Flying meat and Antlers
- Thread starter bowelk
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Chesterwyo
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Donate the meat, leave the antlers with a local taxidermist. Have them ship the mount to you.
I would check with your airline. Each one is different when it comes to shipping antlers. Even airlines in Alaska are changing policies. Helped on a caribou hunt last year and brought out some sheds. Airline out of kenai wouldn’t allow me to take them and sent me to the freight department
DonVathome
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Jackson is very used to horns & meat which is great. Out of sight out of mind. If you can get a big duffle bag for horns that is an easy option. Meat I take a lot in my personal item and carry on bag. I have never had them weighed- ever. I get about 70 pounds that way. The rest in a checked bag - literally a good sturdy large "gym" bag easier to fit stuff in and add clothes around it to keep it cool.
Sticknstring80
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If your going to do a shoulder mount you can split the skull cap with a v cut. Your taxidermist back home can epoxy it back together. This makes packing antlers much easier. Unless your having it officially scored then they won’t accept it. As for meat we’ve always had good luck with cheap hard coolers and dry ice from Walmart. Costs less to buy them at the Jackson than it will to fly them both ways…granted haven’t bought a cooler since Covid.
nripepi
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Check your airlines rules on extra baggage and antlers, this is critical. Know that elk is way different than mule deer or antelope when flying meat/antlers.
Here is what I do:
1. Buy a small blue/red igloo cooler from Wal-Mart for $20 when I fly in as it holds 43 lbs of meat and 5-10 lbs of dry ice perfectly. Buy more as needed if you are succesful and can can ship meat back. Other options are buying or making an insulated box, using a duffel with insulation and garbage bags that weigh a bit less....but I like the cooler myself. The key is to find a light cheap cooler and Wal-Marts are the ticket as they only weigh 6-7 lbs so you can pack 43 lbs of meat. I load it up and weigh it and get it to 49 lbs and add dry ice and throw out the dry ice when I check it in. You need some sort of strap or two like a canvas belt strap to go around the cooler. If you have less meat per cooler, you can keep up to 5 lbs of dry ice in the cooler, just have to declare it when you check in. Typically a block of dry ice is 8ish lbs and by the time I get to the airport it is less than 5.
Antelope buck = 40 lbs of meat (one cooler)
Mule deer buck = 50+ lbs of meat (one cooler plus)
Bull elk = 150+ lbs of meat (3 coolers)
The best airline for flying and shipping meat is typically Southwest as they are $50 per extra bag.
Elk horns are a pain to deal with on some airlines so you might want to ship them somehow. If you are going to mount a mule deer and you are shipping back the cape, you could cut your skull plate at an angle or some sort of Z to cross the skull with a hack saw and mesh the antlers in a duffel bag easily, as long as you are not measuring it for B&C. Remember to cover the horn tips with some sort of garden hose and tape so they don't puncture your bag.
Here is what I do:
1. Buy a small blue/red igloo cooler from Wal-Mart for $20 when I fly in as it holds 43 lbs of meat and 5-10 lbs of dry ice perfectly. Buy more as needed if you are succesful and can can ship meat back. Other options are buying or making an insulated box, using a duffel with insulation and garbage bags that weigh a bit less....but I like the cooler myself. The key is to find a light cheap cooler and Wal-Marts are the ticket as they only weigh 6-7 lbs so you can pack 43 lbs of meat. I load it up and weigh it and get it to 49 lbs and add dry ice and throw out the dry ice when I check it in. You need some sort of strap or two like a canvas belt strap to go around the cooler. If you have less meat per cooler, you can keep up to 5 lbs of dry ice in the cooler, just have to declare it when you check in. Typically a block of dry ice is 8ish lbs and by the time I get to the airport it is less than 5.
Antelope buck = 40 lbs of meat (one cooler)
Mule deer buck = 50+ lbs of meat (one cooler plus)
Bull elk = 150+ lbs of meat (3 coolers)
The best airline for flying and shipping meat is typically Southwest as they are $50 per extra bag.
Elk horns are a pain to deal with on some airlines so you might want to ship them somehow. If you are going to mount a mule deer and you are shipping back the cape, you could cut your skull plate at an angle or some sort of Z to cross the skull with a hack saw and mesh the antlers in a duffel bag easily, as long as you are not measuring it for B&C. Remember to cover the horn tips with some sort of garden hose and tape so they don't puncture your bag.
goforbroke
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I would add, put the meat in zip lock bags and make sure no liquid in cooler.
DonVathome
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Flying with dry ice is permitted but costs extra and the dry ice weight limit is small. I have never needed anything if meat was frozen. If it is good and cold and insulated with clothes or a sleeping bag that works. Also foil helps a lot - think emergency blanket. Good contractor garbage bags are awesome. Double or triple them.
Any ideas where I can get a sturdy cheap duffle bag? Big enough to carry a set of elk horns. That would be great. Clean horns, cardboard on tips (hose works good but is harder to come by). zip up bag and done. I find the right bag but they are over $100 and I am guessing it will not last long enough to make it worth it.
Any ideas where I can get a sturdy cheap duffle bag? Big enough to carry a set of elk horns. That would be great. Clean horns, cardboard on tips (hose works good but is harder to come by). zip up bag and done. I find the right bag but they are over $100 and I am guessing it will not last long enough to make it worth it.
Soflohunter14
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Brought home 83 lbs of meat home from Roswell last season and cost me an arm and a leg so depending on the weight limit for your airline , if you have over 50 lbs of meat get multiple cheap coolers and split it up . Will be way cheaper .
Wyoming Hunting Guides & Outfitters
Urge 2 Hunt
We focus on trophy elk, mule deer, antelope and moose hunts and take B&C bucks most years.
