What is your cooler set up for elk?

[klampson]

Two Yeti 110 coolers, fill one with frozen gallon water bottles, i usually add a block or two of dry ice right before I reach my final destination, it keeps the gallon jugs frozen solid for a few more days.

 

[Browning55]

Yeti 350. Fits a whole bull bone in.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

i use a 7 cu ft chest freezer,,always have in my trailer for all hunt trips,,out of state long milage multi day excurtions ,,its the way to go//i run solar on my trailer roof and itll run the freezer no problem//have a gas generater if i need it but the solar setup works great so far,,i have dual deep cycle trojan batterys with a 1000 watt inverter,,works great.

 

[Browning55]

i use a 7 cu ft chest freezer,,always have in my trailer for all hunt trips,,out of state long milage multi day excurtions ,,its the way to go//i run solar on my trailer roof and itll run the freezer no problem//have a gas generater if i need it but the solar setup works great so far,,i have dual deep cycle trojan batterys with a 1000 watt inverter,,works great.

I would love to pick you brain about this. I want to get a small enclosed trailer with a freezer. can you run it while driving? I’m going to Alberta in 2023 for a moose hunt and thinking about having this type of set up with me for the drive back to co

 

[buckbull]

The first year i went elk hunting i did the freezer and generator thing. But it bounced around too much it locked up the compressor. We still ended up using the freezer by adding dry ice. Alot of the meat was frozen when we got back home. I havent tried the freezer thing since, just use lots of smaller coolers.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

i havnt had any issues with my home depot cheapie freezer[I believe about $180} 5+ yrs ago,,i run it down the highway no problem inside the trailer on inverter power,,truck alternater sends power to the battery,s in trailer as well as the solar still charging while on the road.I have 3 panels on my trailer roof going into a solar charge controller,,i believe its a hqst 30 amp controller with 3,,, 100 watt hqst panels,,i got thru amazon,plus related cords,ect,,i dont turn on freezer till i need it and use it to store gear on the way,then turn it on while im skinning ,game bagging,,ect at camp,,doesnt take long to cool down.this is clearly the way to go for long milage,multi state hunt trips,,i also take my qtrs and suck them down in large "spacesaver" bags to vacum pack them till i get home to process,,keeps the meet good,no brown surface"oxygen" exposure.no soggy ice water to mess up the meat.

 

[C17loadclear]

Is anyone venting their cooler when using dry ice?

 

[RealMuddyboots]

I've used wood to make platform to set my game meat on for trip home and never satisfied with how the wood just got crappy from all the fluids etc. Threw out every time but still didn't like it near the meat. I was in Menards walking past the shelving area and noticed the metal grill shelving. Wondered if they would fit in 150 qt cooler. Sized up cooler and went back and found a shelf that was almost perfect fit; close enough. I then added a small piece of vinyl trim with SS washers and screws for added support in middle of shelf. It fit precisely the same height as the shelf. This will provide nice easy drain of water from cooler and prevent water hiking up into the meat. I like I can power wash it or just soak it in cooler with hot soapy water to clean both out after trip for another trip. Its not SS but covered with vinyl which I hope will last a few trips. I also add 2" foam mat cut slightly larger than cooler so I can psck it in tight over meat providing more insulation over meat. Like most I duct tape lid seam. I also place cooler on 2x4's to keep off truck bed for added cooling from road heat. Throw moving blanket over it as well. This has worked for trips from Durango area to Michigan quite well with block ice.

 

[CTELK83]

I built mine out of left over materials at my office…. It holds ice for over 2 weeks

 

[RealMuddyboots]

So you Xerox your meat?

 

[88man]

150QT with frozen milk jugs then topped off with dry ice. 50 qt for the cape and dry ice.

 

[DouglasR]

Is anyone venting their cooler when using dry ice?

You’re gonna want to.
My buddy blew the back glass out of his taco last season.

 

[Chama Grande]

I did milk jugs for a bit, I didn't like it. They swell up like spheres and leave a lot of void space in the cooler. I tried half gallons thinking that I could stack them but I just spent too much time chasing, cleaning, and saving half gallon containers. I now buy 2-24 packs of 12 oz water bottles, freeze them up and throw as many as I can in an RTIC 65. I end up with very little void space, it costs less than ten bucks and I don't have to scavenge the trash. And I don't have to worry about contaminating anything with old milk residue. If I don't fill the tag, I'll just drink the water bottles at home

RTCI 65 gets loaded with frozen bottles and sits untouched. Igloo 120 rides empty. When an animal goes in, I just split up the bottles between the coolers

 

[gwhunter]

I did milk jugs for a bit, I didn't like it. They swell up like spheres and leave a lot of void space in the cooler. I tried half gallons thinking that I could stack them but I just spent too much time chasing, cleaning, and saving half gallon containers. I now buy 2-24 packs of 12 oz water bottles, freeze them up and throw as many as I can in an RTIC 65. I end up with very little void space, it costs less than ten bucks and I don't have to scavenge the trash. And I don't have to worry about contaminating anything with old milk residue. If I don't fill the tag, I'll just drink the water bottles at home

RTCI 65 gets loaded with frozen bottles and sits untouched. Igloo 120 rides empty. When an animal goes in, I just split up the bottles between the coolers

I do almost exactly this, except I buy 4 cases of water bottles to fill up my 150qt. Every open inch of cooler space in the two coolers I bring (150 & 120 igloos) gets loaded with frozen 12 oz water bottles and frozen Gatorade bottles. As I need room for meat, I just pull out enough bottles and wedge the meat throughout. When I'm on the drive home I stop at the first town with dry ice and get a pound or two to toss on top and keep everything cool for the 22 hour drive back home.

 

[DouglasR]

Is anyone venting their cooler when using dry ice?

But seriously I’ve put like 10lbs in a rtic 65 full of frozen bottles and driven with the windows up all day in a Jetta without any kind of venting on the cooler and i didn’t pass out and the cooler never blew up.
But I was definitely wondering the same thing the first time I did it. Lol

 

[shannerdrake]

It’s all been said, but my experiences have been larger coolers are more efficient so not all quarts are created equal. Hypothetically I’d rather have one 200qt than two 100qt coolers.

That being said I have a 135qt and a 120qt. I did a bone in mature cow in those with plenty of room for block ice. The same setup would hardly hold a processed and frozen bull and barely had room for dry ice. In all fairness he was a fat and healthy early season bull with access to irrigated alfalfa so he was pretty big with plenty of fat on him. His cape took up most of a 65qt.

When I go anymore, I just take three 120+qt coolers. Gives me flexibility.

 

[88man]

Block is is great when you can find it. I have also froze those 2.5 gallon jugs fertilizer comes in a few times. They hold a long time.

 

[2rocky]

My Tule Elk rode 7 hours home in an aluminum Truck box with bag ice, after being stored in a walk in cooler for 12 hours. Not ideal but worked...

When nights are below freezing there is usually enough mass to hold the cold until we reach a town to get Dry Ice. The key is Pre Cooled meat.

 

[Art Vandeley]

Coleman on wheels...

 

[JAG]

i havnt had any issues with my home depot cheapie freezer[I believe about $180} 5+ yrs ago,,i run it down the highway no problem inside the trailer on inverter power,,truck alternater sends power to the battery,s in trailer as well as the solar still charging while on the road.I have 3 panels on my trailer roof going into a solar charge controller,,i believe its a hqst 30 amp controller with 3,,, 100 watt hqst panels,,i got thru amazon,plus related cords,ect,,i dont turn on freezer till i need it and use it to store gear on the way,then turn it on while im skinning ,game bagging,,ect at camp,,doesnt take long to cool down.this is clearly the way to go for long milage,multi state hunt trips,,i also take my qtrs and suck them down in large "spacesaver" bags to vacum pack them till i get home to process,,keeps the meet good,no brown surface"oxygen" exposure.no soggy ice water to mess up the meat.

How many de-boned elk does your 7 cu ft freezer hold?

The reliable consensus appears to indicate that one 210 cu inch cooler (two 100's) holds:

one bull elk + ice.

If 7 cu ft = 12,096 cu inches, then: 12,096 cu in/210 = 57.6 bull elk + 0 ice

Please help. A 7 cu ft cooler is starting to sound like it might be a hunter's Tardis or I'm about to flunk another math test.