Do you Fly??

I travel with coolers. Never did any trophy hunting, but always had a plan to stick with a local taxi to do the work and ship it to me.

As a matter of fact, I got teased at the last TOO event for having my name and address on my coolers[emoji23]. "You worried your gonna get lost?"

Every state has different laws for traveling with meat and bones, I'm not clear on Idaho or Florida.

Look into the airline rules as well. I think anything frozen has to be in an insulated container. I wouldn't chance it either way. If that luggage ends up "lost" or "held up" I wouldn't want to have the chance of my meat getting spoiled. I've had my coolers sent from Chicago to my house in SW Ohio once before. Meat was fine 3 days later because it was in a cooler.

Also, sometimes that extra $20-30 for over 50 lbs is cheaper then another luggage. I generally push the second weight (which is different each airline) for the "heavy" sticker.

I've flown back elk meat from NM (Don killed the elk). I've also flown antelope meat, cape, and skull back from WY.

Each airline has regulations for dry ice. Honestly if you have a good cooler and it's frozen then it'll still be frozen, or maybe soft, by the time you return home.

Bad thing is securing your cooler. In the past I always used duct tape to keep it shut, but TSA will cut it open. In NM they re-taped it, but in WY they didn't.

This time around I bought a refrigerator locking kit that glues on the outside. I'll use a TSA lock to secure it.

Other things to consider with coolers are your handles. I'd recommend removing them or making rope handles. I had one cooler where they got broke during transportation.

Baggage fee's are something to consider. United charges 100 for 51-70 pounds and 200 for 71 - 100 pounds over weight. This is in addition to the extra baggage fee.

Last thing is I know people who have flown home with meat in their carry on. My plan this time, assuming I get one, is to fly as much as I can in my 120 qt cooler and the rest in my back pack. I'm going to take an insulated tote with me. My flight from ID Falls to Harrisburg isn't to long so I should be OK.

One more thing:

When I plan my trips I'll do a cost comparison for driving back vs flying. When you drive you have car rental, gas, additional food, possibly a hotel, and time (time for me is an expense). The majority of the time it is cheaper to deal with extra and overweight bags rather than rent a car and drive back.

I think for this trip the only thing that might sway me is if I killed a BIG bull and wanted to get it mounted. In that case driving might be the way to go.

hopefully they dont loose your bags that have meat in them like they did my uncles lol he got them a week later and never opened them just threw everything in the dumpster

bigten05 said:

hopefully they dont loose your bags that have meat in them like they did my uncles lol he got them a week later and never opened them just threw everything in the dumpster

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ouch!!!!

We have a processor that will stay up all night if he has to and get's our deer cut and vacuum bagged, frozen and boxed. If it's a buck, He'll cape it and cut the rack off. We then put the rack in a plastic tote packed with a bunch of cloths. Tape it up and pay the extra baggage fees.

joejoe8 said:

Thanks for help!!! If we kill a Mule deer I feel good about flying. But a big Bull Elk is a total different situation. I'll talk to a local taxidermist, just in case. He explained that he could ship a mounted elk for what he could ship cape and alters for. I hope I have that to worry about lol. I want to get as much of the meat home as I can. The 150lb of elk meat I had from last years bull is gone!!!

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When I killed my Elk in Idaho, I cut a piece of wood as a brace between the main beams, then cut sections of a garden hose and placed over every tip. They treated it as an extra bag. this has been several years ago before the airlines got strict so not sure how they would handle an Elk rack these days.

The thought of flying meat back with an airline terrifies me. I've had way TOO many bad experiences with lost and damaged bags in the past. This is part of the reason I'm going with Colorado for my first elk hunt, I can drive it fairly easily, and I'll be easing in to the logistics that come with a western hunt.

If I kill a deer in Ohio, my grandparents will either eat the meat or donate to families they know that really need it. I wish I could bring the meat back to Utah but I know how much it means to them and how much they enjoy having it. It means a lot more to me knowing that it's going to their benefit or a close friend of theirs that could really use the meat. My dad shot a buck out there a couple years ago that we got mounted with a local taxidermist. The plan was my grandpa would ship to us when it was done. Well he ended up hanging it on the wall until he could find the time to ship it, and 2 years later it's still hanging on his wall. He's never been a hunter but I think he really likes having it up there.

The only experience I have shipping meat was when I went fishing in Alaska several years ago and brought back a few hundred pounds of halibut. The meat was cut, vacuum packed and frozen into 12" blocks. We placed several cuts in cardboard boxes and duct taped them shut. This was 15+ years ago and the airlines didn't make any fuss over it. The meat was still very frozen when we got home.

JC HUNTER said:

If I kill a deer in Ohio, my grandparents will either eat the meat or donate to families they know that really need it. I wish I could bring the meat back to Utah but I know how much it means to them and how much they enjoy having it. It means a lot more to me knowing that it's going to their benefit or a close friend of theirs that could really use the meat. My dad shot a buck out there a couple years ago that we got mounted with a local taxidermist. The plan was my grandpa would ship to us when it was done. Well he ended up hanging it on the wall until he could find the time to ship it, and 2 years later it's still hanging on his wall. He's never been a hunter but I think he really likes having it up there.

The only experience I have shipping meat was when I went fishing in Alaska several years ago and brought back a few hundred pounds of halibut. The meat was cut, vacuum packed and frozen into 12" blocks. We placed several cuts in cardboard boxes and duct taped them shut. This was 15+ years ago and the airlines didn't make any fuss over it. The meat was still very frozen when we got home.

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Halibut charters have really gone downhill. I'd be hard to get that much meat anymore. Regulations have put a hell of a grip on the big fish. Good for the fishery and locals, but bad for the charters. Last trip I ended up just going down to the market and buying a whole fish. Much cheaper and I knew what I was getting for my money.

Look into shipping it through UPS, FedEx, or something. May be easier/cheaper then flying with it???