standswittaknife's Link
When I shipped my meat out, I had to stay an extra day in Bethel to make it happen due to a confluence of problems.
I recommend you use Alaska Air Cargo and get an account set up before you head to AK. The office is to the left of the terminal when you go in the first door. Check their hours and know them for all 7 days of the week. Expect them to be late to work in the AM and late getting back from lunch.
I shipped my stuff home in rubber trash cans that I bought at the local AC. You will need to catch a cab to get around Bethel because it's spread out, so get the numbers in your phone before you get there. And not just one.
Expect to pay at least $250 per night to stay in Bethel. They close the terminal at night, so you can't stay there.
However long you think it's going to take to get off your bush flight and all your stuff to the airport and ready to ship out, triple that amount of time. It would be exceedingly difficult to get off of a bush flight from your hunt and onto an AK airlines flight out of Bethel on the same day.
Weather blows in and can cancel multiple flights which backs up the queue. If your flight gets canceled, the next open seat might not be for a couple days.
Altitude Sickness 's Link
It cost me and my hunting partner $200 each to get each of our uncut moose antlers to Michigan. They wait till the end of season and drive them all south at once
Meat was through Indian Valley Meats, I shipped 100lbs home, nothing exotic, just burger, pan sausage and link, quality was A+, don’t remember the cost but I remember thinking it was very reasonable, they called me ahead to schedule ship date, I just drove to airport and picked up.
The cape and horns were shipped through D&C Expediters directly to my taxidermist in Texas, this cost I remember well, they sent me a 1,200 dollar invoice which I paid immediately, then once it arrived at their office in Montana they called wanting another 400 bucks…I felt this was a bit rediculous but what do you do?
Best of luck, only other advice is don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself, go slow and have fun. Looking forward to your post about it! Alaskan is an amazing place.
