deer cooler

[buckdeer1]

I was mule deer hunting in New mexico last week and the ranch had built a deer cooler using a window AC unit.I kept it at 42 degrees.They did this using a product called a coldbot.Simple attachment that goes on the window AC unit

 

[yoderjac]

That is a little warm for me. I ended up buying used reach-in coolers off craigslist from restaurants in the area that folded. I got one for the farm and one for my garage for a couple hundred bucks each. I modified them by removing the shelving and installing galvanized pipe for meat hooks. I then found low plastic tubs (the kind designed to go under a bed) to cover the floor of the cooler.

When I shoot a deer at the farm, I use a great day loader on my ATV to save my back an retrieve the deer whole. I have a cheap harbor freight electric hoist over one of the barn aprons. I lift the deer head up, place a plastic tub between the legs and field dress it. After running it through the DMAP process to collect harvest data and jawbones, I lift it with a gambrel and skin it. I use a cheap Harbor Freight sawsall dedicated for this to quarter it and wash down the quarters with a hose. I then turn on the barn cooler and hang the quarters in it. The plastic tubs on the floor that catch the drippings are easy to remove and clean.

When I'm ready to head home after a few days of hunting, I just place the quarters in a large plastic tub with a lid and put it in my car. If it real hot, I'll add an ice pack. I call my wife and have her turn on the garage cooler before I leave. When I get home, I transfer the deer to the garage cooler until I'm ready to butcher it.

I like to age deer between about 33 degrees and 36 degrees. This keeps them above freezing where enzymes can break down the meat but cool enough to deter bacterial growth. Forty-two (42) degrees is probably fine for helping reduce body heat a bit quicker and you can probably keep it over night without much issue. That is a bit on the warm side for keeping bacterial growth at bay for much time.

Because these reach-in type coolers are small by comparison to a walk-in cooler, they cool down pretty quickly. I only run them when I've got deer to age. Typically, if I turn it on when I get back to the barn with a deer, it will be in the right temperature range by the time I'm done skinning and quartering the deer. I considered a walk-in type cooler for the retirement home, but they are pretty inefficient by comparison for this kind of short-term use.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Dukslayr]

I keep thinking this is something I need to add to my farm as I build a new hunting cabin. I looked at the Ultra Deer Blinds modular walk in cooler and like a lot of things about it. I just haven’t talked myself into pulling the trigger on it since I hate hunting in warm weather and, as such, rarely do it so don’t have a huge need for a cooler.

 

[swat1018]

Yes. Coolbots are nice, and can be operated cooler than that, as well. I have a walk-in cooler at my farm and house.

 

[IkemanTx]

With a coolbot, the proper AC unit sizing, and good insulation, you can definitely keep temps around 34 or 35.

I keep trying to convince my father we meet a small walk on at his place made the same way!


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[Telemark]

We hang deer around 40 degrees for about a week.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I hang deer outside in whatever temp it is outside! But in northern Wisconsin, that is somewhere between 50 degrees, to minus 40 degrees, but usually in the teens for lows, 30 for a high on average.

On the warmer days the deer hang for a day, until the evening then get cut up, when it’s cold, they wait until the season is over.