Jeffersonian

Hoping someone here has had both the good luck and experience to answer this question for me.
I'm going on a trip of a lifetime (for me) the 1st week of October for both moose and caribou in Newfoundland. I asked my outfitter the following:
I asked, “If I'm lucky, and I get both a caribou and a moose, how much meat will I be driving back with? I'm looking at coolers, and there are a variety of sizes from 50 quarts to 250 quarts. What is the total number of 'quarts' I should bring with me?”
He replied, “In both animals it will probably be about 400-500 lb of meat. Most people bring 2-3 of the big igloo coolers.”
I think he means a total of 800-1000 lbs of meat - am I right?
When he says '2-3 of the big igloo coolers', does he mean 250 qt coolers? 120 qt coolers?
How many of what size coolers do I need?
He's a nice guy, and I don't want to make him feel like he didn't answer the question adequately.

salukipv1

150qt is the standard "big" cooler IMO. I have 2 rubbermaid 150qt marine white style, I think from sam's club or costco, best price I could find at the time around.

I think I had 3 of those plus 2-100 or 120qt for my buffalo...

btw I'd take all the moose and if any room left then add the caribou... or take the premium caribou cuts first and all the moose I could, and if any room left the rest of caribou...

btw if you bring no coolers at all, you're guaranteed to shoot 2 animals

btw I would suspect 1 moose and 1 caribou of boned meat would add up to 400-500lbs of meat total, not 800lbs.
caribou aren't that big, and even a 600lb elk you walk away with what, 150lbs of meat?

Phil from Maine

I think part of it is how big the moose is.. A big moose could top a thousand lbs. Now whether you have it boned out of cut with the bones in it? Bones will only more wieght and space. I recommend boned out. Now when you take the hide head and feet from it you have lost around 150 to 200 lbs. Take away the bones and all that you loose a lot more. So I think the 400 to 500lbs is a realistic number. Could you have more wieght? That depends on the size of moose or caribou you get to shoot.. Good Luck to you!!

Topgun 3006

Your outfitter is talking about the combined weight of meat that you would take home if you fill both tags. The last average size cow elk I shot a couple years ago gave me back 186# of finished, packaged meat and a bull is much bigger with a lot more take home meat than that. There is no way you will take home 800-1000 pounds of meat from those two animals. Depending on how you process an animal the take home weight is normally about 28-33 percent of the live weight. Figuring the two animals live weight together might reach 1500# gives you the take home weight the outfitter mentioned when he answered your question.

hurricane1

quote (Phil) : " I recommend boned out."

Seconded!

Good Luck!!!

Murdy

Right now, Costco has 150 qt coolers for about $90.

HatchieLuvr

I'm assuming you are driving a pickup with all these coolers instead of taping them shut and going on the airlines?

If so save yourself time and worry by buying a chest freezer to carry in your truck. If available, put dry ice in it and it will keep the meat frozen on the ride home. As for size, 7-8 cu.ft. should hold all the meat and only take up about half of a shortbox pickup bed. If you already have one then take it on the hunt, if not then you'll need one anyway so might as well get it and use it from the time the animals get butchered!

For estimates, figure 1 cu. ft. = 25qts (dry) and 30qts (liquid).

Good luck,
HL

Champlain Islander

I have been to Newfoundland 3 times for caribou and to Colorado 6 times for elk all from Vermont. On all 3 NF trips we each shot a bou and brought them back in separate 156 qt coolers. These caribou were butchered bonless, packaged and flash frozen for the trip. One 156 qt cooler easily held a fully butchered caribou with what I would estimate 150 pounds of meat. The elk were larger but also fit into a 156 qt cooler. The cows gave about 180-200 pounds of meat each and the bulls 225 to 250 pounds of boned and packaged meat. Fitting a bull elk into one of the coolers was tight and we had to move a couple packages of meat to another smaller cooler. Since it was frozen we added a small amount of dry ice and the meat was still frozen after 3 days on the truck trip back home. On all these trips we each bring one white 156 qt cooler and one other smaller one for road sodas and coldcuts. That smaller cooler also is an overflow cooler in case we all score. Good luck on the NF hunt. it is beautiful country and very remote. Make sure you are in good shape because walking through the tundra is difficult. 16"-18" rubber boots with a good tread will be needed since there is water everywhere. Don't bother bringing leather boots. It rains a lot with high wind so a good rain suit that blocks wind is a must. It will take you about 3 days to figure out that Newfi dialect. They skip about every 3rd word.
As far as the moose, I would take what Phil says since he gets to see them all the time up there in the great north woods of Maine. I believe they would give you at least 400-500 pounds or more of meat so that would equate to two 156 qt coolers for a single large moose. On our trips up there it was common to see a large insulated meat box in the back of PU trucks on the ferry. The guys that go there expecting to shoot a moose usually bring plenty of cold storage.