Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Mature Bull Elk = X # + X quart coolers

A quart volume in a cooler equals about a pound of meat - X equals your luck and skill for the kill.

We are typically flying meat home frozen - a cheap 48 quart Walmart / Fred Meyer plastic cooler will hold 40 - 42 pounds of meat , and make the 50 pound limit restriction with the weight of the cooler.

We used the same math for a Canadian moose hunt with a two day drive, in planning cooler and freezer space - it worked out the same for volume.

With two big elk - I’ve averaged 200-250 pounds of packaged meat or 4-5 of the 48 quart coolers each. Our best year was two deer and two elk - with 13 coolers coming home.

If you’re going to leave bone in on the quarters, the 150 quart are the way to go IMHO - though we’ve made do with a number of 65s.