Cooler method

[ID_Matt]

How do you guys go about putting an elk in a cooler? Shot a bull last weekend and was unsure what the best method would be... as in put the quarters directly on the ice or create a barrier. I was worried that creating a barrier such as a garbage bag or something similar wouldn't get the ice to some of the meat on top. I ended up putting each quarter in to a trash bag to avoid wet meat and then putting ice in the cracks/in between each quarter. Meat seemed to turn out fine. How do you guys do it?

 

[realunlucky]

Open cooler, throw in quarters, add ice. I just keep the cooler drained best I can. As you can probably tell I don't over think it.

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[crossone]

Never have put an elk in a cooler, just never had reason. When I put antelope in coolers, I buy blocks of ice to at least mostly cover the bottom of the cooler, lay a heavy trash bag over the ice and throw the meat on top. I alway pull the plug on the cooler to let water drain out. It’s not a perfect method and I have worried about meat on top getting cool enough but I’ve had as many as three antelope in a cooler in game bags and never had any problems with meat getting wet or spoiling. If I was worried about it, I might rotate the top meat to the bottom (bottom of the meat pile still on top of the garbage bag) after a few hours to allow it to better melt some ice and cool down.

 

[Sundance]

I bought metal wire shelves from Home Depot and cut them to fit in the bottom of my coolers. Then I zip tied 3/4" PVC tubes to the bottom of the wire shelves. That elevates the meat about 1" off the bottom of the cooler. When I add ice to the meat in the cooler I open the drain plugs. The melted water leaks out and the elevated meat doesn't sit in the bloody water at the bottom. I lay a quarter down and cover it in ice, then add another quarter and more ice. I've held meat like this in cheap coleman cooler for 6 days with zero issues. I generally go one front shoulder and one rear quarter per 150qt cooler then the trimmings and backstraps and loins in a 120qt cooler. So I use three coolers and a ton of ice, total cost to me was $200 for coolers and shelves. Theft is an issue where we hunt so I don't buy expensive coolers.

 

[Sundance]

I don't like to bag the meat in anything other then game bags because I don't want to trap the heat in the cooling process (i.e. no plastic bags). As long as there is plenty of ice (covering all the meat) and the plug is open I've never had any issues. I will go get ice to add every day or so if I'm still out with friends. If I couldn't tend to the ice regularly I'd opt to take it to a cooler/locker if I was going to be more then two days.

 

[GregB]

I had about a 7 hour drive home last year, I let the meat sit out overnight to get cold wrapped it in a tarp the next morning. When I hit the first town threw a few bags of ice on top then another tarp. Meat was ice cold when I got home. And it was 70-80 degrees once I got into lower elevation.

 

[Illinihunter]

Great advice, thanks guys.

 

[Sportsman247]

We just ice it down while it’s in game bags and have places dry ice on bottom of cooler with a barrier.

 

[cnelk]

Hang quarters overnight to cool then put quarters in coolers with frozen milk jugs

Here is a 6pt bull, all four quarters with bone and loose meat in two 120qt coolers - 230lbs total

 

[smcnellis]

I purchased a 5 cuft freezer. Run it with frozen milk jugs for three days before leaving trip. Do not open until you need to use it. After four days in Colorado, it was still frozen. Takes up less space than coolers and is a lot cheaper. Plus you can plug it at a stop if you need to cool it down again.

 

[Finch]

I'm buying blocks of ice to put in my coolers. I'm hoping the couple days it takes us to get to CO and the several days that we're hunting - that there will still be some ice left if we kill something. I started freezing larger Tupperware containers for blocks of ice but the local place sells cinder block sized ice blocks for $2.50. I've ran out of freezer space anyway.

The thing I'm trying to figure out is this. Say we kill one but the other has a tag. I was thinking about de-boning and keeping that meat in the cooler until the other kills one or its time to leave. Hopefully the cooler will still have some ice. What should I do with deboned meat that goes in the cooler? Go ahead and wrap it with something?

I have a processor on standby,

 

[Catahoula]

I put any deer or elk meat in large contractor plastic bags when they go into the coolers. Don’t run the risk of having any water touch meat.

 

[rob86jeep]

There's no problem with having ice directly on the meat, just don't let the meat get submerged in water for long (meaning keep the plug out to allow the cooler to drain).

People out west don't seem to like to do this, but back east, people "wet age" their deer like this for up to a week. It's the only way when it's 90+ degrees when archery season starts.

 

[SonnyDay]

Have you guys noticed that the contractor bags at Home Depot and Lowe's now have scent added to them? Super annoying...

 

[Newt]

Boned meat, straight into cooler, then trip to town to fill up coolers with ice and grab something yummy to eat.

There is nothing wrong with meat submerged in ice water. There is enough moisture on the meat itself to allow the spread of bacteria regardless if you try to keep it separated from the ice.

I’ve done the research on this(besides years of doing it myself) and there is no evidence to support a increased risk of contracting something from eating meat handled in this way.

That’s not to say you should leave meat submerged in water that is not ice cold, it deffinetly needs to be ice water. I had my bull like this for right at a week before processing him at home. People raved about the taste of him.

It does make the surface of the meat that is contacting the water to turn a light brown. It doesn’t change the taste or texture to me though. I tried to understand why people are so freaked out about meat being submerged by starting a thread about it a little while back. Never got much more than the reason being because ‘other’ people have said it’s bad. I think it’s folk lore honestly.

 

[jog]

I have wire racks from abandoned fridges placed on the bottom of the coolers to hold the meat off the bottom. I have one cooler packed solid with ice while hunting as it keeps ice better this way and usually early archery the temps can be very warm.
I do think its important as mentioned to have the meat cooled before you cooler it, especially if it is bone in. It is surprising how well a bunk of meat will hold heat if its not opened up into smaller portions to cool. I don't rush the meat off the mountain. I cool it there best as we can and if its warm debone it 1st. Otherwise its a race to the finish, so to speak.

 

[Randonee]

Thanks for asking this question and all of the very useful replies.