Thread: Travelling back to NZ from Canada with trophy

Has anyone done this? Hopefully I will have a deer to come back with later this year. Roughly what would the cost be? I would have thought a skull cap and antlers would be fine in check in?

Cheers

Davey Hughes had no trouble bringing heads in. You might even end up on TV like he did.

Originally Posted by PerazziSC3

Has anyone done this? Hopefully I will have a deer to come back with later this year. Roughly what would the cost be? I would have thought a skull cap and antlers would be fine in check in?

Cheers

I would guess the cost would be calculated by the airline like excess luggage ? I'm sure that would be cheaper than what shipping agents charge. Whether you can bring back with you might depend on whether Canadian permits, and / or Cites permits are required for export. Often, any permits have to ship with the goods. Might pay to enquire before you rock up to the airport with trophy in hand. Should it all work out and you arrive in NZ with trophies I think MPI are likely to have them sent for fumigation before releasing to you.

Have ought back a couple of deer heads from BC Canada and a bear skin. No problem make sure you have the correct paper work. I had a cities permit for the bear and it was tanned and head and claws on but went through customs no problem , didn't need fumigation as it was already processed. The deer antlers were skull capped and I managed to get them inside my checked luggage and packed clothes etc around them. They required fumigation on arrival and had to be couriered home.
Make sure you cut some hose and tape one on each point to stop the tynes putting holes in your luggage and clothing. For the deer all i had was my licence to hunt and the used tag , may e different now this was 2005/7 when I bought them back but you should e able to find info on the web for export of trophies.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Have ought back a couple of deer heads from BC Canada and a bear skin. No problem make sure you have the correct paper work. I had a cities permit for the bear and it was tanned and head and claws on but went through customs no problem , didn't need fumigation as it was already processed. The deer antlers were skull capped and I managed to get them inside my checked luggage and packed clothes etc around them. They required fumigation on arrival and had to be couriered home.
Make sure you cut some hose and tape one on each point to stop the tynes putting holes in your luggage and clothing. For the deer all i had was my licence to hunt and the used tag , may e different now this was 2005/7 when I bought them back but you should e able to find info on the web for export of trophies.

Thanks yes it certainly seems easier if they are tanned, no paperwork at all. I will keep my research up and see what I come up with. I’ve seen NZ seem to charge about $3k to the yanks for getting a red/tahr back which seems excessive

Talk to an expiditer here and they will be able to point you in the right direction.
As will any taxidermist who deals with international clients.

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

Talk to an expiditer here and they will be able to point you in the right direction.
As will any taxidermist who deals with international clients.

I have bought back trophies from Africa, Australia and Canada. All taxidermy work done in the countries of origin however.. All NZ were interested in was a certificate from the taxidermist stating what process the tanning process was and chemicals used.
Obviously if any of the species could/or are cities related you need the correct paperwork. Otherwise I have not found any issues.
From a freighting perspective if you are flying something completed that has been mounted I usually select removable horns or antlers to reduce the size.

I’ve had taxidermy shipped and it’s bloody expensive.

Last trip I took a whitetail head back with me as carry on. Was all good as I just had it at my feet, until Auckland to Wellington when airport security made me check it in, was surprised it made it fine with no damage.

Plan to do the same with a pronghorn head if I’m successful this September. Also if I get an elk will cut the skull in half, plastic wrap at Walmart and check in.

Originally Posted by cb14

I’ve had taxidermy shipped and it’s bloody expensive.

Last trip I took a whitetail head back with me as carry on. Was all good as I just had it at my feet, until Auckland to Wellington when airport security made me check it in, was surprised it made it fine with no damage.

Plan to do the same with a pronghorn head if I’m successful this September. Also if I get an elk will cut the skull in half, plastic wrap at Walmart and check in.

Nice. I take it you didn’t bring the headskin? So didn’t even need to get fumigated?

They usually fumigate because of the bark and shit that is caught up in the pearling on the antlers, could be unwanted organisms present.

Correct. Skull and antlers were clean so no fumigation. I had a moose antler but they took that for fumigation as they reckoned it wasn’t clean.

Originally Posted by cb14

Correct. Skull and antlers were clean so no fumigation. I had a moose antler but they took that for fumigation as they reckoned it wasn’t clean.

One antler???

Originally Posted by SmokeyJason

One antler???

I would guess a cast antler. In Moose country it's not unusual to find them.

Yeah, it was a single cast antler I found in Montana. I’ve brought a few back with me.