Shipping meat UPS is terrible

[h20fowler]

Fedex is the only way to go...

 

[duchntr]

Yea I certainly would never ship meat UPS, usps or fedex especially if your flying as it is just too cost prohibitive.When flying check your meat in coolers, put dry ice on the bottom to keep things cool or on the top to keep things frozen. Also if you are regularly doing this and don't want to check your meat then check out Alaska air cargo, I think they are the cheapest shipping airport to airport. You will need to become a known shipper but it isn't that difficult.

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[fittohunt]

I would never consider shipping meat. Put it in coolers and pay the extra backage fees and check them on the flight. Then your meat comes home with you, at a fraction of shipping it.

Most airlines won't allow horns/antlers on flights anymore, right?

 

[cnelk]

WTH??

Of course airlines allow antlers.

Do research - Google is your friend - Access to this page has been denied.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

worrying about meat is always better than wondering what you are going to do with the piece of paper with no cut marks on it in your pocket.

So true!

 

[Owenst7]

I flew from Anchorage to Reno 1-2 times a year with meat/fish via AK Air from about 2006-2013. I would take the cheapest, lightest-duty cooler I could find (usually a 48 quart Igloo "Island Breeze") in order to maximize the lbs of meat I could get without overage charges. I froze my meat ahead of time and packed it as tight as I could in the cooler with zero ice. It was all still rock solid ~12 hours later when I arrived in Reno. I wrapped the coolers in duct tape more for structural integrity than anything, but I'm sure sealing the lid up helped a bit.

If pre-freezing was not possible, a couple pounds of dry ice would have done the job too, even if it had all sublimated before getting to the airport. thing about dry ice is, it will drop the temperature of whatever is with it to way lower than 32F. Even once dry ice is totally gone, your meat is still a lot more frozen than anything a normal freezer can do. Hell, a few weeks ago I left Reno with 10 lbs of dry ice in my 70 quart Coleman Extreme, and had very little melted ice in there 14 days later when I returned with my mulie.

There's a meat-transport desk in Anchorage International just south of the American Airlines check-in counters. They are pretty reasonably priced considering they're the only option you have if you get that far. I wouldn't hesitate to go through them as a last resort to preserve my hard work.

 

[Poser]

I'd have a hard time believing the weight was a limiting factor. I loaded trucks at a UPS hub for awhile. The stuff that came through there in both size and weight would blow your mind: monster truck tires come to mind.


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[Short Track]

I never thought of wrapping a cooler with duct tape, and checking it. Obviously not a Yeti, cause I can't even lift those empty; never mind with ice & meat.

I see United has a 100 lb weight limit. $200 per cooler limited to 100 lbs. I would need 3 or 4 coolers for an Elk, considering the ice & cooler weight. Still cheaper than UPS. But I'd have to arrange a van to get me home from the airport, instead of a car.

 

[colonel00]

Not the best photo but an image of the chaos we go through when bringing stuff back from Alaska. On this trip, there were 8 of us and we brought home over 100lbs a piece. I think this was the last year that the silvers were thick in Valdez (2013) and we slayed them along with picking up plenty of sockeye and other fish on rivers.

Anyway, between fish boxes, coolers and soft-sided cooler carry-ons, we got it all home. We go to the airport and weigh each box out to exactly 49.5lbs. Most airlines now will stick you for those extra bags though. I fly Alaska Air whenever possible as their extra bags are only $75.

Also, you might confirm that charge with United. $200 for a 100lb cooler might be correct but they might also stick you with another charge of $150-200 for an extra bag too.

Definitely do your research beforehand or it can add up really quickly.

Another option is to become a known shipper and use an air freight service.

 

[Molon Labe]

If you take the meat as checked baggage, then you need to wait for the butcher, and wait a few days till the meat is frozen solid. My work schedule doesn't allow that. My meat is still in Colorado. I'm on the East Coast back at work... to pay for my hunt Yes, I am frustrated with UPS. Yes I am annoyed. Yes, I wasted hours on the phone dealing with UPS... trying to prevent disaster. But I only have so much time to dedicate to hunting.

A little more research and you wouldn't have had to stress about this...use this info for future trips!

You would have to have a half day at least built in for travel to and from trailhead.
Things you will need: 4 light weight coolers, a bunch of newspaper, roll of freezer paper, packing tape all in the back of the truck before you go into unit.

But lets just run a scenario where you flew out at 8:00pm from Denver and you were hunting 5 hour drive from airport. and for some reason you hunted that morning?!...kill your bull at 8:00am...take it apart boning it out (make sure everything is under 3" thickness...sorry no rump roasts for you)...10:00 done and packed up...head to trail head...maybe you guys were only a few miles in and get to the trucks at noon.
Drive to the nearest grocery store...buy a bunch of dry ice and frozen gel packs. (calculate quantities based off your coolers)

Layer the meat 2" then freezer paper then newspaper then dry ice then newspaper then freezer paper then 2" of meat...etc etc.
Always have the dry ice on top...cool air is heavy.
Leave parking lot of grocery store at 1:00.
The meat will be almost frozen in the 5 hour drive to airport if you seal up the cooler with a nonporous tape like packing tape...not duct tape.
When you get to the airport put the frozen gel packs in coolers and tape shut again.
Check baggage in at 6:30 and then go to the bathroom and scrub those fingernails! haha
The cargo hold on a airplane is around 44 degrees. Plenty cool for your flight back east.
Then check four <49.9lb coolers onto the plane. The four coolers should be enough for 150lbs of meat and your cape. Cost would be $300 (75x4) and then 150 (75 plus 75 excess charge) for the antlers. So you fly it back and only will cost you $450. You will have your meat at your house ready to package up when you get home from work the next day.

I'm still not sure how you only had 150lbs of meat on your bull...did someone else get a share as well?

 

[Short Track]

I'm still not sure how you only had 150lbs of meat on your bull...did someone else get a share as well?

Not to muddy the shipping thread, but year 1, 145 lbs of meat from a mature cow. Only 1 tenderloin was in my cooler. I think the UPS store had a BBQ for the entire town. I was expecting 200+ pounds of meat.

Year 2. I had to shoot the cow too many times. I'll be lucky if I get 120lbs of meat. But anyway.... back to shipping. There's a lot of good information in this thread.

and NO, I can't drive from Western Colorado to the east coast.. You're talking 2-3 days each direction. Waiting on butchering. .... The airline thing is sounding more & more viable.

 

[Fullfan]

Solve the problem by driving. Do it every year 2100 miles one way, 7 of us go most years. Last year we brought home 5 elk and 5 mule deer. Took freezers with us which the meat came home in. Yes the drive sucks, but it is all part of the trip.

 

[mossyhorn]

And count on a bit more meat if you ever get a good size bull. I checked in 266 lbs of boned and very clean meat at the butcher.

 

[AK Troutbum]

And count on a bit more meat if you ever get a good size bull. I checked in 266 lbs of boned and very clean meat at the butcher.

Just curious, did you weigh the meat after processing it, minus any fat, etc., that may have been added? Again, I’m just curious, as to what the processor trimmed/wasted.


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[N2TRKYS]

Just rent a one way vehicle home, if you kill something big. Turkeys and small game will go into checked luggage.

 

[mossyhorn]

I didn’t weigh it. I can’t seem to post a pic with my phone of what I got back But I had 2 giant igloo coolers so full of meat, I couldn’t get any ice on top and get the lid to shut. I had steaks cut out of the hams, tenders kept whole, and straps cut into sections. Everything else was burger and Italian sausage. This particular shop in Wyoming has been very good in their finished product. Seemingly very little waste, but then again they told me they wished that half their customers kept their meat as clean as mine was. I ate one of my tenders and a piece of strap and it didn’t look like they trimmed much off. The tender looked like it’d been rinsed and vac packed.

 

[Don K]

1,500 to 2,000 to ship home? That's insane......

Cnelk, Your close to retirement, great business opportunity. Store everyone's frozen meat and have a semi head across the country dropping at major cities on the way heading east. This could be like the Alaskan Express guy but keeping it in the lower 48.

Or how about a APP for hunters linking those that are driving and flying? Guy driving pulls up the APP and sees a guy flying needs X amount of meat transported where he is going, he gets the meat and it pays for his gas, or rental........

 

[njdoxie]

Here's how I fly it back....once I get an elk, I call the processor asap to make sure he has room, then I get it to him pronto and ask him to rush it, ususally cost a few more dollars. Then frozen or not, I pick up the night before my flight, pack a cooler with 70 lb (I keep a scale on me), pack my suticase with 70lb in a plastic bag, and give the rest to my fried in CO. I don't seal the cooler until it's been inspected at the airport. I then ship my clothes and gear home in a large box that I've already shipped to my friends house. I get on the plane with my firearm, cooler and suitcase. The overweigh luggage cost a few dollars, I forgot how much, like $50 or $100.

 

[Short Track]

So you guys go to the airport with an open cooler, and a roll of duct tape ?? Then you duct tape the cooler shut at the airport ?

On my last trip... the TSA x-rayed my rifle, then made me open the case, and they inspected under the foam. Like I was hiding something under the foam. Can't imagine if they make me unload a cooler full of Elk & dry ice.

 

[OBP]

So you guys go to the airport with an open cooler, and a roll of duct tape ?? Then you duct tape the cooler shut at the airport ?

On my last trip... the TSA x-rayed my rifle, then made me open the case, and they inspected under the foam. Like I was hiding something under the foam. Can't imagine if they make me unload a cooler full of Elk & dry ice.

That's exactly what I've done multiple times. As soon as you open the cooler and show the agent that it's frozen meat just duct tape it shut. Knock on wood, but I've never had an agent ask to have the cooler unloaded.


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