Nickziegler
WKR
Sitting at the holiday inn Deer Lake waiting for a morning pickup tomorrow. I'm going to do my best to keep this updated but not sure how reception is where in traveling. I also want to write a detailed report of all travel and gear as there is alot of differences it seems in travel to newfoundland as of late.
I booked this hunt with Dean Macdonald of DADG Macdonald outfitters 3 years ago. It was a long wait and I got to see alot of nice picture of bulls they had shot over the years. I booked into a remote trophy camp That is a bit farther flight than his main camp hunt.
I booked my flights through Air Canada from Chicago - connection in Toronto - and then onto deer lake 2 days prior to the hunt start incase baggage was lost.
Air canada wants you to pre register your firearms / ammunition by calling there reservation line at least 24 hrs prior. This want smooth and think helped at the airport. A trigger lock must be placed on the firearm and ammunition needs to be in a seperate case and locked. I did not use TSA locks on my case. I actually did orders some on Amazon the night before my flight because I have had several instances sitting on a connection that TSA has called me out to the front of the airport to re inspect my firearm. The TSA locks I ordered showed up 10 minutes after I left home. I did use Air tags in each piece of baggage for peace of mind and was very nice to see exactly where my bags were.
Check in at Chicago went smoothly. Declare both the firearm and ammunition and fill out the paperwork. Some of the confusion was that I had heard from some people they did not pick up there checked baggage/ firearm in Toronto and others said they did. The air canada agent informed me I would have to pick up both pieces of checked baggage again and re check them after customs.
Arrival into Toronto went very smoothly. Declare to immigration you have a firearm and ammo to declare and they will tell you where to go. Went down to baggage claim and walked right to baggage service to check where my bags were. My rifle was in oversized baggage behind the baggage service counter. The desk agent told me that was not suppose of be there but let me grab it and told me my bag was on carousel 9. I picked up both pieces and proceeded into customs. The desk agent was very friendly. Have all of your paperwork in order and they will be great to work with. She said this was only her second firearm she had checked but got me through customs within 20 minutes. After I paid the $25 fee to customs for the firearm they sent me back to Air canada to re check my baggage. New Dec forms needed to be filled out and the bags needed to be re tagged and checked. Back through security and to my gate. I had a 4 hr layover. The entire process from de boarding the first flight to my connection departure gate was 2 hrs. I would say a minimum 3 hrs would be needed incase.
I'm staying at the holiday Inn deer lake. They do have a shuttle that was waiting at the airport for pickup. Hotel is nice and rooms are clean. Good hot breakfast in the morning and some coffee. There isn't much to do in Deer lake. I walked down to the beach and then up to the gas station to grab a 12er of bud light for some celebration beers if I'm successful. Dean has been telling me they have been seeing some giants out at trophy camp this past week.
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I booked this hunt with Dean Macdonald of DADG Macdonald outfitters 3 years ago. It was a long wait and I got to see alot of nice picture of bulls they had shot over the years. I booked into a remote trophy camp That is a bit farther flight than his main camp hunt.
I booked my flights through Air Canada from Chicago - connection in Toronto - and then onto deer lake 2 days prior to the hunt start incase baggage was lost.
Air canada wants you to pre register your firearms / ammunition by calling there reservation line at least 24 hrs prior. This want smooth and think helped at the airport. A trigger lock must be placed on the firearm and ammunition needs to be in a seperate case and locked. I did not use TSA locks on my case. I actually did orders some on Amazon the night before my flight because I have had several instances sitting on a connection that TSA has called me out to the front of the airport to re inspect my firearm. The TSA locks I ordered showed up 10 minutes after I left home. I did use Air tags in each piece of baggage for peace of mind and was very nice to see exactly where my bags were.
Check in at Chicago went smoothly. Declare both the firearm and ammunition and fill out the paperwork. Some of the confusion was that I had heard from some people they did not pick up there checked baggage/ firearm in Toronto and others said they did. The air canada agent informed me I would have to pick up both pieces of checked baggage again and re check them after customs.
Arrival into Toronto went very smoothly. Declare to immigration you have a firearm and ammo to declare and they will tell you where to go. Went down to baggage claim and walked right to baggage service to check where my bags were. My rifle was in oversized baggage behind the baggage service counter. The desk agent told me that was not suppose of be there but let me grab it and told me my bag was on carousel 9. I picked up both pieces and proceeded into customs. The desk agent was very friendly. Have all of your paperwork in order and they will be great to work with. She said this was only her second firearm she had checked but got me through customs within 20 minutes. After I paid the $25 fee to customs for the firearm they sent me back to Air canada to re check my baggage. New Dec forms needed to be filled out and the bags needed to be re tagged and checked. Back through security and to my gate. I had a 4 hr layover. The entire process from de boarding the first flight to my connection departure gate was 2 hrs. I would say a minimum 3 hrs would be needed incase.
I'm staying at the holiday Inn deer lake. They do have a shuttle that was waiting at the airport for pickup. Hotel is nice and rooms are clean. Good hot breakfast in the morning and some coffee. There isn't much to do in Deer lake. I walked down to the beach and then up to the gas station to grab a 12er of bud light for some celebration beers if I'm successful. Dean has been telling me they have been seeing some giants out at trophy camp this past week.
Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk
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