Hunting Cooler

[Blockcaver]

A 5 cu ft freezer is 150 quarts. Mine cost $180 at COSTCO and I already had the Honda EU2000 generator. Works like a champ to put a deer or bear, bone-in quarters, especially when the weather is hot and there is no source of ice around.

[Jamesonm]

Yeah that's a great idea. My father in law has a spare gen I will pick up this weekend.

[Citori54]

A 5 cu ft freezer is 150 quarts. Mine cost $180 at COSTCO and I already had the Honda EU2000 generator. Works like a champ to put a deer or bear, bone-in quarters, especially when the weather is hot and there is no source of ice around.

Those small freezers work great. A few times we have taken a larger freezer to run off the generator. It was nice to have the extra space but a pig to move around compared to the 5 cu ft.

[hawk-i]

Those small freezers work great. A few times we have taken a larger freezer to run off the generator. It was nice to have the extra space but a pig to move around compared to the 5 cu ft.

I'm not sure what size my freezer is but its about 5ft wide so maybe like 7 cu/ft or so. It goes in the front of my enclosed cargo trailer and the SXS goes at the back. In between my tree stand and other gear goes. I use it (the trailer)as my change room for hunting gear...that way the camper stays a lot cleaner and more organized...
Generator is a Honda EU2000....best set up I've had to date. Can stay out for extended periods of time and not worry about meat spoilage

[338win mag]

this
and this!

This is it^^^^^

[alpinedust]

Using a gen+ freezer freezes the quarters I'm assuming? Or can you set the freezer to not freezing temps so the sections just stay cool?

[deltawaterfowler]

I have two Pelican Elite 50QT coolers that I use. Buy once, never cry. They have a LIFETIME warranty.

If anything ever goes wrong with them, return them no questions asked you'll get a full replacement, or replacement part if needed (only exception is the freezer gaskets, those have a 1 year warranty, but are easily and cheaply replaceable).

Everything about the Pelican cooler is better than the Yeti counterpart in my mind. The Pelican has a tougher design with real latches that are solid and won't ever be a problem. The cooler has molded in tie towns that allow you to have your gear tied down and yet you can still open the cooler (great feature). It also has holes with a steel collar to accommodate pad locks for your cooler (which I use for bears, but to also keep my kids from constantly opening things when camping). The lid has four built in drink holders, which also makes the coolers stack able as the drink holders are matched to fit the four rubber feet on the bottom of the cooler (which keeps your cooler from sliding around if on a slick surface, like your boat, another great feature). The lid also has a molded in ruler to measure your catch.

Ice retention is really where it's at for this cooler. 7 to 10 days later, you've still got COLD water and ICE even in the full heat of the summer. My brother bought the same size Yeti for his family and side by side, my cooler comes home still cold with plenty of ice and his Yeti comes home cold but generally without ice over the course of a 3 or 4 day camp. Buy the size that fits you and don't look back... The Yeti's in the same or comparable size are typically more money (about a hundred dollars more for the same size) and I think are a lesser product for your hard earned money.

[jamfarm]

Using a gen+ freezer freezes the quarters I'm assuming? Or can you set the freezer to not freezing temps so the sections just stay cool?

I just got my freezer off of craigslist then I removed the thermostat and installed a Ranco temperature controller so I can keep the temperature of the freezer at about 3-4º

[Blockcaver]

As per the freezing of the meat question...I run the freezer long enough to get the meat starting to get firm but not frozen solid, then shut the freezer off. Putting the meat in plastic bags at the point it goes into the freezer (remove the game bags) will ensure you can extract quarters later when you are ready to cut it up without them being frozen together).

When traveling home for 3 warm days in August from the NWT thru the Yukon to southern BC with a Dall sheep meat and cape in the freezer, I ran the generator about 3 to 4 hours per day after the initial 5 hour burst to firm up the meat. Worked great...a Yeti wouldn't have as I was almost a day away from an ice source, and my truck had been parked at a remote air strip for 13 days prior to putting the sheep in the freezer.

Last August I came back to BC from California with an elk I'd processed boneless and vacuum sealed (took a cutting board and vacuum sealer with me) except for the burger meat that I bagged in large ziplocks to grind at home. I started the trip home with the meat frozen solid and when I got back 2 days later, it was still frozen solid despite 35*C temps during the day. I had the generator but never had to start it on the trip home. The boneless packaged Tule elk pretty well filled the 5 cubic foot freezer. They are sized between a very large mule deer and a regular Rocky elk. In this case a Yeti would have worked equally well, except I needed the freezer to to freeze the meat to start with. Anyway, I find a freezer/generator very useful, as are the variety of coolers we use.

[Jamesonm]

That's a great post, thank you. I have an outlet in the back of my Tacoma and based on your timing running the freezer this seems very easy to accomplish without a little gen.