Flying vs driving

[fatlander]

Book a one way ticket out. Have a rental waiting for you upon arrival. Hunt. If you kill an elk, take it to a processor. Most will let you store in freezer for a small fee. Once frozen solid, buy cheap coolers. Rent a car for two days with unlimited miles and drive home.

If you eat tag soup, buy a plane ticket home.


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[krojemann]

I should mention also, we may have someone who lives in the area who could possibly assist with shipping gear to their place and or meat care/freezing/shipping.

Last year, the drive out was okay just because of excitement. But after hunting hard, the ride home ended up taking an extra days due to breaking up the drive & getting a hotel.

I thought 4.5 hr drive to airport, 1.5 hr early for security, 3 hr flight, 1.5 hr getting bags & rental, 1.5 hr drive to trailhead. 12 hours total opposed to 24 hrs of driving. If cost is within $3-400, it might be worth it.

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[elkguide]

I drive to Idaho most every year. I have flown several times and have had way to many surprises so just have grown to accept that being in my truck for two + long days (35hrs each way), is part of my annual adventure. I also really like having my own truck and I also like being able to bring everything that I may need with me.

 

[Mountainman3]

If I fly and happen to be successful, I will buy 2 cheap coolers and fill them with deboned meat put in gallon zip lock bags. Preferably frozen or at least chilled as much as you can. Cargo holds are not typically conditioned. You can fly most anywhere in around 4 hours. I use these 2 coolers as my checked luggage and ship my other stuff fed ex home. Costs are similar - shipping vs paying for extra checked luggage - and it’s easier to handle 2 bags at your home airport vs 4. Deer antlers can be put in a rubber maid tub and checked or shipped while elk are different. Some airlines will allow antlers but I found it easier to get a euro mount/taxidermy done in state and have the pros ship it back. With many states banning brain matter and whole carcass’ entry, it’s easier sometimes to have it done professionally and ethically.

If you get the Delta AMX card you get 2 bags free plus a 3rd bag for a fee. If you are gun hunting you can’t ship that back and will be an additional checked luggage.

All good problems to have if your successful!

But my next western trip I will drive!


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[pbcarch]

We have flown and driven to idaho....drive is 36 hours.
I never want to fly again with all that gear. Next time I do fly it will be to Alaska.
The drive is long, no hiding it, but the ease of bringing what you want and the lack of headaches (packing meat out, parking airport, renting truck, flying with archery/guns, not being able to fly with gas cans, limited baggage, etc.) To me out way the drive.


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[SDHNTR]

Time is money to me. I’d rather have the extra days hunting instead of driving. When practical, I fly. All you gotta do is go to a Walmart, buy some extra coolers and take meat home as extra baggage. Way cheaper than shipping. Same with horns, much easier if you split skull cap though, provided you don’t care about scoring.

The only exception is if you plan to have any jerky made. Then find a local processor to do your jerky and ship to you. That’s a good way to shed some raw meat weight up front. And it will ultimately ship much cheaper when done because it’s lighter and won’t have to go overnight.

Then rent a truck and camping gear. Much easier this way, imo.

 

[Kenai_dtracker]

3 of us flew to CO from Boston this fall to rifle hunt elk. I was Lucky enough to get a bull, and we definitely should have had another. If we had bought those leftover cow tags, well, we would have had a lot of meat. Logistically between the three of us, getting all the meal back from the bull and one set of antlers was not too difficult, but the flying part sucks.

Offsite parking at Logan, wait for shuttle, wait to check in, wait to check gun, wait for security, wait to board flight, wait to get off plane, wait for bag, wait for gun separately, wait for rental shuttle, wait in line for rental, pray your rental 4wd has decent tires. 12 hour day so far and you are finally on the road headed to hunting grounds.

The next time we are driving and would rather take the extra two driving days and not have to deal with all that other crap, and,,, have all the gear I want on hand, including 10 ply tires, chains, come along, etc.

 

[lyle_destroys]

The possibitliy of losing luggage or rifles, delayed flights, shipping meat/antlers is too much of a risk for me, we drive out almost 29 hours. We did stay in denver on our way out at a cousin's one night but next year it will be a straight drive. I like be in control of my own gear for a trip I may only be able to make once a year.

 

[Indian Summer]

Thanks for the input so far. We DIY, typically pack in & set up camp. So we each usually only have a loaded pack, a small tote, bow cases, and coolers. We can easily fit it all in a truck, no trailer. With some planning, I bet we could cut that down even more.

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So you’d have to factor in a rental vehicle. Not a compact car either. Even if you fly one week off of work isn’t enough for a diy elk hunt. Id take 2 weeks and drive. Have the freedom of depending on nothing but yourselves and no surprises or cost of getting everything there and back.

 

[Sekora]

I drove on my first 5 out of state hunts (17 hours each way), and flew on my last hunt (would of been a 24 hour+ drive). I had friends who drove while I flew so they transported all the gear. I do not think I will ever fly again. I will take the extra time and drive whether it be my own truck or a rental. Probably a rental. Problems with the outfitter caused everyone to decide to leave a day early. I ended up having to spend a night in the airport and buy another ticket to get home. Could not get refunded on my original ticket but I was not going to spend two days in the airport. I almost rented a car and started driving myself before I found an available seat on a plane early the next morning. It sounded like a great idea at first, but it did not work out for me. If I drive, I am in control and if anything goes wrong I have no one to blame.

 

[btplass]

I've only driven to ID from Wisconsin, about 27 hours. I think next time I'd like to fly, if nothing else to limit what my hunting partners can bring. Their packing lists are obnoxiously excessive!

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[woods89]

I have both driven and flown. Once each. I was not successful on either hunt so I can't speak to that with experience.
Next time I plan to fly out on a round trip ticket and rent a vehicle on arrival. If I'm successful I will buy some big coolers at Walmart, cancel my return ticket, and drive my meat and antlers home in the rental. I do have a friend that I hunt with in the area that I can ship gear to so that helps. My drive is about 16 hours.
If I had someone to split the drive with I likely would think differently, but the time I drove I showed up tired and struggled to catch up all week. The time I flew I shipped one box of gear out to my hunting partner's place via Fedex and was surprised how affordable and easy that was.
I think the answer to this question really is different for all of us. There are a lot of factors to weigh......

 

[cnelk]

If you think of the mindset of flying in a SuperCub with gear limit at 50-60lbs, there really shouldn’t be a problem shipping or even flying with gear.

But it’s so common to overpack on an elk hunt.

 

[Mertbl]

I havent been out west yet but am planning a trip. We looked at a rental truck early in the planning. 9 days is somewhere between $3-400. Itll take a day and a half to drive there but we are ok with it. The newer trucks are more full efficient than anything we have so that helps too. Flying was brought up but between meat or gear back and the cost of tickets, we are just gonna drive.

We have a wierd work schedule so only burning 3 vacation days to get those 9 days off.

 

[darcytribe]

I havent been out west yet but am planning a trip. We looked at a rental truck early in the planning. 9 days is somewhere between $3-400. Itll take a day and a half to drive there but we are ok with it. The newer trucks are more full efficient than anything we have so that helps too. Flying was brought up but between meat or gear back and the cost of tickets, we are just gonna drive.

We have a wierd work schedule so only burning 3 vacation days to get those 9 days off.

Just curious, what’s the line of work?

 

[Moondoondude]

I hunt OTC archery every year. I flew this year into Denver and got a bull. The year before, I drove out there and drove a bull back. Here's my take on it.

I pretty much live on the Atlantic Ocean. Western slope is a hell of a drive from here. I'm the type of guy that if a drive is all that's between me and elk hunting, I absolutely will not stop to sleep, eat, pee, etc. I will just hammer on the pedal like a psychopath until I get there. Acclimating isn't my game since I usually pull up, exhausted, and blast into hyperdrive since I'm so excited. This leaves me totally exhausted, dehydrated, and the sitting for so long is terrible for the legs. I have also had issues with altitude in the past since I'm usually hunting at 11k' my first day there - but every day counts. When I drove, I brought a truck full of stuff and coolers. I just put the meat on ice in the coolers and drove it back. Head came back too and taxidermist work was done here.

When I flew, I left my house at about 4:30 a.m., got a good enough night sleep, and was driving in the rental by about 10 a.m. That left me time to go check some cameras I put at lower elevations in the basin that I hunt while i was there in June and climb my way up to about 11k' where the elk were hanging, well before dark. That's a huge plus. I wasn't exhausted and I was hydrated. Another huge plus.

I'm not a gear guy. I packed my exo pack and my bow case and i didn't use half the stuff i packed. I always dayhunted from the truck which I think makes things immensely more enjoyable and easier - for me another huge plus.

As for the logistics of getting the elk back, I rented a tiny VRBO for my last night there and took the picnic table from outside into the living room and deboned everything. I threw it in coolers i bought out there and put dry ice on top of it. On the way to the airport, I dropped the head at a taxidermist. They crated and shipped it back. It was a bit pricy but let's be real - the whole elk hunting thing is pricy and that's why I work. I did 3-day ground for the shipping and when i packed the coolers - the meat was probably 50ish degrees. When I opened the cooler after they arrived to my house, the meat was mostly frozen and perfectly fine. the dry ice worked like a charm. It was $400 to ship all the meat and i think the coolers were about $130 for the 4 of them.

I will never drive again, I hope. There is no comparison for me. When you consider all the $ you spend driving, the time lost, and particularly the extra useless crap most people pack and buy if they drive - the costs are offset. I'm just going to have to find something to do with all these coolers in a few years.

 

[Mertbl]

Just factory work. 24/7 facility with 12 hr swing shift. I've heard it referred to as the dupont schedule before.

Just curious, what’s the line of work?

 

[7Bartman]

I'm a flyer as well. I put together a little video on this today. I'll post in a separate thread once I get time to edit and get all my thoughts together.

 

[163bc]

I’ve done both many times. Driving is a real grind but I’d drive if time wasn’t an issue. Flying is usually much quicker and easier until you need to pay the extra costs of meat, antlers, etc.

 

[Creekrat]

My oldest and I will have the best of both worlds. We have a small plane and he already has his pilot's license and I'm working on mine currently