Alsatian

I have a question about coolers for hauling meat home after an out-of-state hunt.

I'm going elk hunting for the first time this October. My hunt is about 850 miles from my home. In the past (pronghorn hunt in Wyoming -- 1,300 miles from home) I butchered my meat and packaged it, put some dry ice in the bottom of my cooler, put about a 1/4" layer of newspaper on top of the dry ice, put the meat in, put another layer of 1/4" of newspaper on top of the meat, and put more dry ice on top. I closed the cooler lid and sealed as best I could with duct tape. This worked very effectively for pronghorn meat, freezing it rock solid and keeping it frozen. Now to my question.

How many coolers and what size cooler will I need for bringing home butchered, packaged elk meat? Assume 200 LBS of elk meat. I was looking at some 50 quart coolers last night and thinking maybe four coolers, but I wonder if I could get 50 LBS of meat into such a cooler ALONG WITH THE DRY ICE.

Can anyone provide guidance on this? Additionally, what brand cooler do you recommend? I looked at some Igloo coolers at Wal-Mart last night and they looked a little shabby and poorly constructed. One cooler on the shelf to be sold actually had metal screws attaching the plastic hinges to the plastic cooler and two screws had stripped out of their holes. This seemed a poor design.

Howler

I'd say that your assessment of 200#'s is pretty close, and I beleive your dry ice above and below frozen meat will be just fine for your trip home, so it all comes down to finding the "right" coolers. I think a couple of BIG coolers would be better than 4 little coolers, BUT I'm not sure of who makes the best cooler.

Champlain Islander

I use the 156 qt coolers for transport. I have been to Newfoundland 3 times and brought back a processed woodland caribou each time. The bo was deboned and cut, packaged and frozen. The cooler wouldhold a large stag caribou and weighed about 150 pounds when filled. We didn't add any ice and after a 2 day trip home the meat was all still frozen solid. We are planning a 3 day drive to Colorado this October and plan to get a freezer box for the back of the truck and try to get the elk processed out there. If we can't get a freezer box we will each bringtwo 156 qt coolers.

Alsatian

Helpful information so far. Thanks. I will add more information, I'm on this trip alone and so will have to lift my cooler into my truck on my own. I prefer multiple smaller coolers to a single large cooler for this reason, although multiple smaller coolers is probably less efficient thermally than one large cooler. From the posting RE the 158 quart cooler, it looks like I can approximate LBS meat to 1 quart ofcooler capacity (although capacity is a little less because I will need to put dry ice in my cooler -- I'm starting with meat that is not frozen and depending upon the dry ice to accomplish the freezing process -- I'm on a do-it-yourself hunt and will be processing my meat myself also). Additionally, I plan on carrying an extra cooler in the event my estimate of 200 LBS of meat is too low.

What brands are preferred?

Elk2901

We are going Elk/Deer hunting in Colorado this fall. Here in Arkansas we can not bring back any bones from Colorado. And we will be on a tight schedule to get back home. We will hang/age the carcusthen debone it in large sections.

So we are planning to build a cooler with plywood and lined with 1/2 inch styrofoam. Its size will be 2 ft by 2 ft by 4 ft. We hope this will hold 2 elk. But we will take some large coolers with us also because we will (hopefully) have a deer also.

We might also use an old freezer if we find one.

In prior years we have laid down a tarp, one elk hide then the elk quarters, then an elk hide and put some dry ice in on the quarters and covered the whole pile with another tarp. Still very cool after 3 days on the road home. Had itcut and wrappedwhen we got home.

bugs11

Interesting topic. I'm planning on taking6 large coolers on my DYI foray to CO this fall. Bone out the meat at kill site, package in multiple plastic bags, cool the meat in the multiple plastic bags in CO streams. Load the coolers with cooled meat and stop at the first store I come to for ice for the trip home.

Of course, all this is predicated on the assumption that as a first time elk hunter I'm exceedingly lucky and actually pot an elk.

buck knife

We hunt in October and depending on the weather the meat could be frozen. We usually don't even put the meat in coolers. I have a 18-19 hour drive (1200 miles) and the meat is still cold when we get home. Keep it out of the sun and it will be fine. I have seen a lot of people use freezers (some even run a generator while driving) and I have seen the box with tyvek type insulation in it also. You shouldn't need to lift the coolers/freezer. Put it in the back of the truck and carry the meat to it rather than trying to lift all the weight at once. The key is to get the meat frozen or cold before you leave. Hang it overnight or bury it in the snow. If there is snow on the ground fill the cooler with that. Getting the meat wet isn't a problem, I just don't like to let it soak so we drain it and add more ice if needed (when you hit warm weather).

Windwalker7

We used the freezer/generator method to bring back 3 moose from Newfoundland. It was a 36 hour trip. It worked well.


You could probably get a small freezer for your trip. It doesn't even have to work. Just put dry ice in it and forget the generator.

ELKampMaster

150 quart for a processed and packaged small/medium bull is about right.Four smaller coolers (50 Quart)would be about right considering the less efficient packingthis alsodepends how efficient your dressing job was and how much meat you discard as undesirale.

Igloo (best)or Coleman (cheaper but okay)5 Day Rated Coolers are my choice for everything nowadays.

If using the dry ice to "sharp freeze" warm meat, then allow 1 pound dry ice to 2.5 pounds elk meat, ifthe meatis very cold or semi frozen then 1 pound dry ice to 4 pounds meat. Especially if doing warm meat, then use pieces of cardboard with one inch holes (like apple boxes & others) and leave 3/4" to 1" around the outside edges (don't cut them tight to fit) and put cardboard between each layer of meat. This seperates the layers yet still lets the cold migrate evenly to the spots furthest from the dry ice. Keep cardboard between dry ice and the meat packages (okay to leave the dry ice in the paper bags). It is possible to have uneven cooling/freezing without circulation "holes/gaps" especially if your meat is warm and pliable.Even with frozen meat we put at least 3 cardboard seperator layers to ensure "not-too-tight/room-to-circulate" packing-job.

Warm meat or not, we place dry ice on the top, one third the way down, and two thirds the way down. We put no dry ice in the bottom, but always have some on top so that we can check the cooler and if the top ice is gone we know we need more ASAP. This way if one mis-judges the amount of dry ice needed, then you can hip hop your way homebuying additionaldry ice as you go (Cabelas to Cabelas).

More than once after "coming down out of the hills" and going to the grocery store and buying all the dry ice and getting extra boxes with the holes in them, the wife and I have been out in the grocery store parking lot with all our packaged elk meat out of the coolers (put into shopping carts), cutting cardboard, layering meat, breaking and placing dry ice, and rebuilding out coolers. This is precious cargo and this is no time to skimp.

Taping the cooler shut isa decent idea (I'd use blue painters tape instead of duct tape though), but put at least a pin hole in the seal as the gas given off by the CO2 evaporating WILL have to find a place to go --- SPEAKING OF WHICH --- if you carry the coolers in your cab, then beware of oxygen deprivation possibilities and the the corresponding drowsiness that could be caused by the abundant CO2 coming off of the coolers --- VENTILATE.

ironranger

The two bulls I've taken in Colorado were both quartered and taken to a local cooler while the rest were finishing their hunts. Once that was done, we had about 14 hours to home from there. I had a big blue tarp and made a cooler out of it. I laid it in the truck bed, then laid blocks of ice on the bottom, then put the game bags with elk meat on top of the ice, and folder over the tarp and tucked it under securely. The meat was cool when we arrived home.