BRINGING TURKEY MEAT ON A PLANE

[WW]

How do you guys pack the frozen breast meat from out of state trips and bring back on planes? I know the second checked bag will be extra money but thought about buying a small 30 quart cooler and using frozen cold packs to keep the meat frozen until i get home, but I don't know how TSA will act with that.

[deerhunt1988]

Freeze solid before departure (dry ice works extremely well). Wrapped in clothes/insulation (sleeping bag) and place in carry on. I flew with ~6 breasts frozen breasts that'd been in my carry on for ~16 hours and they were just starting to get a little mushy.

[Meadow Valley Man]

When driving back to Wisconsin from Florida, I freeze the breasts in ziplock bags and then wrap them in several layers of newspaper, which seems to be a good insulator. We take a small cooler with ice, and that keeps them frozen until we get home. on a plane I guess I would still use the newspaper and then wrap in a sweatshirt on a carryon.

[G-dub]

I've never brought turkey back but have done venison several times and never had an issue.  Freeze and wrap, newspaper is great, then  bundle it up in clothes etc.  I've always put mine in with checked luggage and it's still frozen solid when I get home.

[Paulmyr]

I've never brought turkey back but have done venison several times and never had an issue.  Freeze and wrap, newspaper is great, then  bundle it up in clothes etc.  I've always put mine in with checked luggage and it's still frozen solid when I get home.

I would imagine it gets a little chilly in the cargo hold of an airplane at cruising altitude.

[deathfoot]

Great post and excellent info.

When traveling by air I've always been fortunate to find a family that is more than happy to take the meat because I wasn't sure the best way to get it back. And to be honest, every time it has touched my soul with how grateful some people are that you gave them something.  Just throwing that out there as another option for the air travelers.

[eggshell]

I have a 32 qt cooler that has my name and address with phone number permanently written on it. I used it on all my flight trips. My checked bag goes in it taped shut when I depart when I return I have my boneless breast frozen solid and place it in the bottom wrapped in whatever I can find and a piece of cardboard on top then my bag back on top that . I usually make a copy of my hunting license and a note of what the meat is and lay it inside or tape it in the lid. I have never even been questioned. Just tape it shut good. Oh yeah, your checked bag needs to be small enough to leave that space.

[RLAG]

Freeze solid before departure (dry ice works extremely well). Wrapped in clothes/insulation (sleeping bag) and place in carry on. I flew with ~6 breasts frozen breasts that'd been in my carry on for ~16 hours and they were just starting to get a little mushy.

I did a similar thing from the back hills to SC. I froze it solid the night before with dry ice and put it in my carry on bookbag. The TSA agent asked if I had meat, I said yes and pulled it out. She looked at it and said have a nice day

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[WV Flopper]

 I have not seen dry ice for sale one time in WV in my lifetime. Midwest and further out I am sure it is easier to come by.

To the point, beforehand you may want to find a place close by where your hunting that sells it.

[Paulmyr]

I have not seen dry ice for sale one time in WV in my lifetime. Midwest and further out I am sure it is easier to come by.

To the point, beforehand you may want to find a place close by where your hunting that sells it.

Couldn't find any when I was in GA. A side note about dry ice. Don't keep the cooler with dry ice in your sleeping quarters as the ice releases co2  that displaces the air. Prolly not a problem sleeping in a tent but the guys sleeping in their vehicles might have an issue.

[Shiloh]

Same as DH88.  Freeze it and place in the middle of a duffel bag. 

[misfire]

I have a larger soft sided cooler that I use as a carry on.

[BBR12]

I've only had to do it once when coming back from an island. I pulled it out of the freezer early that morning and packed it in the middle of my checked bag. We did sight seeing all day and flew home overnight. It was still solid when I got home the next afternoon.

[joey46]

I have a backpack with a built in cooler section.  It fits the airlines carryon limits.  Last May I packed the pre-frozen breast and thighs from a Merriam into a ziploc bag and checked the bag through TSA in Denver.  They asked "what's that".  Told them.  No problem.  They'd seen it before.  Arrived in Tampa about 6 hours later and stopped at the first 7/11 to get three cans of beer/soda to add to the cooler for the 2 hour ride home.  No problems since we ate the bird two days later after a full thaw in the refrigerator.  I'm not going to look it up now but I know some airlines will have specific regs regarding dry ice.  Double check.

[Dtrkyman]

Don't forget the legs, thighs and giblets!