When it comes to shipping your meat and/or antlers and cape back home you need to plan ahead. You should either make arrangements with an expeditor, or plan to use ours.
- Size, time and expense all play a major role getting big game meat and trophies from Alaska back home. The species harvested will greatly affect these factors.
- If you shoot a moose and want to get the entire animal back home then size, number of boxes and expense will be quite large, but if you take a wolf then you can probably get away with checking it as luggage.
- Meat boxes can be purchased at the hangar for $25 each.
- Antler boxes can be purchased at the hangar for $50 each and will typically hold two sets of split antlers and two capes per box.
- Boxes can be checked on as luggage. Boxes must not be over 100 pounds. Excess baggage fees will be charged by the airlines for additional pieces of checked baggage on Alaska Airlines.
We suggest using an expeditor for shipping your trophy.
If you haven’t made arrangements with your own expeditor before you arrive, you can use ours. We work with Tundra Tanning and Taxidermy, an expeditor out of Wasilla who is experienced in handling and shipping big game trophies.
Our expeditor is also a licensed taxidermist and runs his own tannery here in Alaska. So he can take care of as much or as little of the services related to your trophy that you want. He can provide a variety of shipping services, securely package it, freeze it and even do the taxidermy work if you decide to have it done in their shop. If you are going to all the work and expense of the hunt, you should spend the money to get it home safely instead of trying to save a few bucks and take a risk in losing both the meat and cape.
2023 Prices
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Velvet Preserve, Tan Cape, Packing: $1,000 + Shipping
- Hard Horn Clean Skull Cap, Tan Cape, Packing: $750 + Shipping
- Velvet European Mount, Packing: $800 + Shipping
- Hard Horn European Mount, Packing: $550 + Shipping
- Tan Full Hide, Packing: $750 + Shipping
- Tan Back Skin, Packing: $500 + Shipping
- Preserve Velvet, Packing: $400 + Shipping
- Velvet Stripping Only, Packing: $200 + Shipping (only after 8/24)
Groups may ship together to single location and split costs. Turn around time is 90-120 days.
Contact Tundra Tanning & TaxidermyThings to remember when packing your antler box.
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- Your antlers must be split for shipping.
- Shipping several antlers together is pretty common especially if there are more than one hunter.
- Antler tips must be well padded to prevent damage to other luggage.
- Antlers may be shipped as regular baggage as long as they are free from blood and flesh and meet regular bag requirements.
- Alaska Airlines provides an airline to door service for a fee.
Another option is to use a major airline.
Alaska Airlines is still hunter friendly and provides shipping services to hunters. Many hunts to the bush will at first require a ride on an Alaska Airlines flight. This will be your return route as well which includes your trophy and the rest of your gear. There was once a time when you could check about anything on an airline and not run into any problems. You could just duct tape cardboard around your caribou antlers and that was good enough, but not any more.
If you go to Alaska Airline’s website they have a section on the requirements of shipping big game. They classify big game as moose, caribou, goat and sheep, which includes meat, hides and capes.
Shipping your meat home.
Our best suggestion for getting your meat home is to pack it in meat boxes and take it with you on your flight as checked luggage.
- Meat must be wrapped in a leak-proof polyurethane bag regardless of the outer packaging.
- There must be no blood, dirt or odor.
- The maximum weight is 100 pounds per package. This can add up quickly if you are hauling back a moose or a couple of caribou.
- The airline also allows a hunter to use a maximum of five pounds of dry ice for shipping perishable items but no wet ice is allowed.
- All packages must be labeled with the hunter or hunters’ names and addresses plus hunting license numbers.
- If the package is crossing state lines then the Lacey Act will come into effect. Hunters will need to provide shipping tags with all their information. These tags can be picked-up at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and can also be found in a copy of the regulations.