Question for those who transport quartered out meat.....

I've got an axis and hog hunt coming up in August and will be transporting both animals (quartered out) from Junction to my processor in Coleman. Since I will be dropping these off on a Sunday, my plan was to pull them out of my ice chest, dry them off best I can, place them in a breathable game bag and put them in their refrigerated cooler for processing the next day.

Does this sound like good logic? Is there anything I am overlooking?

Also, any thoughts on cooler size needed? My plan was to bring two 75qt bison coolers. Figured that would be plenty of space.

Thank you!

That's plenty of cooler space.

Are you using Hall's I hope. If so call them and find out!

Yes, very loyal to Hall's, been using them for years. Spoke with Steve earlier and he said game bags or a cooler.

Might be able to leave the coolers but would prefer not to, so I thought I see what everyone's thoughts were.

Just leave them in the cooler, no need to pull them out for a night. Just drain the water and top off with ice if needed.

Leave in the cooler. If you worry about it being wet, put a rack on blocks and put ice under the meat. I do that to age meat. I also put frozen water bottles on top.

Thanks for the reply's everyone. Starting to think that leaving a cooler might be a good idea.

Luckily the cooler will be stored inside a walk in refrigerated cooler box.

In the event I was able to get all the meat into one larger cooler, any issues having axis and hog meat in the same cooler? Sorry if this is a silly question, just never dealt with this before. I have always just field dressed an animal and taken it straight to the processor.

Probably not but I’d put the hog meat on the bottom with a good layer of ice on top of it.

I always keep hogs and deer in separate coolers. I have never put game in bags for the processor just either left the cooler or put the meat in their tubs, to go in their cooler.

My process. Raw meat goes in a bleached clean cooler, covered in ice. When time allows, I'll drain the water and add ice every day, for 7 days before dropping meat off at a processor. In your case, just leave the meat, in the coolers, covered in ice with the processor. If you can afford to be without the coolers for a few days.

Exactly my process last season with two WT doe, meat came out impeccable.

Put a layer of ice on the bottom then put quarters/ice/quarters/ice till all is in with ice on top. Open the drain and put a block or wood/brick/etc. under the opposite end of the drain and it will keep the water drained off.

It is fine like that for up to two weeks as long as you keep ice on it, just add ice on top as it melts down.

With a molded cooler it's always a good idea to have it cold before putting fresh meat in it in the summer. I typically put ice in it for at least a few hours with the lid closed and let it cool the 100° cooler down. Dump that ice and put a wire rack in the bottom of the cooler and add ice then meat then cover with ice.

Frozen liter bottles or milk jugs, full of water are what I use for this very thing. I think the official term is "charging the cooler". It sure does keep the ice from melting as fast, and of course the frozen bottles are reusable.

I will take my cooler and wash it, then fill it halfway with cool water from my well. I will then take both shoulders off the deer and put them in the cooler with the water in it. Then pull the backstraps and tenderloins and put them in the cooler. I will take the hindquarters off and put them in the cooler. If I am saving the ribs and neck I will put them in last. Then fill the cooler with well water and let sit for 45-60 minutes. I do this to cool the meat down slowly and help clean it a better. Then drain it and rinse the meat with more water(with the drain out). I will then take the meat out and put a layer of ice in the bottom. Put the shoulders or ribs in first cover with a layer of ice on and repeat with rest of meat. Drain it daily and add more ice if I am going to age the meat.
When I am going on an out of town trip I always put frozen jugs of water in the corners of my cooler and then fill the coolers full with ice. I take several coolers of ice so everyone can have it if they kill game on a warm day.

Yep, I am a believer of there is no such thing as too much ice in your cooler.

Use frozen tea bottles (square) that are filled with water and then frozen. This is to keep the cooler(s) cold and to act as temporary cooling for the meat. You also do not have to worry as much as the meat getting tainted from ice/water.

Once in the nearest town, I take the frozen bottles out and put in dry ice. At that point I am good to go and do not have to worry about the meat staying cold.

It does not matter if I am driving 100 miles or 1000+ miles; this is the approach that I take.

Have used frozen 2-3 liter bottles for years in ice chests. That is our go to for the fish box on the boat and quartered deer if we aren't going to leave it on ice long. If it is going to stay iced then I will bust the ice jugs and break the ice up over the quarters as it cools better.

We have a chest freezer at the ranch and all it is used for is to freeze milk jugs. When we get something that needs to be iced throw it up in the air a few times and let it fall on the concrete and 3 or 4 whacks with the hatchet or a heavy blade knife and you have busted ice without an ice machine or driving to town.

Thanks for all the replies! I really like the ice jug idea since there is more thermal mass and less water draining to deal with.

The dry ice idea is also good. I used some last season when picking up some processed meat on a Friday before heading to the panhandle for a weekend of bird hunting. By the time I got home late Sunday night, the dry ice was gone but everything was still frozen solid.

The jug idea is great! I take it a step further and have been using a product called Kooler Kube gel. It freezes harder and stays frozen longer than water. I have been using these in water bottles, 2 liter bottles and gallon jugs with screw tops in cheap coolers and my ice will last as long or longer than in a molded cooler. Here is a link to the product https://koolergel.com/product/koolergel/. I don’t have any affiliation with the product or company just a customer and have been for a long time now. I even have one of his game bags to transport my trophies when I only want to field dress them.

That is really interesting stuff ccrock. Didn't realize stuff like that was available to average consumers.

You can make your own ice extender -

1 part iso alcohol
2 parts water
Food coloring to ID it as non potable

Put it in empty soda bottles and deep freeze. It should last much longer than a frozen water bottle.

That's a really 'cool' product. Would be great for going to our place in the Land Cut.
I follow a similar procedure to most. Wash all of the meat really good first. If it is cool outside I'll let it hang and cool in the breeze and enjoy a cold beer. Once the meat reaches temp it's a layer of ice, meat then ice fill. Always keep the cooler propped up on the end and the drain plug open. Generally put the shoulders down first and backstraps last. We process all of our own but usually keep the meat in the cooler for a week to age it.

What do y'all normally do about getting the antlers and cape back? If all goes well, I am planning on doing a shoulder mount. Hunt is Saturday and I plan on getting everything to the taxidermist on Monday morning. Just want to make sure everything stays cool. Any tips?

Thanks again for all the replies.