Home-made Cooler for Elk?

[iShoot17]

A Buddy and I each bought 150qt coolers from WalMart, and then took two additional smaller camping coolers, for our trip to Pinedale, WY at the end of September last year. We each shot a bull and quartered them out. Between the four coolers, we were able to fully pack the bone in, not frozen, elk. We layered them with towels and dry ice and did not open until we got back to SW PA. Our goal was to keep them cold enough, but not freeze since we still had to butcher.

We could have done it with three 150qt coolers, but we didn't see the need to purchase a third.

On the trip back, we were driving across the plains in 80 degree temperatures. The meat was perfectly fine by the time we got home and was placed into refrigerators for butchering a couple days later. Some of it was actually frozen due to being too close to the dry ice. That was over 1,800 miles of driving as reference. We did drive it straight through though.

I'd highly suggest it! Cheap, reusable (home BBQs, archery deer season, etc.), and it doesn't take up much space for storage. Shoot me a note if you want me to find out the specific cooler we got, I'll run out to the garage and check.

 

[extreme]

Inverter from harbor freight $159 & chest freezer $200 Home Depot & vacuum sealer $200 + or - depending upon the bag material. Dry ice and or regular ice when engine is not running making 110 v power for the chest freezer. Simply keep the drain plug out of the bottom.

Kong coolers is the only cooler to buy.
Sams club cooler are crap

 

[dbyes]

I read some years back that trash bags have insecticide in them I don't know if they still do that but my thoughts would be don't use them. Cheap coolers would be better.

 

[epoletna]

On one hunting trip from OH to CO several years ago, we bought rigid foam from a local Home Depot in CO to build a box in the back of the pickup. We put two elk (boned, wrapped and frozen) in it. We had gotten the elk commercially butchered, wrapped and frozen at a local butcher shop, so only put a couple pieces of dry ice on the top after putting the meat in. Very easy and not expensive. I think the foam was about 2" thick and used to insulate houses.

 

[dbyes]

I read that they put insecticide in trash bags. My thoughts would be to not use them. Cheap coolers Or Inverter with a Home depot freezer would be best.

 

[7fan1967]

I read that they put insecticide in trash bags. My thoughts would be to not use them. Cheap coolers Or Inverter with a Home depot freezer would be best.

2 150 qt coolers , some dry ice and towels will easily get the job done . Be sure to clean and dry the meat before you pack it . Have a great time and share the pics .

 

[twister]

with bone in quarters one will fit in 2 140 Quart coolers.

with some 2" foam board and ply wood you would have a good cooler. and can shape it to the bed of your truck so its not just loose.

 

[Gater]

We brought 2 bulls and two speed goats used a cardboard box and dry ice made it from northwest Wyoming to Illinois still had a little dry ice left what was nice is the dry ice evaporates very little water

 

[crashlanding]

Not to be a smart a**, but your bigger issues will be finding elk, then killing an elk and lastly, being in good enough shape to get one out. If you succeed in those 3, the rest will be easy

 

[bigdogone]

I've done box in a box with styro peanuts and/or wadded up newspaper in between. Use some scrap wood or logs between boxes on the bottom to keep space. Dry ice from a local grocery store, wrap it in newspaper to prevent freeze burn and you're good to go. Kuiu bags are great for getting meat out and keeping stuff off it.

 

[Longrangers]

Has anyone home-made a cooler for elk? My dad and I have a guided elk hunt planned for 2022 and plan on driving out to Colorado (from PA). The issue being getting the meat back.

We are looking at building a few coolers to throw in the bed of the truck to store the meat. But neither of us have ever hunted elk / killed an elk before so we have no idea how much meat we are going to get - so no idea how big these things need to be to hold potentially 2 bull elk.

Any insight on how to make one / pictures of one's you have made would be greatly appreciated! (Including dimensions)

We have no idea how much one will cost, but with the current cost of lumber, might be able to buy 2 yeti's instead .

Try a used metal tool box for the back of a pickup and line it with styrofoam insulation and tap the bottom for valve

 

[Beer Baron]

I have fit medium size bulls and large cows into 120/150 qt coolers. Key for me is de-boning the meat. The bones are heavy to pack out and more importantly they hold a lot of heat. The meat also fits in coolers better off the bone. I butcher my own animals so this isn't an issue for me but I have heard that some butcher shops don't take meat that has been de-boned. I also pack a small tarp to stage the game bagged meat on in the field, keeps any debris off. I hunt the early season in Colorado and have shot elk in 70 degree weather and stored it in a cooler with ice for 3-5 days a few times with no problems. We did have to add new ice once every couple days to keep it cool. Drain the bloody water often, in my experience that can also cause issues with the meat. Good luck.

 

[Mike Matteson]

Has anyone home-made a cooler for elk? My dad and I have a guided elk hunt planned for 2022 and plan on driving out to Colorado (from PA). The issue being getting the meat back.

We are looking at building a few coolers to throw in the bed of the truck to store the meat. But neither of us have ever hunted elk / killed an elk before so we have no idea how much meat we are going to get - so no idea how big these things need to be to hold potentially 2 bull elk.

Any insight on how to make one / pictures of one's you have made would be greatly appreciated! (Including dimensions)

We have no idea how much one will cost, but with the current cost of lumber, might be able to buy 2 yeti's instead .

Do you know that Yeti's is anti gun. They make a great cooler, but. They came out against the AR-15 a few years back, a long with Dick's Sporting goods, and Field & Stream Sporting Goods. I don't support company that don't support our sport!

 

[257WTBY]

We pulled a trailer out to hunt Montana when I lived on the east coast. On the trailer i had a large chest freezer and a generator. We put in gallon jugs of ice and kept them frozen and taking up space in the freezer till we put meat in. We brought back two elk and two deer in it started the generator up every 4 hours or so and let it run 30 min or so to keep everything cold. Worked out well for us. BTW it was a 5'X10" single axle trailer with 3500 lb axle.