What to Expect After Your Hunt
Hunt Completion
You will trail out on the last day of your hunt date. You and your guide will need to arrive back in camp the evening before. 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.
When you arrive in town arrangements will be made to get your heads inspected ( depending on availability and or shipping/taxidermy done. Government office hours are limited. Animals CANNOT leave Alberta unless inspections are complete. Many hunters will just leave these with us. They will be taken care of.
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 going to town. Alberta law requires that we pack out the 4 quarters and loins from the harvested animals, unless the meat is 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, you should be able to take all the meat out with you. If you do not wish to take the meat home, we will donate the meat to Guides families or a local food bank.
Donated meat is always greatly appreciated as we try our best to supply those in need with some harvested meat each year.
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 leave your heads / hides with us to transport, record all of your personal contact info, species tag, hunting license, hunter declaration and inspection 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 the U.S. / Canada border, and to make applying for your export or CITES permits (wolves) much easier. Make sure your horns 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 late 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!