# Freezer size for two cow elk.



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Hey guys, 

I currently have a 15 cubic foot upright freezer and wonder if that'll be enough for two cow elk?

I've never had to pack two elk into it, I regularly pack an elk and a deer with ample room but I'm wondering if my freezer will suffice?

I'm planning on sticking a cow with an arrow this year during the archery elk hunt (obviously) and I drew an antlerless CWMU tag for late November up in the Florence Creek area.


----------



## APD (Nov 16, 2008)

In an upright 15cu ft, 2 elk might be pushing it. With a chest you can get two cows in there.


----------



## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

It really just depends on the size of the cows and how much meat you bring off them. It also will probably depend upon what cuts and types of meat you are putting in there as a finished product. 

I think it will be close, but if you have the freezer completely empty, I think you could fit them in, particularly if you kill a younger cow.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

*depends*



APD said:


> In an upright 15cu ft, 2 elk might be pushing it. With a chest you can get two cows in there.


 Yeah, I agree.

Kinda depends on how you field dress and cut n wrap the cows. If you use the gutless method you'll be fine.
.


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Shoot two calves or a cow/calf combo and you'll be golden!


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Yeah, I think I'll end up going for the cow/calf combo.


----------



## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

wyogoob said:


> Yeah, I agree.
> 
> Kinda depends on how you field dress and cut n wrap the cows. If you use the gutless method you'll be fine.
> .


What if I use the gutless method and still take the ribs, neck, liver, heart, and (most of the time)tongue?

;-)


----------



## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

We have a 10 cuft, but it's a chest freezer and accommodates two elk and an oryx very well, we'll maybe 1-1/2 elk and an oryx. Two elk for sure.


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Where are you hunting oryx you lucky devil?


I bone out everything because I hunt alone and need to shed the weight, I usually do the gutless method.


----------



## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

I fit a 6 point bull and cow in a 7 cubic foot chest, You won't have an issue with a 15 cubic upright. I use plastic totes in my upright to stack frozen meat better and help keep like things together, you can fit a pile of 1 pound burger bags is a tote.


----------



## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

Kwalk3 said:


> What if I use the gutless method and still take the ribs, neck, liver, heart, and (most of the time)tongue?
> 
> ;-)


Your not getting 1/2 an elk side into a freezer so your going to have to cut it up. I could only get 3 quarters in my 7 cubic chest but both elk fit once the quarters were boned with space to spare.


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

muddydogs said:


> Your not getting 1/2 an elk side into a freezer so your going to have to cut it up. I could only get 3 quarters in my 7 cubic chest but both elk fit once the quarters were boned with space to spare.


you fit two elk into a 7 footer?!


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Ray said:


> you fit two elk into a 7 footer?!


My personal best for a 7' cheese freezer was: 
1 young buck deer
2 fawn antelope
1 4 y/o cow bison
2 calf elk

That included bone in cuts on all but the deer! Keeping your packages as square/rectangular and flat as possible helps tremendously.

Granted the 1st calf elk was late August, the lopes were in mid September, the buck in late September, the bison in late December, and the 2nd calf in late January. So I was eating pretty aggressively as I was filling it back up.


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Dang, maybe I just need to get a dedicated freezer for my game meat so I can get a better read on things.
My wife stuffs our freezer so **** full I have to throw a bunch of stuff out just to fit my meat! -Ov-


----------



## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

Ray said:


> you fit two elk into a 7 footer?!


Yep. I have a 7 cube chest on a Harbor Freight lawn cart that I roll into my toy hauler and take hunting. Works great as I can keep meat under 40 degrees with only running the genny a couple hours a day.

2 years ago I shot a bull and cow at the same time. Got the quarters packed out and put 3 in the freezer for the night and hung the rest. The next two days I spent cleaning and boning the meat right in camp while others hunted. In the end I got both in the freezer. My home freezer is a 10 ish cubic upright that the elk went into as I was making what I made out of the elk.

Found a pic, not sure you can tell but there's a lot of room left. Pic is with both elk in the freezer the meat is boned and cleaned.

Well hell I can't seem to post a pic.


----------



## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Ray said:


> Where are you hunting oryx you lucky devil?


NM off range.


----------



## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

Well I started with pretty much an empty freezer, but I fit two elk in my upright. A mature bull and a medium cow plus a full hog. By the time I was done there was no room at all. I had to take 1/3 of the hog to my dads to put in his freezer. I have a picture, but can't find it. However you want to look at it, but its almost gone. I can't believe that we have ate that much meat in a year. But I aint complaining and eithers my belly!!! We have been eating good.


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Kwalk3 said:


> What if I use the gutless method and still take the ribs, neck, liver, heart, and (most of the time)tongue?
> 
> ;-)


Then its no longer the gutless method. :grin:

I have a huge, like a 25 cubic foot, chest freezer. I can get 2 elk, a bison, 4 antelope and a hog in it if I'm doing the processing.

If I have the butcher shop do it I can get 2 bison, 2 hogs, 7 elk, and 14 antelope, and a side of beef cut n wrapped in it.

.


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

wyogoob said:


> Then its no longer the gutless method. :grin:
> 
> I have a huge, like a 25 cubic foot, chest freezer. I can get 2 elk, a bison, 4 antelope and a hog in it if I'm doing the processing.
> 
> ...


25 cubic feet?! You can throw a part in that sucker!


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I have a 21 cubic foot one and I can tell you that you can put some meat into it. 

I once had a bull, cow, 1/2 a beef, a deer and I still had some room for more. Not much but there was room. 

Now that I am old and don't eat as much meat I need to downsize it to a lot smaller one. A deer and elk will last me quite a while.


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

I grew up with a 30 cubic foot chest freezer, a couple 15 ft uprights, and another 7 ft chest. When all 5 kids plus mom/dad were drawing tags, fishing in AK, preserving fruits/vegs from the orchard, grape arbor, and garden, plus hitting costco it was amazing how quickly we could fill all of those up!


----------



## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Well, now that I think about it, I do have access to a 3600 cuft freezer..


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

muddydogs said:


> I fit a 6 point bull and cow in a 7 cubic foot chest, You won't have an issue with a 15 cubic upright. I use plastic totes in my upright to stack frozen meat better and help keep like things together, you can fit a pile of 1 pound burger bags is a tote.


I gotta throw the BS flag on that... 7cubic foot? This was my bull, he filled our 7ft^3 right to the top, one bull. Butcher charged rail weight of 440lbs. Big sob! The cow we also got, had to go in the 11ft^3 freezer, 2 shelves.

No chance in hell of getting them both in the same chest freezer.










-DallanC


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Back to the OP,


Yes that will fit. Dont shoot big cows though... yearlings are best 




-DallanC


----------



## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

DallanC said:


> I gotta throw the BS flag on that... 7cubic foot? This was my bull, he filled our 7ft^3 right to the top, one bull. Butcher charged rail weight of 440lbs. Big sob! The cow we also got, had to go in the 11ft^3 freezer, 2 shelves.
> 
> No chance in hell of getting them both in the same chest freezer.
> 
> -DallanC


Given the wide variance in the body size of the bulls and cows my family has killed over the years, I don't see why it is hard to believe fitting a 6pt bull + cow in a 7-footer. My dad's 2009 6 point bull is still to this day the largest bodied elk I've ever laid eyes on, and he alone wouldn't have fit in a 7 foot freezer. But my dad's 1996, my wife's 2013, my 2016, and various other 6points taken by friends and family have all ranged in size (and recovery amounts) enough that some could have fit twice in a 7' with room to spare, others could have fit a cow, and others only part of a cow. Assuming an average sized +2yr old adult cow that is.


----------



## cdbright (Aug 24, 2016)

just eat steak every day for a month and then she will slide in there:mrgreen::mrgreen:


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

The good news is, the hunts are far apart, I'm going to be hitting archery elk hard (targeting a cow) from the opening day until it goes extended, then start focusing on deer in the extended range (because I don't want to deal with private land in the east canyon unit) until November 22nd which is when my CWMU cow elk hunt starts.

So I'll have ample time to consume what I need to.


----------



## sheepassassin (Mar 23, 2018)

Ray said:


> The good news is, the hunts are far apart, I'm going to be hitting archery elk hard (targeting a cow) from the opening day until it goes extended, then start focusing on deer in the extended range (because I don't want to deal with private land in the east canyon unit) until November 22nd which is when my CWMU cow elk hunt starts.
> 
> So I'll have ample time to consume what I need to.


Why are you targeting a cow on an any bull unit? Wouldn't it be easier to kill a cow on a spike unit?


----------



## Ray (May 10, 2018)

Why are you targeting a cow on an any bull unit? Wouldn't it be easier to kill a cow on a spike unit?[/QUOTE]

I'm not targeting them in an any bull unit, I'll be targeting them around Salina, where I always hunt.

If you're referring to my other post about the extended range, I brought that up because opening day I'll have to hunt it because of family commitments. I'll be targeting any elk I see opening day.


----------



## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I think that some on here are forgetting how to do simple math to figure out the cubic foot of a freezer. A 7 cubic foot freezer is less than 24"x24"x24" divided by 1728 which is 8 cubic foot. And this would be for a chest freezer. 

Most uprights the size of a fridge will be close to 16 cubic foot if it stands just under 6' tall


----------



## High Desert Elk (Aug 21, 2012)

Guess I just too simple minded - I figured a 7 was a skosh under 2' x 2' x 2' :mrgreen:


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Well there was a reply here from Muddydogs that I was trying to, but then it somehow got deleted which then screwedup this reply to that reply. But...

We end up with a crapton of meat because we get *all* the meat from them. I've never brought out an elk that wasnt whole... ever. I get *ALL* the meat, nothing left behind. My butcher does a fantastic job and I just keep coming back. They love it, they can hang the elk and process it just like a beef cow. The rail weights are always high compared to other people animals due to having more meat / bone to start with. The bull did rail at 440. Last years cow (Biggest SOB on the mountain... my boy pulled the trigger in a blizzard... good lord it was a nightmare) railed 326. Previous years cow railed at 265.

I'll stop hunting elk when I cant get'em out whole anymore.




























-DallanC


----------



## muddydogs (Oct 7, 2007)

I decided it just wasn't worth dealing with you about. Call me a liar that's fine I just don't need to waste my time arguing with you or trying to prove my case. I know what I got in my freezer.
Glad your happy shooting cow pasture elk.


----------



## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

Maybe its a nuance of interfacing through text on a monitor, but "throwing the bs flag" is a term I've used with and among friends for decades. I've never considered it directly calling someone a liar, but more that someones statements are a tad unbelievable. I call it friendly banter among friends, but I can see how it could be taken as calling someone a liar, but that wasn't my intent. If you can fit the elk in your freezer then that's fine, I haven't ever been able to store that much meat and is one reason I have multiple freezers now.

As for the pasture elk, I wish. They are all off of private ground where we hike around and hunt, but after a kill atvs are allowed for retrieval. Generally I get a tow strap on them and drag them down to a flat spot where we can either load them onto a atv, onto a trailer or sometimes winch them onto the tailgate of a truck.


-DallanC


----------

