Who’s got the best set up to keep a quartered elk cool?

[Elite]

I am really wanting figure out a plan to be able to keep a quartered up elk or a small moose.

I was thinking about an old large pop fridge with the big sliding doors but they seem to be impossible to find used.

Other option was a large chest freezer and use a temp controller on it to keep it just above freezing. Has anyone used one of these? Wondering if the quarters would fit if you laid them down and stacked them on top of each other with some type of spacer

Open to ideas!


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[dirtshooter]

I stacked elk quarters in a chest freezer, froze them but I had plastic bags separating them so they did not stick.

The upright cooler idea is something I've wanted to do or a garden shed with a coolbot.

Also I wonder if you could get a garage fridge without the freezer and fab an internal frame strong enough to hang the quarters?

 

[NRA4LIFE]

Need more info. Where, how far away from civilization, cooler space in your truck or trailer? I brought a mass quantity of ice (frozen jugs mostly) on my moose hunt with 4 huge coolers (one a homemade 350-400 qt) and it worked great. Still needed to pick up additional ice. Moose was mostly deboned but quarters were not.

 

[AZ Gator]

I recently purchased a large chest freezer for this exact use. I have a temp controller to be able to keep it well regulated at just above freezing. It will be in my camper at base camp and on an inverter.

What I haven’t sorted out yet is some sort of spacer system to allow some air between the quarters.

I haven’t used the setup yet.

 

[Elite]

I stacked elk quarters in a chest freezer, froze them but I had plastic bags separating them so they did not stick.

The upright cooler idea is something I've wanted to do or a garden shed with a coolbot.

Also I wonder if you could get a garage fridge without the freezer and fab an internal frame strong enough to hang the quarters?

I stacked elk quarters in a chest freezer, froze them but I had plastic bags separating them so they did not stick.

The upright cooler idea is something I've wanted to do or a garden shed with a coolbot.

Also I wonder if you could get a garage fridge without the freezer and fab an internal frame strong enough to hang the quarters?

Any idea of the size of chest freezer? Would like to go this route but worried moose quarters wouldn’t fit. Not a Yukon moose size but Alberta


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[5MilesBack]

Frozen milk jugs and other similar containers in coolers have always worked for me. Two moose and countless elk over the years. I normally just unload the coolers into my garage when I get home and leave them for a couple days before processing. The meat is always so cold that it hurts my hands to work with it.

But if you're at the two week plus mark with a 2000 mile drive, you'd probably need to fill up on ice on the way home.

 

[LongWayAround]

Any idea of the size of chest freezer? Would like to go this route but worried moose quarters wouldn’t fit. Not a Yukon moose size but Alberta


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My neighbor does it for elk with what I believe to be a seven cubic foot chest freezer. He uses a small fan inside and a home brewing temperature regulator.

 

[dirtshooter]

Any idea of the size of chest freezer? Would like to go this route but worried moose quarters wouldn’t fit. Not a Yukon moose size but Alberta


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Maybe like 4-6ft long? I don't actually know the cubic feet but just think about how long an elk or moose quarter is and get it a little longer than that

I also wonder if you could build stackable grating so you could put one quarter down, stack a grate, put the next quarter down etc that would have separation and air movement

 

[Elite]

Need more info. Where, how far away from civilization, cooler space in your truck or trailer? I brought a mass quantity of ice (frozen jugs mostly) on my moose hunt with 4 huge coolers (one a homemade 350-400 qt) and it worked great. Still needed to pick up additional ice. Moose was mostly deboned but quarters were not.

I usually hunt close to home 3 hour max distance. But I hunt early archery season and would like to have some where at home to simply store the quartered elk or moose until I have time to butcher.

Would also like to be able to put the freezer in my cargo trailer if I hunt a further distance from home one day


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[Elite]

Need more info. Where, how far away from civilization, cooler space in your truck or trailer? I brought a mass quantity of ice (frozen jugs mostly) on my moose hunt with 4 huge coolers (one a homemade 350-400 qt) and it worked great. Still needed to pick up additional ice. Moose was mostly deboned but quarters were not.

I usually hunt close to home 3 hour max distance. But I hunt early archery season and would like to have some where at home to simply store the quartered elk or moose until I have time to butcher.

Would also like to be able to put the freezer in my cargo trailer if I hunt a further distance from home one day


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[Elite]

My neighbor does it for elk with what I believe to be a seven cubic foot chest freezer. He uses a small fan inside and a home brewing temperature regulator.

He must de bone the quarters? Seven seems really small


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[Elite]

Frozen milk jugs and other similar containers in coolers have always worked for me. Two moose and countless elk over the years. I normally just unload the coolers into my garage when I get home and leave them for a couple days before processing. The meat is always so cold that it hurts my hands to work with it.

But if you're at the two week plus mark with a 2000 mile drive, you'd probably need to fill up on ice on the way home.

That’s good to know it’ll last that long! Are you deboning the quarters first?


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[LongWayAround]

He must de bone the quarters? Seven seems really small


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No, bone in. I saw his last bull in it, it was tight but basically fine. I agree that seven is on the small side.

I briefly tried it with my last freezer that size, but didn't have it setup quite right.

I have a 15cf now that would be plenty of space.