It depends on what animal you are hunting. I completely cut up and packaged two prong horn antelope in my hotel room in Gillette, Wyoming, in October 2004. Put a bunch of dry ice on it. Got home 4 days later, via SW Wyoming, Durango Colorado, and then home to near Dallas, Texas. The meat was frozen rock solid.

Put dry ice in bottom of ice chest, 1/4 inch of newspaper over the dry ice, your meat on top of the newspaper, another 1/4 inch of newspaper on top, more dry ice on top of that. It works great. No water from melting ice.

When I elk hunt I skin and quarter my elk at kill site. Back off the mountain, in town, I wash my elk off in the shower and put in game bags. I then put in a cooler with dry ice as described above BUT I limit how much dry ice I use so the elk meat doesn't freeze but stays cold. I then butcher and package the first day I am back home. I do all the processing myself.

I agree that part of the pleasure is the drive with your buddies. The journey is an adventure.