Ship gear early or check all baggage?

[Alex.D102]

For you guys who have done this before. My buddy and I are flying out of Dillingham this Sept for a moose hunt and I just wanted first hand knowledge of what you all have experienced.

Im considering shipping my tote up early that has a majority of camp gear to Dillingham to make sure its there before we arrive. Then have my checked bag with clothing/personal items and a checked gun case. However, it would be just as easy to pay the extra bag fee and check all 3 items. Has anyone had issues with luggage being lost during transport? I fly into anchorage and only have a 4 hour layover (hopefully) before heading to Dillingham. I know Dillingham is "bigger" than any of the small communities other people may fly into so I don't think that getting all my gear there should be an issue. I suppose either way ANY lost gear would be an issue regardless of what bag it is.

Just curious on what route people have went and what experiences they had with either doing all checked bags or shipping early.

 

[KShunter8080]

In my opinion, it is just as likely to get lost if you ship it as it is traveling through the airports. Neither way is a surefire thing.

Last year I shipped one package up ahead of time and it took about a month to make it to its final destination. Thankfully I shipped it well in advance.

I just throw an air tag in each check bag and hope for the best. That does not prevent it from getting lost but at least you have some sort of idea where it is at if it does.

 

[AKDoc]

Short answer…Ask your hunting transporter what works best for them and for others in the past.

More detailed answer…Call and find out the checked baggage and extra checked bag specifics with your air carrier out to Dillingham. Some carriers may only guarantee that a certain number of your checked bags will make it on your flight with you...they may sometimes need to cut back on extra checked baggage due to weight restrictions. For example, I fly out to a hub village a couple times a year and while I can check three bags, they can only guarantee two will be on my flight. That said, I've not had a problem over the years, but I'd hate to have to wait an extra day in the hub village to go into the field. As a resident, which I understand is different, I use an air freight carrier to ship my gear in advance and my hunting transporter picks it up and stores it in the hangar until we fly out the following week. I then fly there with my gun case and one other checked bag.

Regardless of how you do it, be up to date on restricted items that you cannot have in your checked or shipped bags. I always follow those rules very strictly.

The best to you for a great adventure!

 

[Elkhuntinfool78]

I wondered the same thing a couple years ago on a moose hunt out of Bethel.

I decided to ship 3 totes up ahead of time. I shipped them a couple of months before hand just in case something got lost in shipping I would have time to replace it.

It cost more to ship than it would have to brought it as checked baggage but it was worth the peace of mind for me.

I only took a carry on bag and checked my rifle when I flew up

Good luck with your moose hunt, AK is truly a special place!

 

[cnelk]

What’s your weight limit to fly out to the bush?

That should determine if you ship ahead or check as baggage

 

[Alex.D102]

I wondered the same thing a couple years ago on a moose hunt out of Bethel.

I decided to ship 3 totes up ahead of time. I shipped them a couple of months before hand just in case something got lost in shipping I would have time to replace it.

It cost more to ship than it would have to brought it as checked baggage but it was worth the peace of mind for me.

I only took a carry on bag and checked my rifle when I flew up

Good luck with your moose hunt, AK is truly a special place!

Appreciate that, no doubt it is. This will be my 5th trip. Kenai fishing, Cold Bay 2x for waterfowl/emperor goose and Kodiak for blacktail. I just love AK

 

[Alex.D102]

What’s your weight limit to fly out to the bush?

That should determine if you ship ahead or check as baggage

We have a 1200lb weight on the beaver. We are trying to keep our gear around 75-100lbs each. Keep plenty of room for food and a boat with motor.

Also to follow up with what @AKDoc mentioned in his post. I see now that I CAN check more than 2 bags but it is not guaranteed to be on the same flight and flights to Dillingham are 1x a day when the weather permits. Thats a risky move.

I believe I may just do 1 oversized bag (+50 lbs) and my gun case with some gear also loaded into it and have 2 checked bags. My buddy has an Alaska Air Cargo account and will be shipping up the majority of camp gear and all that before we arrive. I am mainly bringing all my essential back country gear/clothes/personal items and dehydrated meals/bars/etc

 

[WMR]

I’ve done it both ways. I think the surest way is to ship your camp ahead of time if your transporter can pick it up and store it. That’s just what we did when flying out of Dillingham. We inventoried every item in each box and numbered the boxes. If, for example, bin #2 was lost in transit, we’d know exactly what we needed to replace.

Last year, we took it all with us. A bit of a PIA at the airport on travel day, but we managed. We’ll probably do that again next time. We now build in an extra day before we fly out, so we could replace lost gear in town if we needed to. That would not likely be possible in some of the smaller villages.

I envy you for flying in a Beaver. They carry a pretty big payload. Take a comfortable camp if possible. A few extra comfort items can make a big difference. I think it rained almost every day we were there. Take along an extra headnet for bugs as well. Have fun and shoot a big one.

 

[Chirogrow]

I'm heading to bethel this year and after 4 trips with massive bags and gun case I'm going to ship a tote up 6 weeks early. I'm sending up my tent, sleeping bag, and food as that's the bulk of it. we'll see how it goes

 

[TaperPin]

. Has anyone had issues with luggage being lost during transport?

Anytime you’re changing planes this can happen. If a bag or gun case falls off the luggage carts headed to the planes it might not always be obvious which plane it was headed to as someone picks it up and assumes where it went.

Some frequent fliers buy apple air tags for all their luggage, so if it’s actually at the destination and simply lost its way at the airport, or sitting in Anchorage, it’s easy to locate. Airlines are famous for not being helpful if a bag doesn’t make the connecting flight, because they don’t know anything unless it’s been scanned into their system along the way. If your gun case didn’t make it on the right plane, they would actually appreciate you being able to help locate it.

Also, put something immediately easy to identify from across the room on all your luggage, like bright colored Gorilla tape stripe all the way around in both directions. We’ve been next to the airline lost luggage gal as she called back to the manager for unloading - because our item was easy to identify from across the room we didn’t have to wait for someone to individually check every tag on every bag back there. It made the difference between getting the bag at 8pm and having to wait until the next day.

It should be common sense, but put your name and contact information on all your luggage. I seem to always forget that.

Personally, I wouldn’t send anything early unless a month in advance and someone VERY reliable was on the other end. Many bad stories float around of gear sent early, nobody knows where it goes, so it sits out in the open if you’re lucky, and ends up in the back of someone’s pickup worst case.

 

[standswittaknife]

We shipped most of our gear to Bethel when we went. As mentioned above, it was more expensive but we sent it there well in advance and was a good piece of mind when we got to Anchorage knowing everything made it. We are scheduled to go back in 2027 and will be doing the same...

 

[Alex.D102]

Anytime you’re changing planes this can happen. If a bag or gun case falls off the luggage carts headed to the planes it might not always be obvious which plane it was headed to as someone picks it up and assumes where it went.

Some frequent fliers buy apple air tags for all their luggage, so if it’s actually at the destination and simply lost its way at the airport, or sitting in Anchorage, it’s easy to locate. Airlines are famous for not being helpful if a bag doesn’t make the connecting flight, because they don’t know anything unless it’s been scanned into their system along the way. If your gun case didn’t make it on the right plane, they would actually appreciate you being able to help locate it.

Also, put something immediately easy to identify from across the room on all your luggage, like bright colored Gorilla tape stripe all the way around in both directions. We’ve been next to the airline lost luggage gal as she called back to the manager for unloading - because our item was easy to identify from across the room we didn’t have to wait for someone to individually check every tag on every bag back there. It made the difference between getting the bag at 8pm and having to wait until the next day.

It should be common sense, but put your name and contact information on all your luggage. I seem to always forget that.

Personally, I wouldn’t send anything early unless a month in advance and someone VERY reliable was on the other end. Many bad stories float around of gear sent early, nobody knows where it goes, so it sits out in the open if you’re lucky, and ends up in the back of someone’s pickup worst case.

Appreciate the insight. Talked to the transporter and I can USPS it right to his place where he is ready to store it. I like the AirTag idea on the other bags though

 

[TaperPin]

Appreciate the insight. Talked to the transporter and I can USPS it right to his place where he is ready to store it. I like the AirTag idea on the other bags though

Sounds like you’re set! Just sitting on the ramp at Dillingham during hunting season I was like a kid in a candy store - watching the big moose and caribou racks that were carefully lined up for shipment was really something. Even the view out the window of the tundra before Dillingham gets your blood pumping. You should have a great time.