Deer meat....and 12V FREEZERS?

[Boeing]

Guys, Years ago I hunted alot, successfully. That was many years, a divorce, and about 5 moves ago. Now I have PROPERTY in Virginia and a 4 car work shop. Here's the catch, I have solar 12V for lights and a woodstove for heat but no comm. electricity. I DO HAVE a generator but how much would it have to run to keep a freezer frozen?
I usually stay 5-9 days at a time on the land......if I got a deer on day TWO, for example, how can I keep it? WHAT's the best way to preserve a deer if you get one? I have no freezer because of no power.... Does anyone have any experience with 12V freezers....or trying to run a small 120V on an inverter and solar? Right now I only have 2-100W panels and 2 deep cycle batts......I guess I could add to that.
If I can find "dry-ice" how do you use it? Won't it ruin any meat it comes in contact with? How long would meat last in a cooler..with standard ICE? or DRY-ICE?.....days?
There is a guy in town who butchers and freezes but he gets backed up for a weeks at a time during season....and I would have to leave. It would be 15 hours drive back to my home in Florida.....
Ideas? I'd love to get one deer a season but I WILL NOT kill anything and let it spoil.
Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks,Rob

 

[dusty3030]

Get a couple of 100 qt or bigger marine coolers.

Quarter them out and pack in ice keep coolers in the shade. They'll keep a week like that. You can get 4 deer packed in plenty of ice in a 110 Qt cooler.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I have seen guys take a chest freezer and generator on a trailer when hunting. I don't know how long they have to run it but once frozen, you should be able to shut it down for a period of time. Maybe you could find someone in town that would let you plug it in for a few hours a day.

 

[GPintheMitten]

I had a pronghorn processed in Wyoming, frozen by the processor and they packed it Styrofoam coolers with dry ice for my drive back to Michigan. You have to seal the lid to the cooler with tape so that you don't get carbon dioxide in your vehicle which could put you to sleep or worse. But its manageable.

 

[DKCDKC]

Got a friend here in Virginia who loves elk. He and his brother load three big chest freezers on a farm truck and drive to the Rockies each year. They hunt enough to fill the freezers with elk - staying in a campground with 120 v service to keep the freezers working. Then they drive home - driving about 6 to 8 hrs a day, then staying at another campground and plugging in the freezers. They always make it home with the meat fresh and ready for processing. So I imaging running your generator say overnight each day or something would keep your meat cool.

 

[edlegault]

When I was a kid (I don't hunt anymore), my dad always let the meat (venison, elk, etc) hang in the pump house or garage shop for a few days before butchering up into packages. Cool, but not frozen fall days/nights.

 

[MapleLeafFarmer]

a 12v cooler will not have enough power to take the meat from +100f to freezing effeciently. They are designed to keep stuff frozen not take the heat away from something hot ESPECIALLY if they are packed full and then get a hard freeze on.

Consider a propane fridge or freezer and you will be much happier.

 

[Combustix]

Propane freezer had one at the deer camp i belonged to. Try an rv place

 

[Barry 1]

Because of Chronic Wasting Disease in Virgina,it is illegal to bring the meat back to Florida (and most other states)unless it is boned out.

 

[bucktaker]

x2 propane freezer

Propane Gas Freezers : Propane Gas Refrigerators : LP Gas Refrigerator : WareHouseAppliance.