Bringing meat home

[T55]

Going caribou hunting can anyone advise what size ice chests I should consider for transporting the meat of one caribou. If your response could address transporting the meat quarters and transporting the meat completely boned out.
Thanks

 

[Jkling12]

I know this isn't going to be much help but no one has responded., 2 black bear quarter will barely fit in a yeti 75. I would recommend boning out. We boned one whole bear all the way out and it fit in my pelican 65.

 

[seldomseensmith]

Get a couple Polar Bear Coolers. Such bang for the buck in all categories. Used them this summer to take halibut home from Alaska.

 

[VernAK]

This^^^^^^^^^This

I've been touting the size 48 Polar Bear Cooler for several years.....I have a dozen
of em and the baggage handlers haven't busted one yet. I've traveled for two days from
summer Mexico with 45 pounds of frozen fish in each bag [50 pound baggage limit] and arrive home in Alaska with
frozen fish......You'll need three for a boned out caribou.....

They usually run a 2 for 1 sale every November.

I get mine monogrammed for easy ID on the baggage carousel and to differentiate
from my buddy's bags.

 

[cocky84]

We just got back from caribou hunt in alaska. We fit two caribou in two 120 qt coleman xtremes with capes. It was tight. So obviously 120qt each. This was while transporting it around alaska. It was over the 100lb limit for a checked bag on Alaska Airlines. You will probably have to donate a little meat if you plan on bringing it on the plane.

 

[cocky84]

Also that was bone in the quarters. Not rib cage.

 

[bizyrok]

I used 18 gallon totes to bring home my meat. With the 50# limit (Delta), anything larger is wasted space.

 

[Jimss]

Your post is a little confusing. Are you looking for coolers to transport from the field, plane home, or both? If just transporting from the field the Sportsman's Warehouse in Anchorage had insulated boxes that fold up and are relatively light and flat for around $16 each. Sportsman's also had regular 50 lb fish boxes with foam insulation for $16 each. A lot cheaper than the price of coolers!

I used Alaska Airlines and used 50 lb insulated fish boxes for hauling my meat home. It was $65/box to ship as luggage. If you went with a large cooler that weighs over 50 lbs it would be $150/cooler. I would definitely bone the meat to save on bulk plus weight!

 

[Blackfoot]

Shot a caribou this year. Got It to Alaska sausage and seafood company for processing in Anchorage. Two week turn around and they boxed It and took It to the Anchorage airport. Alaska air flew It to Dallas for $1/lb where I picked It up at their cargo area. Stuff was in great shape when I picked It up.

 

[OXN939]

Shot a caribou this year. Got It to Alaska sausage and seafood company for processing in Anchorage. Two week turn around and they boxed It and took It to the Anchorage airport. Alaska air flew It to Dallas for $1/lb where I picked It up at their cargo area. Stuff was in great shape when I picked It up.

I also used Alaska Sausage company for my moose hunt in '17 and had similar results. As far as a Caribou is concerned, it's hard to say how many 48 qt coolers you'd need if you wanted to transport the meat still attached to the bone... for most Caribou, probably 3. I boned out all the meat from my bou and required two 48 qt coolers to transport it, totaling about 145 lbs of meat.