Need some help with domestic flights and game meat!!!!

freddyfour

freddyfour

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
208   0   0
Location
Brant County, Ontario
To those that fly to different provinces to hunt, how do you check your game meat? I'm flying westjet and after talking g to them over the phone I am only allowed 3 checked bags......no option for more, so theh say. With my rifle and pack as two checked bags that only leave me with one for game meat. Was told I have to go through westjet cargo but they do not do cargo put of this airport....

What is your process to get everything back?
 
the problem flying with meat is what about if they lost your cargo? how long before recovery i will not trust our airllines except air north which might not help you ...
 
You can have as many bags that you wish, problem is; you have to pay for excess baggage. I guided my uncle from Ontario on a elk/whitetail hunt in Alberta and he had to ship his elk and deer meat in the cargo section on West Jet, final cost: $850.00...........FYI.
 
I got stuck in a snowstorm on a layover once and ended up filling up a hotel bathtub with ice to try to keep things frozen. After that experience I just checked a good cooler with lots of padding as a checked bag. Still not really ideal. Not sure what the answer is there for flying, but I never found it. Are you doing a guided hunt? There may be some frozen ground ship options your outfitter is aware of. I know that's an option some places.
 
track said:
You can have as many bags that you wish, problem is; you have to pay for excess baggage. I guided my uncle from Ontario on a elk/whitetail hunt in Alberta and he had to ship his elk and deer meat in the cargo section on West Jet, final cost: $850.00...........FYI.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response Track. What airport was it, Calgary? Did it go on the same flight or did you have to check it with WestJet cargo on a separate flight?

I was told by the not so helpful lady on the phone that I can not pay for more baggage out of Cranbrook because of the small planes used there. Said I would have to go out of Calgary and go through westjet cargo.
 
Jon87 said:
I got stuck in a snowstorm on a layover once and ended up filling up a hotel bathtub with ice to try to keep things frozen. After that experience I just checked a good cooler with lots of padding as a checked bag. Still not really ideal. Not sure what the answer is there for flying, but I never found it. Are you doing a guided hunt? There may be some frozen ground ship options your outfitter is aware of. I know that's an option some places.
Click to expand...

Yes, with an outfitter. Unfortunately he has not had much to say on the issue.
 
freddyfour said:
I don't really have any other options. BC to Ontario.

I wrongly assumed I could just check it and it wouldn't be a problem
Click to expand...

Are you going through a guide/outfitter ?
They should be well versed in this sort of scenario.
Guys from BC to Newfoundland (that have hunted moose there) fly Air Canada and have the meat shipped in the cargo hold that has been processed and frozen .
Placed in secured fluid tight packaging , well labeled , etc...
I am sure Ardent a revered member here will have the answers to your questions.
In the mean time Good Hunting.
Rob
 
FLHTCUI said:
Are you going through a guide/outfitter ?
They should be well versed in this sort of scenario.
Guys from BC to Newfoundland (that have hunted moose there) fly Air Canada and have the meat shipped in the cargo hold that has been processed and frozen .
Placed in secured fluid tight packaging , well labeled , etc...
I am sure Ardent a revered member here will have the answers to your questions.
In the mean time Good Hunting.
Rob
Click to expand...

Most of his clients fly into Montana and then cross the border not fly out of Cranbrook. But he said last guy from ontario didn't have any issues from Cranbrook, but did not have any details.
 
I've personally flown several times with meat and have hosted out of province family members who have flown at least 10 trips with one or two big game animal back to their home province. For meat, we process everything and make sure it is frozen solid prior to departure. The meat is always packed in cardboard boxes that are tapped (like almost a whole roll of packer's tape) to avoid boxes splitting open. Flying from Saskatoon to Montreal takes about a whole day and we have never had any issues with the meat and it has always shown up still frozen solid.

If you're limited on how many checked luggage you can fly back with, you can mail yourself your gear instead of flying with it. Ultimately, everything is possible, it's just a matter of how deep your pockets are.

As for lost/delayed luggage... Not much you can do about that and that's part of the deal when flying.
 
Westjet allows 3x 50lb checked bags correct? Take expensive stuff like binoculars carry on, mail the rest.

3 overweight "bags" should take most/all of a boned out Elk. Even 3x 50lbs will get most of it if there is no bone.

Is it possible to buy another ticket and use that baggage allowance?

Or rent a car in Calgary, there to Cranbrook is ~4hrs.
 
It is looking like I might need to get myself to Calgary. Bit of a pain in the ass. My guide told me to fly in and out of Cranbrook....but my fault for not looking into it further.


Well......rental car companies in Cranbrook do not do one way rentals. I'm just swinging and missing lol.
 
freddyfour said:
It is looking like I might need to get myself to Calgary. Bit of a pain in the ass. My guide told me to fly in and out of Cranbrook....but my fault for not looking into it further.


Well......rental car companies in Cranbrook do not do one way rentals. I'm just swinging and missing lol.
Click to expand...

Well, you might find a generous CGN member from the area to assist.
Rob
 
Besides the transport issue, you also need to be aware of the parts you can and cannot take back to Ontario due to CWD

https://www.ontario.ca/page/chronic-wasting-disease

Hunting outside of Ontario

Stay up to date on the latest hunting regulations. Detailed regulations related to transporting animal body parts are in Section 4 of Ontario Regulation 666/98.

New regulations came into effect January 1, 2021 to help reduce the risk of CWD coming into Ontario through imported cervid body parts hunted in other provinces, states or territories.

If you hunt cervids out of province, you can only bring back to Ontario:

butchered, deboned and packaged meat
a cleaned skull plate and antlers
tanned hides and capes
finished taxidermy mounts

It’s illegal to bring any other body parts from deer species into Ontario. These rules apply to all members of the deer family, or cervids, which comprise more than 37 species.

All imported parts must be clean of all other tissue and labelled with the:

species name
name and address of the owner
location where the imported parts came from


Not sure what you will be hunting there, but:

If you harvest white tail or mule deer in the Kootenays in MUs 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 4-8, 4-23, 4-24 and 4-25 within one week of harvest the head has to be submitted for compulsory testing.

I will assume your guide will take care of that.
 
Last edited:
Paul_T said:
Besides the transport issue, you also need to be aware of the parts you can and cannot take back to Ontario due to CWD

https://www.ontario.ca/page/chronic-wasting-disease

Hunting outside of Ontario

Stay up to date on the latest hunting regulations. Detailed regulations related to transporting animal body parts are in Section 4 of Ontario Regulation 666/98.

New regulations came into effect January 1, 2021 to help reduce the risk of CWD coming into Ontario through imported cervid body parts hunted in other provinces, states or territories.

If you hunt cervids out of province, you can only bring back to Ontario:

butchered, deboned and packaged meat
a cleaned skull plate and antlers
tanned hides and capes
finished taxidermy mounts

It’s illegal to bring any other body parts from deer species into Ontario. These rules apply to all members of the deer family, or cervids, which comprise more than 37 species.

All imported parts must be clean of all other tissue and labelled with the:

species name
name and address of the owner
location where the imported parts came from


Not sure what you will be hunting there, but:

If you harvest white tail or mule deer in the Kootenays in MUs 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, 4-7, 4-8, 4-23, 4-24 and 4-25 within one week of harvest the head has to be submitted for compulsory testing.

I will assume your guide will take care of that.
Click to expand...

Nope, was unaware of this. Thanks for the heads up.
 
I sent mine back with ups overnight 1030am delivery.
Pack accordingly, expensive but no hassle at airport with multiple pieces if baggage.
I was told another option to checking it was sending it as cargo, but that's a whole set of other possible issues
 
freddyfour said:
Thanks for the response Track. What airport was it, Calgary? Did it go on the same flight or did you have to check it with WestJet cargo on a separate flight?

I was told by the not so helpful lady on the phone that I can not pay for more baggage out of Cranbrook because of the small planes used there. Said I would have to go out of Calgary and go through westjet cargo.
Click to expand...

Yes, it flew out of the Calgary International Airport, with West Jet Cargo. Your outfitter should know "right off the top of his head" about shipping game meat interprovincially and internationally. After my uncle's second trip, I shipped his game meat UPS, after it was cut, wrapped and frozen. The cost was much less with UPS than West jet, I believe it was $250.00. However, with post pandemic, prices have jumped immencely in all categories.
When I guided professionally for 8 years, most of my clients were from the USA, some from Mexico, Spain and Germany. I can count on two fingers how many hunters returned home with their game meat, most clients left it with the outfitter and myself. We donated all the meat and never kept any, we had our personal tags to fill, which it is enough.
 
track said:
Yes, it flew out of the Calgary International Airport, with West Jet Cargo. Your outfitter should know "right off the top of his head" about shipping game meat interprovincially and internationally. After my uncle's second trip, I shipped his game meat UPS, after it was cut, wrapped and frozen. The cost was much less with UPS than West jet, I believe it was $250.00. However, with post pandemic, prices have jumped immencely in all categories.
When I guided professionally for 8 years, most of my clients were from the USA, some from Mexico, Spain and Germany. I can count on two fingers how many hunters returned home with their game meat, most clients left it with the outfitter and myself. We donated all the meat and never kept any, we had our personal tags to fill, which it is enough.
Click to expand...

Fingers crossed it'll work out.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom