Flying Home w Mule Deer

[flathead#2]

On my OIL White Sands Oryx Tag I just dropped it off with a processor and
taxidermist at the gate and they shipped it when done.
100lbs of meat UPS'd in an igloo cooler w/wheels.
Was still frozen hard when it arrived.

 

[jordanblnknshp]

The average weight of an adult male is 203 lb (maximum, 405 lb). The average weight of a female is about 155 lb (maximum, 218 lb). i dont think i need to smoke crack to know this...

Yes but you are not shipping the whole deer, just the deboned meat. The gut pile alone is probably close to 40lb, then you have to subtract the bones, hide, meat you don't harvest. I'm thinking 50-70lbs of deboned meat is probably what I'm looking at. Be mindful this is a backpack hunt so the deer will be processed in the field, I try to get as much as I can but I'm not a professional butcher either. I'm not as efficient as a butcher when you drop off a deer whole.

 

[jordanblnknshp]

Wanted to share an update:

Measured the Costco/HD/Lowes totes. The 27ga variety were all slightly over the allowable size for Southwest. It was very close and it's likely they might be allowed on but don't really want to risk it.

Worked a waterfowl expo this weekend and Divebomb had their duffle bags at a good discount (40% off). I went ahead and grabbed their XL and their backpack. They are advertised as a waterproof and after checking them out I believe it. (waterfowl gear seems way more reliable with weatherproofing than big game gear IMO). I was able to fit a skull cap of a 150in whitetail in it and believe it should hold at least 50lbs of meat.

Only real concern is the weight of the bag itself. May lose a couple of pounds of meat due to this but that's why I purchased the backpack for over flow.

Definitely more expensive than plastic totes but for me I know I will get my use out of these. So worth it (assuming they hold up on flights and weather)

I'll be posting a review and my thoughts after on YouTube once I see how it goes:
YouTube: Recruit Creative.

 

[ProStaffSteve]

You bought a duffle bag with bombs on it.

 

[MattB]

The average weight of an adult male is 203 lb (maximum, 405 lb). The average weight of a female is about 155 lb (maximum, 218 lb). i dont think i need to smoke crack to know this...

But you do need to be smoking crack to think someone would try to take an entire, ungutted deer on the plane. In reality, you can multiply those averages by .4 to get a rough yield of boned out meat. 203 x .4 = 81#. AZ deer will likely come in below that average. Might all fit into 1 48-50 quart cooler but will likely need 2.

 

[Rich M]

2023 did an antelope hunt and flew the meat home in a semi-rigid cooler (Academy 45-can "soft" backpack cooler at $130). Used the cooler as my carry-on. Totally full with about 25-30# of processed & frozen meat tho - about 1/2 of what you'll get off a nice muley. Anyway - stuck that inside a newly purchased suitcase it would fit into and flew it home.

2019 had over 75# of self-processed meat in 2019 from a nice muley - 160-inch, 25 inches inside spread - we covered it inside the vehicle and drove home. Truck bed was full of "camp". Just didn't feel like advertising.

The rent a car and drive the deer home idea isn't bad - especially if you are gonna want the cape and horns home in one piece.

Anyway - not sure if anyone else said this but will need to seal the stuff up good - airlines don't like leaking fluids. Double bag it anyway.

 

[bojangles808]

2023 did an antelope hunt and flew the meat home in a semi-rigid cooler (Academy 45-can "soft" backpack cooler at $130). Used the cooler as my carry-on. Totally full with about 25-30# of processed & frozen meat tho - about 1/2 of what you'll get off a nice muley. Anyway - stuck that inside a newly purchased suitcase it would fit into and flew it home.

2019 had over 75# of self-processed meat in 2019 from a nice muley - 160-inch, 25 inches inside spread - we covered it inside the vehicle and drove home. Truck bed was full of "camp". Just didn't feel like advertising.

The rent a car and drive the deer home idea isn't bad - especially if you are gonna want the cape and horns home in one piece.

Anyway - not sure if anyone else said this but will need to seal the stuff up good - airlines don't like leaking fluids. Double bag it anyway.

this is what i have been doing for flying back with whitetails. bone out meat, vaccum seal and freeze overnight and bring back in a cooler backpack or soft cooler bag from costco. its stays frozrn the whole time as my carryon. tricky part might be access to a freezer if backpacking hunting though but you could stay the night before you fly back with an extended stay motel with a full size fridge if needed

 

[flathead#2]

Access to a freezer sure makes life easier.

 

[jordanblnknshp]

Wanted to follow up on my trip and how it went.

I did harvest a mule deer, and was able to get it home without much issue. My buddy tore his knee and was not able to go. So I went solo. Here is how it went:

1. Day of the Kill: Got the deer deboned into game bags and off the mountain. I had to drive about a couple hours until I was able to get to a grocery store (Walmart). I purchased, a cheap 65qt cooler ($25), freezer paper, and plastic wrap. I also booked a hotel for the night, and changed my flight to the next day. Hotel was $145, changing flight was free. I then located a place in phoenix that sold dry ice in bulk, "Reliant Dry Ice".

Once at the hotel I took the meat out of the game bags and did a rough processing job of the meat. Essentially cleaning it and cutting into large roast (about the size of a pork butt) . I did this in the hotel room. I then wrapped the meat in plastic wrap really tight, then freezer paper. I used white duck tape to tape around the freezer paper to make sure it's very secure. I then put all the meat in the cooler submerged in dry ice pellets. I would recommend pellets and not the blocks to freeze things much faster.

For the horns: I cleaned the skull the best I could, it was not perfect. I went to a car wash and cleaned out the brain matter, then wrapped it in a white game back and secured it with white duck tape. This was more for cosmetic reasons so it would get through security.

2. Next day: This was the day of my flight. I loaded my hunting gear, including my frame pack and skull, in the Dive Bomb XL duffle, everything fit an was under 50lbs. I packed light and threw out any perishables I did not need to take home (food, extra plastic wraps, fuel canister etc). All my heavier gear was packed in my rifle case, this included the rifle, optics, camera gear, ammo.

I placed the meat in a soft sided dry bag, this was my carry on item, it was over 50lb but they do not weigh your carry on. All the meat fit into my carry on. It was around 65lbs of meat for a younger mule deer buck. It was not comfortable to carry through the airport but this kept me from paying extra baggage fees.

From there all I had to do was board the plane. Everything arrived on time and I had no issues at the airport.

There was lots of talk about cost in the thread. So I will also break that down a little more:

Turo Truck Rental: Was $465 for 7 days, but I killed my buck on day 3 and returned it early. After the early return the total cost was only $289 for 4 total days.

Baggage: I paid no extra fees for baggage

Flights: Flights were around $400

Hotel: $145

All in it was less than $850 for flights, hotel and truck rental. For me this was worth it over driving 1000+ miles and using multiple days to travel. With gas and hotel the trip likely would have cost more if I had driven. I also liked that I was able to shoot a deer Monday morning and be in my own bed Tuesday night instead of at a truck stop in Oklahoma. Cost for shipping meat was quoted at over $500, which was more than my flights, and I got to stay with the meat and make sure it arrived with me.

I also made a video detailing everything above.

 

[hunthikecamp]

Wanted to follow up on my trip and how it went.

I did harvest a mule deer, and was able to get it home without much issue. My buddy tore his knee and was not able to go. So I went solo. Here is how it went:

1. Day of the Kill: Got the deer deboned into game bags and off the mountain. I had to drive about a couple hours until I was able to get to a grocery store (Walmart). I purchased, a cheap 65qt cooler ($25), freezer paper, and plastic wrap. I also booked a hotel for the night, and changed my flight to the next day. Hotel was $145, changing flight was free. I then located a place in phoenix that sold dry ice in bulk, "Reliant Dry Ice".

Once at the hotel I took the meat out of the game bags and did a rough processing job of the meat. Essentially cleaning it and cutting into large roast (about the size of a pork butt) . I did this in the hotel room. I then wrapped the meat in plastic wrap really tight, then freezer paper. I used white duck tape to tape around the freezer paper to make sure it's very secure. I then put all the meat in the cooler submerged in dry ice pellets. I would recommend pellets and not the blocks to freeze things much faster.

For the horns: I cleaned the skull the best I could, it was not perfect. I went to a car wash and cleaned out the brain matter, then wrapped it in a white game back and secured it with white duck tape. This was more for cosmetic reasons so it would get through security.

2. Next day: This was the day of my flight. I loaded my hunting gear, including my frame pack and skull, in the Dive Bomb XL duffle, everything fit an was under 50lbs. I packed light and threw out any perishables I did not need to take home (food, extra plastic wraps, fuel canister etc). All my heavier gear was packed in my rifle case, this included the rifle, optics, camera gear, ammo.

I placed the meat in a soft sided dry bag, this was my carry on item, it was over 50lb but they do not weigh your carry on. All the meat fit into my carry on. It was around 65lbs of meat for a younger mule deer buck. It was not comfortable to carry through the airport but this kept me from paying extra baggage fees.

From there all I had to do was board the plane. Everything arrived on time and I had no issues at the airport.

There was lots of talk about cost in the thread. So I will also break that down a little more:

Turo Truck Rental: Was $465 for 7 days, but I killed my buck on day 3 and returned it early. After the early return the total cost was only $289 for 4 total days.

Baggage: I paid no extra fees for baggage

Flights: Flights were around $400

Hotel: $145

All in it was less than $850 for flights, hotel and truck rental. For me this was worth it over driving 1000+ miles and using multiple days to travel. With gas and hotel the trip likely would have cost more if I had driven. I also liked that I was able to shoot a deer Monday morning and be in my own bed Tuesday night instead of at a truck stop in Oklahoma. Cost for shipping meat was quoted at over $500, which was more than my flights, and I got to stay with the meat and make sure it arrived with me.

I also made a video detailing everything above.

Can't put a price on having those extra days back home, that's awesome, thanks for writing this up!

How was the meat when you got home (I admittedly haven't watched the video, if it's in there)? My past experience with dry ice and flying meat was that it sure stays cold enough, I had some pretty big blocks of frozen meat to thaw out when I got home. Small price to pay I guess but just curious how the pellets worked out vs the blocks.

 

[TimberRunner]

Good summary.

I was thinking as I was reading this thread that those plastic totes would be cracked and missing corners after being checked. My suitcases get destroyed, I can't imagine how quickly they'd break one of those totes.

 

[jordanblnknshp]

Can't put a price on having those extra days back home, that's awesome, thanks for writing this up!

How was the meat when you got home (I admittedly haven't watched the video, if it's in there)? My past experience with dry ice and flying meat was that it sure stays cold enough, I had some pretty big blocks of frozen meat to thaw out when I got home. Small price to pay I guess but just curious how the pellets worked out vs the blocks.

I had pretty big chunks of meat and they stayed completely frozen. I purchased blocks of dry ice at first and it was not working well, with the pellets the meat froze almost instantly and stayed frozen. I made sure the meat was completely submurged in the ice. I did not fly with the dry ice.