains what the budget bracket gives up, and best deer scents is the small add-on that fits in the pocket of any of these.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best hunting backpack with a gun holder?
The TIDEWE 40L, because it publishes a rifle and bow carry system as a named feature rather than implying one in a photo, 40 liters is the capacity a day hunter actually uses, and the rain cover is included. If the gun needs to be fully enclosed and out of the weather rather than strapped to the outside, the Fox Outdoor universal rifle pack is the pick on this page that does that.
What is the difference between a gun sling and a rifle scabbard on a pack?
A sling is a pair of straps and a cup on the outside of the pack that holds the long gun vertically against the hunter's back, leaving their hands free. A scabbard or enclosed compartment puts the gun inside the pack, protected from rain and brush. Most packs advertised with a 'rifle holder' are the first kind; most buyers reading that phrase picture the second.
Can you hunt with a rifle on your backpack?
No - a gun strapped to a pack, or inside one, is not a gun that can be used. A pack carry system is strictly for the walk in, the walk out and moving between spots, which is exactly where it is valuable: it lets a hunter climb a ladder stand, cross a fence or pull up a bank with both hands. Transport rules for firearms differ by state and are the hunter's and their state wildlife agency's to define.
What size hunting backpack should I buy as a gift?
Forty liters, for almost everybody. That is the day-hunt size with room for shed layers, lunch, a kill kit and a thermos without being so big it gets half-filled. A 90-liter frame pack only suits a hunter who packs animals out on foot, and giving one to somebody who needed a day pack is the most common mistake in the category.
Do cheap hunting packs with gun slings actually work?
The carry system does. What the budget band gives up is the suspension - under about $100 you get a frame sheet rather than a frame, and a comfort hip belt rather than a load-transferring one, so the weight hangs off the shoulders. That matters on heavy loads and barely at all on a day-hunt load, which is what these packs are for.
Will a gun sling pack also carry a bow?
Usually, and that is a genuine advantage for a hunter who shoots a bow in archery season and a rifle in gun season. It is also a compromise at both: a bow is an awkward shape and a universal holder grips a riser less securely than a dedicated bow carry does. If the recipient is primarily an archer, treat the carry system as a bonus rather than the reason to buy the pack.
Sources
- TIDEWE - published product information for the 40L hunting backpack (rifle and bow carry system, silent fabric, rain cover included)
- BLISSWILL - published product information for the 40L hunting backpack with padded weapon carry for bow or rifle
- YVLEEN - published product information for the waterproof camo hunting day pack with rifle and bow holder
- Fox Outdoor Products - published product information for the Universal Rifle Pack (full-length compartment for rifles and shotguns, MOLLE pockets, hydration ports)