I had a bag entered at Dixons some years back that got high marks accept for the fact that I used the brass rings from Tandy. Way too large a gage. Thin gage iron, about coat hanger size in cross section, is much better.
You can get various size iron round stock in the hardware section of wallmart. If you have a lathe, you can chuck up a piece of brass or even wood of the proper diameter to act as a mandrel, drill a hole in it to anchor one end of the rod, and wrap the rod around the mandrel. Final product looks like a spring. Cut off sections and squeeze the ends together. Plenty strong enough to hold all the weight you would care to put into a hunting bag. No need to weld the ends shut unless you want to.
The advantage of rings is that it lets the strap "move" on the ring to better fit over layers of clothing. If you choose to sew the straps to the bag directly, I would recomment a slight angle so that the straps more naturally follow the contour of the body.
