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Muddydogs's avatar
Muddydogs
Explorer
Oct 21, 2014

Maybe you guys have an idea?

So yes I am a hunter and I take off each fall for a couple weeks with at least a deer tag in my pocket and a lot of times I also have a cow elk tag, add in a buddy or two and we have a few tags. We like to hunt and wonder around the woods packing a rifle, some times one of us will screw up and shoot something the first or second day. While taking an animal is not a bad thing, except you have to get your hands messy, when the weather is warm trying to keep meat in camp becomes a real problem as it was this year when I shot a cow the second morning and by the time we hit the truck with the last load of meat it was 70 degrees with rain and lows in the 40's expected for the next 3 days. Needles to say we headed the 3 hours home to cut up the cow and get it into the freezer then drove 3 hours back to hunt. Last year at this time we were hunting in 8" of snow with the high's in the 40's.

Last year as a tent camper we had the room in one of our utility trailers to haul a 15 cubic inch chest freezer up and ran it off my 5500 watt genny. Of course last year we didn't shoot anything and used the freezer to keep stuff from freezing.

Alright I will get to the point. I need a way to keep meat cool while in boon dock hunting camp. I have been thinking about a 7 cubic foot chest freezer that I could haul in the toy hauler then set outside plugged into the trailer where I would run the trailer genny when needed. With solar I don't really need to run the genny all that much but what ever it takes. I have also been looking at 12 volt frig's and freezers but from what I can tell it would take a truck load of battery's and solar panels to keep them running. Something propane would be cool but it looks like it takes a truck load of cash to procure one.

You guys have any great ideas that wont break the bank? I have a year to work on a solution.

Thanks everyone.

13 Replies

  • I've kept whitetails chilled by putting the cooled carcass in a tarp. Place tarp and carcass in slight ground depression. Bags of ice inside body cavity if above 70f for days. Cover tarped carcass with spruce boughs or other foliage. All of this is in the shade, of course where the ground temp is still in the 50's. We don't have any bear problems where we hunt.
    Usually, the reverse is the problem, how to keep everything from freezing.
  • We kept a small freezer in our camper to keep fish in while fishing the spring crappie spawn. Usually we would be at the lake for a month or so and the refrigerator freezer just won't hold much. Lots of fishermen keep freezers sitting outside the camper. You can also just ice down deer meat in a big ice chest for a week if you keep it drained. We do it all the time here in Arkansas but we don't shoot many elk either.
  • Freezer and the genny as you are thinking. Solar would cost you more than the 6 hour round trip home.
    Any processors nearby that would let you rent some freezer space?