1st year Elk hunt, cooler size?

[thegrouse]

I got an OTC tag this year for archery elk. I am new to the state and I have never Elk hunted. I have been shooting my bow and peak bagging with heavy packs. I just now thought about how I would actually transport an animal. My SUV is normally fairly full with my hunting/camping/fishing gear. I doubt I will even come close to an Elk this year, but if luck happens to strike I want to be prepared. I will be hunting Archery so temps will be an issue to deal with. How do yall with SUVs pack out meat? I have a sleeping platform and fridge in the back so my space is further limited.

 

[zrodwyo]

Giant fish kill bags are the move when you are space limited.

I got a giant one on Temu that will almost fit an entire bone in elk for less than 200 bucks. It folds down small enough to stuff under a seat.

With that said, I’m guessing you are hunting Colorado so I would hang your meat somewhere cool and drive to Walmart if you tag out.

 

[wapitibob]

I had legs sticking out every window of a VW Rabbit hatchback one time. I now use one 120qt cooler for a dry box then buy a 2nd at walmart after tagging out.

 

[ahawk116]

160-210 is the size you need imo. Get a hitch hauler or go the bag route that has been suggested.

 

[jgilber5]

My first bull was a raghorn, fit the whole thing bone in in a 165 with frozen jugs. Bigger bulls I know throw fronts and trim in the 165 and hinds in a 120 with frozen jugs with room to spare.

 

[bz_711]

I bring a 150 Qt loaded with frozen milk jugs, and a 90 Qt with my dry goods/food (if I bag an elk I'll empty the 90 into a trash bag so I can use both coolers). Put meat in contractor bags, place in coolers, cut open the milk jugs and dump the melted portion around the meat in cooler and place remaining ice on top of meat.

Hitch Haul is the way to go and can hold the biggest cooler.

Good Luck!

 

[cnelk]

"I doubt I will even come close to an Elk this year....."

Up your confidence or you wont have to worry about it

 

[camping1601]

I pack a 150 full of my gear and a second electric cooler for drinks and food for the drive out and back. When I get one I put some in the 150 and some in the electric. My gear goes anywhere and everywhere else in the vehicle.

 

[TradLife406]

First elk hunt? Don't even worry about a cooler. The odds of needing one are single digits. Plus Murphy law will be more in your favor of killing one of you don't have a cooler.

Bbbbuuuutttt you can't have too big of a cooler.

Chest freezer on a trailer with a genny though is probably the best thing.

 

[LongWayAround]

Ditch the refrigerator and buy a cooler?

 

[LCguy]

I usually take two 120-quart coolers and a 60-quart. One 120 with dry ice and full to the brim with bagged ice and the other 120 has all my food for the week. If I kill something, I just dump it into my duffel bag.

 

[Skibness92]

A small chest freezer works great if you have a power source. Good luck!

 

[thegrouse]

THanks, sounds like a hitch basket and big cooler will be easiest. I should be able to spend several weeks hunting this year. Mostly solo here in Utah with an archery tag. Goal is to see an elk and learn what I can. I will probably hunting a long way from a Walmart to grab a cooler so I will need to go prepared. Ill probably use jugs so I can reuse them instead of spending a ton on ice that will melt.

 

[Weldor]

Giant fish kill bags are the move when you are space limited.

I got a giant one on Temu that will almost fit an entire bone in elk for less than 200 bucks. It folds down small enough to stuff under a seat.

With that said, I’m guessing you are hunting Colorado so I would hang your meat somewhere cool and drive to Walmart if you tag out.

Good advice. Hitch haul too, you can put 150qt on one easy.

 

[taskswap]

IMO a pair of 120qt coolers is the sweet spot, for a few reasons:

1. The 120qt size is nearly always available cheaply at local Walmarts/other stores. Sometimes you can find bigger. But you can (almost) always get these. If you have that coveted situation where you have both a bull and cow tag (it's a thing) you can show up with just 2 coolers at the trailhead but know that if you get really lucky, you'll be able to go double up cheaply.

2. Anything bigger than that is very hard to move once it's full of ice and elk. If you go bigger you need to think about the logistics of things like having to unload a carefully packed cooler you've kept in the shade for 2 days just to get it into your truck when you pack up to leave. Even a 120qt is a hug hassle - my friends think I'm crazy that I move it alone. But it can be done.

3. If you use a pair of coolers instead of a single one, you can keep one empty and one loaded with ice. If you get an elk down, you can scoop half the ice from the full one to the empty and it's the perfect amount. By keeping all your ice in a single cooler you have more thermal mass to keep the ice longer with less loss.

4. If you're like me and roll in with a truck camper in your bed, you're looking at cargo racks for the coolers. A single huge cooler full of elk AND ice will unbalance you, but if you spread it across two, it helps distribute your load.

5. You only need this much capacity for elk. Go out for pronghorn or deer? Just bring one cooler, and it's not insanely large for smaller game. Renting a pontoon boat? 120 is perfect for ice, drinks, food, etc for 4-8 people. Anything larger gets pretty insane.

YMMV - everyone has different needs. But that's what I roll with. Here's me all rigged out last season. Truck camper, two 120qt's on front and rear cargo carriers, valuable items like rifle/gear in the back seat. Notice that despite all the weight, I'm sitting fairly level and balanced. The front carrier also rides low enough with this cooler size to not obstruct my cooling. Obviously if you're tent camping just throw the coolers in your bed or the back of your SUV and they still fit fine - in that case my comments about being able to lift them when full apply even more, though.

 

[kitandace77]

Echoing a lot of people here. Bone in you'll need two ~110qt plus that are long enough to fit quarters. Fit my first 6pt in a 150qt and 65qt but had to bone out two of the quarters. Both were filled ~25% with ice jugs. I've since upgraded to (2) 110qt coolers, using one for daily food storage and the other filled completely with ice and stays shut the entire trip. Once an animal is down, split the ice between both coolers. I was on a 17 day trip to MT last September and still had at least half of my ice remaining.

Check out CaterGator coolers - they're the same as Grizzly and have good sales from time to time. I got both wheeled 110qt coolers for $214 each last year.

CaterGator CG100WH White 110 Qt. Rotomolded Outdoor Cooler / Ice Chest

Built for the great outdoors, the CaterGator CG100WH white 110 qt. rotomolded outdoor cooler / ice chest keeps your food items cold for any occasion! This impressive feat is made possible with a triple-insulated design, which boasts a layer of high-density polyethylene, a layer of polyethylene...

www.webstaurantstore.com

 

[CoWapiti]

CaterGator coolers are indeed awesome.

 

[Hnthrdr]

Ummm depends on the size of the bull, small rag horn like 220 of cooler, really big bull 300+ of cooler I think the tuna bags are cool idea for sure

 

[OkiechasingElk]

I have yet to harvest an elk, but here is my plan. I take two 150qt coolers from Sam's. I put two 6 packs of frozen 1 gal Sam's water jugs in one cooler and last year they were still 2/3 frozen after 10 days. I'm generally not terribly restricted on space. I took them on my SxS trailer to CO in Sept. And I put both coolers on top of my Bed Cover for a trip to Montana w/ my son in Nov.

 

[thegrouse]

I just went and measured, it looks like I can fit the 150qt in the back seat area, downside is loading it in there full of ice and meat. I do not think I can do that solo. I think I can put a 150qt on a hitch rack and put a 65 on the folded down back seat.