I just bought a cheap cooler

30+ years ago there were no monster super coolers.
When we did an extender bird trip to eastern MT first of September, the temp's can and did exceed 95* for a week.
We would Line one of the pickup beds with wool blankets than a Big poly tarp. There was a meat store that would sell us cubed ice by the truckload.
We would fill the bed with ice finish wrapping the tarp over it. More army surplus wool blankets and then a final white painter's tarp.
We could keep sagehen, sharp tail, and doves very cold for about 3 days, maybe four depending if we could find some shade to park in.
 
Damn, I may have to visit Costco! Good thing about not having a premium cooler is if people drive by and see an Igloo in your truck, they'll probably assume you don't know what you're doing and will leave your spot alone. I'd like a big Yeti, but I hunt solo most often and can barely move them when they're empty. I also do most of my hunting in October and November in CO, so ice retention isn't a huge deal.
 
I guess it depends if you want things cold or frozen for 2 to 3 days or 6 to 7. Cheap coolers are great for day trips but on multi day trips, especially say on a river trip, it matters.
 
I think like everything else it depends on the kind of hunting you do. For me, traveling from out of state with a couple of buddies, and one of us kills early in the trip, having good coolers helps a lot to keep us hunting versus either heading home or taking a ton of time away for meat care. I have gotten an elk into coolers, run quick into town for some dry ice, and then close it up and the meat has been frosty 5-6 days later when I get back home to MN. In this kind of scenario I think good coolers make a difference.

If you are largely day hunting, or if you kill, are going to start heading home, it probably doesn't make much difference.
 
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