Stupid cooler question!!

[maninthemaze]

Me and my brother will be heading to Montana from Kentucky for our first elk hunt. We are planning on bringing two Coleman Extreme coolers filled with frozen milk jugs. If we put a large chunk of dry ice in there, would the ice in the milk jugs last longer? Would it be worth it?

Thanks guys and please take it easy on the newbie question.

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[Jeff Martin]

100% yes. But be careful because if the dry ice is too large , it will freeze and bust everything you have in the cooler. We often put a small bag of dry ice with blocks of ice.

Question: why not buy the dry ice and blocks of ice when you get to Montana?


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[maninthemaze]

My thinking on using the frozen milk jugs, is so there wouldn't be any water to keep draining out of the cooler.

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[OZapo]

I have 2 of the same coolers and travel to Colorado from Maryland. I've used frozen milk jugs and other containers with great success. I typically buy some bagged ice once I get close to my hunting area, the bagged ice helps fill in the gaps in the cooler full of meat, it is easily drained out when it melts. I've kept meat in these coolers with just ice for over a week, drained them a few times a day and replenished ice as needed. Meat was just fine once I was able to process it.

 

[OZapo]

My thinking on using the frozen milk jugs, is so there wouldn't be any water to keep draining out of the cooler.

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Make sure your meat is fully cooled before you place it in a cooler with just milk jugs. The jugs are pretty bulky and you won't be able to keep the meat separated enough to cool quickly in the cooler. If you harvest an elk the last day of your hunt and don't have time to let it cool down before you load it up for the trip home I would suggest having some bagged ice on hand to put in the cooler to fill as much space as possible. Having to drain water is better than having spoiled meat when you get home.

 

[maninthemaze]

Thank you very much. Since me and my brother both have tags I called a place that's fairly local to the hunting area. They said that if we got one elk, they would store it in their freezer while we hunted for the second elk.

We are hunting with general tags, and will both be excited to even see elk. We would be even happier to kill a cow, let alone a bull. Either way, I'm thinking the ice jugs, would be good for a few days, if we wanted to go that route. We'll stop and get bagged ice as well.

Thanks guys.

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[jdk81]

I'm going to hijack a little bit here...

We are doing something similar. The drive from the parking spot to town will be an hour or more, and we are doing a backcountry hunt 6+ miles deep. Would it be possible to buy all of our ice/ dry ice first and store it in the largest cooler, and divy it out as needed when we shoot an elk? Will that ice be fine stored in the truck, in the shade, for 5-6 days if needed? And then will it last the whole trip home? Or would it be more beneficial to make the drive to town if we shoot an elk and waste a day, essentially, of hunting?

My plan was to take our Grizzly 100qt, use milk jugs along the bottom, enough to cover the bottom of two coolers, use bagged ice to fill the gaps, and layer the top of the cooler with dry ice blocks, again hopefully enough for two coolers. Thoughts?!?!

Thanks!

 

[BullElk]

a seven pound block of dry ice will only last for about two days. granted everything in your cooler will be frozen rock solid provided you place it on the top. keep the cooler closed for those 5-6 days JD and im sure youll have plenty of ice left.

for the guy above. don't drain the water from the ice until after you've harvested a bull.

 

[jdk81]

a seven pound block of dry ice will only last for about two days. granted everything in your cooler will be frozen rock solid provided you place it on the top. keep the cooler closed for those 5-6 days JD and im sure youll have plenty of ice left.

for the guy above. don't drain the water from the ice until after you've harvested a bull.

Okay, good info on the dry ice. I'm now leaning towards plenty of regular block ice, and grab a block of dry ice on the way out of town. Thanks

 

[maninthemaze]

Do you guys think we should wait and buy ice once we get to Montana? Or will frozen milk jugs be sufficient? We'll be driving from Ky, so a day and a half driving. I'm just worried the block ice will be sold out.

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[BullElk]

are you transporting any food in your cooler on the way out? or is this for the drive, then hunt, fill cooler with meat to haul to town? if you hang the meat properly and or pack it all out the day you shoot it just take it to town and get it hanging. most meat cutters will make provisions for you to do after hours drop offs in my experience. not sure how big your coleman is but trying to cram four quarter, backstraps, and tenderloins in there with block or milk jugs is a stretch.

 

[mplane72]

FYI. I use the same Coleman cooler. Heading from CO from IA it is loaded with food and 6 frozen milk jugs. Food stays cold and still some ice in jugs when I get home 7-9 days later. Some things that help are putting Everything that goes in there already cold from fridge, camping at elevation where it gets cold at night, keeping cooler out of direct sun light and getting in and out of it quick. Every time we've had a kill it goes to a processor who has it frozen when we head home. Packed solid it's cooler it's still frozen after driving 15 hours straight through to home with no ice.

 

[Ryan2782]

Oxygen is what makes dry ice go away faster. wrapping in newspapers is very common, I've even heard putting it in small cardboard box and then in the cooler.

Another suggestion, depending on your hunting/camping style, by your groceries in town or the largest town closest to where you are hunting. I have friends that travel out west every year and that is what they do. You will also need to call ahead and see what stores in what towns sell dry ice, and have it regularly available. If your hunting near a small town, they probably have limited groceries and no dry ice.