How do you get the meat home?
 

How do you get your meat home when traveling by air to go on a hunt? Driving is out of the question since it would be 8 days round trip. Is their a possibility of having it shipped? what would it cost? What is the norm?

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

It just depends. If hunting with an outfitter they can answer all those questions for you, if not contact one and see what they do. I believe it can be flown back with you, but im not sure dry ice is allowed on planes.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I know when my dad and his brothers took some elk in Idaho they shipped their meat back although I'm not sure of the cost. I would call ups or fed-ex and ask.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

The best way I've found is to pack it in small coolers with dry ice and UPS it back home.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

How much meat? You can ship and empty cooler and just fly back with it as luggage.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

Generally speaking. Airlines limit bags to around 50 pounds. You are generally allowed two checked bags. after that they charge by the pound. I would hate to try and bring back an elk that way. I once had a bag that was 10 pounds over weight and it cost me $100.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

8 days roundtrip sounds like Alaska...

Anyway, I use the airline.

First, all the meat should be frozen. A large mass of frozen meat will take a minimum of 36 hours to thaw out during normal hunting temps. There is no need for dry ice or any other ice.

Alaska is one of the easiest places to ship meat from since there is an abundance of fish boxes (waxed cardboard that holds 50lbs) around. They are by far the best for meat shipping.

I have used waxed produce boxes and trash bags coming back from Canada.

The problem with ice chests tend to get overweight very quickly, especially since many take the 120 quart, which also happen to be oversized so they hit your for oversize and over weight, although I have flown deer & antelope back in them.

Frankly, the last moose that I killed cost me $360 to ship the meat/hide and $160 for the antlers.

SA

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I just went through this with some friends of mine and found some interesting facts. If you decide to ship it, I would go with the post office. They contract with fed ex for air shipping. Surprisingly, the rates are cheaper because of a volume discount. The cheapest way would be to pack your hunting gear in a cooler as luggage for the trip out. If you get one down, ship your hunting gear(lighter) regular ground back to your house, and use your luggage(cooler) to bring the meat home with you on the plane. With the overweight luggage charges it would still be cheaper than trying to overnight it home. The guys that came out hunting with me each shot a nice mulie buck. They had around 200 lbs of meat combined. The cost to ship it was quite a bit. We found that it would have been cheaper to do it in the way that I described. I don't know what you are hunting, but I would find the average live weight and divide by 2 to get the pounds of meat that you will be dealing with. Call around and find out ahead of time so you are ready when the time comes. There can be a significant savings to you by doing it different ways.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I did the cooler ordeal last year with a Mountain Lion and it worked out well, I am in the process of planning a trip to BC for a combination Hunt - Mountain Goat and Moose or Mule Deer I havn't figured that part out yet. It is a long drive for me being on the east coast and the time for the drive and hunt I just couldn't do (18 or 19 days). If I am fortuanate enough to even take one animal it may be too expensive to bring back on a plane, so I think the shipping options are best. I would hate to loose a hide in the mail maybe ship the meat a bring the hide back in a cooler?

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

The friends that I described came from New York to Idaho. I have done the drive several times. You just drive and drive and drive. I would suggest that if you can't get the meat home, leave it with any one of us westerners on here. We will take good care of it for you.:D

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

On my trip to AK last fall, I had my moose processed in Anchorage and shipped home. Cost me $.90# to ship my meat from AK. to CO., it was just in waxed boxes, never kept on ice, took nearly 3 days, and the meat was still frozen when it arrived. Might also concider having a local taxidermist, to where you are hunting, do the tanning on your cape and then have it shipped to your residence and have your local taxidermist do the mount! It also cost me $375 to ship my Euro mounted moose down! We brought frozen fish in our check in baggage when we flew home!

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

Shipping up here has really changed since 9/11. You can no longer use air cargo services unless you are a "known shipper" or an Alaskan resident. By far the best, fastest, and cheapest way to go is by air cargo. If you know you are coming up here early, I would suggest you fill out the paperwork to become a known shipper. The cost savings will be substantial.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I brought home about 200lbs of elk meat from idaho last September, to NH.

I shipped the antlers and a bunch of clothes/boots from UPS, I needed the clothes for an upcoming trip, so I did 3 day delivery, don't really recall the cost, I think about $100.

Meat, was frozen, or very close. Packed in wax boxes, put the wax box in a trash bag, then that into another box with packing peanuts. I did this for 3 out of 4 boxes. Wasn't worth it, all meat arrived still mostly frozen, no difference with the extra box.

Anyway. I weighed it in at the airport and was slightly over 50lbs on all 4. I opened them up, moved some meat to my carry on backpack and some into another checked bag. I had 3 "extra" checked bags, my bow case and a second checked bag. One of my 3 extra was over the 50lbs.

If I remember right, it was $80 for each "extra", $50 more for the over weight one, so $290 to get on the plane.

It was a flight from Spokane WA, to Chicago where the boxes of meat sat on the tarmac in 70 deg weather for 2 hours. I could see them from the terminal window and I was VERY worried about them. Got them all home and had to repack most of the meat due to some juice/blood leakage but all meat was still partially frozen. We lost none of it.

If I had to do it again? I would be less concerned with each bag going over 50lbs and push two bags up towards the 100lb limit, pay the $130/bad and pay $260 rather than $290 and have less boxes to deal with in the airport (fun trying to push the cart in the airport with a bow case, carry on backpack, suitcase and 4 meat boxes [8D] ). I would probably not do coolers, but maybe tupperware totes and line them with foam insulation you can get at home depot. Duct tape the totes closed.

One guy in camp decided to overnight his meat and cape home. Roughly the same amount of meat, plus cape, plus antlers, shipped one late morning, frozen, showed up at his house in MA, by 9AM the next morning where his wife tossed it all in the freezer. Cost was close to $700.
--Bob

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

Thanks for the information Bob! I have printed this and will use this method on my elk hunt in Wyoming this Sept. That is I "hope" to use this method. Thanks alot!

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I just returned from a black bear trip to Alaska and I live in Iowa. the meat I took home I de-boned so save on weight and checked the box in at the airport as extra baggage. Since I already had two check in bags and the box was over weight (more than 50lbs) they were going to charge me for a extra bag and also for being over weight which would have been $105.00 but she got busy helping another agent and for got to charge the overweight part and I got the meat home for $50.00 bucks not bad. Shipping is expensive. I sent my bear hide to the taxidermist and it was 80lbs and to overnight it was $240.00. I would say just check with your airline before you leave for you trip and see what they say.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I think I am going to look into getting some of those styro foam fish boxes from a fish wholesaler. I believe the ones they put whole salmon in will hold about 50 to 80 lbs. They weigh nothing, and I can send them out to the outfitter in new mexico before I go. I believe from reading ya'lls post I should bring my meat back as checked baggage. I think this would be the cheapest way to get the meat. Looks like over-nighting it will break the bank.

RE: How do you get the meat home?
 

I'd ship it overnight air to a friend who will put it in a freezer. It may cost you a bunch but it's better than spoiled meat especially if the hunt cost you a pretty penny to start with.
I have a 3 hour drive from my hunting land to my home and I used a body bag last season. They can be tough to find but one of the guys in my reserve unit is a EMT (paramedic) and got 2 for me. I put a whole deer in one bag then put that bag and a few bags of ice in the second bag. The nice thing about them is no leaks. The average kitchen garbage bag is about .6 mil while these things are about 8 to 10 mil. They also have handles and a zipper to seal it up. As tough as they are they can't be dragged. Strong as they are they will still rip. I'm also fearing the day I get pulled over by a cop and get caught with a full body bag. I might have trouble explaining that one.