Does it pay to fly for a hunt

[williaada]

Was curious if anyone has run the numbers on what the cost difference is for flying out west and having meet shipped vs driving and hauling meat back in your own vehicle.

I have done the driving in the past but not sure what is better? Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Bullshot]

I don’t think side by side cost is the real measure here. It’s more about how much time you have, what you plan to bring/bring back, and which particular inconveniences you are more willing to suffer.

I am almost 2000 miles from my hunts and have never flown for a hunt. Drive each time, usually solo. And have never even begun to compare costs. For now, flying just doesn’t work for me for how I want to hunt, explore, camp, butcher meat, etc.

 

[Seamaster]

I have checked the cost of having a processed elk shipped and was surprised about how costly it is. If I fly for an elk hunt I will pay for the processing and the meat will be donated to the Hunters Feeding the Hungry program. Even having a pronghorn shipped is somewhere around $500 including processing.

 

[mdhunter]

I fly. Its not easy or cheap. I end up deboning the meat and packing it in coolers and then flying it back as extra luggage. This seems to be the least expensive way I have figured out.

 

[Bob-WY]

Flown with meat as luggage, not bad

Combine gas, good, hotels vs a flight. Then factor in time.

Before we move to WY driving was 30 hours each way. Done it both ways, which is better just depends

 

[reallyoldman]

Flying is about the only way to hunt Northern BC and Alaska and it will add 30-35% to the cost. Part of the adventure is the drive when hunting in the lower states. I have driven to Anchorage twice and it is like driving from Denver to San Francisco and back 3 times but it sure was interesting.

 

[williaada]

I fly. It’s not easy or cheap. I end up deboning the meat and packing it in coolers and then flying it back as extra luggage. This seems to be the least expensive way I have figured out.

Did you fly out with a cooler or bought one on the way back?

 

[AvidIndoorsman]

I have checked the cost of having a processed elk shipped and was surprised about how costly it is. If I fly for an elk hunt I will pay for the processing and the meat will be donated to the Hunters Feeding the Hungry program. Even having a pronghorn shipped is somewhere around $500 including processing.

No offense you’re doing it wrong.

I boned out my caribou, put the antlers in a box and checked the antlers and the meat and it was like $150 in baggage fees.

A pronghorn could be put in carryon it’s like 35lb of meat. You can get that home for 0 extra dollars.

 

[williaada]

No offense you’re doing it wrong.

I boned out my caribou, put the antlers in a box and checked them it was like $150.

A pronghorn could be put in carryon it’s like 35lb of meat. You can get that home for 0 extra dollars.

How would you do a cow elk?

 

[arwhntr]

I'm definitely more Team Drive. Done both when I use to live in the midwest. I think the luxury of having your own reliable vehicle to pound rough roads and being able to bring meat back in your cooler makes driving well worth the added time. Cost wise, depends what your time is worth.

 

[williaada]

I'm definitely more Team Drive. Done both when I use to live in the midwest. I think the luxury of having your own reliable vehicle to pound rough roads and being able to bring meat back in your cooler makes driving well worth the added time. Cost wise, depends what your time is worth.

I am in the Midwest and an earlier hunt changed due to a rim being cracked right near a holiday. Also, the place I am hunting only has a few road open right now to drive on.

 

[cgasner1]

I shipped the a entire moose the horns 120ish pounds of gear and a moose shed home for like 700 bucks I believe it came out to like 560 Pooh de of stuff it can be done cheap if you do it right and have a plan

 

[nastynate]

My hunting buddy that lives out west, which has made flying a good option for a few deer/pronghorn hunts. I've flown southwest which has 2 free bags + carry on. Their track record of late is garbage, but its worked slick for me. Filled the cooler up to the weight limit with meat, and left the rest with my buddy.

 

[jakenbake]

No offense you’re doing it wrong.

I boned out my caribou, put the antlers in a box and checked them it was like $150.

A pronghorn could be put in carryon it’s like 35lb of meat. You can get that home for 0 extra dollars.

Cosign this one. The only trick is freezing the meat solid which is usually a requirement for airlines, but if you plan to stay at a place with a freezer the night before you fly out it's easy as pie. It would take a pretty significant amount of meat to 1) not get it all frozen the night before or 2) cost so much in baggage fees to not make it worth it.

 

[Mallardsx2]

imho The rental vehicle is the biggest problem
….

 

[Don Fischer]

Not hunting but I flew to Minnesota to get my Sis dog. Rented a car at the airport to go get her and one night in a motel room. paid $900 for her and after going to get her had $1500 in her. Thought about driving and for gas, food, motels I could have bought several pup's at $900 each! Unless you are calling it vacation and cost doesn't matter, flying long distance is the only way to go. I'm not sure what the cost per mile is on a car today but about 20yrs ago I was delivering RV's to southern Calif or a living. At that time cost per mile in the pickup cost me $.43 CPM. I think today its around $.55 CPM. That includes vehicle replacement at some point, maintence, insurance, tires and fuel. You could take an RV but your cost would go up quite a bit! It cost's a lot more than people think because all they consider is the gas. 2000 mi getting 18MPG gas is 222 gal round trip!Add on eating, motels ect to that! If you could average 60 MPH it would take 33 hrs to drive straight through. If that cost doesn't bother you, go for it! Don't think averaging 60 MPH is easy!

 

[reallyoldman]

I had forgot about this: I got my Dalls Sheep and I had brought two heavy army surplus tote bags, boned and froze the meat and put it in one and put the horns and my personal items in the other I was only out the air fare for me and my rifle.. This would work for a mule deer hunt. For elk I think I would bone the meat and freeze it put in two duffle bags (or coolers), split the horns and cap the points with short pieces of garden hose and put them with my personal gear. BUT if I lived anywhere in the country I would drive and enjoy the experience.

 

[rjthehunter]

I fly. Its not easy or cheap. I end up deboning the meat and packing it in coolers and then flying it back as extra luggage. This seems to be the least expensive way I have figured out.

This is the most cost effective way to get meat back.

Overall it's more expensive to fly for sure, but you save time. Time is a very limited resource. If you have the money, flying saves a lot of time.

 

[OntarioHunter]

I drive 25+ hours to Montana every year. I always have tags for deer and elk but usually only bring back upland birds. One year a local butcher processed the meat and it came back in cooler on the hitch carrier. Weather was freezing and most of the meat was sausage and jerky. 2021 my buck was almost entirely processed into smoked sausage by an outfit in Somers. After I left my brother had to keep the meat intact for a couple weeks waiting for CWD clearance before taking it in to be processed. Then he made the mistake of mailing the sausage to me. Customs threw it all out because no proof the beef added was inspected. Sigh. He should have sent it to the MN store on the other side of the border and I drive down to bring it across. The year before I brought back much of the previous year's deer. CWD has sure thrown a wrinkle in things.

You might want to think about having the meat processed locally into sausage and jerky. It will ship just fine that way as checked baggage but a lot cheaper to send it home UPS.

 

[Bullshot]

You might want to think about having the meat processed locally into sausage and jerky. It will ship just fine that way as checked baggage but a lot cheaper to send it home UPS.

I really like this idea