moose meat and antlers back to states part 2

[liv2hnt]

Sorry everyone my two girls were getting impatient with me. I am going to AK unit 15a to hunt Moose this Sept. with a buddie who moved up there last year. He has access to a float plane and pilot at our disposal. This is a hunt of a lifetime for me with 2 young kids and all. I was wondering if anyone could give an idea of cost of shipping some meat and antlers back to the lower states and how you shipped it. I hope to bring antlers back on plane but I do not want to skull cap and seperate them. Hoping to do a european mount. Any input would be great!!

[liv2hnt]

tap,tap,tap.... anyone out there???? i cannot believe that no one out there in forum land can help a fella out on this topic.

[reuben_j_cogburn]

Fear not

Someone should be along soon... Actually I would like to hear some experiences as well!!

[Louis]

I think at least some of it can go as checked baggage. Would recommend you check out Alaska Airlines: http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/help/f...latedItems.asp Other airlines could have different policy's. Hope this helps...Louis

[AlleninAlaska]

Ship the meat home in ice chest as checked baggage. That is after you have mail everything else back to yourself that you brought up. Bring empty shotgun shells to put on the tines of the antlers and prepare to pay big bucks to ship them.

[Brian M]

I can't offer much help specific to the shipping, but I did want to point out that you are going to have A LOT of meat to ship back if you're successful. Perhaps you and your buddy are going to share the meat, in which case you can choose how much you take home. If you're planning on taking it all, though, be aware that a large bull moose can have 600+ pounds of meat. It's some of the best meat you'll ever taste, so taking it home is a great idea, but it won't fit in one cooler. Best of luck to you!

-Brian

[dwhunter]

Shipping

Anyway you look at it it will cost you some money to get everything back. Allen made a good point about shipping everything else back home that you would normally take as checked luggage, clothes, gear etc, then replace it with checked meat and typically anything over 50lbs (depends on airlines) per bag, cooler etc will cost you extra and then of course any extra bag fees. Make sure you plan enough extra time to have the meat frozen before you fly home.

B M is correct about the size of a moose unless you have deep pockets shipping all of the meat home would be a very expensive proposition. If your buddy kept the rest I would suggest that when you run out of what you take home and if you really needed a fix perhaps your buddy could send you more and you pay the shipping for overnight delivery.

Perhaps your buddy would be willing to ship the rack to you to keep the cost down and allow you to take more meat on the plane reasonably?

Doug

[reuben_j_cogburn]

I might ad

Last time I was in Alaska I sent a bunch of my stuff (camping stuff) back through UPS. The UPS stores up there are all set up to freeze and ship fish back and I bet they could handle moose as well. Spendy though... I'm sure.

I guess for myself though I'm cusious about the legalities of documentation and such concerning hides and horns.......

[Andrew]

I would suggest getting your Known Shipper designation from Alaska Air. It is a free service they offer and it will help in getting the meat and rack back to the lower 48. I have had mine for many years and have used it without problem each time.

This past Sept. I shot a nice moose and had the 62" rack, and 250 pounds of meat shipped From Fairbanks to Portland for $260. I took the meat in 'wet-lock" boxes to the shipping dept.. They asked if I wanted it in the cooler or freezer. I covered the antler tips and bagged it in one of their bags, and paid the freight. It arrived in Portland about 6 hours after I did. The shipping dept. has different hours than the commercial dept. Be sure to find out when they are open.

If you bring the meat home as baggage, it is going to be very expensive. You will have to buy coolers, then put 60-70 pounds of meat in each. The airlines will charge an extra bag cost and added weight cost. It will add up quickly.

My camping gear came back as baggage. I had my two regular bags at just under 50 pounds each, a gun case (which they did not charge me for) and one other bag of misc stuff.

Good luck.

[Frankie 2 Times]

DC Expediting

What about using someone like DC Expedititing in Anchorage. I have hear that they deal with processing, freezing and shipping of meat/hides/horns back. Has anyone ever used them? I too am heading up in September for moose/griz hunt and want to ship stuff back.

F2T

[liv2hnt]

Thanks guys. I will be leaving some of the meat with my buddy and his family. These are all good ideas and i appreciate the input. I hope the input keeps coming since this post sounds useful to others in here!

[c-ne-elk]

DC Expiditing

I used DCE to crate and ship my buddy and my moose antlers back after a successful moose hunt and they did a good job for a fair price. We shipped our clothes back via UPS and we both took 3 boxes of meat home. We were allowed 2 and paid for the 3rd. We donated the rest of our meat to a village, there was a good system for this set up in King Salmon where we were hunting. (I go to Anchorage for work frequently so I was able to pick up our guns on my next trip up for work)

Even shipping clothes back via UPS get's pricy. UPS has no "ground" service to or from Alaska, everything comes to the lower 48 via "air" so 3 day air is the least expensive service that you can get. Regular "snail mail" from the USPS is a much better deal if you are in no hurry for your belongings.

DCE is a no hassle deal, you either drop them off at their place or they will pick them up from the airport and next thing you know, a freight truck shows up at your door with your antlers.

There are LOTS of issues with the airlines now days with baggage. Extra fees, no ice allowed, minimum amounts of dry ice allowed, maximum size (60", see other posts on this), maximum weights of 50 lbs. They also DO NOT accept antlers as baggage any more, you must ship as freight and to do so you must be registered, etc.

There are still lots of ways to get it all home, it all equates to how much you want to spend.

[9point]

DC Expediting

What does DC expediting stand for and how do I contact them?

[c-ne-elk]

D&C

That is their company name. Expediters as in "to expedite" or dispatch. They "specialize" in shipping your trophies to you.

D&C Expediters & Taxidermy
(907) 344-9719

[9point]

DCE

Thanks c-ne-elk! Will give them a call for my trip this fall as well.