Storing Sacks of Crawfish

Keep crawfish in bags, in shade.
Keep them cool yet moist.
Cover with burlap or towel.
Hose down crawfish every few hours.
Get bags of ice, pierce bag with knife / ice pick so melted ice (water) can drain onto crawfish. Place ice bags on top of towels covering crawfish .
Make sure they DON’T dry out

Best way (if you have enough ice chests):
-Put ice chest in shady area
-Put whole sack of crawfish in ice chest
-Dump bag of ice on sack of crawfish
-Leave drain open on ice chest (crawfish cannot be submerged in water)
-Prop open ice chest cover partially so they get air
The melting ice keeps crawfish cold and wet while they still get air.

You aren't talking about keeping them long. Just make sure they stay cool and wet (but not submerged) and can get air.

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Leave drain open on ice chest (crawfish cannot be submerged in water)

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I think the reason they die is suffocation, after removing all the oxygen from the water, like fish or crabs in a sealed ice chest or aquarium without an aerator to pump oxygen back into the water.

Keep the crawfish cool or cold, and don't let them dry out. You'll be fine

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I don’t know how to break this to you, but crawfish breathe via gills

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While true the water needs to have enough oxygen in the water for them to breath. 1" of water in the bottom of a ice chest jammed pack with a layer of crawfish will deplete of o2 faster than you think.

If I am holding them for a while I leave them in the sack and will put something on the bottom of the ice chest to keep them above the bottom of the drainplug or tip it enough so there's little water sitting before draining out the plug and keep the sack out of that area if possible.

That brings me to another thought. Since crawfish live and breath in the water chlorine in the water may kill them I surmise, like fish. Maybe not as fast but I'd guess it knocks them down a notch. I notice when I use my crawfish washer they may not be as peppy after they are drained and waiting their turn. Just food for thought...

1/2 a day isn't hard.

Just keep them shaded and covered with a damp towel/burlap

If you need to keep them for a full day then ice on top may be appropriate.

Don't over think this.

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I think the reason they die is suffocation

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It is, all creatures breathe oxygen, they just breathe the oxygen from the water. I’ve kept a sack submerged in one of those “cowboy cleaners” for 8+ hours and none of them died.