What size of freezer

[SilverDollars]

Howdy. What minimum size(in cu.ft.) of freezer is necessary to fit a large bull elk's meat into?

And, what style(chest or upright) freezer do you prefer?

[redtop]

I got by with a 5 cu. ft. chest freezer for years. It'll hold an entire elk but that's about all. I shoot an elk every year and would give away any left over meat when the new one was ready for the freezer. If I shot a deer too I had to give away about 40-50 lbs of elk to fit the buck too. This year I got a 13 cu. ft. upright freezer. Much better, easier to find what you are looking for without standing on your head in a frozen box and plenty of room for a buck and a bull. The upright freezer takes up about the same amount of floor space as the 5 cu. ft. chest freezer and has more than twice the capacity.

[Fridaythe13th]

We had a 7 cu it fit one bull elk just fine but not 2. Ended up buying another freezer

[Lefty]

If the main purpose is for mostly elk or big game kills I would go with a small chest freezer.
Our 19.3 upright is way too big Weve had all at one time an elk, deer antelope 30 geese 50 ducks, beaver fox and coyote hides, bear bait and still plenty of room for ice cream freezer- jam and loaves of bread
some meat shops will store meat very cheap.
My daughters moose three years ago didn't even fill one shelf of the 19 cubic footer
Just my opinion and experience You will do better with a small freezer

I have some freezer horror stories,... I told the story to my mother in law of a good friend when he and his new bride moved into their house and it came with 3 full big chest freezers. The elderly woman had beef liver that was 12 year old , hulled walnuts that were 23 years old. Nothing in those freezers was less than a year old. And everything went to the trash
I must have "inspired " my father-in law He emptied and cleared out their biggest freezer. He even had some red(sockeye) salmon that was only 10 years old

[Lefty]

opps double post

[Brendan]

I prefer uprights with shelves if you have the space - you don't get stuff buried at the bottom that you forget about...