Bulldog0156
Well-known member
So I know a lot of folks talk about filling up milk jugs, orange juice containers, etc to freeze for ice for long hunting trips and just thought I'd share what I tried last fall.
I bought a case of 16 oz water bottles (35 bottles total) and attempted to freeze them before my trip to SE Montana for antelope. I was a little late on getting the bottles and freezing them so I think there were only maybe 3-4 that were actually frozen solid. They ranged from mostly frozen to not frozen at all (bad packing in the freezer on my part). I had just bought a 70 qt Coleman Extreme because I didn't have a very good cooler and I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a cooler. I did not do any sort of pre-cooling of the cooler, I just threw the water bottles in and loaded up and headed out. On my way out of town I stopped and picked up some dry ice, I think it was about 17 pounds worth in total. I threw the dry ice in on top of the water bottles hoping it would finish the job that the freezer started. I had read to throw the dry ice on top of whatever you want frozen since heat rises.
Fast forward to opening morning. I hadn't opened the cooler until I started loading it with meat. I boned out my antelope, threw it in game bags, and packed it into the cooler. When I opened the cooler, all the water bottles had frozen rock solid. By this point, there was very little dry ice left, less than a pound, but it had done it's job to keep the cooler freezing and water bottles frozen until I had need for them. I packed the meat bags into the cooler, layering the water bottles in between to avoid any warm spots. Once done, I didn't open the cooler again until getting back. The water bottles were all still frozen with just a little bit of ice starting to melt in the upper ones and the antelope was cool and dry. The water bottles didn't sweat very much so I didn't have to worry about the meat getting wet like I would have if I used bags or blocks of ice. The water bottles also allowed for strategic packing of the cooler to ensure even cooling. When loaded, the cooler was one heavy SOB, but it worked great! We left on a Thursday night after work, drove all through the night, and headed back Monday afternoon so it wasn't a super extended trip but I think this method would work pretty well for up to a week. I made sure to keep the cooler in the shade as well as I could during the days on the trip and our highs were in the mid 70's.
I left the cooler open with the water bottles in it and the top loose on the top after I had processed all the meat. 5 days later, there were still bottles at the bottom of the pile still rock solid frozen. The water bottles all stayed sealed so no leakage, and are reusable. Just thought I'd throw my experience out there as an idea for folks looking to keep things cold for long periods of time. I was really impressed with how well my system worked and will use it in the future.
I bought a case of 16 oz water bottles (35 bottles total) and attempted to freeze them before my trip to SE Montana for antelope. I was a little late on getting the bottles and freezing them so I think there were only maybe 3-4 that were actually frozen solid. They ranged from mostly frozen to not frozen at all (bad packing in the freezer on my part). I had just bought a 70 qt Coleman Extreme because I didn't have a very good cooler and I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a cooler. I did not do any sort of pre-cooling of the cooler, I just threw the water bottles in and loaded up and headed out. On my way out of town I stopped and picked up some dry ice, I think it was about 17 pounds worth in total. I threw the dry ice in on top of the water bottles hoping it would finish the job that the freezer started. I had read to throw the dry ice on top of whatever you want frozen since heat rises.
Fast forward to opening morning. I hadn't opened the cooler until I started loading it with meat. I boned out my antelope, threw it in game bags, and packed it into the cooler. When I opened the cooler, all the water bottles had frozen rock solid. By this point, there was very little dry ice left, less than a pound, but it had done it's job to keep the cooler freezing and water bottles frozen until I had need for them. I packed the meat bags into the cooler, layering the water bottles in between to avoid any warm spots. Once done, I didn't open the cooler again until getting back. The water bottles were all still frozen with just a little bit of ice starting to melt in the upper ones and the antelope was cool and dry. The water bottles didn't sweat very much so I didn't have to worry about the meat getting wet like I would have if I used bags or blocks of ice. The water bottles also allowed for strategic packing of the cooler to ensure even cooling. When loaded, the cooler was one heavy SOB, but it worked great! We left on a Thursday night after work, drove all through the night, and headed back Monday afternoon so it wasn't a super extended trip but I think this method would work pretty well for up to a week. I made sure to keep the cooler in the shade as well as I could during the days on the trip and our highs were in the mid 70's.
I left the cooler open with the water bottles in it and the top loose on the top after I had processed all the meat. 5 days later, there were still bottles at the bottom of the pile still rock solid frozen. The water bottles all stayed sealed so no leakage, and are reusable. Just thought I'd throw my experience out there as an idea for folks looking to keep things cold for long periods of time. I was really impressed with how well my system worked and will use it in the future.
