taking a freezer for meat care afield?

[dan.kirkpatrick]

anybody else thought of this idea? ive been thinking of a 5 to 7 cu ft freezer for if the weather is hot for taking care of the meat,a small prtable generater can run it,could always carry gear in it also untill successful?big enough for a few antelope or so? 7 cu ft = about 190 quarts in size.

 

[buglum]

Although I have not done it personally, I took a drive through Eastern MT and saw many people with the exact setup you describe. I would never do it because I hunt alone and can't imagine a freezer bouncing around the bed of my truck on those roads! I suppose it would work great if you drop it off at your main camp (have some friends around).

 

[thecrittergitter]

I suppose it should work, I transported a freezer exactly that way from CO to MT when I moved back up here a few years ago. THat was already processed and frozen though.

 

[Ultrahunter]

I took one to Wyoming for an antelope hunt and it worked great, Put two bucks and capes in there. frozen solid by the time I got home.

 

[Lawnboy]

Have seen many of those setups passing through Bozeman. I talked to one guy about it and what they do is rent a motel and plug the freezer in there while hunting. Load their meat in the freezer when finished and head home. These guys were from Washington St.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

I seen this on a nother hunters trailer last year and think it might be good to have,especially in hot weather or long distance trips or multiple animal hunts,,,seen a 7 cu ft chest freezer at home depot for $178 and it weighs 92 lbs,was thinkin i could store gear in it untill needed as a freezer then use my portable gen to keep meet qtrs cold,,,seems like i take everything but the kitchen sink for gear so anybody else haul a freezer{small} around also?I hate a running generater but dont like spoiled meat either.

 

[thecrittergitter]

I seen this on a nother hunters trailer last year and think it might be good to have,especially in hot weather or long distance trips or multiple animal hunts,,,seen a 7 cu ft chest freezer at home depot for $178 and it weighs 92 lbs,was thinkin i could store gear in it untill needed as a freezer then use my portable gen to keep meet qtrs cold,,,seems like i take everything but the kitchen sink for gear so anybody else haul a freezer{small} around also?I hate a running generater but dont like spoiled meat either.

I got one of those honda inverter 3000 watt generators and you don't hardly even realize its on.........Your idea is good if you plan on staying in the field for a while, definately better than spoiled meat.

 

[gman82001]

Seen some guys from back east who do it and actually had it keeping food cold in camp while they were there as well he said if some one is back in the middle of the day they run it for a few hours gets it nice and cold keep doing it then if they have meat to go home they run a cord from the pickup with the generator to the atv trailer with the freezer on the front and head home been doing it for a lot of years they said .... A good generator runs for hours on a gallon of gas so it would be pretty cheap to get the meat back home in good shape

 

[1_pointer]

I've thought about doing it myself, but so far haven't been convinced it's needed. I hauled 3 pronghorns from WY to IN last year in just big, good coolers. I only had to add ice twice in 5 days. Probably could have gotten along with fewer refills if I could have found block ice or been willing to deal with dry ice.

My main reasons for not going with the freezer are the cost (freezer + generator) and added hassle, since I'd have to haul a trailer. I may change my mind in the future if I start taking longer trips, but have yet to see the benefit. YMMV...

 

[the nikster]

For block ice, stop by your favorite waitress and ask if you can throw a couple of gals of water in the freezer or 4. put em in an already cold freezer and it'll last for days if you don't check it 20 times a day.

 

[skeet20]

Freezer

I took a freezer with me when I used to hunt geese in Manitoba but we always stayed in a motel. I carried a long extension cord and would plug in at the motel each night. I only opened it once a day to put more birds in and it kept everything frozen. Before I left home I would put about a dozen milk jugs in which I had frozen water. This helps keep it cool and you don't have to plug it in as often.

Since antelope hunts are short trips it would probably work out O K for you. Last year I boned my antelope out and took it to a local locker plant. They ground ,wrapped,and froze it for about $30 and I just put it in coolers to take home.

 

[StrutNut]

We have been doing it for a while. We just pay a farmer that is close by $20.00 for the weekend. We stop there first and plug it in. That way if we get something we just drop it in the freezer. We use one of those smaller chest freezers. Works perfect for early season bear/deer. One person can handle it if needed but two of course is better.

 

[noharleyyet]

We've been using the same freezer for around 10 years....inoperable for about the last 7 years. After it went kaput we froze a dozen one gallon water jugs, threw in 20-30 lbs of ice and taped the door seal leaving the drain open & drug it to the mountains. Let the quartered game bags cool before loading & laid in a few more bags of ice mixed with dry ice pellets. Drug it back to our local processor in good shape.

 

[jryoung]

When I went on a hunt in Northern BC last year for moose and elk we loaded up a full size chest freezer in the back of my Dad's truck. Temps were mild on the two day drive back, but we tossed in 10lbs of dry ice and it kept the meat cool for the trip home.

I like to let my meat "hang" before processing so this allowed us to keep it cool for a while before we butchered it.

 

[hornart]

I have seen several hunting groups with freezers,some of the freezers have adjustments so it wont actually freeze the meat but keep it extremely cold,,we use a refrigerator to keep the meat cold before we process it,,works great