Hunt Completion
You will fly out on the last day of your hunt date. You and your guide will need to arrive back in camp the evening before. We will need to fill out a hunt report/declaration for you. Before you leave, sometimes we will take measurements and age your animal(s) for our records. And put our custom information tags on hides, horns, skulls so we keep them organized. If your hunt is delayed due to weather, you can use our base camp Satellite phone to help reschedule your flight and contact your family. We will always be there to help you. When you arrive in Town, you’ll be met at the floatplane dock by our expeditor or other arrangements will be made. Arrangements will made to get your heads inspected and or shipping/taxidermy done. Watson Lake is a small town and office hours are limited. Animals CANNOT leave BC to the Yukon you must leave it with us unless driving. They will be taken care of.
(How this works below)
NOTE*
If you decide to LEAVE EARLY and before your regularly scheduled charter flight, you can, but ALL FLIGHT EXPENSE IS ON THE HUNTER.
The charter flights are expensive and to keep the cost to a reasonable amount for you, we must fill the plane with paying customers both ways. Extra flights are about $3000 depending on how many people and the size of the load or the plane used. We also have a busy schedule with hunters coming and going, flights for fuel, food and organising hunting camps and guides which has to fit in with the Flight charter company (which is extremely busy during these months) and hope you understand we will make every effort to work around your needs but have a schedule we will need to strictly follow.
Meat
When you harvest an animal, you will be able to take whatever meat will fit on the commercial flight (approx. 50-70 lbs./person). We have game bags, pillow cases, compactor bags & or plastic containers that you can use for taking meat home with you. Your guide will help label and pack the meat. Make sure to help your guide label all meat and hides with your name and license information, once you get back to base camp and before flying to town. British Columbia law requires that we pack out the 4 quarters and loins from the harvested animals, unless the meat in inedible, due to blood shot or infection. We will likely use some of the meat in camp for basic meals, etc. If you shoot a small animal, such as a sheep or goat, you should be able to take all the meat out with you on the floatplane, if it will keep. If several hunters shoot large animals (moose, caribou) during the same hunt and wish to take the meat out, we will need to schedule another air-charter trip, which is expensive. This cost will be split evenly among those involved. If you plan on taking all your meat home with you can leave your meat with the local meat cutter who will cut, process, freeze and ship the meat to you, however bring extra money as it is expensive. If you do not wish to take the meat home, we will donate the meat to a remote native village, Guides families or a local food bank.
Donated meat is always greatly appreciated and needed in these local communities, we try our best to supply those in need with harvested meat.
Trophy Care & Shipping
Our guides will cape and flesh your trophies for you. If you want a life size mount, you should talk with your taxidermist about whether they prefer a Dorsal or Standard cut. A Dorsal cut is great for standing and laying animals. A Standard cut is better for unique or jumping type mounts. If you’ll be doing a Pedestal mount, you’ll need to let your guide know, as more hide is required than just a shoulder mount. The fleshed and turned hides will be salted or frozen for your return trip. We ask that you bring a pillowcase or similar stuff sack for taking your cape to town. It will keep salt from spilling all over the place.
If you shoot an animal at the end of your trip (last day) and we do not have time to flesh/salt it in camp, you’ll need to let our expeditor know, so that they can make sure a local taxidermist can do this. You might have to pay a small fee to finish the fleshing and salting of your animal, unless you wish to freeze it at the hotel and take it home with you. If you harvest an animal with no antlers or small horns (sheep or goat), you can generally take the animal with you on the airplane, (check with the airlines), but your animals have to be inspected in BC before you can take them with you. Larger antlers (moose or caribou heads) can be split, taped & secured for putting in your duffel (not recommended) or left with us for shipment to the U.S. (best option). Before you can take any animal home with you, a CI (Compulsory Inspection) is required. It is often not available the day/evening you arrive and before your flight, the next day, so that is why leaving the trophy with us is often the best choice.
If you leave your heads / hides with us to transport, record all of your personal contact info, species tag, hunting license, hunter declaration and CI number on the sheet provided. And on the tags provided at camp. Leave this special document provided by us, containing all these numbers, with our expeditor or local taxidermist, so that our guy can ship everything through a U.S. / Canada border, and to make applying for your export or CITES permits (Grizzly and wolves) much easier. Make sure your antlers and cape are in good condition when you leave them (salted and all meat and brains removed – your guide will help you with this) and properly labeled with tags or tape so that no one gets confused about what belongs to you.
If work needs to be done on the hide – it is really wet or meat left on it - let our expeditor know so that it can be properly cared for by the local taxidermist. Trophies will be stored safely until October when Ray Wiens will pick them all up at the end of the season. Rays phone number is 1 (778) 241-0208 feel free to call him and discuss his program. Its slick!
KEEP ALL TAGS AND LICENSES AND FORMS RELATED TO THE HUNT UNTIL YOUR ANIMAL IS SAFELY IN YOUR HANDS!