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How To Bring Home Your Deer Or Elk Hunting Trophy As Airline Luggage!
With a little pre-prep work before you leave hunting camp, you can make your trophy deer or elk rack strong enough to compete with all of the other Samsonite luggage and airline baggage handlers. While this article is mostly for hunters who travel internationally, this will also work for domestic airline travel too.
As in international trophy hunter, I have personally hunted and fished in 5 Continents. Airline travel is a necessary means of transportation to the majority of the destinations I have traveled to hunt. The ability to bring your trophy back as luggage can save you up to 6 months of time and up to $750 or more in import related expenses and shipping. Not all countries will allow this, but some do. The saving can almost pay for the taxidermy. I have brought back trophies as luggage from Canada, Mexico and Iceland. As of January 2010, some airlines have increase restrictions on antlers packaged as luggage. I highly recommend that you check with your preferred airline before you buy your tickets.
The Cape or Rug must be frozen solid.
One big factor you must consider is the ability to keep the cape or rug frozen from the time you leave your hunting destination till the time you get home. In a lot of cases this requires a good 24 hours for a hard freeze. The cape or rug should be folded several times to save space and frozen solid. Hunters taking their trophies on the last day without time to freeze in camp may want to consider staying an extra day, especially if you are traveling from a foreign country back to the United States or have many layovers. There is a new law in Mexico that states your cape must be frozen solid before you hit the border.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at Customs will check to make sure your cape or rug is frozen as they don’t want any blood to pass thru the luggage and the freezing also helps kill any unwanted bugs from coming into the United States. Place your wet cape or rug in a black trash bag twice and then freeze. Make sure you put a name tag on your cape. The tag should have your complete contact information on one side and your taxidermists contact information on the other. This way if your cape or rug gets separated from your luggage, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife will know how to contact you. Then put the frozen and bagged cape into a collapsible insulated cooler. In my last trip to Mexico, I brought back the cape of a Sonora Desert Mule Deer in a 10”x10”x9” collapsible insulated cooler with room to spare. Then I put the cooler in my Cabela’s Luggage. If you are bringing back an elk sized animal, you’ll need a bigger cooler.
When you get home, take your frozen cape right to your taxidermist. Leave it frozen as he or she may not have time to process it the moment you arrive. Remember, if you are coming in from Canada, Mexico or any other foreign country, you will need to designate a USDA Certified Taxidermist on your Form 3-177-1 and that is where you will need to take your frozen cape. This does not apply for domestic travel.
Protecting your Horn, Antlers and skullcap from breakage.
Your trophy animal’s horns or antlers are the most susceptible to breakage when traveling back with you on the airline. There are 3 steps to protect them when packaged as luggage. You will not need a box with this method.
First, you will need to protect each tine or point. You can do this with pieces of a discarded garden hose cut into a variety of 3” to 6” lengths. You can use either a 5/8 or ¾ inch hose. Place the cut piece of hose over the point till it comes to a rest when the diameter of the horn is larger than the diameter of the hose. Make sure at least 1” to 1½” of hose extends beyond the tip and then duct tape the hose to the individual tine. Repeat this process until all tines of the antlers are protected.
Second, thoroughly wrap the skull cap with duct tape. Make sure your outfitter has boiled the skull cap and removed any fleshly and brain matter. This is a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Regulation.
Third, you will want to brace the inside span of the main beams. In the case of a mule deer or whitetail deer, one brace should be sufficient. In the case of a larger animal like an elk, you may want to use two braces. A good brace is a wooden dowel or a good straight stick. You will need to cut this brace to measure and place between the one or two of the thickest areas of the main beam, usually between C-2 & C-3 (see photo). Once you cut your brace to measure, duct tape it in place and then duct tape the brace as well. You don’t want the brace to be able to move. Don’t worry about the tape; your taxidermist will easily be able to remove any tape adhesive residue from the antlers. Once your tines are protected and the brace is in place, wrap the tines and main beams with bubble wrap and duct tape them in place. Be sure not to cover up any tags on the antlers and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife will need to see them. To some hunters this may seem a bit of an over-kill on the antlers. I know some who have gotten by with just the tines protected. International hunts are getting more and more expensive and the last thing I want to happen to my trophy of a lifetime is to get broken in transit. A lost tine or two during baggage handling will never be recovered and cannot be scored as such by Boone & Crocket, Safari Club International or Pope & Young. A little extra prep can insure your trophy arrives home in one piece.
At the Airline Check in Counter.
When you are checking in your luggage, ask the attendant at the check in counter to tag your antlers with special handling. They will do this at no extra charge. You may incur extra baggage charges though. If you are a frequent flier with elite status, the extra baggage fees may be waived. Be sure and ask the attendant at the counter.
Going thru Customs & U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Any time you come back from a different country, you will have to collect your bags and go thru customs. Make sure you declare your entire trophy or it could be subject to seizure. Make sure you have all your paperwork in order. This includes your U.S. Fish & Wildlife Form 3-177-1 and the documentation from your outfitter. The outfitters documentation should include your foreign hunting license, game tag (should be placed on your antlers or horns before you leave the country) and any paperwork showing the outfitters license and the property where the hunt took place were legal to hunt.
Have all of these documents in your hand when you approach the U.S. Fish & Wildlife portion of U.S. Customs. The officer will surely appreciate this and it will make your transition run a whole lot smoother. After you pass thru Customs and U.S. Fish & Wildlife, you will recheck your bags to your final destination. If you are hunting domestically (within the United States), you will not need to go thru Customs or U.S. Fish & Wildlife.
Pre-trip packing list
You will want to take a few things in your luggage as you may not be able to find them or have time to buy them at your destination. Most of these items will fit in a large Cabela’s type duffle bag along with your hunting gear. You will need the following;
1. A roll of bubble wrap. (available at any office supply store like Staples or Office Max)
2. A Roll of Duct tape (available at any office supply store like Staples or Office Max)
3. Pieces of garden hose cut to different lengths. Prepare for the largest deer or elk usually taken in the area. This way you won’t come up short. Look in the garden shed for that old leaky hose you haven’t thrown away yet.
4. Wooden Dowel in ½” or 5/8” diameter. Again, prepare for the largest game usually taken in the area. Ask your outfitter about rack spreads. Get one for Deer and 2 for Elk. Wooden Dowels can be purchased any home improvement store such as Home Depot, Lowes or Menards, etc.
5. Collapsible Insulated Cooler. You can find these at Wal-Mart for $10-$15.
6. Taxidermy Tags. Ask your Hunting Consultant or make your own. I recommend laminating the tags. You should have one for the antlers, one for the cape and one for the insulated cooler.
7. Plastic Zip Ties to attach the Taxidermy tags.
8. 2 Heavy Mil Trash bags to wrap your cape or rug.
If you ask, your outfitter may be willing to pick up these items before you arrive in camp which will save you some space in your luggage. If you are traveling to a domestic hunting destination, you can purchase these items and have them shipped to your outfitter. I would not recommend shipping if you are going to Canada, Mexico or any other international destination as it would be too costly for shipping, customs, etc. and they package may not make it to the outfitter in time. Ask your outfitter for a UPS address and send it well ahead of time. Make sure there will be someone to accept the package. During the hunting season, many outfitters are in the field.
With a little bit of pre-planning and the help of your Hunting Agent, you will be able to bring home your next deer or elk trophy as luggage and not have to worry about it being broken by baggage handlers or other heavy luggage. You can use the money you saved to apply to the taxidermy bill.
About the Author
Rick Kennerknecht has been a hunter since the age of 12 and has hunted, fished and collected trophies on 5 Continents. In 1991, Rick started turning his passion into a business and incorporated Global Sporting Safaris in 2001. Global Sporting Safaris is now a major Corporation with a full time staff of five and several part time sales agents.
Black Sea - an Important Place in History and Exiting Place to Visit Now
The Black Sea region is like a good classical music composition, it has a framework consisting of spectacular shorelines and mountain ranges, it contains marine life forms from the oldest found on earth to the most intelligent lifeform ever found. You can explore its content by a wide range of opportunities and only the visitor himself can describe its beauty from his or hers standpoint of view. Everyone experience the Black Sea region differently, depdenant upon your interests and angle of approach. In this article I try to give some history of the black sea, as well as describing some of the features in and around it. You will find details about various places and activities in other articles I have written about the Crimea, but hopefully I will convince you to one thing only, visiting the area and give your own story about the place. It is a memory for life, but not least important, the place is unique in history and at present time.
Looking across the Black Sea from the Ai-Petri Mountain, you may ask yourself why such an sparkling blue sea is called the black sea. The reason is unknown why it’s called black sea. The sea can be pretty stormy in winter, however some believe that the name was given to it by sailors and pirates who discovered its dark appearance when the sky turned gloomy with storm clouds.
The ancient Greeks knew the black sea as the Scythian Sea, called after the tribes who held its shores at that time. Shipwrecked sailors would expect no mercy from the Scythians, who plundered the wrecks and made wine goblets out of sailors' skulls. The Greeks also called it Pontos Axenos, which means the inhospitable se. When the Greeks settled in Crimea, they called it Pontos Euxenos, which means the hospitable sea.
Crimea has 517 km of clean beaches - mostly consist of small pebbles although in the east there is black volcanic sand at Morskoye and Sudak and in the west we find silver sand at Yevpatoria. Many beaches are public, and the private ones owned by hotels and resorts/spa centers are usually open to non-patrons at a low fee per day. If you are a naturist, you can find naturist beaches near Koktebel in the east.
The main tourist beaches have opportunities for pedal boats, jet-skiing, yachting and speed-boating, sea fishing, para-gliding, flights in micro planes and a range of other opportunities, in addition to sea cruises along the coast. Wind-surfing is also possible but good quality boards and sails may not be easily available, however a windsurfing club in Feodosia at the eastern end of the peninsula can be recommended.
The scenic and windy road running along the coast from Feodosia in east to Sevastopol in the west is a spectacular drive, and easily classify as one of the most beautiful drives in the world. For much of the journey you're looking out over the sea from the mountains which slope down to the shoreline and the views are spectacular.
The rocky Black Sea bays are ideal for scuba diving, and there are many canters along the coast. Balaklava is a favorite, where there is a large underwater reef. From there you can also dive to the underwater ruins of Khersoness, where part of the Byzantine city was swamped by rising sea levels.
Playwright Anton Chekhov's dacha at Gursuf looks out over a small bay where he used to watch the dolphins. Apart from Bottlenose and other species of dolphin, the sea has about 180 species of fish, including tuna, anchovy, herring, grey mullet, mackerel, and the famous white sturgeon, which you will find on the menu of most good Crimean restaurants.
There are also some seals in the Black Sea, but their numbers are declining rapidly. Bottlenose dolphins are in demand from amusement parks and dolphinaria because of their playful acrobatics and receptivity to training, and about 120 live Black Sea dolphins were traded internationally between 1990 and 2001.
If you swim in the Black Sea at night, especially in August, you may notice that the waves have a strange luminous quality. This is phosphorescence of the sea, caused by plankton interacting in the water.
The Black Sea is very deep (1,271m at the centre) but it's less salty than most oceans.
It began life as a fresh water lake about 22000 years ago. About seven to nine 1000 years ago, melted glaciers and the polar ice-caps, made sea levels rise and eventually the Mediterranean overflowed through the Bosporus straight, turning the lake into the Black Sea. Many archeologists think that this catastrophic event was in fact the Noah's Flood of the Bible.
The sea is unique in having two layers, an oxygenated upper layer, about 200m deep, teeming with life, and a `dead' lower layer, where until recently nothing was thought to be able to survive. The lower layer may have formed when the Mediterranean salt-water flooded in. Denser than the fresh lake water it displaced, it would have plunged straight to the bottom, leaving a diluted mix of fresh and salt water at the top. Over thousands of years the great rivers like the Danube and the Dnipro poured organic material into the new sea. Due to a lack of vertical currents, the inrush of organic matter was too much for the bacteria that would normally have decomposed it aerobically, and the result was a loss of oxygen in favor of hydrogen sulphide. This means that the lower layer, 87% of the Black Sea's volume, is an almost sterile zone of water impregnated with hydrogen sulphide.
Another peculiarity of the Black Sea is the bi-directional current where it flows through the Bosporus straits on its way to the Mediterranean. The surface current flows westwards through the straits into the Sea of Marmaris, but there is a deep current which flows simultaneously in the opposite direction, back into the Black Sea.
Recently, German scientists have discovered corals made by micro-organisms processing methane and sulphates in total darkness at the bottom of the Black Sea. These corals are now believed to be the world's oldest life form. Traditional views of early life on earth have centered on plants which began converting carbon dioxide into oxygen some three billion years ago. The newly discovered organisms live on methane and are thought to have originated four billion years ago. The German scientists believe they could prove useful in ridding the earth of excess methane, the second most important greenhouse gas after carbon dioxide.
About the Author
Stig-Arne Kristoffersen
A Globetrotter
www.lulu.com/stig
