Freezer?

JDM57

FNG
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
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42
Location
Corvallis, Oregon
Headed to Wyoming in October with my daughter and her husband and 15 tags to fill.(3 antelope and two deer each). Recent posts about cooler space made me wonder about taking a small chest freezer. We are renting a house for a week so we will have electricity to plug into. We are planning on boning in the field, packing meat to the truck, put in coolers, clean meat at night, package and drop into the freezer. Good idea?
 
Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Messages
986
It will work. I've heard it on several podcasts of people taking them into the field.

Add bottles of water to freeze up first. The extra mass helps it to stay colder if power is lost and when you go home.

Once frozen and with the lid closed, it should be good for a while.

If you throw a bunch of game bags in there they will freeze into a pronghorn popscicle. Separate bags somehow.

Letting meat drain for a few days in a cooler isn't bad thing, but you would need a lot of coolers.

Are you having the deer tested for cwd? If so, keep it marked and don't process until you get all clear.

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Joined
Feb 12, 2018
Messages
986
Hadn't heard there was an issue with cwd? Where would you get it tested?
Head over to wyo game and fish. They have a cwd page. There is info on testing. When I talked to the warden in 15, he said to call him when I shoot a deer and he'll come and pull a sample for me. I'm sure I'll pay for it. But I'm ok with that. I have 4 tags there so I expect 2 will have positive tests.

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BCinKS

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Joined
Jan 27, 2017
Messages
5
Location
NE,KS
We are taking a small chest freezer this year and plan on plugging it in at the house. We've done it in the past and it works great. We have a 16 hr drive home and everything is nice and frozen when we get home.
 

hutty

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Mar 12, 2018
Messages
289
Location
maryland
We have taken a large chest freezer with us in our trailer from Maryland to Wyoming . We can plug in on the ranch where we hunt , we then throw all the meat in the freezer and load it back into the trailer . Have a Honda generator mounted on the front of the trailer for the ride home .
 

Rich M

WKR
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Jun 14, 2017
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5,107
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Orlando
Goodness - 15 tags. Golly Gee.

Yes, bring a chest freezer. Enjoy!

Keep shooting til you run out of shells it seems.
 
OP
J

JDM57

FNG
Joined
Dec 4, 2018
Messages
42
Location
Corvallis, Oregon
Goodness - 15 tags. Golly Gee.

Yes, bring a chest freezer. Enjoy!

Keep shooting til you run out of shells it seems.

Not really sure what you are implying but yes we have 5 tags apiece. Us rednecks from Oregon will be sure to bring lotsa bullets.
 

Rich M

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
5,107
Location
Orlando
You guys did very well with the draw, that's all. The chest freezer and a quiet genny would be better than a bunch of coolers is all..
 

Cubby

WKR
Joined
Jun 21, 2019
Messages
321
We take a chest freezer and generator with us every year elk hunting for a week and it works great. keeps everything frozen along with extra ice for the coolers and we only run it for 4-5 hours a day. I have to laugh at the camps that have 2 grand worth of yetis and some use them for beer coolers LOL. Pretty expensive beer cooler.
 
Joined
Jan 20, 2018
Messages
11
Location
Mid-Michigan
Never considered a small chest freezer in place of coolers. Also looking at a 2020 hunt and thinking about a small freezer on a local auction I saw coming up. Ideas...
 

Loebs

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Sep 22, 2017
Messages
140
Location
Florida
Going to do the same thing. However we have to fly meat back to Florida. Last year it worked great. We broke down the animals in the field and then let the meat hang in game bags for a few days. Cut and wrapped in butcher paper and then into a deep freeze. We flew the meat home in soft side coolers without any problems. We did 7 animals that way with four hunters. This year is going to be nutts, 6 hunters and 20 tags...

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Joined
Aug 2, 2019
Messages
37
Location
SW MO
We take a small one every year when we go to TX and hog hunt. Our small Honda generator has been a life saver, dry ice can also be your best friend if you lack a generator or electricity.
 
Joined
Apr 15, 2017
Messages
528
Headed to Wyoming in October with my daughter and her husband and 15 tags to fill.(3 antelope and two deer each). Recent posts about cooler space made me wonder about taking a small chest freezer. We are renting a house for a week so we will have electricity to plug into. We are planning on boning in the field, packing meat to the truck, put in coolers, clean meat at night, package and drop into the freezer. Good idea?
great idea done it before. works well. fits in the truxk bed. easy to lift in and out empty. bring an extension cord
 
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Messages
1,979
Location
BC
I hauled a Tule elk home from California to BC last week in a 6 Cu Ft chest freezer, (cost about $180 Canadian at Costco 2 yrs ago)...30 hr trip. Two years ago it was a Dall sheep from the NWT back to BC...a 60 hr trip. Great to have a freezer. I had a 100' ext cord along on the last trip that was used down in California. On the Dall sheep it was powered by a Honda 2000 EUi that I mount on a very small platform extending out from the receiver hitch tbat I built...the freezer typically is in the pickup canopy or possibly the cargo trailer if I'm towing it with a quad or RZR inside. Moose hunting or hunting with friends I take a larger chest freezer.

I also took my vacuum sealer along with a bunch of pre-made bags for steaks, soup meat and roasts, a cutting board for the tailgate (plexiglass) and my Chef's Choice knife sharpener and a couple of favorite fillet knives I cut meat with. A roll of paper towels and a big box of gallon ziplocks for burger meat and dog scraps rounded out my meat care supplies, as I ground it at the home...drew the line at grinding my burger on the hunt, but thawed the trim and ground it a few days after getting back. I only bought back meat, all the bones stayed in California.

The freezer and field processing makes for great meat, with minimal work to do when I got back Also eliminates any concerns at the border about spinal tissues/CWD etc. If I'd have shot a bull and brought home antlers, I would have boiled the skull plate and cleaned all meat and brain matter off it like I have with Coues bucks.

Yes, a freezer is much superior to a Yeti for meat care in 95*F weather, and even in weather that is in the 40s and 50s. Hard to make and keep ice on multiweek hunts in the backcountry without one.
 

Chordeiles

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
May 25, 2019
Messages
216
Location
Virginia
Works great. We started doing this nine years ago on our trips to Montana. Good luck. Hope y’all get a freezer full.
 

tntrker

WKR
Joined
Aug 7, 2018
Messages
743
Location
Upstate SC
took a 15cuft freezer from SC out to Montana last year. It was plenty of room for 2 elk. I took an 100ft extension cord vs a generator. Had frozen milk jugs in it to help between stops and plugging it in at hotels along the way. Worked out great!
 
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