#2271975 - 06/24/08 03:01 AM
Anyone With Experience Shipping Antlers from AK?
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Believer
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Registered: 11/20/06
Posts: 94
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I'm trying to determine the best way to ship moose or caribou antlers from Fairbanks to lower 48. Do I need to plan on cutting them in half? What's the most economical service, e.g., USPS, airline, etc. Any other info would be greatly appreciated.
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#2272390 - 06/24/08 09:26 AM
Re: Anyone With Experience Shipping Antlers from AK?
[Re: Believer]
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1akhunter
Campfire Outfitter
Registered: 09/27/03
Posts: 9935
Loc: Fairbanks, Alaska a piece down...
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been awhile since I've helped do so, but here goes, barring B&C potential, yes saw them in half. also take some old garden hose, and duct tape to put on the points.
tape the two halves together after point protecting and ideally tape a piece of cardboard or something with your particulars to the rack.
airlines used to charge a bit extra but was still better than shipping them via other methods, that may have changed now as the airlines are scrambling to make a buck.
for all I know they may make you crate them now which will add weight and bulk which of course adds cost!
I sure miss the old days, fly AK airlines, two big duffle bags not to exceed 70 lbs. each, no charge for a rifle case, times they are a changing.
good luck
_________________________
"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."
some folks that can't make a compelling argument, enjoy pointing out typos, errors of grammar and spelling oversights. I add as many as possible to accomodate.
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#2273216 - 06/24/08 06:01 PM
Re: Anyone With Experience Shipping Antlers from AK?
[Re: 1akhunter]
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Everyday Hunter
Campfire Regular
Registered: 07/04/06
Posts: 1104
Loc: Northwest Pennsylvania
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I've done it twice. Once, in '99, I had a set from a bull I killed. Before going to AK I called the airlines and asked how to ship them. I was told I could ship them as an extra bag for $50 -- just wrap up the points, seal off the skull plate, and label them with my address.
The day I was to fly back home I called and asked the same question and was given the same answer. Good. Then I got to the airport and set them on the baggage scale. The attendant said I could not ship them as baggage, that I'd have to send them air freight. It didn't matter that I was told twice, are recently as that very afternoon, that I could ship them as baggage. At that point I had no choice. It cost $250.
A few months ago I was in Anchorage and was going to bring home another set from a bull my brother shot. I went to a taxidermist who said that some airlines still let you check them as baggage. The airline I was flying this time did allow me to check them as baggage. It cost $80.
With that as background, here is my advice. (This is based on what a taxidermist in Anchorage, who does work for people all over the world, told me.) Go to a taxidermist and ask his advice. Ask him the best way to ship. The one I talked to suggested strapping them to a pallet. Ask him what freight company he uses. The freight company probably ships only for the taxidermist. See if you can get him to allow you to ship them as his agent. It only means putting his return address on them. Get the taxidermist's phone number and have it handy so if any questions come up, you can give him a call on the spot.
A call to the freight office should answer the question of cost. And you shouldn't have to cut them in half.
Cutting them in half is a problem because if you don't know what you're doing it is virtually impossible to get them back together properly. The taxidermist told me how he does it, and he charges several hundred dollars extra to reassemble them. There is a trick to it, but it is too difficult to explain here. I can only say that you need to know what you're doing and make the proper preparation before you cut the antler off the skull plate.
Hope this helps.
Steve
_________________________
"I am never in a hurry when I am hunting. If I am in a hurry I don't go hunting."
~Havilah Babcock, My Health Is Better In November (1947)
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#2274397 - 06/25/08 09:39 AM
Re: Anyone With Experience Shipping Antlers from AK?
[Re: Believer]
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KC
Campfire Regular
Registered: 03/22/01
Posts: 457
Loc: Colorado Springs, Colorado USA
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B:
Last fall, I mailed a set of caribou antlers using US Postal Service. I cut them in half and nested one inside the other then I put them in a big box that I bought in Anchorage. When I arrived at the post office, the agent told me that it would cost extra for over-sized package because the outside dimensions of the box was over the limit. So she told me to take them out of the box.
I taped them together using strapping tape and covered the antler points with cardboard and duct tape. I taped on the mailing label in two places and attached another tag, also with mailing label. The assembly looked like some kind of weird experiment but the agent said "This is Alaska. We see things like that all the time." They arrived back in Colorado Springs in ten days in fine condition. I think it cost about $40.
KC
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