HawksRich

Planning on just bring home meat and having a local taxidermist do the mount and ship it despite the shipping cost. Only a 17 hour drive from where I live but I'm going alone so I'll have to stay the night somewhere. Just hoping to get the meat back ok

Topgun 3006

IMHO that's the best way to go and the meat will stay fine if kept in a covered cooler with plenty of ice on it.

Bob H in NH

I was looking at baggage fees yesterday and it's been years since I had to fly meat home, but WOW prices went up. I was looking at Delta since that looks to be the best flights. It's a 30 hour drive each way for us, NH to WY, we are considering driving but that basically adds 6 days.

First checked bag: $25
Second checked bag: $35
Third Checked bag: $150
Bags 4-10: $200 each

Each must be 50 lbs or less. So, there's two of us going, deer/antelope is the goal. Going to have taxidermy done in WY and shipped, so coming home:

- we each can have a carry on (probably can put meat in that, but only so much)
- double rifle case
- checked bag with clothes
- Figure 40lbs per antelope and 80-100 lbs per deer, that's minimum of 160 lbs of meat, so 3 boxes and we can spread the other 10 lbs out in carry on or with the clothes.

25+35+100+200+200 = $575 to bring meat home. Even if I ship the guns/clothes home we are still looking at $170 plus whatever to ship the guns/clothes home.

Any idea what it would cost to buy a cooler, load it up, dry ice it and ship it 2nd day air? Might be worth it.

Oldtimr

I just paid UPS 225.00 to ship my mounted Bison skull from MO to PA ground shipment. I would hate to think what the charge would be for a heavy cooler shipped 2nd day air. Just take turns driving and drive straight through. I Oct I went on a hunt that was a 24 hour drive and we drove straight through both ways, when I go from PA to SC or GA we drive straight through. One person drives, the other sleeps, then switch. That would be your cheapest route to go and all your equipment and meat goes with you.

HawksRich

Going by myself. Guess I could drive a straight 17 hrs but my knee might not take it. Old hockey injury. I'm sure I'll have to stay somewhere at least one night. Great info everyone!

HawksRich

On another note tho, guessing I'll have maybe 50 lbs of meat. What would be a safe minimum qt size cooler I should bring? Always hauled deer straight to the processor after harvesting it

Oldtimr

Buy a 125 qt cooler, make sure it is cold when you put your meat into it, out ice in at least a day before you are going to put the meat in. Try to cool the meat before you put it into the cooler, then drain the water out of the cooler, put in some fresh ice, then the meat and ice on the top to the top. Do not open the cooler till you get home. You didn't say if you had access to a cooler but if you do, cold meat going into a cold cooler is the way to go.

Topgun 3006

You're making this much more difficult than it is HR! Get a cooler that will hold that much meat and ice, cover it and keep the sun off of it, don't open more than once or twice on the way home to drain and possibly reice, and it will be fine on a two day trip back home.

wyomingtrapper

Topgun is right. Load it up, keep it iced, drain the water, keep it out of the sun... It'll be fine. If you have the time, a local butcher would probably be willing to freeze it overnight. Frozen with a little dry ice and it'll still be frozen solid when you get home.

wyomingtrapper

Bob H in NH,
40 lbs is about right for an antelope buck. The largest mule deer I've killed provided 80 to 85 lbs of meat. That is meat only, no bones, well trimmed. I don't leave much of anything on the carcass for the crows. My biggest deer last year (body and antlers) turned out 79 lbs of meat. Had a TON of fat on him though.