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Out of State Elk Hunt

4K views 17 replies 11 participants last post by  bearfoot1 
#1 ·
I recently was drawn for Elk in Colorado ... I have never hunted out of state before and was wondering 2 things. How do I get my guns there and how do I get my meat home if I fly? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
#4 ·
Agree drive.
I drive to Kansas every year.
The other issue in addition to the above points is that if you fly into say Denver you still need to rent a car and most likely drive a few hours to where you were going to hunt.
So by the time you drive to the airport, wait for your flight, fly there wait for your bags get a rental car and drive to your hunting spot its about the same amount of time it would have taken you to just drive your own car in the first place.
 
#8 ·
I used to drive from Phoenix to Wyoming in a day. Those days are long gone... it was 16 hours or so from start to finish.

I flew a few different times. I would stick meat in a cooler and throw it on the plane. It went well until the meat made it back to Phoenix and I was left behind in Denver. Luckily the cooler was good enough to keep the meat cool over the next day, but it could have been bad! I never had to fly with a rifle as I have them in both houses so I don't know how that would go.
 
#14 ·
Hunters from out of state may only bring the following animal parts into Arizona according to the following requirements of Arizona Game and Commission Rule R12-4-305:

  • Meat that is boneless or has been commercially butchered and packaged
  • Finished taxidermy mounts
  • Skulls that are mounted or clean skulls/skull plates without any meat or soft tissue
  • Antlers that are hard-horned or velvet antlers that have been taxidermied
  • Hides without any meat or soft tissue
  • Teeth without any tissue attached
 
#16 ·
Congrats on your CO elk tag.
Depending on time of year, I'd make the following suggestion (this was my plan last year - although I didn't kill an elk so it was moot - but it has worked in the past for lots of critters)
Fly to CO. Gun on plane is easy like Sunday morning. Hard case that has at least two locks, box of ammo in original packaging in gun case. Show it to person at ticket counter, sign a paper saying it is unloaded, have TSA take a look, pick it up at special handling in CO. Easy peasy. I've done it hundreds of times to/from multiple states and never once had a single issue.
If you harvest, have it processed locally, which takes a little time....so fly home while that happens.
When you fly home, bring half the frozen tenderloin, heart, liver, and tongue home in your checked suitcase. Froze solid and wrapped in some newspaper it'll stay froze for a long time. I do this every year with deer I take from my Midwest farms.
When the processor calls, look at the weather, pick a nice couple days, and fly to CO. Rent a vehicle, buy a couple coolers, and drive back. You could also drive up and back, but a one-way flight and one-way rent car is pretty cheap, saves you lots of windshield time, and keeps miles off your rig.
PM if you wanna chat more.
Good luck.
 
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