Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Getting the meat home?

Suppose I have an elk on the ground and get it back to camp in pieces. What is the best way to get it 1600 miles back home to GA? I'm not on a tight schedule to get home. Is waiting a few days to have it processed locally then pack it in coolers for the 2 day drive viable.

We only have a one day drive, 12hrs, but have never had a problem just stacking the bagged quarters in the trailer. Generally they’ve been hanging a day or two with temps down into the 20s-30s and have cooled out pretty well. I bet if you stacked them in ice chests you wouldn’t have any trouble.

Some guys will put a small freezer and a generator in a pickup or trailer. You could also run it when stopped at night and turn it off when driving. It'll stay cool enough.

Okay, We (72 & 69 yo) will have a HARD 1 day drive or an easy 2 day drive home. My question is with a 120 qt cooler 3/4 full of elk, anyone have a guess as to how much dry ice would be needed on it for the 2 day drive into much warmer temps. Thanks

I'd bring more than one cooler. If you can get it processed, great. The processors will have a blast chiller and get it frozen. Assuming your coolers are not cheap throwaway style coolers, a 5-6 lbs of dry ice the 2nd morning of the drive and it should be fine. If you can't get it processed, frozen jugs of water and layer the quarters in the cooler unfrozen.. I actually prefer this method, because it allows some aging of the meat.

I live in SW GA and did just that last week, and many times before. I invested in a premium ice chest early on and have been well pleased with how things work out. I cut up and process my own meat back home.

I bone my meat on site (New Mexico) and freeze if I can, or at least chill it down. That way the ice in my cooler doesn’t have to work as hard, so to speak.....that’s a must, obviously. I put my backstraps, tenderloins, large cuts of meat, scraps to be ground for hamburger in separate trash bags to simplify things when I get back to GA.

Last weeks elk was the worst case scenario for travel but everything turned out just fine. The meat was only chilled, we headed back over three days in hot temps, and yet I had only lost a little bit of ice. When I opened the lid back home, the ice was down (melted) about an inch and a half. That was all! 1600+ miles traveled!

I have a 160 or 165 quart Grizzly cooler for my meat, a Yeti 105 for my cape if I’m going to mount the elk or for more meat. For what it’s worth, my buddy invested it two “premium “ Igloo coolers from Walmart. We were draining them and re-filling with ice every other fill up at the gas stations along the way. Lesson learned for him.....this is the scenario where it does pay to invest in the best cooler you can afford.

you do not need dry ice. with a cooler 3/4 full of meat fill the rest with regular ice. BUT put the ice in zip lock bags, good ones not the slider ones-- good ziplock brand bags. They make them in 2 gallon size. That way your meat in not in water. Your meat will be fine in a cooler. Especially if its in a cooler like a Coleman extreme series. I have done it many times, once from southern New Mexico all the way to Minnesota, 23 1/2 hours on the road with a stop overnight to sleep. The key is get your meat cooled down before putting it in a cooler!!! I also bone my meat and put it into 2 gallon zip lock bags after a couple days then it goes into the cooler

I have mentioned this before. I use a large plastic horse watering trough with a built in drain. A pallet is placed in bottom so any ice that melts will not contact the meat. I use untreated contractor's plastic bags to hold the various cuts like shoulders, loin/tenderloin, hams etc.

Several bags of ice are laid down on pallet followed by a layer of bagged meat, then another layer of ice repeat till all meat is covered. Have managed to fit TWO elk in this trough and got everything cold FAST. Last layer is more bags of ice. Cover with old sleeping bag. The drain has a hose attached to drain out of back of pickup or in my case a suburban. I have kept meat cold for as long at 10 days. Longest trip was taking three deer from SC to AZ. When any meat was taken out to butcher it is so cold that my hands get really cold cutting it up. All pieces kept in trough are kept cold as i process each bag. Been using this setup for decades.

http://gototanks.com/100-gallon-poly-oval-stock-tank-arm-10116.html

I brought two elk home from Wyoming to Virginia using this method and it worked great. I did have the meat processed and then put it in the cooler and ran the generator the first day out even while on the road (had the freezer and generator on a trailer). Only ran the generator at night at the hotels for the next two nights, it took 3 days to get to Virginia.

We needed the freezer for the elk anyway, and I would assume you will too so it seemed like a good solution. Even without the generator a Freezer is a large cooler.

I use several cheap coolers and half gallon milk jugs full of ice. Line the coolers with contractor trash bags, fill em with cleaned cool meat, close em off and the ice jugs. This is for whitetail deer, and I've never had meat go bad. Once I get home I do a good cleaning of the meat, bag it, label it, then freeze it at home, or if I have a stop on the way home to visit, I may do the clean, bag, and freeze there.

I have one Coleman Extreme 120 qt cooler and a couple of good 50-55 qt coolers. I could buy, or borrow a 2nd 120 qt cooler and plan to use those only for meat on the return trip. Using the smaller coolers for food while camping. The trailer/freezer/ generator idea is a good one, but I'm trying to keep everything in the truck and not have to pull a trailer.

Perhaps you could use a hitch carrier?

An elk won't fill up even a small freezer. Put a tarp over the meat and pack tent, etc in with it to save space and to fill up extra air space. You might even be able to fit a small food cooler in with it. You won't be needing those big coolers so leave them home.
If you use a freezer, tape or tie the lid down tight so it doesn't bounce and let heat in.

OK..I hunt in Texas quite a bit ( 1600-1800 miles from home) I take a couple big coolers, bone the meat out, ice it down and drive...drain the coolers when I gas up once a day, re-ice. This "bleeds" the meat out, keeps it cool for the 3 day ride home, even in summer heat.

No Problemo.

I live in the Chattanooga area and drive from Colorado every year. We have the meat processed and put it in smaller coolers, 55 gl. Yes we used several. Then we put dry ice in the cooler and by the time we get home , two days, the meat is still solid. Good luck with your hunt and hope you have elk meat to put in your coolers.

Dang, I thought this was gonna be about good pick-up lines.....

I travel to Colorado most years to bow hunt elk. I take 4 coolers and fill 3 of them with ice before I head up the mtn. to where I camp. Once boned out I put the meat in 3 coolers, fill with ice to the top, open the drain plug, put coolers in the shade, and leave them alone until my hunting bud gets his elk. 16 hour drive home. On several occasions I've kept meat for 6 to 7 days with no problems. It's been my experience if I keep the meat cold and out of any water, it's always delicious. Ymmv.

You can fit quarters in one cooler but the one time I had an elk processed before bringing it home, the meat filled three 65-70 qt coolers. The deer quarters from the same trip went into the 120 qt. There was plenty of room for jugs of ice.

I just drove from WY to NH with butchered, frozen meat of 2 mulies and 4 antelope. Almost filled 2 120 quart coolers.

Meat was almost/mostly frozen (some soft spots on some cuts). Loaded in coolers, packed any open space with clothes, duct tapes the seams and put them in the back of a Honda CRV, drove for 3 days to NH. Coolers were frozen when we put the meat in (they spent the previous night in the CRV with temps around 20 degrees).

Meat was still frozen when we got home. No ice, no dry ice, just coolers.

I do have one and may well use it. I'm leaving on the 29th or 30th for the November 3-11 hunt. Want to arrive in time to scout some. I'll decide if I need the hitch carrier when loading everything. It will just be 2 of us and I don't think I'll need to pull a utility trailer. And with the real possibility of snow that late really don't want to drag a trailer through snow.

There certainly doesn't seem to be any consensus. Seems like everyone has their own system and if done right they all seem to work. We will be camping and I'll have coolers for food and drinks anyway. I have to kill one 1st and that will be the challenge. Lots of good ideas and I'll make a decision soon. A lot will depend on the timing. If I kill one early in the hunt I may well just have it processed there. Later in the hunt and I may head for home and take care of it here.

It is about 24 hours driving time. I've made the trip straight through with 2-3 drivers working in shifts. But I'll spread it out over two 12 hour days this time.