Shipping Meat

[mccobow]

hey guys I dont know if this has been posted on here before but figured Id ask. I'm looking to go out to Montana for elk, but I will be flying out from VA where I live. I was looking into shipping the meat back to VA after the hunt. Has anyone had experience with this? and if so how did you go about it and what was the cost?


Thanks!

 

[DTP]

I've only shipped small amounts of meat to people, nothing that large.

Have you checked your airliner's checked baggage policy?
You could build a contingency plan to purchase two coolers, pack them with meat and dry ice, and then put them as checked baggage?
It may cost less than shipping it.

Or you could fly out with your gear, ship that back, and then your coolers could be the checked baggage.

I'm sure someone else out there has done this before. I know a lot of people come back from Alaska with meat.

 

[cohunter14]

Dan has it right from everything that I've heard. Get as much meat as possible on the plane with you. You can check coolers on the plane and I've even heard of people using the rolling cooler bags as check on items. Then ship your gear and the rack home via UPS, USPS, or FedEx. If you do it right and there are multiple people with you flying, you should be able to get it home relatively inexpensive this way. On the opposite side, I've heard of guys paying over $600 to ship their meat home.


The one thing to pay attention to is the airline baggage policy. Make sure you have a plan to abide by their weight guidelines, etc. If you haven't booked your flight yet, I would look into all of the different airlines and see who has the best setup for you. For example, Southwest might cost you a few more bucks for your plane ticket, but with two free checked bags you might easily make up the difference in cost should you punch your tag.

 

[cnelk]

Flying to/from a hunt destination sure has its obstacles. A lot of research must be done to be sure all goes smoothly. Add meat to the equation and it can get complicated quick.

1-    Research your airline baggage policy - from weights, costs and shipping perishable items [meat]

2-    Consider shipping your gear to a nearby town Post Office. Address it to yourself, General Delivery. They will hold it for 30 days. You will need your identification to get it. In that gear, have a roll of duct tape, permanent marker, heavy duty trash bags and some pre-made address labels to your home address.

3-    Consider adding a day on the end of your travel plans. Nothing worse than trying to scramble shipping gear/meat and getting to your flight.

4-    Consider buying a One-way ticket to your destination, and using rewards/air miles for the return trip. This is WAY less expensive than changing your flight if needed at the end of your trip.

5-    If you are successful and need to ship meat, go buy a couple coolers. Place the meat in the trash bags, add some dry-ice [see airline policy] tape up the coolers, and ship as luggage. Don?t worry about the weight too much, just pay the extra fees, as its probably cheaper to pay for two 75lb coolers than three 49lb coolers.

6-    Carry-On luggage has no weight restrictions. Load that bag up! Just be sure to have the meat in plastic bags.

7-    Shipping your gear back home: Just put all your gear back in the shipping boxes you sent it in, tape them up,put your pre-made labels on the boxes, stop by the Post Office and ship. They will probably arrive the day after you get home.

Its been my experience to not rush anything at the end of your trip. Take that extra day, or two, keep things in perspective and it will work out just fine.

 

[mccobow]

Thanks guys I appreciate all the feedback, my elk hunt is in 2019 and just trying get all the logistics down and no re-invent the wheel


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[Bowfreak]

I get one bag free on Delta. I fly with all the stuff I need in my bow case. If I kill, I'll ship my equipment back Fed Ex or UPS, whatever is cheaper. I would buy a couple cheap coolers and flash freeze meat or pack in dry ice if legal. I'd do one cooler free at <50lbs. I would pay extra baggage fees for as many coolers as I wanted to take home and donate the rest locally.  That being said....I drive for elk just in case I do kill one.

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[colorado russ]

Invite someone along who works for FedEx and ship everything!  8)

 

[joejoe8]

I used this company last year to get my meat back to Nc from Idaho. It cost me around 400$ to get it home still frozen. It was worth it me, killed on the last hour of my hunt. Drop meat off at the processor and they picked it up 2 week later. https://www.ffeinc.com/   

 

[cohunter14]

I used this company last year to get my meat back to Nc from Idaho. It cost me around 400$ to get it home still frozen. It was worth it me, killed on the last hour of my hunt. Drop meat off at the processor and they picked it up 2 week later. https://www.ffeinc.com/   

Good info joejoe8. I never knew there were companies that would do something like that for an individual.


Welcome to the site by the way!  :welcome: