Towing a Freezer

Thanks Dan. I would like to keep as much in quarters as possible. My wife likes the camping time as much as the hunting. Plus we want some cuts to stay on the bone. That is all easier to do at home.
 
guys,

1) kill your animal
2)quarter your animal and let the meat air dry and get outside of meat dry and harden, moisture breeds bacteria. if weather allows.
3)if weather does not allow hanging meat, drive to walmart buy a 7cft freezer for 245.00 https://www.walmart.com/ip/Danby-7-2-cu-ft-Chest-Freezer-DCF072A3WDB-3-White/83277138
4)butcher your meat and put in freezer and plug into generator, or freeze in quarters.
5)upon getting home sell your new freezer for 220.00 or sell your old freezer.

for those saying the cost of gas of hauling is nutz, a brand new freezer weighs 85#, that is NOT gonna be costly to haul.

last year i put all my sleeping bag and hunting clothes on top of the meat inside the freezer to insulate while i was driving home, i drove straight thru 24 hrs meat was not even soft on outside.

my choice is buy a freezer if you kill something, bring meat home froze, keep or sell the freezer when u get home, i dont wanna drag empty coolers around and deal with ice.

if you do bring a freezer out with you, use it for your cooler set the temp higher, put your food in it on way out put your gear in it for storage if needed.
 
Hi Hunt Talk,

Last year was my first year attempting pronghorn and I drove out from Florida, where I was stationed with the Navy. I got a doe in Wyoming. My wife and I really liked the meat so we are going to go for more tags this year. We have a small trailer and 7 cubic foot chest freezer. We are planning to tow the freezer out and use a small generator to run it. I have heard of others doing this as well.

My question is, do you leave quarters in the game bags to put in the freezer or do you take them out of the game bags? Or maybe a better question is, how are you putting the meat in the freezer?

Thanks

I've never driven with a trailer but I often toss whole quarters in my freezer, I would hanging the meat and letting it cool, wrapping it in plastic wrap and then wrapping it in waxed butcher paper. If you are dead set on tossing it in with just a game bag make sure they are high quality synthetic bags, those Alaska game bag/cheese cloth ones can leave little fibers on the meat when you peal them off.

Also if it was me I would fill the freezer full of jugs of water and freeze them before you leave so that your freezer is full of something frozen. When you kill a pronghorn just take out enough jugs to make space for the meat, this will freezer your meat quicker and put less strain on the compressor. I have seen guys kill a freezer by putting an entire boned out elk in and older chest freezer, without cooling it down first.
 
Yes, I definitely plan to have it about half filled with block ice. I’m not dead set on leaving it in the game bags. That was the whole purpose of this thread - what is the best way to put quarters in the freezer.
 
Yes, I definitely plan to have it about half filled with block ice. I’m not dead set on leaving it in the game bags. That was the whole purpose of this thread - what is the best way to put quarters in the freezer.

Use the uncoated black contractor trash bags, if the freezer is already cold and they are going right in. When you get home if they are frozen you can just get warm water to get it to release from the plastic, game bags would be too expensive for 3-4 doe pronghorn tags.
 
Yes, I definitely plan to have it about half filled with block ice. I’m not dead set on leaving it in the game bags. That was the whole purpose of this thread - what is the best way to put quarters in the freezer.

I took glad wrap and freezer paper to AK, boned out my caribou frozen it and then carried it on the plane in a dry bag. Meat came out of the bag rock solid and pristine. That would be my go to method with quarters as well. That being said, once quartered it only takes 10-15 min to bone out a pronghorn. I keep everything above the knee as one big piece of meat and then the shank as another, and then cut out steaks and roasts when I get home.
 
Do not use trash bags, they are treated.
Lots of folks haul freezers up for hunts and you should not have many issues with one that size.
Dry ice is also readily available up here instead of ice blocks. You could fill water jugs when you get here and put them in the freezer with dry ice and have them frozen easily in a night.
I do agree 3-4 boned out doe will fit in a 150-160 qt cooler.
Keep the quarters separate so GW can check them, they will want to see all the meat and proof of sex. Put the proof of sex in a baggies with a quarter just for ease of checking.
 
Not all trash bags are treated, you have to look when you buy them. I’ve used the uncoated ones with no ill effects.
 
I just picked up a used 8 cubic ft chest freezer for $25 that i plan on bringing out west on an elk hunt next fall. One reason i got it was not having to hurry right home with the meat. Can just plug it in at a buddy's house or motel etc.. and not have to worry about the meat/cape if successful.

One other neat idea i read was you can turn a freezer into a fridge with temperature controller for around $60 off Amazon. Thought that would be handy to have around home for early season hunts. Mini walk in cooler in a way.
 
I've driven from Texas to Cal with a couple of hundred pounds of meat...used 10 lbs of dry ice and it was still frozen solid when I got home 3 days latter. Not fancy coolers either, just wally world specials.
 
We use a freezer all the time. Small one will fit in your truck bed no need to haul a trailer. Works slick.
 
I live in Ca and pull my enclosed trailer with 2 freezers back to Idaho and Wyoming each year. Last year between my wife and I and a buddy and his wife we came home with 8 Deer and 8 Antelope. I have been using the freezers for years. Works great. I am in the process of getting another enclosed trailer and converting it into a walk in cooler so I can hang the critters without quartering.
 
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