Planning all the logistics of a trip can get pretty difficult, especially if it’s your first venture out West for a hunt. Driving to your hunting location is always the best option, but sometimes that just doesn’t pan out due to where you live.

On hunts when I’ve had to fly, I can’t stress how important it is to be organized well ahead of time. As hunters, we are loaded down with gear. So much that you can quickly exceed the weight limit of bags. You have three options here, either pay the overprice bag fee, pay for extra bags or ship your gear to a location ahead of time.

When I fly, I take a large double rifle case (I still use this case when bowhunting too). The larger weapon case allows me to completely fill it with my weapon, clothes, binoculars, spotting scope and any extra gear items that I want to keep safe.

Then I will also take a large duffel bag where I will place the remaining clothes, boots, food, and safety gear. This large duffel bag will also fit my Stone Glacier Sky Archer 6200 backpack. I have used my hunting backpack as a carry on on quite a few different airlines. But I do get a little scolding from time to time since the frame is a little larger than the allowed carry on size. So keep that in mind if you decide to go that route. 

What should you buy when you land?

You are restricted on what you can fly with. Most airlines will not allow you to fly with lighters, fuel canisters for your stove, bear spray cans, etc. So before you land, you should scout out the location of the closest sporting goods store or another option is to ship items ahead of time.

In conclusion

Flying all your hunting gear is fairly easy. But… there are always horror stories of airlines losing baggage. So, because of this it might be a good idea to have some of your clothes in a carry on bag, and it could be wise to keep your binoculars with you. This way you can still slightly hunt while you wait for your other bags to arrive.