Limit on meat brought back into USA from Canada?

[GeorgeShaw]

Traveling into the United States From Canada at Land Borders | Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

This must be what your finding. Honestly I wouldnt sweat it. Just go and bring your meat back. I have never been questioned about bringing anything back from Canada

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Yes that's where I read it. I just got off the phone with a gentleman from USDA and he confirmed it. He even agreed with me that it's a crazy rule

 

[Nickziegler]

Yes that's where I read it. I just got off the phone with a gentleman from USDA and he confirmed it. He even agreed with me that it's a crazy rule

Did he say this is a new rule implemented this year?

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[MattB]

A friend of mine killed a moose in Canada and the guide wouldn't fly out his meat.....even though they had a t otter. The guide told him "that's how we feed our bears".

Hopefully you don't have the same outfit as the meat portion was just the tip of the iceberg for the letdowns he had.

What was he told about meat when he talked with the outfitter prior to booking?

I’d have been inclined to tell the guide that bears can’t tell what kind of meat they are eating….
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I’ve driven on 2 moose hunts in Canada and brought all the meat home. Never a question.

 

[MattB]

I was doing an online search actually to see if there were restrictions on bringing back some bones to make stock, and pulled up an USDA page that said you are allowed to bring back cervix meat(elk, moose, etc) with a valid hunting license, and a limit of 50lb per vehicle.

I would be sure the meat you bring home is from a cervid and not a cervix.

 

[EdP]

The "rule" seems pointless given that you can make multiple trips back and forth across the border until all your meat has been moved into the US.

 

[Nickziegler]

I did more research last night and looks like this topic has been brought up several times in past year on other forums. I'm not going to sweat it

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[Boston1]

I'm sure the 50lb rule mentioned throughout this thread (is from USDA) was intended for purchase of commercial meat at a store or butcher shop and not intended for hunted/harvested wildlife trophies. Since moose are cervids then you need to be sure and not return with any brain matter or spinal column. Thats not a federal rule (yet) but has been adopted by many states to curtail CWD. Upon re-entry you'll have to declare the harvested wildlife to US Customs and they'll complete a wildlife declaration. It's no big deal it just takes a little time.

 

[GeorgeShaw]

I would be sure the meat you bring home is from a cervid and not a cervix.

gotta love autocorrect

 

[Brooks051]

Box it up and air freight it home. We have done it out of Fairbanks and its a cheap way of getting lots of meat home. You'll just have to pick it up from your local airport pretty quickly after it arrives.

 

[dirtshooter]

A friend of mine killed a moose in Canada and the guide wouldn't fly out his meat.....even though they had a t otter. The guide told him "that's how we feed our bears".

Hopefully you don't have the same outfit as the meat portion was just the tip of the iceberg for the letdowns he had.

Which outfitter was this??

 

[GeorgeShaw]

Box it up and air freight it home. We have done it out of Fairbanks and its a cheap way of getting lots of meat home. You'll just have to pick it up from your local airport pretty quickly after it arrives.

That would be hard for me to do. I drive semi and have to go back to work as soon as my vacation is over.

 

[2ski]

I would be sure the meat you bring home is from a cervid and not a cervix.

Make sure you leave any cervix you find. Leave them in Canada. You don't want to eat that. They taste like poutine. However do give them a good pounding while you're there. Pound them like you would a flank steak. It'll leave it more tender for the next guy to eat.

 

[t_carlson]

If you're looking for ANY kind of logic within .gov's rules you will not find it.

I had to sleep overnight in my car at the border last fall while waiting for a USDA inspector to come on shift.

Said inspector had to make sure the snow geese I was in possession of didn't bring any bird flu into the United States.

It seems the feds are too stupid to understand the concept of migratory birds.

This is how they treat tax paying Americans. If you're illegal, they just wave you through and give you a cell phone and pre-paid debit card when you get in.

 

[buffybr]

I hunted moose in northern Alberta last year. I drove from my home in Montana through the Sweetgrass Border crossing both into and out of Canada. Comming home I filled two 120 quart coolers with boned moose meat and also brought the antlers and skull cap home.

Coming home I only had to fill out Form at US Customs stating the species and estimated quantity of the meat. Customs did not inspect my coolers or look at the antlers/skull cap.

 

[Kyle Avey]

Me and my friend killed 2 bulls in BC last September. We brought both bulls back debones except for rib bones. CA and US customs were cool about the rib bones.

 

[Boston1]

Yah those cervixs will get you in trouble every time and may even mess up your whole hunt.

I would be sure the meat you bring home is from a cervid and not a cervix.

 

[baldwin1968]

All these posts saying "we drove 5 years ago without issue...", with all due respect, that was 5 years ago. The site says updated March 16, 2024, which was after last hunting season but before this year's.
It was never confirmed on this thread if it was a new law or an old one. If it's new, there's going to be a lot of pissed off hunters trying to cross the border.

 

[WCB]

Just got off the phone with my outfitter we are going moose hunting with. He spoke with both the USDA and USFWS. USFWS service says there should be no issues as the rule was written for game farm situations when hunting is mentioned but it is not defined as that on the site. USFWS recommends entering at a border crossing with USFWS representative posted there 24/7 to avoid any confusion. If there is not a USFWS rep on site at the time of crossing and only a USDA inspector...the USDA will probably go by written word on their site. This was sort of confirmed by the discussion with USDA when the person on the phone was adamite that anything over 50lbs was commercial use whether it was wildlife or not. However, USFWS has authority over wildlife and they will allow properly declared wild game meat and trophies in as has been done historically.

I am waiting for the letter from the USFWS to print out and bring with me "just in case" along with the list of crossing points with a USFWS rep their at all times.

 

[eaglemountainman]

If that's the case, one would think it a simple matter in this age of technology, to get a memo to all border crossings, spelling out the correct procedure.

 

[Nickziegler]

NL big game shipping didn't have anything posted with their updated route / rates for 2024. Should be good to go. About 43 days for me

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