Tips On Shipping A Moose From Canada To The US: a guide to shipping moose heads home. “I wouldn’t want to deal with the logistics of shipping a moose head home.” “I can help with that, I’ve done it several times.”
1. Get a taxidermist to make the moose into a rug. You tell them what you want and they will send you back the hide.
2. Put that in a box and ship it via UPS or FedEx ground. They can do this for you at any UPS or FedEx store.
3. Go through Canadian customs with your receipt for the taxidermy and your gun permit(s). They will ask for them, but not if you just have them out on the counter when they walk up instead of having to dig through your suitcase or backpack (which is probably what prompted them to ask me in the first place).
4. With the paperwork they give you go back into Canada and get your gun permit stamped by a Canadian police officer at any police station. This is just like going through customs in another country except there isn’t any real inspection process unless you are bringing something illegal into the country (like drugs or guns).
5. Take that paperwork and show it to any customs
This is not a joke. I’m a Canadian and this is an actual series of tips on what to do if you want to ship a moose head from Canada to the US. I know it sounds silly but it’s actually very informative and interesting. It’s basically a how to guide on shipping large animals across borders, which is difficult.
This is actually a real guide written by the Canadian Government that explains how to ship moose heads (and other large animals) into the US. If you ever wanted to know how to ship a moose head into the US, then this is the place for you!
The tips are pretty straightforward but there are some good tidbits about dealing with customs and border patrol. There’s also some information on getting permits for moose hunting in Canada which might be interesting too!
I know this seems like something from The Onion, but it’s actually real!
The moose head is a completely different story. It is the national animal of Canada and Canadian law strictly prohibits export of the animal in any form. I was told the only way to get it home was to fill out some paperwork with my local Canadian Fish & Wildlife office and pay a $500 fee.
I had already spent about two grand on taxidermy and another thousand on travel, so I figured what’s another five hundred dollars? I got the forms from the Fish & Wildlife office, filled them out, and handed them to the receptionist.
She looked over my forms, then picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Hey,” she said into the phone, “this guy wants to ship a moose head back to the US.” She listened for a moment, then said, “OK.” She hung up the phone and said “You’re good to go.”
I asked if there was anything else I needed to do.
“Nope,” she said. “Have a nice day.”
Step 1: Get the paperwork
If you are transporting a moose head, or any other part of a moose, across the Canada-US border, you will need to have a copy of the Export Permit. Your outfitter should have this for you. If not, contact the CITES office in Whitehorse and request one. They will mail it to you, or fax it if you are in a hurry.
Step 2: Take a picture of your moose with your camera (if you don’t already have one). Make sure that it is clearly identifiable as YOUR moose and not someone else’s moose. You will need this one-of-a-kind photograph when you arrive at the US border crossing station so that they can match the head to the export permit.
Step 3: Arrange transportation with your outfitter to get your moose head back to Whitehorse or some other suitable place. Some outfitters might be able to offer this service themselves, others might offer to contact someone they know who can do this for you (this is much more common). Make sure that you confirm in advance that they can deliver your moose head at least one day before you need to fly out.
Recently, I’ve been shipping a lot of moose heads.
How do you ship a moose head, you ask? Well, it’s tricky. But that’s just the kind of thing I like to do: tricky things.
First off, you have to get your moose head in the mail. There are several ways to do this:
You could just put it in a box and mail it. This is something I wouldn’t recommend doing. Moose heads are heavy and usually pretty big, so throwing one in a box and mailing it is not only difficult, but expensive as well (not to mention awkward). Plus, once the package arrives at its destination and the person receives their moose head they can be pretty upset if it’s damaged. It would be best to call up the post office beforehand and ask them how much it would cost to ship a moose head. If they say too much (and they will), try asking them if they know anywhere else where you can ship a moose head.
Sell your moosehead online! There are plenty of online auction sites out there that allow you to sell your used goods for a small fee (usually 10% of the final sale price). You could probably charge upwards of $50 for
* Avoiding custom fees [link]
* What airlines allow you to fly with a moose? [link]
* Where to buy boxes and how to pack it? [link]
* How to ship it? [link]
* Buying a case for the moose head
* Flying on your own or with the moose head?
I recently purchased a moose head on eBay, and then had it shipped from Canada to New York. The seller couldn’t tell me much about shipping, so I had to figure it out myself.
Here’s what I found out:
1) Shipping through the US Postal Service is often cheaper than UPS or FedEx, but there are size restrictions. If the box is too big, they won’t take it. You can get around this by having the item shipped to a post office in Canada (the Canadian post office will accept larger packages), then have it forwarded to you via USPS. If you do this, be aware that the Canadian post office will charge a $5 handling fee. This may be worth it if the package is large and/or heavy.
2) If shipping through USPS, your package will be charged a $40 fee upon entering the US, plus any duties that may apply. You’ll also be charged sales tax on the value of the package at its point of entry into the US (for me this was Syracuse, NY).
3) The seller was not familiar with these fees so he did not include them in his shipping quote. When I received my item at customs, I had no choice but to pay for it before they would release