Towing a Freezer

Cooperd0g

Cooperd0g

Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2016
Messages
50
Location
Yuma, AZ
Hi Hunt Talk,

Last year was my first year attempting pronghorn and I drove out from Florida, where I was stationed with the Navy. I got a doe in Wyoming. My wife and I really liked the meat so we are going to go for more tags this year. We have a small trailer and 7 cubic foot chest freezer. We are planning to tow the freezer out and use a small generator to run it. I have heard of others doing this as well.

My question is, do you leave quarters in the game bags to put in the freezer or do you take them out of the game bags? Or maybe a better question is, how are you putting the meat in the freezer?

Thanks
 
I do the same thing on most western hunts. I tend to keep them in the game bags. I cut up the meat up myself so I need it to defrost a little anyhow but even when I have left them frozen, my allen game bags still come off without ripping.
 
I personally think towing a freezer is a bit overkill and more of a hassle than I'm willing to go through. Good coolers and ice has worked for up to a week for me.
 
I have been towing a freezer in a trailer for a couple decades. I put the boned out quarters in cloth game bags and hang them until I head home if weather permits. I then place the game bags in heavy plastic contractor bags before placing them in the freezer - easier to separate when I get home. I only plug the freezer in at night when we stop at a motel. Never had a problem with spoiled meat.
 
1_pointer said:
I personally think towing a freezer is a bit overkill and more of a hassle than I'm willing to go through. Good coolers and ice has worked for up to a week for me.
Click to expand...

I hear you, but we are hoping to get 3-4 doe pronghorn tags this year to stock up on meat. I don’t have enough cooler space for that. To get some quality coolers for that volume it would cost more than a small generator. And I already have the chest freezer and trailer.
 
I have been treking out west from michigan for over 20 yrs and have hauled alot of meat back, i always take a freezer and put the boned out meat in large garbage bags and then freeze. we killed 6 bulls out of seven guys one year and it all fit in a chest freezer in my enclosed trailer. if you have that much meat it works good to put labels on each bag so you know who the hunter was and also tag the bag that has proof of sex in it and keep those on top in the freezer just in case you need to show that to dow.
 
heartofhunter said:
I have been treking out west from michigan for over 20 yrs and have hauled alot of meat back, i always take a freezer and put the boned out meat in large garbage bags and then freeze. we killed 6 bulls out of seven guys one year and it all fit in a chest freezer in my enclosed trailer. if you have that much meat it works good to put labels on each bag so you know who the hunter was and also tag the bag that has proof of sex in it and keep those on top in the freezer just in case you need to show that to dow.
Click to expand...

Awesome tips, thanks! How big is your chest freezer?
 
Cooperd0g said:
I hear you, but we are hoping to get 3-4 doe pronghorn tags this year to stock up on meat. I don’t have enough cooler space for that. To get some quality coolers for that volume it would cost more than a small generator. And I already have the chest freezer and trailer.
Click to expand...

The fuel cost of pulling the trailer that far will eat up any savings, and that's if everything goes good. A flat tire, bearing, etc and it gets worse. I can't imagine pulling a trailer from Florida to bring a freezer on a hunt but to each their own. The more I hunt, the less stuff I bring along.

3-4 doe is not all that much meat. Couple good sized coolers is plenty.

Another option I have seen is those platforms that go in your receiver hitch, some folks put freezers on those for hunts.
 
PrairieHunter said:
The fuel cost of pulling the trailer that far will eat up any savings, and that's if everything goes good. A flat tire, bearing, etc and it gets worse. I can't imagine pulling a trailer from Florida to bring a freezer on a hunt but to each their own. The more I hunt, the less stuff I bring along.

3-4 doe is not all that much meat. Couple good sized coolers is plenty.

Another option I have seen is those platforms that go in your receiver hitch, some folks put freezers on those for hunts.
Click to expand...

I use a grizzly 160q cooler on one of these hitches. Put regular ice in it while your hunting and immerse the quarters in a trash bag under ice. At the end of the trip throw 15 lbs of dry in it and it will be almost frozen by the time you get home if you do t open it. I have used a freezer before but I would never pull one that far. Fuel savings alone will pay for the cooler.
 
I ruined a nice chest freezer doing that one year. All the bouncing it did in the trailer locked up the compressor. I still used the freezer to get meat home but had to keep it iced down.
 
And on the way out had a bearing go out in rapid city south dakota and burned a good half day dealing with that.
 
PrairieHunter said:
In that case then go for it. My apologies for not understanding that part.
Click to expand...

I really did think about just going for bigger or more coolers, but after seeing others tow freezers I figured it was worth a try for a lower cost outlay. But hey, if it doesn’t work well next year, I will switch back and get more coolers.
 
Cooperd0g said:
I hear you, but we are hoping to get 3-4 doe pronghorn tags this year to stock up on meat. I don’t have enough cooler space for that. To get some quality coolers for that volume it would cost more than a small generator. And I already have the chest freezer and trailer.
Click to expand...
A Coleman Extreme in 120-150qt runs under $75 from Walmart. You can could easily fit 3-4 does, and likely more, in one cooler if you bone them first. If you decide to take the freezer, good luck, I just know for me I find coolers very easy to deal with on trips...
 
I’ve carried a freezer, for 17 yrs now out west, holds our food at base camp that needs to be frozen and halls all our game meet back home, we label the bags, keep proof of sex on top, and bone it out leave it in game bags and contractor trash bags for the trip.
We have used the same freezer for all those years with no problems with the compressor, we do strap it down but they will get dents and scratches no matter what. I bought mine used for $35 thou so don’t care much. I haul mine on 1-2 hunting trips each year and to my cabin in Ontario every year. 3-5000 miles a year on this freezer. No problems yet...
 
It has 3 modes as shown in the picture below. Travel mode has 18” of clearance. That is the most compact form. Transport mode has 48” of clearance and you can see the picture of an ATV in it. Then you set it up as camp mode at your destination. We have a Subaru Crosstrek so we also can’t fit a bunch of big coolers in the car, but this is light enough to tow. It does take a hit to the gas mileage, but I still got 24 mpg on last year’s trip, better than any truck I have ever owned.

Here is a little write up I did on the Go for my trip last year: https://overland.kinja.com/wyoming-blm-adventure-part-2-sylvansport-go-base-camp-1829503613

3-Montage-1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Ive been using a 7 cu ft freezer now for the past 7 years and think its the only way to go,,,I typically hunt deer in Utah,then try to hit Colorado or Wyoming,maybe Idaho on the way, to turn it into a 2 fer or even a 3 in 1 trip if im lucky on tag draws.freezer is the only way to go.I keep gear in it till I need it for meat,,I usually just do qtrs. and caribue game bags,,but if I get a lot of critters,i have beboned down and have done 1 gallon ziplocks before to really jam it all in.it makes a multi critter trip very feasible thus saving a ton on fuel.freeze by running generater when needed is only a few bucks in generater gas over a 2 week trip.then I butcher it up piece by piece when I get home and thaw freezer out over a few days so game bags wont rip.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

wa_archer
Duck tacos
Replies
2
Views
236
Nick87
Nick87
elkhnter
Chest freezer
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
Cornbread
C
Brentc
NM Oryx 2023
Replies
11
Views
442
Yooper Bob
Y
FairWeather
AK Inner Passage Cruise
Replies
11
Views
362
Salmonchaser
Salmonchaser
KayakMacGyver
Meat Care on Extended or Multi-State Hunting Trips
Replies
15
Views
1K
Dreamhunter#1
D
Use Promo Code Randy for 20% off OutdoorClass

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
111,048
Messages
1,944,961
Members
34,990
Latest member
hotdeals

Share this page

Back
Top