Keeping elk meat frozen on ride home
Elk
Hey guys and girls, what is the best way to keep elk meat frozen on a long ride home in a truck? Montana to Pa. Any unique ways that work?
Use the search command. I just looked up "frozen meat" and found numerous helpful threads....
Buy a few yeti coolers. they hold things frozen nearly forever!
No pics but I put a tarp down in the back of a JD Gator, ice, meat then more ice and fold tarp over. Did that on a cow elk once, drove 12 hours at night and the ice barely melted.
Hey guys and girls, what is the best way to keep elk meat frozen on a long ride home in a truck? Montana to Pa. Any unique ways that work?
Hey Slider14,
If you are planning on having the elk butchered in Montana after you are successful hunting, then the meat will already be frozen I'm assuming. That will help your situation.
What I've done in the past is place the butchered, wrapped, and frozen meat in coolers...then head to the local supermarket that sells dry ice. If you know the area you will kill your elk in and where you will have the meat processed, then do a web search for supermarkets that sell dry ice in that area so you know where to go as soon as you pick the meat up from the butcher. The butcher will also know where the nearest source is as well.
Plan on placing a good size chunk of dry ice in each cooler...then cover the coolers to keep them out of the sun and you should be good to go for your drive home.
A good sized chunk of dry ice will last at least 24 hours. Also, when you buy the dry ice, it will be wrapped in paper so you don't get burned touching it. Keep it wrapped when you place it in the coolers because it is best not to touch the meat with the dry ice directly. Also, don't duct tape your coolers closed. The dry ice does not melt, but rather sublimates. In other words, it goes from a solid to a gas...so the gas needs to escape or it will build up pressure and could rupture your cooler. Popping the drain plug on the cooler would be adequate for releasing this pressure.
Hope this helps...and good luck on your hunt!
We talked about this last year, and Pat and I did the same thing for meat and cape. Whatever size up from a 7.7 cu ft freezer there is, is what I had. Might have been a 9 or a 10 cu ft. But with the 1000 watt Honda running, everything was rock hard frozen Colorado to Manitoba. I kept the generator in the freezer and strapped down for the trip there, and took it out when I shot the elk and started it up. You don't hear that thing running while driving on the highway. I'd turn the generator off and let cool an hour before I stopped overnight at a hotel, and keep it in my truck cab overnight. Very simple.
We used dry ice driving from Wyoming to eastern PA. I think we taped up the coolers and meat was fine.
Done it a bunch of times from out west to Pa my shelf.. A few times didn't even butcher it out there. I just did the dry ice thing that Axle2axle did. Put dry ice on top to keep it frozen or on the bottom to keep it cold. I never put dry ice on the meat or let it touch the coolers. Most walmarts, supermarkets sell it. It comes in a block about the size of a red brick..
Ed
Another Wyoming to PA transporter here. Last year we had 2 elk. 1 was freshly killed and the other hung at a processor so neither elk were frozen. We pulled in to the processor and expected to buy some dry ice for the ride home. His suggestion was if frozen already dry ice is OK. If not frozen do not use dry ice because you will have to thaw when you get home. Figured he was being honest since he sold both. We ended up buying block ice and put on the bottom of the cooler, laid meat bags on top, and then bag ice on top. We purposely didn't break the bags so the melted ice would not run over the meat but you could break the chunks so the bags could be massaged into space in the cooler. We also put a 2x4 piece under the opposite end of the cooler from the drain plug. When we got gas we would pull the plug. I think we bought 1 or 2 bags of ice on the way home and that is it. Just cheap Coleman coolers from Walmart.
We were on the verge of taking a freezer and generator but didn't and after using the cooler do not see a reason to as long as you have cold storage near by. I wouldn't want to keep an elk on ice at camp for 7 days. For that scenario I would want the freezer and generator.
If you don't want to freeze your elk, and would like to age it, such as beef. Buy the square water bottles from Walmart. Freeze them in your freezer 3/4 full, put the meet on top. That is if you go the freezer generator route. Works nice for keeping drinks and things cold during your hunt too.
Most western states have easy dry ice availability in grocery stores. I loaded up coolers in Montrose, Co and three days later arrived home in Rhode Island with solid meat. Used duct tape to seal cheapo Coleman colors and covered with sleeping bag. Always a nice problem to have:)
Frozen meat,coolers dry ice from Walmart,we always duct tape closed.Last almost 3 days back to New Jersey!!
I'm with pat. We usually stash some dry Ice in a yeti when we head into the mountains that we will use to get things cooled down fast when we get an elk. Then its genny/freezer as needed until home. Once frozen it really doesn't take much to keep it that way in terms of genny running
Make sure to separate quarters with wax paper if freezing whole quarters. If not you will have a hell of a time getting them apart. I screwed up once, and remember breaking quarters out with a crow bar when it came time to thaw/butcher. Not fun!
When i killed my bull in Arizona I had it cut up and froze. I put it in the bath tub in my camper and put a tarp and sleeping bag over it was still froze when I got home. Killed a Bull in Utah just put 8 blocks of ice in the same tub put the quarterd meat on it covered it with the same tarp & sleeping bag left the drain open on the tub and made it home ok.
Fill a cooler full of frozen meat and it will be fine, no need to add ice. For extended periods over a couple days add dry ice. Adding ice to a full cooler of frozen meat really doesn't accomplish anything other than making everything wet.
I use a Coleman 150qt marine cooler, they cost about $150. It will hold 1 boned out bull. I put block ice on the bottom and the meat on the top. In my experience block ice lasts way longer than bags. It really helps to hang the meat and let it cool in the open air overnight before putting it in the cooler. The meat doesn't have to be frozen to transport. It will last several days in the cooler. Just try to keep the meat up out of the ice water by draining the cooler often. If your cooler is sitting in camp, try hard to keep it in the shade. And if you get a Yeti, get a white one. The brown ones look cool, but in sunlight they capture much more radiant energy. That's why all marine coolers that are designed to sit on boats all day in the sun are white.
20 lbs of dry ice in a 164 qt cooler will keep one elk frozen for 2 days.
My experience jives with sureshot's. A cooler full of frozen meat will stay frozen for a few days at least on its own. Obviously this is somewhat dependent on external temperatures but I live in the South and haven't had issues with meat thawing after a 20 hour drive or so. I've also shipped meat in styrofoam coolers with no dry ice and it's showed up frozen three days later. The fuller the cooler is the better. If you want to help fill the cooler frozen plastic 2 gallon jugs of water take up space and help keeps things frozen. There's also no need to worry about ice melt wetting any of the meat with that method.
I read an interesting article that said ice will actually make frozen meat thaw out quicker. I think it was an article from/ about Yeti coolers... I have grizzly coolers and they hold ice as good if not better than Yetis JMO. Pre-cool your cooler with ice. Drain it, Freeze the meat, Pack full and tightly in the cooler, fill the voids with a towel or two and drive home. No air is the key.
I'm optimistic. I just bought a 165 quart Coleman cooler, from Costco, for $99.99.
Between that, my Igloo and Grizzly, I should be all set.
This is what I have done many times. Old trick from my uncle... Place frozen meat in the cooler, Take a bath towel get it wet, ring out the excess, place over the top of meat, close and seal the cooler. When you arrive at home, the towel is frozen solid as well as meat.
You have to try it to believe it. I have done this with fish, caribou, elk, etc... All while using cheap coleman and igloo coolers.
Hyde
good ideas!
do u freeze wrapped and butchered meat? or are you guys talking about freezeing big hunks of meat? if so, how do you do process when home?
thanks
I've trucked lots of elk back from western Montana and Wyoming for myself and other people. Both pre frozen meat and unfrozen whole bone in quarters.
A bigger cooler is better than using several smaller ones. Any you don't need to take out a loan for a Yeti either. I use 120 quart Igloos.
If it is frozen fill the cooler to the top and tape the seam. If it isn't add about 15 lbs of dry ice and then put towels or newspaper on top. If your meat isn't fully frozen it can't hurt to throw 5 lbs of dry ice in there. It really buys you time.
I learned a lesson one time coming home from Wyoming. I had 2 coolers both with unfrozen quarters in them. I added the dry ice, put a good amount of newspaper on top to fill the air space and headed for home. Both quarters were in perfect shape when I got home but I noticed that the one was actually starting to freeze. That one had the canvas wall tent on top on the way home.
So regardless of what you do I'd suggest surrounding your coolers with sleeping bags, duffel bags etc and pack it tight.
Best of luck this season!
Freezer and a Honda generator!! Worked great on our hunt!
If you are leaving right after you kill, I wouldn't do anything more than a couple coolers to fit the meat in and then add ice for the drive home. If you are having it processed, just put the frozen meat in the cooler, close it and drive home. It will still be frozen when you get home.
If you are hanging around camp for a few days after you kill, then the freezer and generator works great.
I've done it all three ways and they all work just fine. Coolers and ice are my favorite as I like to process my own meat.
I too like those 165 qt Coleman coolers----
Good luck, Robb
Last year we had ours processed and frozen. We loaded up the 165qt Coleman coolers and made the journey from CO back to NE WI with an overnight in central NE and the meat was still hard as a rock when we got home. We didn't add any ice, it was just the frozen meat.
How about when you're flying? Must cost a fortune to ship. Maybe pay extra and bring a cooler as additional bag. Anyone have ideas when flying?
BC.... stop at a post office or UPS store and ship your gear home. Take coolers or airline approve waxed boxes that are right at max weight for check in luggage. Pay for an extra check in if you need to. The gear can wait the meat cannot and shipping meat next day is really pricey.
When we went from Colorado to Wisconsin we put plastic down in an enclosed trailer laid the meat in and put ice on it wrapped the plastic up around meat like a big bag and tied the top shut. Meat was completely frozen and still had ice in plastic when we got home cheap and worked great
I like to have my quarters hang in a tree over night at least one night- if the overnight lows drop into the 20s or 30s this gives cooling the meat a good start.Then I typically get about 3 bags of ice and set them on the bottom of the cooler. I then put my quarters, in bags, on top of the bags of ice. I then dump 2-3 bags of ice on top of the game bags. I only live 3 hours away, but when I get home I put the coolers w meat somewhere cool and drain the ice water every day and add ice if needed, which is minimal. The meat stays really cold! I'll keep meat up to a week like this while I'm processing, if need be. If you're driving cross country, just keep the coolers out of direct sunlight and maybe covered if possible. And I just use regular ol' $70 coolers from Costco or Sam's. 2 of them is plenty and I think they are 100 to 120 qt? but not positive. This is intended if you do your own processing which is a great way to extend your hunt, learn a new skill, be self-sufficient ETC- All good things..
One thing to consider. If you kill an elk, get it to a processor and they process/freeze it quickly, you will be sorry. I am a firm believer in letting game age for a minimum of 3 days, longer is better for an elk. Every single animal that I killed and processed/froze in less than 48 hours has been TOUGH.
You can get dry ice at just about any Walmart and it's cheap.
+1 To dry ice availability out west.
This past season, I pulled into the Walmart in Montrose at 11PM and bought 25 lbs. (They had to get someone trained on handling it and they questioned why I needed so much [I looked pretty rough after many days in the mountains so I am pretty sure they thought I was the second coming of Ted Kyszinski and looking for the ingredients for a dry ice bomb])
If the meat is already frozen, there is no need for dry ice. Just slip it in a plastic bag and stuff it in you sleeping bag. It will make the trip home just fine and probably still be too frozen to cut up when you get there.
Many thanks guys for all your ideas! Good luck to everyone this fall!!
