Cooler size for a quartered elk?

[mcseal2]

I'm thinking of buying a big roto molded cooler for hauling meat on my hunting trips. I've always taken a freezer on the trailer to haul it in the past. How big of a cooler would the 4 quarters and loins plus some ice require from those who have tried it? If I shoot one it will be a mature bull. I haven not boned the quarters in the past. I figure if it's big enough for a bull it will fit deer or antelope plus plenty of ice easily.

Thanks for the help.

 

[JimP]

Go down to the cooler store and see if you can find one that you can lay down in and shut the lid, then double the size of it for a elk.

 

[Tim McCoy]

I think Jim P is correct. Last year I popped a big cow in mid-August. I had 2 igloos, a 120 and a 150. Put the bone in semi quarters, shoulders and rear, one of each in each cooler, added neck meat, rib meat, lions etc. probably 6-8 bags of ice in each. Could not lift or close either one. We threw a sleeping bag over it all for a couple hours to chill. I'd guess 1/2 or more of the ice melted in the first 45 minutes or so, tilted coolers to drain a small river of melt water. Then when cold, we boned out a quarter at a time, sacked it in a garbage bag, it all fit easily in the 150 with room for 2-3 bags of ice. I'd guess 185-200 lbs of meat.

Had I boned out the lower legs, sawed off the bone, I could have closed both coolers I think. For a big bull, if you want to leave the bone in, it'd have to be one big cooler, or have the quarters sawed to fit or bone it out. I'd guess a 250-300 quart size may work, depending on how it is dimesioned. But am not sure. I might look at soft sided coolers, Reliant fish kill bags. I've kept meat in them with ice for 2-3 days. They can leak a bit, so a pick up bed is a good idea, but you can get them in very large sizes. They have drains too.

 

[N8tve_Hunter]

I have a YETI 160 that fits my elk inside of it, and if your not willing to break the bank buying a YETI, RTIC coolers are half the cost, and just as, or if not more, durable then a YETI.. Same design and specs too..

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[SouthForkguy]

Ive never done an elk but I have boned out all of my mule deer and antelope in the field, seems like a great weight savings in the field. And leaves you with less work when you get home. We have been carrying a small chest freezer in the back of the pickup and plug it in at the hotel. We have had the luxury of day hunting public land.

 

[RICMIC]

My biggest bull fit inside two 120 Qt. coolers, but I had to cut the hind quarters down to fit. On three trips hence, I have boned the meat out and easily fit it all with sufficient ice into the 120's. Better to have too much space than too little. If you already have several smaller coolers, just do the math, but the meat would have to be boned out to fit.

 

[Slugz]

Same as others have said. 2 x 120-150qt easily fits a boned out mature aged bull.

 

[go_deep]

I have never killed a mature bull, so take this with a a grain of salt. I have killed 5 elk, 3 being mature cows, if you de-bone them they fit in a 160 quart cooler with ice, the spike, and 2ish year old cow I shot would easily fit into a 160 quart. The post above about needing 240 quarts seems pretty accurate to me. One thing I will say is unless its crazy hot find shade, and hang the meat over night to cool down to 40ish degrees, then load it up in the cooler the next day. Otherwise you lose a lot of ice cooling it down to that point.

 

[Team Kabob]

I have a YETI 160 that fits my elk inside of it, and if your not willing to break the bank buying a YETI, RTIC coolers are half the cost, and just as, or if not more, durable then a YETI.. Same design and specs too..

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Man that's a big cooler!

I can't wait to fill a cooler with elk some day!


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[JimP]

One thing if you plan on using a cooler with boned out elk meat is to get separation on the pieces that you put into the cooler, don't just stack the meat into it. I have seen meat spoil from its internal heat when just stacked on top of other pieces of meat.

The best thing to do is to cool the meat before you place it into the cooler. You can cool off meat even in August and September by letting it hang over night in some pines where it is cooler and the air can circulate around it.

 

[mcseal2]

Thanks for the replys. I didn't figure I could do it in a 150qt cooler but thought I'd ask. I only draw an elk tag every 4-6 years and have just used the deep freeze before, might need to just keep doing that. I'm now thinking that getting a good 120 or 150qt cooler that I can use for my deer and antelope hunts might be best and keep packing the freezer for elk.

I definitely agree with cooling the meat overnight before it hits the cooler. I use decent game bags that let the meat get air but prevent flies from laying eggs on it, I'd definitely hang them before using the cooler. I can't imagine my ice would last long without that anyway. That method has worked well for antelope and muleys in the past with cheaper coolers. Now going on some longer hunts further from a town I am thinking of upgrading to a better cooler so I can keep ice better and reduce trips to town.

Rtic doesn't list anything over a 65 currently, probably due to their legal battle with Yeti. K2 shows 120qt scratch and dent models for $321 shipped, I could get 2 of them for a similar price as most companies 150qt if I went that route. I'm thinking probably just get a single 120qt and use the freezer for the elk trips though, use it as a giant cooler if electricity isn't available put in the shade with an old white comforter over the top.

I have the Yeti 65 already for food & drinks, I fill the Magellan 25 from it and take it in the UTV each day. Hunts or pack-outs can get extended and having some food and cold drinks in the UTV when we get back to it is nice. If I can't fit all of a critter in the 120, I still have the 65 for overflow on the trip home.

Pre-chilling those good coolers really helps. With the 25 I throw it in the freezer the night before a trip, with the 65 I throw a bag of ice in the night before the final packing of the cooler.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Team Kabob]

Making your own block ice helps too. I use sour cream and cottage cheese tubs. Saves on the ice bill


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[go_deep]

I use milk and juice jugs to make ice blocks, I like to rinse them out really good first.

 

[JimP]

If you use the clean jugs you will always have some fresh drinking water also.

 

[mcseal2]

Great plan, I use gallon apple juice jugs myself in the 65. I fill them half full with water and dish soap when empty, throw them in the back of the UTV for a couple days of checking cows. Then I dump them, rinse them well, and dry them until hunting season. Having a 1.5yr old makes for lots of empty juice jugs, they fit the 65 better than the milk jugs.

I like having the melted ice contained in jugs too, not sloshing around on the meat I want to develop a crust and stay dry.

 

[JimP]

On my 150 qt cooler I build a frame out of 3/4" PVC and then put a expanded metal screen on top of the frame to keep the ice and meat separated. It works real well as long as you don't get it to sloshing around. It ends up taking up about 1/2 of the cooler but the meat stays nice and dry above the ice sitting on that expanded metal screen.

 

[Slugz]

We use 3-5 inch cookie sheets or pans for making flat pieces of ice.....you can cater then to your cooler size for a perfect bottom layer.

 

[RICMIC]

I fully agree with the need to pre-cool the meat if possible. A full hind qtr. or large boned out chunk will go bad on you otherwise. I have borrowed the Yeti coolers in the past, but now I just use my Igloo Max Cold coolers with a couple cinch straps on them to keep then closed tight. That won't keep a bear out, but since they are locked in the back of my pickup truck, I'm not too concerned about that.