Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Bringing home the bacon, etc.

For those who travel a long distance to hunt -- how do you bring back large amounts of meat?
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<br>I had a local processor ship 160 lbs. of elk meat to me by UPS overnight once -- expensive but it worked. Had to have it shipped to a butcher shop in my area and pay them for storage since the meat was getting home before I was.
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<br>I once carried a turkey home in a cooler full of ice. Had to sweet-talk the flight attendants to keep it in their coat closet. Pre-Sept. 11, of course.
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<br>Any good suggestions for easing the pain?

I have always relied on a large ice chest and ice. The only time I transported meat while flying I brought back a 160 quart cooler full of dressed geese. Duct tape all around the seal between the lid and the box did the trick. Here in Texas it is so warm during deer season that I always quarter my venison in the field and ice it down in coolers. I have a fridge in my gararge just for aging the venison before I process it. I hardly ever get to hang a deer, it is just too warm here.

When I am hunting or fishing far from home, most often flying there, I pack my stuff in ice chests and pack a duffel bag also, for the return trip. There are lots of tricks to getting the counter person to help you out with the excess bag charges, but remembering to be very cheerful is the most important.
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<br>I have had them give me a hard time over a tiny extra bag, and have had them over-look extra charges when I was literally coming home with 10 ice chests of salmon fillets. You never know.
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<br>The airlines will not accept a package with ice in it and need to know if there is dry ice in the package, so they can make sure there are no pets in the same hold.
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<br>Another problem which has raised its ugly head more than once on the airlines is lost bags... Two years ago I had a couple guys from Hawaii who were bringing home 22 sea ducks for mounting and several weeks later they still had not found them... They ended up finding them in the bottom of a freezer in the Anchorage airport, in perfect condition.
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<br>In January I mailed home the skull and attached horns from my NM oryx and would say that worked just fine. I brought the cape and most of the meat home on the plane, frozen, in 2 ice chests.
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<br>The bigger problem is the difficulty in properly tending to the meat and getting it processed under difficult conditions.
<br>art

And the oryx tasted GRRRRREEEEAT!!!pak

P-d shooter,
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<br>160 quarts is one big cooler! Is that a typo?
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<br>I have two that are 50-55 qts and am having trouble visualizing the triple-size model.
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<br>John

Lots of 160s down here. Will hold three boned out deer or a bunch of king fish or almost a good mess of shrimp . If I have to go a long way dry ice is the way to go if just a couple of days ice works ok. I have an old worn out sleeping bag that I put on top of the meat and ice so it won't shift around much also more insulation. News paper works too in a pinch. Just anything to fill up any space in the cooler. Seal all the seams including drain valve with duct tape. I have gone as long as four days with shrimp packed in ice as above with the chest in the back of a pickup with out a problem.
<br>BCR

The 35 guart size is what I use for fish as the weight limit to fly is 70# and they will come in right at the limit. I go the next size up for game animals in quarters and/or chunks. In a boat or truck the bigger the better...
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<br>pak
<br>Not bad stuff for a critter that doesn't ever have to take a leak...
<br>art

No typo. But it is actually 162 quarts. The Igloo marine style. That thing holds alot. I have several sizes of Igloo ice chests that I have collected over the years. I love them. they are good not only for keeping food cold they also keep gear and colthing dry, ammo from over heating, as well as keeping food from freezing over night on winter camp outs. I carry my ammo to the prairie dog shoots in a 12 pack size Igloo. It keeps it from cooking in the sun all day. I have replaced hinges, latches, and drain spouts on several of my older coolers and they just keep on going. Clean with a little ajax, and leave a paper towel with just a little vinilla extract inside and those things keep working forever. Igloo coolers and Coleman lanterns, two items I must have on every outing. pds

Friend of mine uses a river boat to go on extended hunting trips. He took a very large card board box to one of those spray foam insulators and had about 8" of foam sprayed on all over. Cut the top off with a saber saw to give access and keeps it sealed with duct tape It's as ugly as sin plunked in the middle of his boat but it literally keeps pre- frozen food supplies for weeks if the seal is kept tight and sleeping bags are spread over it during the day. Usually frosty at night where he goes even in late August early September. Empty it's actually quite light.