Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Don't laugh. Transporting antlers with skull attached

I wonder how these laws apply to flying a skull and rack home. I intend to fly from Oregon to Tampa, if all goes according to plan, with a blacktail skull wrapped and taped in my checked duffle. Naturally, it will be as flesh free as possible given available tools and time constraints between tagging out and the flight home.

Glad I came across this thread. I think I had better do some research. If anyone has any experience, please post.

Look up CWD Florida:


If you’re planning to hunt outside of Florida:
logo for chronic wasting disease program
Be aware of rules that prohibit importing or possessing whole carcasses or high-risk parts of deer, elk, moose, caribou and all other species of the deer family originating from any place outside of Florida.

Under these rules, people may import into Florida:

De-boned meat
Finished taxidermy mounts
Clean hides and antlers
Skulls, skull caps and teeth if all soft tissue has been removed
The only exception to this rule is deer harvested from a property in Georgia or Alabama that is bisected by the Florida state line and under the same ownership can be imported into Florida. See this infographic about the new rules.

These rules went into effect July 2021, and replaced FWC Executive Order 19-41. They do NOT include the permit option allowed under FWC Executive Order 19-41 to import whole deer or high-risk parts from properties in Georgia or Alabama provided certain requirements are met.

These rules continue the FWC’s work to protect Florida’s deer populations by reducing the risk of chronic wasting disease (CWD) spreading into the state. CWD has not been detected in Florida

Non-stop would avoid many problems, I would think.
Just need to deal with each end.

Travel at night and keep them out of sight. I shot my moose on the far side of Yellowstone Park and asked The Pine Pigs at the gate if I could take the moose through Yellowstone. They told me they would rather have me go back through Red Lodge, than take the moose through the Park. I got up at 5:00 AM and drove through the park. Screw them and their stupid ideas...

I bet they stuck out of the bed just a little!

This thread brought to mind two incidents from over the years that I found amusing, and testifying to the benefits of discretion and common sense in transporting game.

'67 or '68, Several of us underage USFS seasonals were were pretty well tanked at 2 a.m. in St. Maries when a station wagon came rolling by. A half-block later the city cops had it pulled over. July probably isn't a good time to go through town with a big bull elk strapped on top.....

Rolling north out of Fairbanks one time, at Fox we saw a brand new fancy truck with a couple GI looking guys tending it, hood up, steam making a huge billow above.

That situation might have had something to do with a stupendous moose rack strapped across the front of the grill (there was room in the PU bed).

Good luck on your hunts, guys- just 19 days to my season's first up here.

Last year we traveled from north of Fairbanks to Sterling- some 600 miles with large and medium caribou antlers strapped to the back ATV racks which were up on the trailer towed behind the pickup camper. It was the best option of the limited room, but did garner some looks and comments, none of them negative.

That may not be the case down there in funny country.