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

Adk,

I made the rack to fit in my Reese hitch. It will handle anything I would ever want to haul

Even if you didn't turn it on, a chest freezer is cheaper than a Yeti. They're well insulated so just fill it with ice. They have drain holes.

One of the coolers that Ted has will fit a cow elk boned out. Two will do it with the quarters bone in or a bull easily. I have done it, but I don't make a habit of taking pics of packed coolers.

Had to laugh out loud, good point, it being so obvious I never would have given it a thought.

I might take a few pics of a packed cooler just for future references. But yes, I understand the logic of not taking them as well.

Guess I never saw the logic of taking a picture of a cooler full of ice.

OP - the RTIC line is a good product for what you want to do.

The chest freezer is another good idea, but bigger, and will take up more room in the load planning for the trip.

It sounds like you are leaving a vehicle parked at a trailhead and hiking or riding into camp.

If one of your party tags on the first day, what are you planning to do for storing meat?

In Idaho, you may see temps in the 70-80s during elk season, or you may in 12 inches of snow. You'll have to plan for both, and what to do with the meat.

It sound like the worst case scenario is the guy that tags out the last night of the hunt, and you have to haul the meat the next day all the way back to New York state.

Am I somewhat on track with your plan?

Kind of what I was thinking....

Tedhorn, packed with elk meat and ice I hope. (References) Why? I don't know maybe just to have for occasions like this.

Ah64guy,
Leave a vehicle at the trailhead, hike into a camp maybe a drop camp. If I or we tag early we would have to store meat inside of cooler depending on temps I can assume we could hang the meat for a spell if needed. Most of these coolers seem to hold ice for 5 days, in turn, I could have ice in the cooler at the trailhead while I or we are hunting. Hunts seem to be planned for 7 to ten days depending on success. Uncertain how drop camps operate in the sense of coming to camp to help you pack an elk out. Could be an issue of distance and time. But I would rather have a horse do the work than my back if possible. (Chuckles).

Years ago here in ID, I shot a moose in 10" of snow on the 1st day of our hunt. 4 days later, the snow was gone and the NIGHTS weren't getting below 50. We drove 50 miles to a meat processor and paid him to hang it for a few more days while we tried to get my partner's moose.
Yup, plan for anything.

I've got orca, pescaro, cabelas outfitter made by grizzly and rtic, all damn nice coolers, the big cabelas I got for a song at the Boise cabelas, pard and I bought the last 2 for $350ish out the door. Took it to Alberta last year, 2 boned out bucks, horns capes and all my gear tucked away in it, worked great. Going to BC with me this year on a moose hunt.

The King!

The pescaro is nice, they're made for England's marine here in Washington, and are reasonably priced. The big cabelas I just couldn't pass up for the scratch. Out of the 4 the orca is the best quality I think

I have:

Taken generator and freezer. Great plan if you are already hauling a 4 wheeler trailer, etc.
Used the big, cheap igloos. White ones hold ice for a good while. Green ones like in Ted's pick melt ice much faster because the absorb the heat instead of reflect it. Great way to go.
Picked up empty yeti and almost threw my back out. Way too heavy and not enough storage room for the size.

I've considered:

Building a storage box myself with insulated material.

If you are even considering a Yeti, look at RTIC and save money. Same cooler, but very good.

These new coolers from Maluna look interesting. I'm on their facebook group, but haven't backed them.

Maluna Kickstarter

All very nice coolers folks. Many choices and opinions to choose from but I think I am going with at least a two hundred quart model in a Pelican or an Orca 140 quart. Not the biggest but these coolers are expensive no matter what one we choose. I have ruled the Yeti out on too many other choices available and prefer to spend my money without the popular vote. Nothing personal with the Yetis.

Maybe a Coleman extreme 200 qt. and a Pelican mid-size as well, a combination of both. Only going to be iced for 4 days max coming home, so with dry ice and cubed ice and some cardboard insulation between the meat and dry ice it will be fine.

I've had a grizzly 150 quart that I've used for years to haul my boned out elk back to GA. Usually a three day return trip. Iced down, my elk always came back frozen solid until this past fall. We made a straight drive back, about 27 hours. When I opened the lid, my meat was thawed. Cool, but thawed.

I checked the cooler closely and discovered that the lid was warped about a quarter inch or so. Our 27 hour drive back resulted in warm air shooting into the cooler at 65-70mph. Luckily, the meat wasn't ruined, but I was pissed off nonetheless.

A call to the sweet lady in customer service resulted in a warranty replacement at no charge. They have upgraded their 150 quart model to 165 quarts with other "design upgrades" as well according to Grizzly. It's supposed to be shipped this spring sometime. Until the lid warped, it was perfectly fine. I'm curious to see how the 165 holds up.

Yeah, I would be ticked off myself, hopefully, the next one holds up for you.

That is the undoing of most mid-range and lower end coolers. Unmolested, near every cooler on the market has great potential. Two hundred fifty pound people using them for camp seats or raft benches eventually sinks the middle and lifts the ends letting air circulate. Duct tape all around is an adequate fix, but a PIA if there's much in and out to do.

Again, I get by with ice for up to 15 days with 160 qt white single lid Igloo's. I let it be known on the front end of every trip that my coolers WILL NOT be used as benches or step ladders. That is what our lawn chairs or buckets are for. I'm on about the 7th year with my present unit, and it's still quite tight. I'm well under $150 with that cooler and our 3 lawn chairs.

Thankful to finally see some common sense moving into the pricing realm. Some very nice units available and I suspect there's still some profit to be had.