Is it possible to bring a turkey killed on a trip out of state home on a plane to take it to my hometown taxidermist?
I put mine in a Rubbermaid,and checked it in.
I think I'd, and have, Brest the bird out remove everything below the neck, above the thighs and between the wings fold the head and tail into the body and fold the wings in on top of that then freeze it. check it in with your luggage, or ship it straight to your taxidermist. I've also had a whole bird shipped. fold all the tail feathers together and tape cardboard on the front and back to protect them.
Camo
Have your taxidermist show you how to cape it it's fairly simple especially after you do it a couple of times and will save you a lot of money.
I cape all of mine, its pretty easy and saves a ton of space. I also remove the fan, you just have to know where and how to do it. i put the whole cape and all in a 2 gallon ziploc and freeze it for the trip home in a soft cooler or smaller hard cooler. i usually lay my fans in my gun case so they dont get messed up. if you use a soft cooler its easy to carry on or pack in a bigger bag.
Claim it's your "personal item", and ask TSA to run it thru the XRay, so you can see the shot damage. ;D
Take it to a local taxidermist.
Have your taxidermist call the local guy and specify the types of cuts he prefers to be made for packaging.
Have the local guy freeze it, package it and send it home for you.
This cost me 85 bucks the last time I had to do it.
I've only done it twice, but I've never caped out a bird, so I didn't want to mess my birds up. Each time, I slid my bird into a big garbage bag, with his head and neck folded back along the body. I made sure the tail wasn't messed up. I put the whole bird into a chest freezer, and froze him solid! Then I got a cooler from Walmart, and just paid the fee at the airlines for an extra bag. A little more costly, but I made sure I didn't screw my mount up, and I got an extra cooler out of the deals, cause you can never have enough. ;D
Froze mine as well and put it in a cooler. TSA in Wichita let us look at the X-ray screen and saw all the shot. Could tell who made the best shots!!
I would much rather my clients not attempt to skin the bird on their own. Every skinned turkey I have gotten in was a disaster. If you are able to freeze the bird whole, shipping it could be cheaper than checking it. I would remove the tail and ship it UPS or FedEx. Take the frozen bird, double bag it in heavy plastic bags, insulate it with pink fiberglass insulation and ship it directly to your taxidermist. Or do as VaTuRkStOmPeR suggested and pay a local taxidermist to do that for you. Whole birds stay frozen much longer than skinned birds, so it is safer to ship them whole.
I flew an Osceola back in a big cooler from Wal-Mart. Wrapped the bird in big garbage bag, froze it whole, and checked it as luggage at the airport. Didn't even have to pay extra. One thing I would advise if you follow the same process is to FIND SOME DRY ICE. I waited till I got back to Orlando to start looking and couldn't find any in time for the flight. Also, whether you put dry ice in the cooler or not, duck tape the fire out of the lid....around the perimeter and from the top to the bottom. The lid has a tendency to bow up during the flight if you don't. Don't ask me how I know.
Freeze it wherever you are and ship it to him. Or, don't be cheap and ship it to Callie Morris. He is a bad man.
in the past I would get an extra large pair of ladies nylons to keep the bird and feathers in great shape for shipping.
I know they are smaller than a turkey, but if hunting out of state for ducks, I freeze them solid before I get on the plane and then just take them on as a carry on. Freeze the turkey inside a couple garbage bags and roll them tight. Then place the turkey in some other bag that you can use for a carry on and stick it up above your seat. You will hear all kinds of different comments when they scan it and some are quite comical. This way you do not have to pay for extra baggage also.
As far as putting the bird in nylons, do not do this. Most taxidermists hate when people do that.
I have always just thrown them in my duffle bag with my clothes.
I will strongly sugggest that no one pack dry Ice or any Ice in their cooler for a flight. TSA will hold it and dump what ever is in it out. they will screw your bird up and they get reall pissy about dry Ice, because it releases gas and will expand in the cooler. avoid the hassle and either get your taxidermist to show you how to cape it, or pay some one.
I did it last year on my MO gobbler. Skinned it out and put it in my carry on. No problem.
TRKYHTR