What size cooler

[Short Track]

I'll be doing Antelope in October.
What size cooler do I need for 1 goat, with dry ice?.. I'll be taking it on the airlines with me.

No cape, or horns. I'll be leaving them at the local taxidermist.

 

[Couture]

I'll be doing Antelope in October.
What size cooler do I need for 1 goat, with dry ice?.. I'll be taking it on the airlines with me.

No cape, or horns. I'll be leaving them at the local taxidermist.

Bone in or bone out? I got a buck and a doe from WY in quarters in a yeti 125

 

[Short Track]

It will be fully butchered & frozen...

 

[soggybtmboys]

Flew home last year with a deboned and frozen buck, completely packed in my RTIC 40.


Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[chesterfield]

Yeti Hopper Two 30 will work well and can be carried on the airline - no need for dry ice.

 

[Short Track]

The RTIC is sized in 'cans'. While a YETI is sized in quarts.. Doesn't seem to be a standard...

Why no need for dry ice ?

 

[TSAMP]

You said it would be frozen.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

I'll be doing Antelope in October.
What size cooler do I need for 1 goat, with dry ice?.. I'll be taking it on the airlines with me.

No cape, or horns. I'll be leaving them at the local taxidermist.

If you aren't flying in with the cooler then a cheap $~15 48qt walmart coleman will fit it just fine, toss a couple pounds of dry ice on top of the frozen meat and duct tape it shut, not sealed all around just loops around the body to keep the lid shut, bring the tape incase they want to open it again at airport. Dry ice isn't needed if its truly frozen solid, but if there is some at the stores near you its cheap to ensure its extra cold (frozen isn't always the same, stuff can be 20F frozen or -20F frozen, guess which takes longer the thaw... ).

 

[Short Track]

2 hour drive to Rapid City airport, plus 2 flights with a connection, and another 1+ hr drive home. I'll find some dry ice. Just curious to what size cooler for all the meat...

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

2 hour drive to Rapid City airport, plus 2 flights with a connection, and another 1+ hr drive home. I'll find some dry ice. Just curious to what size cooler for all the meat...

I just answered that above. A $~15 48qt coleman from walmart will easily fit it, and can be checked, I know that for a fact as that is exactly what I sent my brother home with last year. If you're thinking of buying a nicer cooler, I suspect I could fit all of a deboned antelope into my 48can soft sided polar bear cooler for instance. But honestly I'd just buy the cooler once you get out there, toss in a bag of ice and go hunting, you can fit the deboned meat (bone in probably would fit too but deboned for sure) into it off the bat to chill it and reuse the same cooler when you fly out with the frozen meat.

If I recall right the cooler is ~8lb so that leaves 42lb of meat capacity if staying under a 50lb checked limit. I think the most meat I've gotten off a buck once trimmed out and packaged is 45lb. So eat a steak or two before you fly.

 

[TSAMP]

its tricky since your going fully processed. Its difficult to know since we dont know what size of lope and how youll have it processed. Lots of good awnsers for it quartered. Youll have to take that along with your desired dry ice quota and make a guess. For what it's worth i had 90 lbs of meat in a cardboard box that spent 12 hrs in a freezer then 26 hrs in transportation and it was fine, this was sept.

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

its tricky since your going fully processed. Its difficult to know since we dont know what size of lope and how youll have it processed. Lots of good awnsers for it quartered. Youll have to take that along with your desired dry ice quota and make a guess. For what it's worth i had 90 lbs of meat in a cardboard box that spent 12 hrs in a freezer then 26 hrs in transportation and it was fine, this was sept.

I wouldn't worry about the dry ice qouta with the 2hr drive, put a pound or two on top of the meat before the drive and if there is actually any left when you get to the airport just toss it if over weight. The cold dry ice will be cooling off the frozen meat to an even lower temperature initially so that'll use up alot of its capacity but that's fine because then the meat mass is even colder for starting the trip. As I was saying above the temperature of frozen meat can be just below freezing or substantially below freezing, the latter will travel alot longer w/o thawing.

 

[bvige]

The RTIC is sized in 'cans'. While a YETI is sized in quarts.. Doesn't seem to be a standard...

Why no need for dry ice ?

You may not have looked close on the RTIC website. They have multiple units of measure on the cooler specs. I have the 45 and 65. They both measure liquid 45 and 65 quarts and this is noted on the website as well.

Whereas the Yeti Tundra 45 and 65 measure 37 and 52 . One of the reasons i use the RTIC's, they actually measure to what they're supposed to be. Plus cheaper.

 

[bvige]

You may not have looked close on the RTIC website. They have multiple units of measure on the cooler specs. I have the 45 and 65. They both measure liquid 45 and 65 quarts and this is noted on the website as well.

Whereas the Yeti Tundra 45 and 65 measure 37 and 52 . One of the reasons i use the RTIC's, they actually measure to what they're supposed to be. Plus cheaper.

Sorry, just realized you were probably talking about the soft and not the hard coolers. Good luck though!

 

[Short Track]

I'd never own a Yeti. Can't lift it up… and ridiculous money.

 

[wapitibob]

You'll get 30# of meat if you hit the lotto. A coleman 48 will have room to spare.

 

[bvige]

I'd never own a Yeti. Can't lift it up… and ridiculous money.

I hear ya. I started using the premium coolers simply because we use coolers so much here. Ice last longer and the cooler lasts longer.

For what its worth and speaking of cost. I bought an Ozark Trail soft cooler for the wife to keep in her trunk. These things are cheap from Walmart but are nicely insulated and have the interior welded seams and all similar to the RTIC and YETI. You might check em out. Could save you a bunch for something you may not use very often.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Most airlines do have tiered pricing for checked baggage weights with a cap around 100 pounds. They also have a weight and size limit on carry-ons. You never know how the gate agent will act if you bring the meat on the plane (assuming TSA does not throw a fit).

Rotomolded coolers are awesome but they are heavy SOBs. In this case, buy a cheap cooler that will fit your meat and dry ice.

Ensure the meat is frozen solid. Put it in the cooler, add the dry ice, and tape it up. You will need to check your airline's policy on dry ice.

Edit
One last piece of advice. Weigh the cooler after your retrieve from baggage claim. If it weighs less than when you checked in, check to see if any meat was taken. If so, file a complaint right then and there. On more than one occasion I've had backstrap and tenderloins "disappear" sometime between check-in and getting it home.

 

[Thedeerfarmer]

My buddy and I fit two does in a 65 quart regularly when deboned.

 

[chesterfield]

Short Track - the Yeti Hopper Two 30 fit an entire, frozen, processed buck without problem. The packed cooler weighed between 40-45 pounds if I recall correctly and is easy to carry. Not bulky nor heavy like the standard Yeti (and other brand) coolers. And, with minimal effort it will fit into the overhead compartment on the plane. My travel time was similar to the amount of time you describe that you’ll be in transit with drives to and from airports and one connecting flight. Contents were frozen when I arrived home.