TAG Game Bag Review
TAG game bags are by far the best game bag on the market. Growing up hunting in Florida my entire life I never needed to buy or even use game bags until I moved to Alaska. After doing some online research and seeing a few different types used on a previous moose hunt, I decided to purchase a 6 pack of TAG game bags in sizes 28" X 60". My initial purchase was made primarily on 2 reasons and based off comparisons of the TAG game bag and a generic cotton game bag. The first reason was how light weight and compact they are. I knew that I would eventually being doing some backpack hunts and would need the lightest game bags I could find, but that were still durable enough to last a few seasons. TAG bags are made of a new synthetic material called Game-VentTM. This material is very breathable allowing proper ventilation to the meat and preventing spoilage. Many other game bags made of cotton do not allow proper air flow and hold the moisture in. This allows bacteria to form and the meat to spoil. TAG bags synthetic material also drys very quickly when hung out. Another feature that is crucial is they resist mold which is a must when dealing with meat.
On one of our caribou trips we opened up an action packer that had many of our game bags in it all freshly washed and bleached only to find most of the cotton bags unusable due to the amount of mold that covered them. Luckily we had 2 sets of TAG bags ready to be filled. TAG bags come in a few different sizes and can be purchased individually or in packs. For larger game such as moose they have a 6 pack that are 28" X 60". For medium size game they have a 5 pack that are 24" X 44". All bags come individually rolled inside an orange mesh bag that is about the size of a football. My second reason for choosing TAG bags was watching how easily they were cleaned on the same hunt/moose in comparison to the generic cotton bag. My set of bags saw 2 caribou and 1 moose and they still look brand new after some very easy cleaning. The dried blood instantly started washing away with just a little water. For cleaning my bags this season I simply let them soak in a bucket for about a 1/2 day to a full day. Just allowing them to soak in a bucket of water removes most of the blood and stains. Next I pressure washed each bag which gets the remaining stains out. After this i let them soak in the bucket again with a little bleach and water to sterilize before taking them into the house and into the washing machine. After that they go into the washing machine for a round of bleach and then another round of just water. Doing this same process with the cotton bags requires many extra repetitive steps and time in order to get the same results. Even after all this the cotton bags can still grow mold, as we found out.
One thing that is surprising is how strong and durable these bags are for being such a light weight material. These bags handled the weight and size of a moose hind leg with no problem. The sets were designed to fit a quarter in each bag and the remaining meat in the additional bags. At the top of the bag is a draw string for closing up the top and keeping the bugs out. They also held up to the sharp bones and thick brush we went through on the 4 wheelers.
After seeing how well they performed in the field Kyle and I wanted to do a quick comparison between TAG bags and cotton bags of weight and size. We wanted to keep the bags as close in size as possible. The closest we could find in our arsenal was a cotton bag 43" X 33" totaling 1419 square inches. For the TAG bag we used the larger "moose size" bag that is 56" X 27" totaling 1512 square inches. Our first weigh in comparing one bag each was more of a difference than we were expecting. The single cotton bag came in at 1 lb 12.8 oz. While the single TAG bag weighed in at 7.9 oz. We stacked up 4 tag bags on the scale and they weighed in at 1 lb. 15.8 oz. Only a 3 oz. difference between the two makes a cotton bag almost 4 times the weight of one TAG bag! Our final weight was of the complete set of 6 TAG bags in the mesh bag. This total weighed only 3 lbs. 1.6 oz. For a complete set of game bags that will easily handle an entire moose that's pretty impressive. To get close to the same amount of square inches in the cotton bags you would not only only have to devote a small action packer of room for them, but you would be hauling around 10 lbs 12.79 oz. For most wheeler hunts this isn't necessarily an issue. However if you plan to be taking in your gear on your back, saving more than 7 lbs is quite a substantial weight savings. In my opinion TAG bags are the best game bag on the market and the only game bag I will be taking in the field on my back or in my wheeler.
59 comments
I am going to use these bags on a upcoming 2015 moose, caribou, wolf and bear Alaskan Yukon rafting hunt. Alaska trip of a lifetime.
Shared with all my FB Friends as well. Good Luck all!
I would plan to hunt Elk and or Deer this year. These would be a great weight reduction in my pack.
I will likely be leaving state after next hunting season, so I have quite a bucket list! I hope to hit black bears and a grizzly in both the spring and then again in fall in the berries. Caribou and moose in Unit 13 are on the agenda, as well as Brooks Range sheep and Caribou. If all comes together as planned, it will be a hunting season for the ages!
These bags woulda been way better than pillowcases for the bison a couple months ago, but they’ll definitely help out on some goat this fall!
and i posted
These TAG bags would be nice for a walk-in moose hunt this fall in the Caribou Hills!
mooese
Would be perfect to put my sons caribou in this year up on the Haul Road!!!
If I win this bag I would give it to my husband, who is deployed to Afghanistan, to use on a hunt he will go on this fall out west with his buddy! Thanks!!
OMG it’s been a very long time since we enjoyed a hunting trip – too wrapped up in work
would love to plan a hunt again – this would be an excellent compliment!
I need some of these.
Hoping for Buffalo
Larry gave me some demo bags many years ago…I think it has been 8 years now??? At any rate, they have been used extensively and they are still holding strong. I love the fact that once you get them home you just throw them in the washer with a cup of bleach and they clean right up. Even if you don’t win the giveaway, I would highly encourage anyone to purchase a set of these bags either from Larry at pristineventures.com or Marc Taylor at Wiggy’s Alaska. Support your local Alaska mom and pop shops!
I don’t need another set of bags, but I shared this with my FB bros on my page and asked them to like The Alaska Life, sign up for the giveaway and enjoy the awesome news feeds the Alaska Life provides. In exchange for them doing so, if I am the lucky wiener of the bags, I’ll give them to one of the friends who signed up via my share. Last count, you have four new “Likes” since my share.
Thanks for the first set of bags Larry. They are by far the best game bag out there.
These are amazing game bags and would go perfect with the cow moose quarters my wife will have this fall after she draws a local cow moose tag! I love introducing her to the general and technical sides of this great pursuit. These bags embody both!!! -Chris
I lost mine in Kodiak, and would love to get another set!
These will be awesome for our next hunt with the grand kids. I like the cleaning and sterilization ease and the light weight. I hope it’s me.
THESE LOOK AWESOME I WOULD LOVE TO WIN ONE FINGERS CROSSED
Looks to be an amazing lightweight bag. It would be great for going high in the mountains for a black bear in the spring and moose in the fall.
Shared!
These bags would be awesome to take on a sheep hunt!
these would be sweet to use for all kinds of game in alaska
My boyfriend and I love to hunt. This past fall we lost almost all of our equipment when our argo got caught up in a river. Luckily we recovered the rig, but not much else. This would be a great start in rebuilding our personal outfit. We hunt everythjing from moose to bear.
My guy would really like to have them & so would I because he wouldn’t lose blaze orange bags.
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My hubby would love these!! Would love to win them!