moving frozen meat cross country?

clockwork65

New member
I'm assuming some of y'all that make big road trips out west have a lot of expertise here: I just landed a new job and will be moving from TX to VA. I've got 90# of frozen venison in the chest freezer. How best to transport it? (Yeti and ice or styrafoam and dry ice, etc?).
 

zxcvbob

New member
Do you have a pickup? Carry the chest freezer yourself instead of shipping it. It should stay frozen for a couple of days if it's full and you don't open it. If it's not full, fill it with water bottles and freeze them.
 

sako2

New member
Pack the cooler good and tight with enough room for dry ice and duck tape the seal. My coleman cooler still had dry ice after 40 hrs.
 

ms6852

New member
Dry ice will freeze items that are not frozen. I would purchase several blocks of dry ice and put it on the bottom of the ice chest with a layer of regular ice than place the venison on top of ice than put more regular ice on top of venison and on top of the regular ice the dry ice. The insulation of regular ice will protect the venison from getting burnt by the extreme coldness of the dry ice. This method will keep the meat frozen for at least a week as long as you do not open the ice chest on a regular basis to check the meat.
 

std7mag

New member
I'm guessing he wants to bring more than the size of a hamburger patty.

And they may want it thawed before 2025...
 

Doyle

New member
I assume you'll be stopping for at lease one overnight stay. That is where you can really benefit yourself if you can stay at a motel with the ability to plug the freezer in.
 

Ricklin

New member
Harbor freight

A small freezer does not need much juice. Bring a 50 foot cord along and plug in when you stop for the night.
As long as you keep the freezer closed up and plug in nightly it should remain frozen.
Harbor freight has a small generator that is right around a 100 bucks. Just check that it ha enough wattage for your freezer.
 

FITASC

New member
When I was living out West and hunting in remote camps; we used a GOOD cooler, dry ice and regular ice and wrapped the cooler in one of those heavy, quilted moving blankets. That added insulation kept everything perfect. TX to VA is only a two day or so trip (assuming you're driving as long as you can)
 

thallub

New member
Be careful when transporting a cooler/freezer with dry ice in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

That nearly got me killed.
 

ocharry

New member
yep well vented

when dry ice melt or off gasses,,,,,,C02 is the product

i would think a good cooler and some dry ice

i killed a buffalo and we picked up the meat at the packer in the afternoon,,,it was frozen,,, put it in the 5 day coolers,,,,3 large ones,,went to the motel got up early and drove home,,,7 hrs,,,,,so meat was in the cooler for 20-22 hrs,,,,was still frozen hard as a rock when i put it in the freezer,,,,it was december,,,so now would be a good time to move it

so i would think if it is frozen and you put it in good coolers with some dry ice,,,wouldnt think it would take to much dry ice ,,,,it should stay frozen for a couple days no problem

another trick i have used is to wrap the cooler in a wool blanket,,,,or like said earlier a movers blanket,,,,

my .02

ocharry
 

FrankenMauser

New member
You already have the meat in a pre-chilled cooler.

Transport it in the freezer, itself. Add dry ice if you wish. Plug it in when/where possible overnight.


If you do go with coolers, pack them full (more thermal mass), use dry ice (don't break it up), keep them out of the sun and wind as much as possible, and don't open the coolers unless you're adding more ice.

I my opinion, there is no need to buy Yeti or other over-priced coolers for the job. You can get Igloo and some other brands for 1/2 to 1/4 the price (or less), that are at least 90% as effective.
For example: I added a 100 qt Igloo, 'ultra-insulated' cooler to the herd last year, for an antelope hunt that was farther away than any previous. The Igloo was $70. An equivalent Yeti was $500 (on sale!). I was not disappointed. Five days. Contents were still frozen, and 75% of the ice remained from the day before I left for the trip.
 

HiBC

New member
The big question is,do you have the smaller chest freezer that will be happy in the back of the pickup.That would work. Tape seal the lid and plug it in at night.
If you can find them,there are thicker walled,denser foam cheap foam coolers.
They may lack the durability of plastic and metal coolers,but the insulation "R" value is really good. Hard frozen meat,some dry ice,and TAPE SEAL the lid to prevent infiltration. Remember,its cold outside. We aren't talking August in Texas. unless you are traveling by covered wagon.you'll be OK.Of course,sun and wind protection help.
 

Rangerrich99

New member
I'm assuming some of y'all that make big road trips out west have a lot of expertise here: I just landed a new job and will be moving from TX to VA. I've got 90# of frozen venison in the chest freezer. How best to transport it? (Yeti and ice or styrafoam and dry ice, etc?).
How long will the trip take? A couple days? Five days?

Also, what time of year are you planning to take this trip?

The reason I ask is that if the trip will only take a couple days, and you're planning on doing this in the next couple weeks, the ambient temp should be cool enough that you don't really need a premium cooler (below 70 degrees F), like a Yeti (if you decide to get a roto-molded cooler, I suggest either a RTIC or a Canyon instead; they're both cheaper and keep ice longer). You can use styrofoam coolers packed with dry ice for a short, cool weather trip like that.

If you're going in warm weather, and the trip will take 3 or more days, you should consider a better cooler (Coleman Extreme, for example), more dry ice, tape your seams, and wrap/surround your cooler(s) with some kind of insulation, like a thick blanket/sleeping bag, even bubble wrap bags/sheets will make a big difference.

If your trip is going to be longer than 4 days in warmer weather, then yeah, I'd probably think about using a serious cooler, dry ice, and I'd duck tape the seams of the cooler(s).

Sorry, just noticed you said that your meat is currently in a chest freezer; I'd just lay a layer of dry ice in the bottom, pack your meat over that and lay in another layer of dry ice to the top of freezer. Tape your seams and throw an insulative blanket over the whole thing.
 

clockwork65

New member
Thanks for all of the advice! The move will be happening in May or June, so here in South TX, it could be very hot. Unfortunately putting the chest freezer in my SUV isn't an option, so this will have to be a cooler job. I read about the Coleman Extreme and, to be honest, was a little puzzled that a cooler claiming to hold ice for 5 days could be so much cheaper than the rotos. Is it literally just because it isn't indestructible like a Yeti or Orion? (In this case, it's 25% of the price, so I could easily live with it not being grizz proof.)

I'm not familiar with Canyon coolers. Good experiences?

Thanks all.
 

bamaranger

New member
CWD

Allow me a small rant on CWD.....chronic wasting disease.

You might want to check into the particulars regards transporting deer parts from Texas into VA. Virginia recently passed new laws concerning bringing deer parts into the state, in an effort to combat chronic wasting disease. I am not sure if TX deer are part of the regulation, but TN has CWD cases and their deer are under regulation for certain. Texas has documented cases of CWD as well and might fall under the scope of the law, I really don't know. I would not want to give up on 90# of deer meat either, but I wouldn't want anybody in a legal mess if it could be helped........

But, chronic wasting disease is for real and a growing threat to our sport.

Folks, this disease will completely change our deer hunting if we do not take every effort to contain it. And it may anyhow. Primary means of the disease being transferred from one part of the country to another are infected live deer farm imports into an area, and infected deer parts being taken into an area. A deer can carry the disease for 5 yrs and not display symptoms. It is always fatal. Once the prion that causes the disease arrives, it is there. There is no existing drug or treatment that can eliminate the prion, and it cannot be destroyed by normal controlled burning of woodlands.. CWD can be transferred by deer to deer contact, or by the environment, as in soil, underbrush, etc. That is the reason for the deer parts regulations. The bones get disposed of, cooked or not, and the prion causer goes into the soil/environ and can infect. It is bad news. There is no established connection between human illness and CWD.......but the disease itself is related to Mad Cow, which eventually was determined to effect human health, years later after the initial scare subsided. All of CWD is not fully understood or learned......it is a new field, though the disease has been around for near 50 years.

I urge everyone to abide by CWD regs, and work with any program/law/regulation established in their state to combat and learn more about this threat to our great sport.

Thanks....rant over.
 
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