What Size Cooler for an Elk?
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2019
- When it comes to cooling and transporting elk meat, what size cooler do you need? Elk101.com's Corey Jacobsen answers that question, and shows you how to fit an entire elk into one cooler. He talks about average elk quarter sizes, and suggests the minimum measurements a cooler will need to ensure it will hold all 4 quarters of an elk.
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Great video! Exactly what I was looking for! I have a Yeti 105 that is tall and GREAT, actually PERFECT, for long canoe trips, tall for extra space but fits in a boat. The best Yeti cooler for canoe trips hands down. I took the 105 to CO for my first ever public land hunt. I was unbelievably lucky my first day due to great friends who set me up, and a lot of luck and bagged a Bull. The 105 would only fit two front quarters but would not close. The quarters were too long. Luckily it dropped in the negatives the night after and flash froze everything for the ride back east a week later. Good thing my buddies brought extra coolers too! My plan is now to get a 210 and use the 105 for neck, straps, etc. The 105 worked great for transporting gallon mason jars of “river chili”, soup etc on the way to camp FYI.) Thanks again for the info!
Scott Covert Twice, in the last 3 years I have brought back, 2 processed (vacuum packed) and frozen bulls (butcher freezes to -15), from Idaho to New York (dropping my buddy and his meat off) to Delaware using a 7.5 cuft freezer and 2- 94 qt Igloo Marine Elite coolers. I ratchet strap the meat haulers to keep the lids tight and never open them. All the meat was still frozen solid upon arrival (we were driving through 80 degree temps.) in Delaware 60+ hours later. We put dry ice in the coolers in Boise and the freezer was packed full. I take an extension cord to plug in to a hotel room but have not needed it. When I got home in Delaware I put all the meat from my bull ( a young 5x5) into the 2 coolers so I could take the freezer off my truck and had room to spare. When returning with a single bull in the freezer I stuffed my sleeping bag on top of the meat. On the trip out I use the freezer to store my tents and pack for easy access and store dry goods in it during the hunt. My GE freezer has been to Idaho and back 8 times, cost around $125 and is still going strong.
This is really valuable info, thanks Corey!
Thanks for clearing this up, I had the same question.
Between you and Randy you've answered all cooler questions
Jack Whaley Rtic coolers
Great Job on sharing your knowledge on the coolers.
You did a great job on explaining all the coolers I like the tape measuring. I'm going to by a Yeti to try the 160 and the 65.
God's Blessings on all your adventures
My 4 yr old boy won’t stop talking till he can say nice shirt. So nice shirt!
Hi there 😊 good subject, I've had that question myself.
Thank you this is a great video. You Answers my question.
Best video out there on this topic.
Best vid on this subject. Thanks.
Thanks for great info!
The 160 will hold a boned out bull(of average size), and most of the scrap meat, with ice. Rib meat, or the rib cages, had to go in a separate cooler. But the back straps, tenderloins, and neck meat all fit along side the boned out quarters.
Thank you. That’s what I was wondering.
I've always had a place to get bags of ice from, with that in mind, a salt water dunk cools the meat down so you can pack that boneless quarter in a cooler and all that cooler has to do is maintain the cold temp after the salt water dunk. You need at least two coolers to do this, one with the salt water and one that's the game hold. IMHO
Great advice. I am assuming you hang the meat at camp to cool, and then place in the 210 and when you get to a store on the way home you add the dry ice? Thank you!!
Great info
Hello Cory, thanks for the info. I live in Florida and they don’t let us bring elk bones from Colorado cause of the CDW. Just mentioning..
Obviously dry ice is better than regular ice but what if dry ice isn't available? I'm so remote dry ice isn't available until I'm about 20 minutes from home. Is there a problem with using regular ice?
I was lucky enough to get a bull last year nothing huge, but I had to use both a 160 and a 210 to get it home on the bone. I put 2 quarters and all the other meat in the 210 then 2 other quarters into the 160. I found that the 210 was not long enough for my rear quarters on the bone. I was using regular ice since I could not find dry ice where I was. Just FYI
Wow, that' like $1,500 in coolers.
@@InvestorAcademyPodca only 1 was mine. My buddy had 1 also but ya not cheap. They sure are nice though.
On a mature bull boned out i have used 2 120 qt colman extreme and have a couple inches on top for dry ice.
Jeremy Wierzba dang, I bought a 150 qt Coleman, I guess I should add a 120 qt to that.
That would have a cape included. It can really vary depending on animal and how clean you get them bones. A young bull or cow should fit no problem in a 150. I take 2 120s just to be sure im covered and can get a good amout of ice on the meat that way.
I use Coleman Xtremes as well, bought a 120 for $60 on sale last year. I can do a diy elk hunt traveling from the east coast for less than what those two yeti coolers cost.
Great edit on the thumbnail. Got my click.
Interesting, but nothing with Yeti on it is in the budget in the foreseeable future.
How do you best get an elk in multiple smaller coolers? Whole leg quarters aren't an option, sadly.
Go with canyon coolers.
How do you keep your Yeti coolers safe while on the mountain?
Master python cable locks...amazon!
Great info about cooler size for meat on the bone, but what about processed meat? How about getting the meat w/ the cape in coolers? I have a trip planned for 2020 for elk, muley, and pronghorn. I need to make sure I have enough space for all meat & capes.
How did your hunt go?
@@metal_mo I harvested a nice muley and pronghorn. I came really close to getting an elk a few times, but couldn't get it done. Still a great time and learning experience! Thanks for asking!
@@D3l3ri0us nice! I have my first elk hunt booked in 2023 for first rifle in Colorado. Using an outfitter and doing a drop camp. Can't wait!
@@metal_mo Good luck!!! Make sure you're practicing with your rifle. There's a lot of good shooting drills out there to help you prepare. Remember, as Randy says, ammo is a very small cost compared to the rest of the trip.
What about the processed meat cooler sizing and transport? Thought you were going to talk about that too?
Phil Ward it should stand to reason that if the cooler can handle the quarters, it will handle processed/packaged meat with room to spare.
@@slymanbry Indeed, I just thought he would talk about how large a cooler would be necessary. Not to mention the difference between already frozen at a commercial processor and if you do it yourself and it's not frozen, keeping cool, air voids for air flow around it, and an 80 quart enough, 120 etc. If already frozen then it can be packed tight and will take much less room than non frozen but cut and wrapped.
I'll take any of your "scrap" back straps.
You don’t have to buy a giant top of the line cooler and spend $700 just buy some large cheaper coolers and store your dry ice in a smaller top of the line cooler as long as you can get it to a meat locker within a day or so it’ll be good. Your ice melt is going to come in the 5-7 days your hunting not in the 1 day it takes you to get it to the meat locker.
Yeah, the $99 igloo big coolers work perfect. Once the meat is cold, there is practically no ice melt and you could go a week or two with maybe only having to add ice once unless it is crazy hot outside. The high dollar coolers are great if you are going on a 10 day rafting trip and it's going to be 100 degrees and there are no stores, but way overkill for hauling meat home.
Bob Wilson the smaller ones are good just t save ice during the hunt but once you get it on the meat you don’t need it to last 4-5 days
That's a great tip max. Bow much dry ice do you bring in the small roto cooler? I have never messed with the stuff, but am intrigued. Thanks.
Joe Etlinger 2 blocks for a large cooler is usually plenty, might even be overkill but it’s better to have a little extra than not enough
Where does one buy 5 to 10lbs if dry ice?
I have yeti 125qt will this fit with a bone in?
My yeti 125 maxed out at the 2 hind quarters of my bull 2 years ago. Could have crammed some of the burger meat in there. But ended up running out and buying a coleman 150 to fit the front quarters. And the head and cape just ended up in a bag in the back of the truck with ice on top.
You can fit a whole elk in the one cooler if you use a knife having processing skills is key
Where was this filmed? I think I know that spot
Back up secret Creek ... Yeah, I know the spot too lol.
Grizzly 400 it's huge. U can load a bone in elk quarters, 12 five gallon buckets of ice, & price and quality is the best in industry hands down
would a 65 be good for deer?
Wondering that myself. I'd even specify "mule deer" in my case. Whitetail isn't much of an issue, as I hunt those minutes from home.
Wondering this too.
@@kf4293 a mature whitetail buck fills up my 75qt with a little room for ice if that helps.
pajama hunting solves it all. AMEN
Can you get away with regular ice I'd dry ice isn't available?
Yes in the last 7 years we've transported 14 elk or so from Colorado to ohio with regular ice ,we've never had any problems with our meat ,was just reading comments saw yours an thought this might help you
I know dry ice lasts longer and you don’t have to have as much of it in the cooler, but couldn’t you use regular ice on the meat? I process all my deer at home and after I break them down into quarters and backstrap I keep them in a cooler with ice for about 3 days adding ice as needed to keep everything cold. The ice water draws out nearly all the blood from the meat and makes cutting it up a breeze. Is there something wrong with doing it this way?
I use ice to chill all of our boned out meats. I leave the meat in there for up to 3 days in my Cabelas coolers and just drain the bloody water out and replace with fresh ice. I have done this for the last several years.
Frozen water bottles, 1/2 gallon jugs of water, even gallon jugs work great for this. As they thaw, they don’t allow the water to get to the meat. Randy Newberg and others suggest packing one or two coolers completely full of frozen jugs of water, then insist that the coolers not be opened until ready to fill with meat. If kept in the shade, and covered with blankets, the ice will keep for more than a week, even in 80 degree temps.
Those of us in the deep south can't hang meat in 80% humidity at 60 to 90 degrees.... we adapted to ice water aging allowing the blood to leach out. Never any meat loss or gamey taste. Most deer hunters here will do this for 1-2 weeks before processing. Keep the meat submerged, the ice water cold and fresh... it works every time. I would challenge non-believers to try it with a deer shoulder, you will be a convert. DONT JUDGE UNLESS YOU HAVE TRIED IT. We may speak slowly and a bit country but we "ain't " stupid.
@@KD-cm8im no doubt, done it many times and it works great. I never really wanted or liked the water on the meat so i changed it up a bit. Now I put a grate in the bottom of the cooler to lift the meat an inch or so above bottom. I put the meat on the grate, a trash bag is draped over/around the top of the meat, and then ice is loaded on top, preferably still in the bag. Close the cooler lid, open 1 drain and let gravity do the rest. Meat ages dry to mostly dry with bone in for 9-14 day before processing in the kitchen. All the melt runs down the side of the cooler and out the drain away from the meat this way. Here is Texas it can easily be in the 90s early in season and I've not lost a bite of meat yet. I think the color and texture is better this way. The blood is still running out and dripping through the grate where the melt flushes it out the drain. My experience anyway. My Georgia buddies all have upright freezers in the garage and hang theirs @ 36° for a week or two. Wish I had the space for that...one day.
My dad used to "bleed" our deer that way. Honestly, it's awful! Even a steak from the butcher still has some blood in it. I've eaten enough grey venison in my day to never do this again. Not to mention as the water draws the blood out, it stays within the meat and as soon as you freeze it the meat gets freezer burned from being water logged. I live in NC and still age my deer in coolers, I just built a rack system that keeps the meat elevated above the ice. I have also invested in a garage fridge that has wire racks. I keep a battery operated fan in it for air flow. In my opinion, anything is a better option than allowing ice to melt through the meat. At that point, I would just wet age it and vacuum seal the meat, then leave it in a fridge for a week or so before freezing.
The YETI 160 needs the same width and depth of the 210 time to e-mail YETI!!!
If it had the same width and depth as the 210 wouldn't it just be the 210? Or like a 230 with the extra length... 😂
LOL brain fart forsure
A bull elk will fit in 7cu ft freezer and you can buy a generator and freezer for less money than those coolers
kkccmf you going to throw a freezer and genny in the back of the truck for a cross-country trek to elk country?
slymanbry absolutely. Chest freezer and honda gen works great. Brought 4 bulls over the last few years from New Mexico to New Hampshire.
Lol
I like it!
Ain’t those ran in quarts? Cause I have a 75
Stanley V I wondered the same. I have a pelican pro 64 quart. Figured yeti measured them in quarts too. Truth is, quarts and liters are very similar in volume, so the difference in this application is negligible.