Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Getting meat home

I'll be flying into Vegas in Nov for a mule deer hunt on the strip on American Airlines and they have a page on baggage handling that says they will ship antlers for an extra $100. Anyone have any experience or recommendations on this?

Mule Deer . John.That is the reason I mostly do not hunt outside of CO. I only eat elk, deer, and antelope meat. I would really like to kill a moose,but could never see how to get it home. I'm still trying for CO moose tag,but figur I'll be 90 by the time they give me one

The one tip I'll offer is to use wax boxes with a styrofoam insert for shipping. These were very common in Alsaka but probably harder to find elsewhere. A cooler that holds 50 lbs of meat/fish weighs + or - 8 lbs. A cardboard box with styrofoam only weighs a couple of pounds. It may not be a lot but is does allow for a little bit more meat/fish.

In the past it was far cheaper to pay the extra charge for an overweight box/cooler than to stay within the 50 lb limit and use more boxes/coolers. Alaska Airlines was who I had the most experience with and they were always very Hunter/Fisherman friendly. Paying to have it shipped on the same flight you were on was also the most cost efficient method of shipping (by far). However, I'm not current with all the changes in the last few years.

As long as meat/fish was frozen or with meat if it was very cold and packed tight there was never a problem with it thawing, warming or spoiling for a one day flight. Dry ice in the past wasn't an option and really isn't needed either, in most cases. That being said it wouldn't hurt to be able to use dry ice either.

The one other consideration is to mail your clothes home. It used to be cheaper than paying for an extra bag on the airlines.

All these suggestions are what I figured out after living in Alaska for fourteen years and always trying to help my friends from the lower 48 that came to visit and had lots of fish to send home.

FYI

I'm traveling USAir to Colorado. Here's the skinny on their policies:

Bag 1 = $25, bag 2 = $35.00, bag 3 = $100

Overweight bags: 51-70 lbs = $50.00, 71-100 lbs = $100.00

no bags larger than 62"

Antlers: points protected, H+W+L < 120", $100.00

Dry/Reg ice is ok in checked bags.

Thanks to all for helping me get the right information. Hopefully, I'll need to be concerned about weight and sizes...........

x2! .... I just shipped by airline 180lbs caribou back from the Yukon to the east coast with no problems. Meat was well chilled and then stripped from the bone and all fat removed. Muscle was then plopped into garbage bags and then into 3 Rubbermaid plastic totes from WalMart. Each tote weighed 60lb. The handles at each end were drilled in two spots and tiewraps used to hold it down. Trip took 14 hours. AFAIH the baggage compartment is not heated and the meat did arrive in good condition. Upon arrival home I dropped the garbage bags into the freezer and proceeded to cut up up the next day.

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saddlesore,

That's also the reason I don't fly very much anymore when hunting--and then only if the animal involved is pretty small, so it can be boned and put into a cooler to weigh less than 50 pounds. Texas pigs are one example. The meat from a pig of under 150 pounds live weight will usually fit in an average cooler and still not be so heavy that it qualifies for overweight.

Most of the time these days I drive anywhere within a 1000-mile radius, or even more, so the meat can be hauled home in my pickup. Sometimes that's exceeded a little for the right animals. Drove to Fort St. John in northern British Columbia a few years ago and came home with both an elk and a moose.

I hear you on the "home state" moose tag thing. I've been applying here in Montana for over 30 years with no success. In the meantime, my wife has drawn TWO moose tags in 21 years. I got to be chief packer....

My answer to the meat issue is this. Bone and wrap whatever. Freeze it HARD. Wrap meat packages with 1/2 in. of newspaper. Get a banana box from the grocery and line it with 1/2 -1 " of newspaper. Fill the box with paper wrapped meat packages and stuff any empty space with paper. Take it to UPS and ship regular ground. I don't tell UPS what it is because I have a regular business account with them. If you do they will go ape sh*t. I have shipped boned deer and pig as far a Florida from Texas in the winter with no spoilage. It had softened some but not spoiled. I have a number of friends who have flown in and hunted over the years that I ship the meat to and they don't pay for cooler baggage.

FWIW, we did a motorhome trip to AK in 1994. I had two 50# boxes of frozen fillets and salmon steaks from two different processors shipped to KS on our return. It was delivered to my door in foam boxes that were inside of cardboard boxes.

In 2002 I did an 8 day tuna trip out of San Diego. I had 170# of frozen filleted fish shipped home by air freight. The shipping was taken care of by my processor. I paid the shipping when I picked it up at the KC airport.

All the fish from both trips was packed with the frozen thingies. All was fine. I think that the storage area on those planes may be like a deep freeze. Good luck.

B,

Sorry to kick in so late. Know you're on your way, so not sure you'll read this. Maybe over beers on Friday we can discuss...

I'd be happy to help get it shipped if you need. Just put my buddy on the plane with 200 lbs of extra baggage and for the first time we ran into problems. SW airlines (we hit the wrong agent, cus the guy next to us apologized over and over), demanded it was vacuum sealed and/or frozen. My bud had to change his flight to this morning so we could accommodate.

SW and Frontier both are now allowing 2 free bags. Getting 200 lbs of meat home only cost my buddy $100. 2 free + 2 at $50 each. With a $210 roundtrip flight from Portland, he was sitting pretty (except for the unruly agent :)).

Something to figure into the price you pay for tickets is getting the stuff home. My mantra is plan for success.

Again, if you need help with shipping antlers, gear or ??? home, let me know and I'd be happy to help.

Oh, which reminds me -- take the meat on the plane and if needed, ship your gear via the slow boat. It's cheaper that way...