Freeze meat and pack with dry ice in a cooler duct taped shut. Crate up your antlers and use cut up pool noodles on the antler tips to prevent puncturing the box and/or breakingI have a New Mexico elk hunt this fall. I will be flying there but was wondering if anyone can let me know how to have meat an antlers shipped home.?
The ice chest is the best for meat. As for the antlers, maybe the pilot will you let strap them on the hood.I have a New Mexico elk hunt this fall. I will be flying there but was wondering if anyone can let me know how to have meat an antlers shipped home.?
About the same time frame you're talking about I inquired Alaska Airlines about shipping caribou antlers. They said split them and cover the points. Or.......I could pay an extra $90 and ship them in tact, no need to split. I paid the $90.The ice chest is the best for meat. As for the antlers, maybe the pilot will you let strap them on the hood.
I have had three caribou racks flown home from Canada & Alaska with my baggage by a couple different airlines, but that was more than 25 yrs, ago.
At the time, no crate needed. The accepted way was to cover the sharpest points by duct taping shorts pieces of rubber hose to each & wrapping the CLEAN skull plate in heavy paper, cloth or thin foam such as carpet padding. I also taped a 1"x2" piece of wood from one antler side to the other antler side, but you can use about any rigid rod or even a straight tree branch. It not only provides a handle of sorts but also keeps the rack from flexing enough to break the skull plate.
You can also split the sides & nest & tape them together to make it more compact. I've done it with deer antlers so I could pack them in a duffle easier. Best way is to cut down the middle with a saw about 3/4 of the way & then break the last bit. That'll make matching them up for the right spread angle easier down the road.
And yes, you will be dinged an extra fee, usually about the same as an extra bag.
Now...all that said, things might be different today so your mileage might vary. Best bet, call the airline you'll be using & ask.
Yup. I was remiss in not mentioning the B&C aspect. Of course, that only matters if someone plans to actually enter it for the book. Otherwise, splitting the rack is a good way to improve the score.About the same time frame you're talking about I inquired Alaska Airlines about shipping caribou antlers. They said split them and cover the points. Or.......I could pay an extra $90 and ship them in tact, no need to split. I paid the $90.
When I arrived at my home airport the antlers were crushed together. The pilot made a point of telling me the antlers wouldn't fit in the cargo hold of the puddle jumper we used for the last leg, so they made them fit. He said I could get a refund if I filed a claim, but I never did. I took several width measurements so it was easy to reconstruct later. Don't crush if it's a record book set. It will be disqualified.