Did you fly a skull/antlers home on Alaska last fall?

[Quandary]

To simplify things check out Alaska Trophy Express. Used them last year for both the head and meat. The contact in Fairbanks, who is also a taxidermist (doing my Grizzly), met us at Wright Air Service took everything. The next time we saw it was in Wisconsin. Reasonable cost and the guy who owns/runs it is great. The key is how close you live to one of the drop of points.

 

[MuleyFever]

To simplify things check out Alaska Trophy Express. Used them last year for both the head and meat. The contact in Fairbanks, who is also a taxidermist (doing my Grizzly), met us at Wright Air Service took everything. The next time we saw it was in Wisconsin. Reasonable cost and the guy who owns/runs it is great. The key is how close you live to one of the drop of points.

Did you use Kevin?

 

[Quandary]

Did you use Kevin?

Yes Kevin was the contact in Fairbanks. As of last fall he was working with ATE to be the guy for everything in Fairbanks. I am not up to date on whether or not it all came together.

Kevin got my Grizzly skull to me by Christmas and is currently rugging the hide.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Appropriate meat care

above all else!

 

[pods8 (Rugged Stitching)]

and the only way they were allowed to continue shipping horns/skulls was if they had them wrapped for smell and bacteria for other customers.

I've had blood draining out of folks fish boxes onto my luggage who didn't fully freeze their meat nor apparently line the fish box with a garbage bag or such when loading in their meat unfrozen meat. So I can see why they'd want things wrapped up better.

 

[benconfused]

Yes Kevin was the contact in Fairbanks. As of last fall he was working with ATE to be the guy for everything in Fairbanks. I am not up to date on whether or not it all came together.

Kevin got my Grizzly skull to me by Christmas and is currently rugging the hide.

Does he have representation in Kotzebue?

 

[Quandary]

Does he have representation in Kotzebue?

No clue

 

[GFMThunter]

I've had blood draining out of folks fish boxes onto my luggage who didn't fully freeze their meat nor apparently line the fish box with a garbage bag or such when loading in their meat unfrozen meat. So I can see why they'd want things wrapped up better.

ouch, yeah, that would be legitimate reasons not to allow it. to be honest, it's pretty cool they even do. I can imagine the frustration to someone when that happens and the airline can't do much but apologize and try to find a way to make it right by the customer, tough on them and frustrating too.

 

[Whip]

Alaska Trophy Express is the Easy Button, and will worth it IMO. By the time you rent a big enough vehicle to run around Fairbanks with meat and antlers, buy meat boxes, packing materials, try to get meat flash frozen before a flight, pay two or three extra baggage fees at $150 a pop, then stress about whether they will take it when you show up at the airport, flying with meat and antlers is not a great solution. If all you want to ship back are antlers ATE does have separate pricing for that. Just call and talk to him. When you look at all the money you are laying out for a great Alaskan adventure trying to save a few bucks on getting your trophy home doesn't seem like it is worth it.

 

[benconfused]

Alaska Trophy Express is the Easy Button, and will worth it IMO. By the time you rent a big enough vehicle to run around Fairbanks with meat and antlers, buy meat boxes, packing materials, try to get meat flash frozen before a flight, pay two or three extra baggage fees at $150 a pop, then stress about whether they will take it when you show up at the airport, flying with meat and antlers is not a great solution. If all you want to ship back are antlers ATE does have separate pricing for that. Just call and talk to him. When you look at all the money you are laying out for a great Alaskan adventure trying to save a few bucks on getting your trophy home doesn't seem like it is worth it.

Doesn't look like they roll thru Kotzebue based on their map.

 

[Whip]

Doesn't look like they roll thru Kotzebue based on their map.

Yeah, logistics are obviously a lot more complicated in the roadless towns.

 

[malberto416]

Lots of really good info in this thread, thanks for sharing. Definitely taking notes for my upcoming AK trip!

 

[Jmillgreen]

They do have to come to your house, but they don’t come in or look at anything, just confirm address. You also have to pay for that visit, rate varies depending on distance if I remember correctly.

I just got a response for the site visit. $579 feet bc of where I live. SW New Mexico. Hard pass on that one haha!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AU.MASHnKS]

Interesting, I am in Kansas City and it ended up costing $140 for my site visit.

 

[Oncorhynchus]

Pipe insulation with electrical tape to secure the points. That and a plastic bag with bubble wrap for the head did it for me. I flew out of a different airport but had a connection through anchorage and all was good.

Good luck! Pay attention to total linear specs and have their policy handy.

 

[benconfused]

View attachment 898887
Pipe insulation with electrical tape to secure the points. That and a plastic bag with bubble wrap for the head did it for me. I flew out of a different airport but had a connection through anchorage and all was good.

Good luck! Pay attention to total linear specs and have their policy handy.

So you don't have to cover up the antlers completely? I thought that was part of the travel requirements. May need to re-read up.

 

[Oncorhynchus]

So you don't have to cover up the antlers completely? I thought that was part of the travel requirements. May need to re-read up.

Flying with perishable or big game items - Alaska Airlines

Review our policies for traveling with perishable items or big game trophies before your next flight.

www.alaskaair.com

Looks like their policy states it has to be wrapped or bagged. Not sure if that’s since last spring when I flew with my skull back. Velvet was stripped and essentially euro’d, so no blood or smell.

Maybe I got lucky. I’d rather do the pipe insulation than cut and wrap janky cardboard. Good luck what ever you decide and hopefully it’s something you’ll have to decide on!

 

[MuleyFever]

View attachment 898887
Pipe insulation with electrical tape to secure the points. That and a plastic bag with bubble wrap for the head did it for me. I flew out of a different airport but had a connection through anchorage and all was good.

Good luck! Pay attention to total linear specs and have their policy handy.

Is that all the meat in that cooler? What size is it?

 

[Oncorhynchus]

Is that all the meat in that cooler? What size is it?

That has a spring bear in it. I did use it to bring back the caribou meat though too.

It’s an Igloo polar 120 I got in Fairbanks Cabelas. Alaska counter rep said maximum checked weight is 100lbs. I was 101 with bloody TAG bags and deboned meat ~80lbs. I pulled the bags and those went in my carry on . If you fly with this option make sure you’re able to be under 100.

 

[chizelhead]

This was my set up to bring back a finished euro head from SEAK to PDX a week ago. Taped pipe insulators on the tips and some extra padding between pts. I figured it didn't hurt, and I had it laying around. I left the box open for TSA to inspect and they taped up with me watching. It's an insulated fish box with the skull wrapped in bubble wrap and towels. I was worried about the care they would put in handling it, but they did great. The gate agent added the Fragile sticker. We saw it loaded onto our third connection in SEA. When we got to PDX, I was waiting by the oversized luggage chute, but one of the baggage handlers hand carried it to the baggage claim area. It got a lot of looks. I still think ideal is becoming a known shipper with Alaska Air, but this worked out well.