So for those of you that like to fly to your hunting destination, how do you get your meat home? I'm going down to Texas this fall with my son (8 by then) to do some awesome father/son bonding time.
I'm looking at getting a pretty good load of meat, so how have you all gotten it home? Anyone ever sent it home once frozen by UPS?
This being my first out of state hunt, I want to make the most of it, and be as prepared as possible.
Thanks in advance guys,
MIke
If you have time to freeze it you can overnight it or priority ship it to your home. If you're flying you & your son could each check a cooler & carry on your other gear. I've gone that route & it worked well... just be sure to check with your airline about size/weight limits.
When we used to fly we would travel with one bag, bow and arrows in the bag, and buy a cooler at our hunt place and pack frozen meat in it and it would be fine when we got home. Back then you were allowed 2 check bags so the cooler was my second bag. The only trouble is you end up with a bunch of coolers after awhile. We have quit fooling with airlines and drive now. We are even planning to drive from Virginia to Portland, Or. for the PBS gathering next year.
Jack
You can cut up and clean/deboned meat freeze it and put it in your luggage. A friend of mine from Lewiston area flies to California every year for hogs and Does the deep freeze and the meat goes below staying real cold. Just an idea PM me and I'll ask him if its OK to give you his Number to get all the facts.
I too was thinking about the cooler idea, but what do you do to keep the cooler closed? I'm assuming you could duck tape it, but would the airport security cut it open, and reseal it? That might be the best option if both of us get a cooler when we get there.
Remember, they weigh luggage. Better check with the airlines before you arrive with a 100 lbs of frozen meat.
I have not, and would consider donating the meat to worthy cause, food bank, church, or charity, if they cost were too high.
I fly from Guam to Texas every year to hunt. Just freeze the meat. If I have time I have it processed and frozen otherwise I debone and wrap and freeze. I then put the meat in a cooler in a large trashbag and cover with ice. If you are not flying as far as I do you could just put the meat in the cooler frozen. When I arrive back on Guam the meat is still frozen and hardly any ice is melted. The key is to buy a good cooler, I buy the kind that will hold ice for 5 days. Works for me. Most airlines will have you place the cooler in a large heavy duty plastic bag and they normally supply the plastic bag, at least Continental does.
I always put a ratchet strap on my coolers to keep them closed. TSA can look inside but they can cinch it back easily as well. You have to make it easy on them, they have hundreds of bags to search & aren't gonna spend a lot of time making sure your's is closed back up.
Yep, must stay below 50# unless you are a frequent flyer, then some airlines allow 70#.
I live in NY & hunt with a friend in Wy every few years. I have done both overnight shipping home & coolers on the plane. Both worked well just comes down to cost. Which ever is cheaper will work. I brought duct tape with me and taped them closed after TSA checked them. Hope you have a good time.
I travel to the lower 48 with frozen meat & fish, and if I have to wait several hours or stay overnight in Seattle, there is a freezer service at SeaTac airport where you can leave a box. I just reclaim my box and put it in the freezer until I am ready to go on with my trip. Good thing to check availability on if you have a long stop in one place, although it does make you go through security and bag check again.
Has anyone tried UPS delivery? I figure if I could get it cut and vacume sealed and froze down there, then when it gets home, all the dirty work is done. Just me thinking outloud again.
Mike, after several elk hunt trips to Colorado, and some of them successful, we always fly the meat home with us as baggage. One trip we came home with 2 bulls and 450# of meat, taken home processed, wrapped and frozen in 50# waxed cardboard boxes, split as baggage for 6 guys. We shipped some of our gear UPS. Next time around was only two of us and we took home 140# of frozen meat in two coolers and two carry on bags. The rest of our gear was shipped home DHL ground. Use a safety harness tree strap to secure around a cooler. All meat came home frozen even with 12 hours travel time.
FWIW, I did a moose hunt in BC a few years ago. If i had got a moose, there would have been issues shipping UPS as it was raw meat crossing the border from one country to the next. It would not have been an issue if shipped within US, including from Alaska to lower 48. So I would guess shipping from Texas to Michigan would not be an issue.
UPS sodomizes its non-corporate customers. I sent 8 pheasant and Hun breasts to my parents with a single cooler pack. Cost $85--for two day delivery, not next day.
I sent a total of 80# [ 31# hailbut and 46# bear hide and skull ] in two boxes overnight fedex from Homer AK to Vancouver WA. Right at $400 just for shipping... never again! Next time I'll gladly pay the extra baggage fees and take a couple coolers with frozen Halibut and bear hide and skull on the plane with me...
Gene
I have never flown to a hunt. I was checking into this a few months ago. Delta will allow me (FF) to have 70# bags, 2 for free. The third bag, also 70# is only $25 and even a fourth is only $75.
However, when I'm hunting out west I'm usually doing so with 1-2 friends and/or my son. None of them can get these baggage rates and it gets expensive fast. I generally truckpool.
However, I have been on hunts when a member of the party flew in and out. Last time was an antelope hunt. We picked up the hunter (my friend's son), he hunted, bow-killed an antelope, and we brought it and two others, home for him.
Yep, we flew meat home using Fed-Ex, very costly, but also very convenient.
I'm thinking the checked coolers is probably the way to go on this one, but I will check all my options. Thanks for all the info guys, and if there is any more you would care to share, I'm sure alot of guys on here would appreciate it, not just myself.
Mike
UPS and Fed Ex air rates have gone through the roof in the last year.You would be better off leaving your meat and buying filet mignon when you get home.You can go to their web sites and punch in some weights and measurements to get a real idea.Don't forget to use realistic dimensions as volume is critical on anything going on a plane and their are price bumps over a certain size.
I think paying for extra baggage,flying back is the only real option besides driving.
I went through this last year and became a known shipper with Alaska Airlines. I shipped 500 pounds of moose meat and the rack home for around $250.
It was a pain to do the paperwork and go through the process. But now I can keep it current and ship via Air Cargo anytime.
Mike
I drive to save to headaches. Having flown a number of times and paid alot extra to guarantee same flight cargo with big coolers only to have them lose coolers of meat. Once they find them they will swear up and down they were stored in freezer - yeah right.
If you go the cooler way by air keep under 50lbs each and use ratchet straps on lids. Duct tape ratchets down after tight. DO NOT use any form of DRY ICE in these coolers - dry ice is prohibited from airplanes.
Believe me, Texas is not that far a drive. I do it twice a year - 2 days at best and no hassels with my meat.
I don't have a suitcase, I have a 120Qt cooler with wheels that has been everywhere. I use a strap to keep it shut and each time I've flown it gets searched but it's no big issue. I have a large duffle bag that's for gear when I get meat. If you get a lot of meat freezer boxes are the way to go. UPS will cost a ton.
My Florida buddy who hunts in Missouri bones out his deer, packs in zip-lock bags, and ships as baggage in a cooler. He has ice in zip-locks too, and disposes of these at the airport to save on weight. He has never had a problem. Last year after our turkey hunt he put several bags of morels in his suitcase, and got them home just fine, too.
I flew home from Az. with 35lbs of frozen Javaline meat. Wrapped all the packages in newspaper, put in my checked luggage. Flew all the way back to Mi. All the meat was still frozen solid. Point is.....I don't think you need a cooler. If the meat is frozen solid and pack togather, it will not dethaw in the belly of the plane. There is not heat in the luggage compartment of the plane, and once at altitude, the air temp is way below 0 degrees.
I would pack one really large duffle type bag, in my main checked luggage. Then on the return trip use this bag to put all your meat in. Cost would be around $50 for extra baggage.
chris <><
The United States Postal Service is a good part of your answer.
Mail all your gear home when done and check two coolers each. A 48 quart cooler will easily hold the amount of meat to reach the normal 50 pound limit.
For two of you, that will be about 168 pounds of meat for your 4 coolers.
Do not dry ice. It's not needed. I bring fish to MT each June and meat back to AK every fall. The coolers stay well frozen.
When they do open your cooler, they retape it.
I forgot>
Do Not tape around the cooler so that the tape goes under the bottom. If the cooler sticks on the conveyor for a bit, the tape will be rolled right off the end. I know!!!
I sent 100# frozen fish in two 50# wax fish boxes, bear hide and skull in vinyl duffle bag also frozen. All from Ketchikan AK to Las Vegas then two hour drive home to northern AZ. Including 3 hour ferry ride I forgot to mention about 13 hours total and all still frozen. Cost an extra $80. Two people using one bow case, all clothes in carry-ons. Saw a lot of people using coolers duct taped shut. Airline check-in people provided me with tape for the duffle after they looked. They sure did get a surprise for their nostrils when they opened that duffle, that bear stunk bad. We laughed all the way to the bar.
I would drive and save the hassle and expense of airfare for meat. Texas is only two days drive.
UPS your clothes home. Take the meat home in your luggage.
A decent cooler and some dry ice works great.
This is what I used returning from a caribou hunt in Northern Quebec. Actually, the outfitter provided the dry ice.........
The bad part with driving is 4 days of windshield with just me doing the driving, and it would take me 150 gallons of gas. Plane tickets are $600, and a car rental is $100, so I do believe I will go that option. Once off the plane, I will probably stop at a Wally World and pick up a couple coolers and license.
How are those little (100# and under) Texas pigs as table fare? Any favorite recipes?
We made a trip from the south to ND for a bowhunt, 3 days travel for me. My buddy packed lots of food, because we were staying in a rather remote area. He put a small chunk of dry ice under regular ice in one very large cooler. After several days we finally had to use brute force to break the ice to get at the food. Broke the plastic containers too in the process, but we could eat!
In the late '80's we flew to CO for a hunt. I had a 4 pt. longbow elk processed out there and shipped to MS, and the shipper used dry ice. It was frozen hard after more than 24 hours transit time.
My wife got a 5 pt. the next year, but we had driven out, over 30 hours. It was cold and the elk mostly froze while hanging. We halved the elk and wrapped it in a tarp and our sleeping bags for insulation, and the meat was still mostly frozen when we processed it three days later.
Conclusion: dry ice is overkill.
Dry Ice is illegal on an airplane and in fact is nothing more then a bomb. Never try and take dry ice on a plane.
Mike
Times change. When my elk was shipped in the '80's the use of dry ice was commonplace. Today they will confiscate my fingernail cleaner.