getting the meat cool

[elkjunky]

Hello all @ elk101.com,
I have a couple of tips for hot weather hunting. The last couple years I have hunted an area that is far from any meat cooler. The first year I went to the store and bought the biggest pack of water I could and stuck it in the freezer 2 weeks before my hunt. I threw it all in my 100 qt. cooler and headed for the woods. The frozen bottles lasted about 6 days. The second year, I did the same thing in the same cooler, but this time I put them in 2 layers of foil bubble wrap bags that came with the fish boxes from shipping fish back from Alaska. The bottles had a frozen core and 1/3 water after 8 days. still plenty cold enough to cool down a boned out elk. So that's my go to plan till I get all the meat to the truck and into town and frozen before the long drive home. Tip number 2 came from a guy that offered me an ice cream sandwich 4 days into a hot hunt. He puts a small freezer in the front of his cargo trailer with a generator and his 4 wheeler in behind it. I was pretty jealous when he told me they were eating burgers and T-bones most of the week. Hope this helps somebody in some way to keep the high quality protein good till they get it home. Good luck, shoot straight, and be safe. 

 

[cowboystl1]

cool good work i have used the frozen bottles for years bubble wrap good add

 

[turbo1967]

They say dry ice works good, put above the meat in the cooler and it will actually freeze the meat some and under the meat to just keep it cold , for me I only need to cool it when I leave it on the mountain over night, and I suspend it over the creek on sticks about an inch over the water and cover it with a thick layer of green tree branches about a foot thick . branches keep the bugs off and the creek water is cold enough to cool it down , works like a natural refrigerator .

 

[DaveEarley]

question from a newbie - what about putting boned out meat in a game bag, then in a trash bag, then into the creek for temporary holding ?  Thanks

 

[Bullhunter]

I too use the creek method it seems to work great.  If anything i put a game bag on the meat and hang it in the shade and take what i can till i can get it all out.

 

[hank4elk]

I've had to leave out frozen milk jugs of water to thaw after 4 days in the cooler, for water in the Gila.....my food was still ice cold.

 

[wyoelk300+]

I prefer the dry ice method, a good cooler can hold your DI for up to a dozen days. We also use DI in our coolers we pack in on horseback, keeps the chow we pack in quite fresh.