Randy, I put milk frozen milk jugs in my cooler 3-4 days before I leave to pre-cool them, then put new frozen jugs in when I leave on a trip. The pre-cooling really helps.
We have an enclosed trailer and keep a camp freezer inside. We also have a small generator. Run the generator at night during dinner time for a couple hours and that’s enough to keep the freezer continually freezing throughout the hunt. We pull water bottles from the freezer to the food coolers and put any game we kill into the camp freezer. Set up costs about as much as 2 of these coolers but works well, especially if you have access to a generator already. One 5 gallon gas can will be plenty to run the generator for a week.
Great advice. As a side note if you freeze milk jugs or any kind of bottles you should only fill it 7/8 to the top so it doesn't split the jug as ice expands as it freezes.
Another thing is to supercool the ice jugs. A couple days ahead of time, make your freezer as cold as it goes. If the ice starts off at -7F vs 0F it buys some additional time.
I estimate water from a regular freezer at 20F vs yours at -7F would give about 20-30% more cooling power. Not bad! . My parent's freezer gets to -26. It's clearly defective if not illegal lol. Great for southern AZ camping but we have to "thaw" the ice cream to get a spoon in. . As you know, the main thing is the ice itself. Water's latent heat of fusion = 80 cal/g, so gram for gram, ice is worth about -80 degrees of water so to speak. .
Pre cooling and solid block ice or dry ice will make an igloo or Coleman perform nearly as well as these high end coolers along with if you’re careful about keeping them shut and not opening them often.
found a $58 Lifetime brand cooler, 28 quarts, at walmart. rated at 4 or 5 days, testing it out as we speak. it looks like a nice seal and has great tie-downs, I'm sure it's way better than my other regular coolers
That’s how all these pro hunters are. I would love to know if they would even still hunt if it was how hunting is for the rest of us. I don’t have 5k in a rifle, now I need 4 x 500 dollars coolers to kill a bull lol. Watch me.
Great information Randy. I know you understand this, but the secret to great wild game fare, is cooling it as rapidly as possible and maintaining that as long as you can until you can butcher and freeze.
This tip might tie in with the salt comment, but I had a friend show me to use full Gatorade jugs (the biggest you can buy) it does last a lot longer than ice does.
My freezer is set at zero, I don't know what the freezing point is for Gatorade, but it lasts a lot longer than ice. I try to buy the biggest bottles I can and use them.
That cooler is not dedicated to milk jugs, just that I've grazed my way through most my wild game this year and all my hides have been sold/tanned, so there is a lot of space in that freezer at this time. Hope to take care of that "open space" problem with bear meat this month.
Good system how ever most hunters already have a generator for $200 you can get a 7 cube chest freezer and make and keep ice generator can run while traveling does not have to run 24/7 but still have good coolers. At least one truck or trailer should be so equipped love your adventures
Thanks for all of your how to and tips, and for putting your shows on UA-cam too. I have learned a great deal from watching them, and from your podcast. Much appreciated! You mention and show using milk jugs filled with water. Does it make any difference to do that versus just buying gallon sized water jugs? Just curious if there's any difference in wall thickness or some other factor from one type of jug versus the other. I'm doing a couple of warm weather turkey trips now and some summer camping once the kids are out of school, all as shake down trips before taking my teenage daughter on our first ever SE MT deer/elk hunts this Fall, and will be trying out the tips on this video on those "practice runs". Thanks again.
Thanks for watching. It doesn't matter, other than gallon water jugs will be filled to the top and when you freeze water it expands, so that will make the lids pop off or the jug crack when it freezers. You can avoid that by pouring a bit of water out and giving it more room to expand.
Absolutely no doubt those coolers are out of my price range. I am wondering if I made a 1/4 inch plywood box, lined it with two inch closed cell insulation that was fit very tight on all six sides, put my cheap cooler inside of that, then followed your instructions how well would it perform? Worth a try. To know, at the end of ten days in September, what percent of the ice remains in your coolers using your methods? Secondly, what is the problem purchasing a block of ice?
Block ice melts much fast and leaves water all over the place, specifically the meat. Not sure if that idea of plywood box will work. Would be interesting to see. Over 50% of the ice will be there at 10 days if I keep it in the shade, have very little air space, keep a blanket over it, and I do not open it.
if you park a truck at a trailhead and hike into camp, do you lock your coolers inside your truck or just leave them in the bed uncovered? seems like it would be a good idea to invest in a locking bed cover or canopy if you arnt driving into camp.
I use 65 and 85 quart coolers. You cannot do this without boning an elk. Elk quarters are just too big to get in a cooler. I can bone an elk and easily fit the boned meat in three coolers; pair of 85 quarts and a 65 quart, and have room for enough frozen jugs to keep it cold for a few days.
Hey randy a bit off topic, but curious how you like the sub-alpine compared to the open country pattern for your camo system? I have an rtec, looking for another, doing to try out the orion.. they do look like awesome coolers.
I’m soo done with coolers. Generator and chest freezer is vastly superior whenever it is feasible… ie) at any base camp with vehicle access. You only need to run the generator 4-5hrs per day to keep it plenty cold enough. It is also kind of novel to have ice cream for dessert at camp 😊. A separate cooler is nice to have with the freezer for things you want cold but not frozen. We swap milk jugs with water between the cooler and the freezer… perpetual ice supply. Electric freezers cost substantially less than yeti coolers… which is comical. I will never go back. Perpetual ice is so much more useful than melting ice. A freezer takes up way less space than a bunch of coolers and a bunch of ice. If you wish to completely debone, bag, and freeze your animals in the field you will need approx. 4-5 cuft of freezer space per bull elk. Cheers!
atcgriffin Came here to say that. I have cheaper 5 day Coleman's that have done wonders with milk jugs of saltwater ice and then bagged ice. by the time I put hogs in the bagged ice was pretty solidly frozen and had to take ice out to make room.
Thats actually not true, the solid ice will still be just as cold as whatever freezer you put it in. The only difference is that the freezing point of the water will be depressed when you add salt. Compared to DI water, salt water will be a liquid at a lower temperature so your ice will melt at a lower temperature and it will definitely not stay solid as long as DI (unsalted) water.
Great video Randy. I've been doing the milk jugs as of last year when you mentioned them on a podcast. Have you been following your buddies at Born and Raised recently? They're putting out some great stuff! Can't wait to see your next few hunts, too
Yeah, they are great guys. I tried to get them on the podcast last month when we were all at the Backcountry Hunters Rendezvous. It just didn't work out.
Do you run just the Orion 65? How many do you normally take on a elk hunt? I am in the saving phase on getting some Orion's. I'm thinking 2 65s and a 85? Thanks
Somebody told me one time to take a big cooler like your Orion there, Randy, and fill it with dry ice. He said that it would last longer than regular ice and that you could then use that cooler to make regular ice to use for your other coolers in the field. Anyone ever hear of or try that?
Hmmm, never tried. A cooler that size would be very expensive to fill with dry ice. It would keep things cold, but not sure how long it would last. Dry ice is great stuff, but it can disappear fast.
maybe a mix of frozen jugs with a block of dry ice in the corner to keep the temps even lower for longer. i dont think just solely dry ice would be a good idea tho.
I ruined a couple goats putting the meat immediately on ice. that's what everyone does around here. I hated antelope meat. then I let one hang on a cooler hunt and tasted much better
That is too bad, but is why I mentioned to let the meat cool before putting in a cooler. A large mass cannot cool fast enough if placed immediately in a cooler while still warn. Thanks for watching.
Follow up question. If you kill something in the morning how do you handle it if you don't put it straight on ice? I've always booked back to the truck before the day was done to try and cool it off. Do you guys just do what you can... down to a creek bottom, hang it in the shade, and wait to pack it out til the next morning? Sounds sketchy. what am i missing?
Randy, I put milk frozen milk jugs in my cooler 3-4 days before I leave to pre-cool them, then put new frozen jugs in when I leave on a trip. The pre-cooling really helps.
Great advice for keeping ice in a cooler. If you have room, a medium or small chest freezer with a generator works great too.
Finally found a video on this subject the search is over!! Thank you
We have an enclosed trailer and keep a camp freezer inside. We also have a small generator. Run the generator at night during dinner time for a couple hours and that’s enough to keep the freezer continually freezing throughout the hunt. We pull water bottles from the freezer to the food coolers and put any game we kill into the camp freezer. Set up costs about as much as 2 of these coolers but works well, especially if you have access to a generator already. One 5 gallon gas can will be plenty to run the generator for a week.
Milk jugs? Wow I never would have thunk it. Thanks for the idea!!! Love the latches!
Great advice. As a side note if you freeze milk jugs or any kind of bottles you should only fill it 7/8 to the top so it doesn't split the jug as ice expands as it freezes.
Yup. Water expands when it freezes.
Thank you Randy. Great advice.
Another thing is to supercool the ice jugs. A couple days ahead of time, make your freezer as cold as it goes. If the ice starts off at -7F vs 0F it buys some additional time.
Good point. Thanks for watching.
I estimate water from a regular freezer at 20F vs yours at -7F would give about 20-30% more cooling power. Not bad!
.
My parent's freezer gets to -26. It's clearly defective if not illegal lol. Great for southern AZ camping but we have to "thaw" the ice cream to get a spoon in.
.
As you know, the main thing is the ice itself. Water's latent heat of fusion = 80 cal/g, so gram for gram, ice is worth about -80 degrees of water so to speak.
.
Those coolers are awesome but I think I would need to take a loan out to get one.
Pre cooling and solid block ice or dry ice will make an igloo or Coleman perform nearly as well as these high end coolers along with if you’re careful about keeping them shut and not opening them often.
found a $58 Lifetime brand cooler, 28 quarts, at walmart. rated at 4 or 5 days, testing it out as we speak. it looks like a nice seal and has great tie-downs, I'm sure it's way better than my other regular coolers
That’s how all these pro hunters are. I would love to know if they would even still hunt if it was how hunting is for the rest of us. I don’t have 5k in a rifle, now I need 4 x 500 dollars coolers to kill a bull lol. Watch me.
Good tips. I was going to say if you can afford to, but the best quality cooler to keep ice and meat cool
Great information Randy. I know you understand this, but the secret to great wild game fare, is cooling it as rapidly as possible and maintaining that as long as you can until you can butcher and freeze.
Yup. We've done many videos emphasizing that exact topic.
I know you have and they have been great.
This tip might tie in with the salt comment, but I had a friend show me to use full Gatorade jugs (the biggest you can buy) it does last a lot longer than ice does.
Gage Brock Hello are you saying freeze the gatorade??
Yes, Freeze them. They will last longer than ice.
Gage Brock How cold do you have to get the Gatorade to freeze it?
My freezer is set at zero, I don't know what the freezing point is for Gatorade, but it lasts a lot longer than ice. I try to buy the biggest bottles I can and use them.
I know this comment is 2 years old, but it may be colder because of the salt content in Gatorade
This is a good tip 4 even going camping
What sized cooler do you need for different animals? Deer? Elk?
Awesome videos, keep em coming!
Thanks for watching.
good info, going to try it in oct. thanks
Good luck.
Another great video with the important info.
So you have a dedicated milk jug freezer? Get one big enough for the cooler to fit in it. 🖒
That cooler is not dedicated to milk jugs, just that I've grazed my way through most my wild game this year and all my hides have been sold/tanned, so there is a lot of space in that freezer at this time. Hope to take care of that "open space" problem with bear meat this month.
Would you let meat hang over night in Texas when ambient temp is 60 degrees? I was always taught to get meat in cooler within 4 hours.
Excellent.
Glad you liked it. Thanks for watching.
What about adding a block of dry ice?
Yup, if you have access to that.
awesome
Do you just set the meat in the game bag directly onto the ice blocks?
Yup
Good system how ever most hunters already have a generator for $200 you can get a 7 cube chest freezer and make and keep ice generator can run while traveling does not have to run 24/7 but still have good coolers. At least one truck or trailer should be so equipped love your adventures
Thanks for all of your how to and tips, and for putting your shows on UA-cam too. I have learned a great deal from watching them, and from your podcast. Much appreciated!
You mention and show using milk jugs filled with water. Does it make any difference to do that versus just buying gallon sized water jugs? Just curious if there's any difference in wall thickness or some other factor from one type of jug versus the other. I'm doing a couple of warm weather turkey trips now and some summer camping once the kids are out of school, all as shake down trips before taking my teenage daughter on our first ever SE MT deer/elk hunts this Fall, and will be trying out the tips on this video on those "practice runs". Thanks again.
Thanks for watching. It doesn't matter, other than gallon water jugs will be filled to the top and when you freeze water it expands, so that will make the lids pop off or the jug crack when it freezers. You can avoid that by pouring a bit of water out and giving it more room to expand.
Absolutely no doubt those coolers are out of my price range. I am wondering if I made a 1/4 inch plywood box, lined it with two inch closed cell insulation that was fit very tight on all six sides, put my cheap cooler inside of that, then followed your instructions how well would it perform? Worth a try. To know, at the end of ten days in September, what percent of the ice remains in your coolers using your methods? Secondly, what is the problem purchasing a block of ice?
Block ice melts much fast and leaves water all over the place, specifically the meat. Not sure if that idea of plywood box will work. Would be interesting to see. Over 50% of the ice will be there at 10 days if I keep it in the shade, have very little air space, keep a blanket over it, and I do not open it.
if you park a truck at a trailhead and hike into camp, do you lock your coolers inside your truck or just leave them in the bed uncovered? seems like it would be a good idea to invest in a locking bed cover or canopy if you arnt driving into camp.
*I use this as a lunch box and the removable hard liner is great to keep my sandwiches from getting crushed.*
Do you ever drop a block of dry ice in there with it when you pack it? Any benefit to doing that?
You could fill up around your jugs with saw dust... could last a month. I know its messy but it works!
Would it work out here in southern Arizona the town of Arivaca Az
It should.
Randy Newberg, Hunter thanks will try it god bless Randy for all what you do 🦌🦌🇺🇸
how large are the coolers you use? and how many do you need for an average size Colorado bull that has been quartered not boned? Thanks in advance
I use 65 and 85 quart coolers. You cannot do this without boning an elk. Elk quarters are just too big to get in a cooler. I can bone an elk and easily fit the boned meat in three coolers; pair of 85 quarts and a 65 quart, and have room for enough frozen jugs to keep it cold for a few days.
Thanks Randy I will have to watch some videos to learn how to bone out an Elk before my hunt
Hey randy a bit off topic, but curious how you like the sub-alpine compared to the open country pattern for your camo system? I have an rtec, looking for another, doing to try out the orion.. they do look like awesome coolers.
I like the sub-alpine, especially for archery hunting. Good luck.
I’m soo done with coolers. Generator and chest freezer is vastly superior whenever it is feasible… ie) at any base camp with vehicle access. You only need to run the generator 4-5hrs per day to keep it plenty cold enough.
It is also kind of novel to have ice cream for dessert at camp 😊.
A separate cooler is nice to have with the freezer for things you want cold but not frozen. We swap milk jugs with water between the cooler and the freezer… perpetual ice supply.
Electric freezers cost substantially less than yeti coolers… which is comical.
I will never go back. Perpetual ice is so much more useful than melting ice.
A freezer takes up way less space than a bunch of coolers and a bunch of ice.
If you wish to completely debone, bag, and freeze your animals in the field you will need approx. 4-5 cuft of freezer space per bull elk.
Cheers!
You can put a little salt in the water and then freeze it. The jug will be then colder than ice...
Yup. That works. I don't do it in these instances, as we sometimes will use the water from any jugs that won't fit in the cooler with all the meat.
atcgriffin Came here to say that. I have cheaper 5 day Coleman's that have done wonders with milk jugs of saltwater ice and then bagged ice. by the time I put hogs in the bagged ice was pretty solidly frozen and had to take ice out to make room.
Thats actually not true, the solid ice will still be just as cold as whatever freezer you put it in. The only difference is that the freezing point of the water will be depressed when you add salt. Compared to DI water, salt water will be a liquid at a lower temperature so your ice will melt at a lower temperature and it will definitely not stay solid as long as DI (unsalted) water.
Frozen milk jugs!
Aren’t epiphanies fun??? Almost euphoric!
Great video Randy. I've been doing the milk jugs as of last year when you mentioned them on a podcast. Have you been following your buddies at Born and Raised recently? They're putting out some great stuff! Can't wait to see your next few hunts, too
Yeah, they are great guys. I tried to get them on the podcast last month when we were all at the Backcountry Hunters Rendezvous. It just didn't work out.
What about using dry ice on top of the ice you are saving for the meat?
It will help, for sure. I don't like the price of dry ice and it won't last as long as we need it at times. Plus, handling dry ice is a pain.
Do you run just the Orion 65? How many do you normally take on a elk hunt? I am in the saving phase on getting some Orion's. I'm thinking 2 65s and a 85? Thanks
I use two 65s and two 85s.
All your videos seem to be quieter than all the other videos I have seen on youtube.
how many pounds of meat will fit in that single cooler?
Lots. Depends on whether you use a 65 or 85 quart. Easily fit 50#+. Thanks for watching.
Somebody told me one time to take a big cooler like your Orion there, Randy, and fill it with dry ice. He said that it would last longer than regular ice and that you could then use that cooler to make regular ice to use for your other coolers in the field. Anyone ever hear of or try that?
Hmmm, never tried. A cooler that size would be very expensive to fill with dry ice. It would keep things cold, but not sure how long it would last. Dry ice is great stuff, but it can disappear fast.
maybe a mix of frozen jugs with a block of dry ice in the corner to keep the temps even lower for longer. i dont think just solely dry ice would be a good idea tho.
This is back when Orion coolers were the cats meow. Now Yeti pay better.
are you freezing milk or freezing water in milkjugs,lol
Thats frozen water to be my ice. It stays frozen longer and doesn't leak everywhere like a bag of ice.
I ruined a couple goats putting the meat immediately on ice. that's what everyone does around here. I hated antelope meat. then I let one hang on a cooler hunt and tasted much better
That is too bad, but is why I mentioned to let the meat cool before putting in a cooler. A large mass cannot cool fast enough if placed immediately in a cooler while still warn. Thanks for watching.
Follow up question. If you kill something in the morning how do you handle it if you don't put it straight on ice? I've always booked back to the truck before the day was done to try and cool it off. Do you guys just do what you can... down to a creek bottom, hang it in the shade, and wait to pack it out til the next morning? Sounds sketchy. what am i missing?