How To Keep Ice In Your Cooler - Randy Newberg, Hunter 

Randy, I put milk frozen milk jugs in my cooler 3-4 days before I leave to pre-cool them, then put new frozen jugs in when I leave on a trip. The pre-cooling really helps.

We have an enclosed trailer and keep a camp freezer inside. We also have a small generator. Run the generator at night during dinner time for a couple hours and that’s enough to keep the freezer continually freezing throughout the hunt. We pull water bottles from the freezer to the food coolers and put any game we kill into the camp freezer. Set up costs about as much as 2 of these coolers but works well, especially if you have access to a generator already. One 5 gallon gas can will be plenty to run the generator for a week.

Finally found a video on this subject the search is over!! Thank you

Great advice for keeping ice in a cooler. If you have room, a medium or small chest freezer with a generator works great too.

Milk jugs? Wow I never would have thunk it. Thanks for the idea!!! Love the latches!

Thanks for the great info Randy! To the point, helpful, and well spoken as always. A true professional.

Great advice. As a side note if you freeze milk jugs or any kind of bottles you should only fill it 7/8 to the top so it doesn't split the jug as ice expands as it freezes.

Thank you Randy. Great advice.

Awesome videos, keep em coming!

Great video.

Good tips. I was going to say if you can afford to, but the best quality cooler to keep ice and meat cool

Thanks for all of your how to and tips, and for putting your shows on RU-vid too. I have learned a great deal from watching them, and from your podcast. Much appreciated! You mention and show using milk jugs filled with water. Does it make any difference to do that versus just buying gallon sized water jugs? Just curious if there's any difference in wall thickness or some other factor from one type of jug versus the other. I'm doing a couple of warm weather turkey trips now and some summer camping once the kids are out of school, all as shake down trips before taking my teenage daughter on our first ever SE MT deer/elk hunts this Fall, and will be trying out the tips on this video on those "practice runs". Thanks again.

if you park a truck at a trailhead and hike into camp, do you lock your coolers inside your truck or just leave them in the bed uncovered? seems like it would be a good idea to invest in a locking bed cover or canopy if you arnt driving into camp.

This is a good tip 4 even going camping

Another great video with the important info. So you have a dedicated milk jug freezer? Get one big enough for the cooler to fit in it. 🖒

Do you ever drop a block of dry ice in there with it when you pack it? Any benefit to doing that?

good info, going to try it in oct. thanks

awesome

Another thing is to supercool the ice jugs. A couple days ahead of time, make your freezer as cold as it goes. If the ice starts off at -7F vs 0F it buys some additional time.

Hey randy a bit off topic, but curious how you like the sub-alpine compared to the open country pattern for your camo system? I have an rtec, looking for another, doing to try out the orion.. they do look like awesome coolers.

Excellent.

Great information Randy. I know you understand this, but the secret to great wild game fare, is cooling it as rapidly as possible and maintaining that as long as you can until you can butcher and freeze.

You could fill up around your jugs with saw dust... could last a month. I know its messy but it works!

Those coolers are awesome but I think I would need to take a loan out to get one.

Would you let meat hang over night in Texas when ambient temp is 60 degrees? I was always taught to get meat in cooler within 4 hours.

*I use this as a lunch box and the removable hard liner is great to keep my sandwiches from getting crushed.*

Do you run just the Orion 65? How many do you normally take on a elk hunt? I am in the saving phase on getting some Orion's. I'm thinking 2 65s and a 85? Thanks

Good system how ever most hunters already have a generator for $200 you can get a 7 cube chest freezer and make and keep ice generator can run while traveling does not have to run 24/7 but still have good coolers. At least one truck or trailer should be so equipped love your adventures

Great video Randy. I've been doing the milk jugs as of last year when you mentioned them on a podcast. Have you been following your buddies at Born and Raised recently? They're putting out some great stuff! Can't wait to see your next few hunts, too

This tip might tie in with the salt comment, but I had a friend show me to use full Gatorade jugs (the biggest you can buy) it does last a lot longer than ice does.

Do you just set the meat in the game bag directly onto the ice blocks?

how large are the coolers you use? and how many do you need for an average size Colorado bull that has been quartered not boned? Thanks in advance

What about using dry ice on top of the ice you are saving for the meat?

Absolutely no doubt those coolers are out of my price range. I am wondering if I made a 1/4 inch plywood box, lined it with two inch closed cell insulation that was fit very tight on all six sides, put my cheap cooler inside of that, then followed your instructions how well would it perform? Worth a try. To know, at the end of ten days in September, what percent of the ice remains in your coolers using your methods? Secondly, what is the problem purchasing a block of ice?

Frozen milk jugs! Aren’t epiphanies fun??? Almost euphoric!

What about adding a block of dry ice?

Would it work out here in southern Arizona the town of Arivaca Az

All your videos seem to be quieter than all the other videos I have seen on youtube.

how many pounds of meat will fit in that single cooler?

You can put a little salt in the water and then freeze it. The jug will be then colder than ice...

Somebody told me one time to take a big cooler like your Orion there, Randy, and fill it with dry ice. He said that it would last longer than regular ice and that you could then use that cooler to make regular ice to use for your other coolers in the field. Anyone ever hear of or try that?

This is back when Orion coolers were the cats meow. Now Yeti pay better.

are you freezing milk or freezing water in milkjugs,lol

I ruined a couple goats putting the meat immediately on ice. that's what everyone does around here. I hated antelope meat. then I let one hang on a cooler hunt and tasted much better