Yes, You Should Buy a High End Cooler

Get A Great Cooler or Two!

A top-tier cooler or two is essential to any hunting gear arsenal. You don't want to skimp on your next ice chest, and here's why.

My outdoor learning curve has been extensive. One area I struggled with for a long time was skimping on gear.

Let me explain.

I wouldn't dare drop $450 on a rugged, waterproof, durable boot that felt more like an athletic sneaker. Nope. Instead, I would spend $50 on a Walmart build that would rub my feet raw, let the cold and wet in, and break down before the season was over.

I took the same mindset into coolers, too. Why spend $500 on a top-notch cooler when I could spend $65? As with the boots, this mindset cost me big.

Regarding outdoor gear, there are items you can cut corners on and save some greenbacks. Boots and coolers, though, aren't on the cut-corners list.

Here's why dropping some coin on a top-tier cooler make is necessary.

Ice For Days ... Even In The Heat

Like many reading this, my big-game adventures start in August. If the draw is favorable, I typically have an archery pronghorn tag and an early-season mule deer tag in my pocket.

Temperatures out West can be torrid in the early season. I discovered that with a first-class cooler build, I could keep my camp groceries cold and my meat chilled for days when I dropped the string.

The trick is accumulating a few great coolers over the years. Today, I have a 75-quart for food and another between 125 and 165-quart for quartered or boned-out meat. It's my dynamic duo, and the pair goes everywhere that I do.

I follow the manufacturer's guidelines precisely during the early season. These guidelines involve cooler prep — adding ice or pre-chilled ice containers to chill the cooler before use so it will hold ice longer. This process is critical during the early season. By prepping my cooler correctly, I've had ice last for up to a week in both cooler sizes when daytime temps topped 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

Not Running To Town!

I've had disasters with lesser coolers. I remember one pronghorn hunt where my buddy and I stayed out all day in the sweltering heat and returned to find all the ice in our cooler melted and our groceries drowning in water.

Our drinks weren't cold, and our lunch meat got warm enough that neither of us felt like tempting fate. That night, tired and weary, we had no choice but to drive 60 miles to town to get 20 pounds of ice.

In the long run, a high-end cooler will save you money. Ice is expensive, and when you have crap coolers, you go through a lot of it.

With an excellent cooler built to retain ice and not become a melting box, you can hunt day in and day out without worrying about your groceries, and you won't be running to town to refill ice regularly.

When The Meat Hits The Ground

I love game meat! My family doesn't buy a single ounce of beef throughout the year. I take great pride in putting good meat on the table.

Some game meat gets a bad rap. Take pronghorn or mule deer that dwell in sagebrush, for instance. Every year, I hear about how horrible pronghorn tastes. It drives me up the wall, as it is some of my favorite meat. My family agrees.

The trick to getting pronghorn (or any animal) from the field to the table and making that animal taste like Filet mignon is proper meat care, starting with getting meat cooled down.

The longer meat is exposed to the heat, the worse it will taste. I get my meat in quality game bags, no matter what time of year, and pack it to the truck as soon as possible.

When I get to the truck and have a chilled cooler holding ice ready, I put the meat in, and everything goes smoothly. I have left a boned-out elk on ice in a top-end 165-quart cooler for a week while hunting with my buddies. When I got the meat home to process, it was in perfect shape and tasted terrific.