Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Yeti coolers vs. Orca coolers

Okay, not sure if I am using the correct thread title but wanted some experienced thoughts on this one if possible. I am looking into Yeti coolers for my elk hunting trip and wanted some advice on size and volume for hauling a quartered elk, say from the state of Idaho or Montana on the back of a trailer or pickup box?
Spoke with a couple of friends that traveled from Montana to NY and they mentioned with stops and rest they averaged 25 hours travel time give or take to complete the trip. After watching some videos on Yeti and Orca coolers with ice test the coolers were holding ice for about 4 days before any significant loss. Do any of you have experience with sizes and cross-country travels with this type of thing? Mind you I would be packing home a whole butchered elk. Unprocessed.

First, save half your money by checking out Rtic.

I've not done the trip you're asking about, but just for thought. I took an elk frozen from Oregon to California when I first moved down there. Meat was frozen before leaving, I put a piece of foam under the boxes, put blocks of ice around them, and completely covered the pile with sleeping bag, coat, etc. Not only was the meat still frozen after twelve hours on the road, but very little ice had melted.

Whatever coolers you use fill them to the top. Air sucks out the cold. Consider dry ice, insulate under and over if possible, keep out of the sun. Same as every other trick to make ice last in a cooler.

I have Yeti and Orca coolers. Smaller sized so I don't use for hauling home Elk. With that being said they ARE VERY SIMILAR. Don't think you could go wrong with either.

When I first started Elk hunting I purchased two very large IRP (Iowa Rotocast Plastics) coolers. I think one is 200 quart and the other 150-160 quart. These things are beasts. I believe they are called "grizzly" coolers now. Rotomolded like the yeti and Orca.

I could probably get a whole elk in the 200 no problem, but I am lazy and Just cut large pieces off the body and throw them in with some dry ice. 2 day drive from Wyoming to Kansas no problem. Elk meat frozen solid when I get back.

I hope that helps.

I wasn't sure how big a 250-quart yeti cooler was. They really don't give a comparison to anything that I could find on the net. Maybe a bull elk is about 300 to 400 hundred pounds of cuts? Cow elk maybe 250 to 350?

Ive been researching coolers for a while. All the roto cooler brands were able to make it to 5 days before temps broke freezing, they real differences came between 5-7 days. One regular style cooler, the Coleman Extreme even beat out the Grizzly coolers. The same 3 seem to always be in the top spots. Cabelas, Pelican and I dont recall the 3rd but they all had very similar performance for several days.

All that being said, it comes down to how much you want to pay to and how necessary it is to have 5+ or 7+ days of ice or maintained temp levels.

I was completely set on getting a Cabelas roto cooler, constantly scores well, lifetime warranty but after seeing how little space is in a roto cooler and the 499.00 price tag to get something usable other than a 6 pack...I ended up with a coleman extreme on sale for 71.00. I dont expect it to keep things cold as long as the the rotos but my trips are typically 2-4 days anyways.

Definitely, want a cooler that can hold more than a can of pop and a couple packages of venison.

I got to Cableas last week, and looked at the rotos.....literally going to need at least one(probably more) 120Q+ and those are huge, and expensive. Id like to get one to have one around but it will have to wait until I absolutely need it.

Scroll down and you can see how much space you give up interior vs exterior dimensions.

https://www.engelcoolers.com/engel-eng240-coolers.html

DIMENSIONS & CAPACITY

Exterior Dimensions : 51.5" x 22" x 21.5"
Interior Dimensions : 45.75" x 16.875" x 17.25"

Substantial differences but were looking at 2'' of foam all around the cooler.

The Pelican 250 qt. looks like a nice twenty-year investment too, something you could hand down.

Walmart now also sells a roto line of coolers, I got the 54qt last year and it works well Wally World

One will need a big assed cooler for elk quarters. Bone them out, and one can probably get an animal back in a couple 140 qt coolers. If well frozen and sealed with duct tape, one could easily do 4 days with low end Igloo's and all would still be hard as a rock.

I use Igloo's on extended trips and run out of ice at somewhere around day 14 to day 17 with moderate summer weather.

I factor that in too. One reason I decided on Cabelas or Peilican, both have liftime warranties. Being able to pass the cooler down to the kids will help justify the eventual cost. Then again in 5 years they may come out with some new super cooler that replaces the roto in terms of performance. Just wasnt a priority this year. I could swing an 80q now but something of that size will be of little help for the time I would need the extended cooling, like you, traveling with large game. I'll likely need a 140 or two so i'll jsut wait another year wain unitl I can swing one of the larger rotos. For now the Coleman extreme can handle anything I would need.

Really for me the only time I would need the longer cooling capacity would be if I tagged out on opening day and had to stay around camp while my buddies tried to fill tags. As for the driving, the Coleman could handle a couple days, even then if I had to I could grab ice when I get gas but I dont think it will be necessary. The roto would be the best choice for the scenario mentioned above where getting ice means leaving camp and heading into town. And one more point, the temps at camp may even extend how long the Extreme could maintain temp. I think the biggest advantage to the roto cooler is the durability, they're built like tanks. Im not hard on my stuff so its not much of a selling point but still something to consider.

Here is the chart from outdoor gear lab

I have used a Coleman Extreme for keeping Ice at deer camp and have used a Yeti for the last 2 years. The Yeti is far superior. The first year I used the Yeti I took vacation and was able to hunt for 3 straight weeks. I precooled it and filled it with bagged ice. We opened it only to pull bags of ice out and topped it off again when we went to town. After 18 days the original bags on the bottom were still 1/2 ice. Using My Coleman extreme the same way after 4 days all the original bags would be melted.
The Yeti besides it's cost has 2 big drawbacks It is heavy and you have to keep it locked up. People will steal them here like they would try to steal a good looking woman.

Really comes down to if that extra day or durability is worth an extra 300-400. Even from a durability standpoint the Extreme isnt that bad. You could buy 2 120Q extremes and still be at half the cost of one 80q roto.

Rtic is about the only roto company that bridges the price gap.

I agree, most rotos are superior. IF I were hunting for that long it would be a no brainer. My hunts are never more than 7, most family outing even less. The size and weight are indeed something to consider. I thought the 100Q rotos were heavy before ice...let alone packing quarters in them. No wonder they sell carts for them.

The full test if you havent read it in your won research:
http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Cooler-Reviews#bicreview

I too was concerned that theft would be an issue. Ideally, I would leave the cooler in the truck box locked. There would be no way anyone could haul or want to haul a cooler of that size into camp. It would be awful inviting for people to look your vehicle over while you were away and see a nice $800.00 cooler and help their selves to it. Nearly impossible to hide something that big. I guess I could bring an enclosed trailer something like a snowmobile style and lock that.

I have a Pelican 150-qt bought from DVOR $360 delivered I think and love it. I can fit a whole elk in it but it keeps ice all week in 70-80 degrees.

Look around I think Amazon has some deals. Sorry i cant add to the ones you specifically asked about but they are worth the cost and weight. I hate have water only on archery hunts after the 3rd day.

Is the elk a full-size elk? If yes, how many pounds?