Coolers

Times getting close and I still don't know what size cooler I'll need should I be fortunate enough to fill my Elk or Deer tag to bring the meat home.
I have a nice aluminum truck tool box I was thinking of lining with 1/2" styrfoam and 1/4"plywood to make a lockable cooler which should hold anything I would be lucky enough to shoot.
What size cooler does everyone use?

I have a 65 quart Yeti cooler and I love it. It has kept ice for 5 days in 85-90° temps.
They are expensive but worth the price of admission.
I also have a 120 quart cooler that I used and will use it again.
One option is to bring a small chest cooler. Run it a few days before you leave and while you are there.
It will keep everything frozen for the ride back home.

JD336

I used to put elk in a standard igloo with dry ice and then duct tape the seals.

I'm going with a 125 qt canyon this time. Last year a guide had one and the darn thing held ice for days on end. Extremely well built, better insulated and for the size a little less expensive than yeti. It also has concealed handles so when sliding heavy coolers in a truck they won't shear off when your careless friend slides one in like a caveman........................ :shock:

https://bestcooler.reviews/canyon-cooler-review/


http://www.canyoncoolers.com/

I'd take a couple used Omaha steak cooler or a 100qt. Duct tape and dry ice work!


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Rodger, my son has a Grizzly cooler and he advised it is cheaper than the Yeti and it has done everything that the Yeti claims to be capable of :wink:.

Blessings,
Dan

Thanks everyone for the different suggestions. I'm thinking that a couple of coolers would be easier to handle then just one large one and would be able to get them in the cab off my pickup easier than one large one but I have to take some measurements to find out. Size capacity is what I'm looking at like if 2 60gt coolers will hold a whole Elk and ice then that will probably be the way I'll go. Since the trip will more then likely take me 3 days traveling that will mean 2 over night stops and I would like to have my meat securely locked up then stolen out of the truck bed.
Things tend to disappear from parking lots even right outside a motel room.

Roger from my perspective it depends on whether you're bringing back cut and wrapped meat or quarters. If cut and wrapped I would go with 48 quart. Each will hold 50 pounds of meat and give flexibility in how you load the truck.

salmonchaser":19bem2h6 said:

Roger from my perspective it depends on whether you're bringing back cut and wrapped meat or quarters. If cut and wrapped I would go with 48 quart. Each will hold 50 pounds of meat and give flexibility in how you load the truck.

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Thanks I hope to have it cut, wrapped and flash frozen before I leave to return home if I can.

Kinda what I figured reading your last post you would hate dragging a 150 or 200 pound ice chest into a hotel every night.
The other thing to think about is the smaller ice chests will be packed full of frozen meat. There will be very little airspace so it will keep frozen better. The other thing that will help, don't put your ice chest directly on the bed of the pickup, surprising how warm they get.
We send guests home with 10 dollar 48 quart ice chests all the time. Some as far away as Florida and Boston. Granted they usually make it in under 24 hours, but the fish stays frozen. With the high quality ones you're looking at I think you'll be fine.

I found a used Grizzly 165 I got bought pretty reasonable. The guy went from a Toyota Tundra to a Tacoma and needed to downsize coolers. My F350 has room for the big cooler. I haven't used it yet, but loaned it to a couple friends who used it on an archery elk hunt and got the quartered bull into it. They loved the cooler, said it worked great.

A small freezer might be cheaper than some of the new super coolers. Plug it in at night at the hotel. But if you are freezing the meat before leaving, you should be ok with most coolers. I like the idea of putting something under the coolers. Maybe buy a sheet of foam insulation out there, cut it in half, and put the pieces under the coolers. Have a great trip and good luck.

Rodger, I know a group of guys that went on a Caribou hunt in Quebec and bought a freezer at Walmart before they left and picked it up in one of the stores as they drove through :mrgreen:.
They brought 3 caribou back and stated that they had no trouble keeping it froze .
When I was fishing last year up with Gerry and Maria we brought our Salmon back in a big cooler with dry ice and then 2 days after driving from Terrace to Calgary we bought more dry ice there for the trip home .

Blessings,
Dan

I've had excellent results with this one:
https://www.samsclub.com/sams/max-cold- ... roduct:1:2

I used it camping to Yellowstone as a 'fridge, and a few times hauling elk & deer & antelope back from out west. Despite the inexpensive cost, it keeps ice for days and has been well worth the purchase. On the way out I fill it with gear, and on the way home with ice and meat.

Highly recommended.

One of my hunting partners has a couple of Yeti's. I've borrowed them and used them, but for my needs (hauling meat + ice for up to 3 days in a covered pickup bed) I have yet to see the need to spend the $$$.

^^^^^ Dr Vette's comments are on the money, so to speak. I use 150qt, 7 day, coolers from BJs. They cost $59 each. If your butchered meat is frozen or semi-frozen it will stay fine for a few days at least. I filled 3 coolers to the lid with butchered frozen moose meat (but not frozen as hard as a rock). The trip back from Newfoundland took 3 days. All the meat was still freezing cold and NO ice was ever used. The loaded coolers weighed in at about 100lbs IIRC.

If the meat was frozen SOLID it would probably stay for several days more. The Yeti class coolers are nice but their reduced capacity and significant cost make them impracticable unless their qualities are really needed. I'm rarely more than 3 days drive from home and the "7 day" 150 qt coolers have gotten the job done at significantly less cost.

One thing about coolers. It's the exterior temperature that makes the yeti's of the world make sense. Yeah, that sounds like I've become "obvious man" but, a two or three day trip in the North is nothing like it is down south. Two or three days down here where it is usually in the 80's through October and into early November will kill ice quicker than Guy Miner can a grizzly!

For me the high end coolers are worth the cost.

Where they really shine is a 3 day camping trip when you trying to keep adult beverages cold! 8)

C. S,

All very good points!

Charlie-NY":3dt1v22d said:

C. S,

All very good points!

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I've hunted in shorts in November here in Texas where you can have all four seasons in one day. I remember once that it hit 80 degrees on Christmas day. We have to prepare for hot weather and getting deer skinned/quartered and on ice quickly. Some of the places I've hunted are pretty far off the beaten path where it might be 45 minutes to the main road and another 30 to the first place to get ice. On a 4 or 5 day hunt there one comes with as much ice as possible and having a great cooler makes a ton of different. You don't want to get your taste buds all ready for a scotchie-poo in the evening only to find you have no ice! Nothing sucks like that....................... :shock: