Elk Hunt Podcast with Cody Rich - MEATLOCKER Overview

“Well, you and I connected because I, well, when I first saw it, I was like, this is so cool. So you have a product that you make, it's kind of a little side hobby business for you.

I thought it was so cool and you and I did a giveaway back in January, I think, or December, and we gave away one of your products. I'll let you explain what it is. But I'd love to dive into the product, the idea where it came from, and then we can talk a bunch of Elk Hunting stuff.

Because you and I, we talked before the podcast, but you're like, man, I've been really struggling with the archery Elk Hunting thing. So we got a lot to cover. But first, I want to hear, where did you come up?

What is the product and where did the idea come from?

Yeah. So Wild Meat Gear is a company I started a few years ago. And two years ago, we launched a product called the Meat Locker.

“And it's basically, to simplify things, it's an insulated pop-up tent that is designed to integrate with an air conditioner and a CoolBot. So if people are familiar with any sort of home-built walk-in cooler, they're generally going to use an air conditioner and a CoolBot. And the CoolBot is a device made by a company in Florida, and it overrides the controls on the air conditioner to let it run down to a lower temperature.

So in effect, I have built this little side business with products that I myself as a hunter wanted and didn't see on the market. And so in my hunting past, especially when I was successful as a rifle hunter in my 15 years rifle hunting for elk, we would simply just try to find a big refrigerator and put meat in it for a day or two and then butcher it as quickly as we could. We never got the opportunity to hang meat in a locker, or let it age, tenderize, things like that.

“And another inconvenience of what we dealt with was you get home from hunting, you're tired, everything's dirty, you need to clean up, you need to go back to work, your wife, your family needs you, and then, oh yeah, well, in two days we need to spend the entire day processing this meat. Like there's an urgency. And so one of the key benefits of the Meat Locker is you can hang your meat in your garage.

You know, that's kind of how I designed it. Bring the meat home and do it in your garage, but you can also do this in the field if you have a generator. And you can just take your time.

You know, wait four or five, ten days and then do like one quarter an evening. Like it doesn't have to be this big push. Your meat's well-cooled, it's taken care of.

And anyway, that's kind of a long story. But it was like, how could I do this? I need to build something that would serve people like me, because I indeed wanted this product. So anyway, that's pretty much it.”

“You're speaking straight into my soul. So when I grew up, I've processed my own meat since, I don't know, since the beginning, since when I was walking. And I always did it with my dad and family or whoever.

Like anyone killed an elk, we did it. And I was super spoiled when I lived in Oregon. And we always knew someone with a walking cooler.

And one of my best friends, he built his house, he had a walking cooler. And so, yeah, I was pretty spoiled. But when I moved to Montana in 2017, I was like, man, I didn't know anyone with a walking cooler.

I still don't know anyone with a walking cooler. And it's like one of those things, like, man, someday, someday when I'm a millionaire, I want to have a dedicated walking cooler. And so when I saw your version of just essentially a pop-up tent, I was like, oh my gosh, that's so genius.

Like something, you know, you use it one week out of the year, maybe two, right? Like it's not like you need it full time. And so I was like, oh, this is ingenious.

“So I love it. And I'm the same way I get home and, you know, I got a dead elk and I'm, you know, either like hanging it and then pulling it into coolers at night or in the daytime or like, you know, like you're bouncing it. And it's like kind of the only way to like, let your meat hang for a little bit and, you know, try to get through like all the chaos when you get back from a trip, which mine are usually like I stayed too many days and now I have too many problems.

And so, yeah, like this concept of like, you know, I think Dan Staton had posted something last year and he just like had it in his garage and you know, it was just running. And I was like, man, that is cool. Yeah, really cool.

It doesn't take permanent space. You know, like you say, you use it one or two weeks a year and it basically pulls up like a kind of a tall golf bag size.

“And then if you do it right, the air conditioner you can use all summer in one of the rooms of your house.

So keep your wife and kids cool. And anyway, I didn't want to build a permanent structure in my backyard.

Does it work with any of those AC units? Is it particular? Because I was just thinking like a stand up one.

It's particular. It won't work with stand up ones because of the Coolbot. So Coolbot's website is storeitcold.com, and they have a list of compatible air conditioners.

And I've gone through that list. And on my website, wildmeatgear.com, I've created a list of like five recommended air conditioners that have the high enough BTU rating, will fit the port size in the side of the Meat Locker, and then are also compatible with the Meat Locker, with the Coolbot. Sorry, so I've kind of done that homework for people.

Nice. And that's, I mean, yeah, great idea. Like all in, what's it cost?

Like if I didn't have anything?

So what we sell is a kit that's about 1,375 bucks. That's the insulated tent. That's the meat pole system that goes up inside of it”

“And that's a stainless steel folding table that holds the air conditioner, because those things are heavy. And then you would need to buy an air conditioner and a Coolbot. So you're looking at probably about 2,200 bucks altogether.

Still cheaper than a walk-in cooler.

And you don't have to spend a weekend building it either.

And you don't have to have it up all year.

No, you set it up in about 10 minutes and you're ready to go.”

"Man, that is super cool." - Cody Rich and Jason Denham on the Elk Hunt Podcast 7-3-25.