WARNING: Don’t fly United Airlines to Canada with firearms

Altitude sickness said:
“With your boastful noncompliant attitude I can understand why you might get hassled by border agents. Like everyone else in this world some are assholes (ring a bell?). But most just want to do the job and go home ... like everyone else. I've run into a couple of bad apples on both sides but considering how many times every year/month I'm back and forth crossing into US/Canada, overall my experience has been customs agents on both sides are great people.”

You are correct on that particular day. I had the time to make a point. I pulled two layers of U.S. border supervision into my intentional protest that day. It had been building with their ridiculous behavior for years.

Some time I’ll share a great bear hunt crossing made miserable by the U.S. side that lead to my decision to push back that one day.

This day I was assisting a friend for his family’s first trip to South Africa and with his first customs personal property form 4457.

I live along Lake Huron and it’s a :20 drive south to the closest border crossing. As kids we drove across that bridge at least weekly. Sports, family, concerts, bars, hunting, fishing etc.
I’ve dealt with hundreds of Michigan and Canadian border employees over decades with utmost respect and zero issues.

That day I finally had the luxury of ignoring someone trying their whole 30 days of Jedi mind game interrogation skills on me.

It took two layers above to tell him to knock it off. After my snickering, smart ass Outlaw Josie Wales response.

Turns out. When you have a clean record and time. It can be fun dealing with someone on a power trip and out over their skis.
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I can look out my back door and see Canada. Before 9/11 hop in the boat go over for dinner and drinks never a problem. Theres very good fishing on the Ontario side of Lk St. Clair I will not go because of the problem with Boarder Patrol, Customs and MNR all watching the border. When you call Canadian Border they can send you 20-30 miles by boat to check in with Customs. When theres a Boarder Station at the port you are going to. Beyond stupid !

I made it a lot easer for them.....I don't go to Canada for dinner or the weekend by boat and spend my money in the USA on dinner.
 
For what it’s worth, I flew from Texas to Wyoming and back on United with a shotgun checked this past weekend with zero issues.
Can’t speak for any international experience on United recently
 
coyote wacker said:
I can look out my back door and see Canada. Before 9/11 hop in the boat go over for dinner and drinks never a problem. Theres very good fishing on the Ontario side of Lk St. Clair I will not go because of the problem with Boarder Patrol, Customs and MNR all watching the border. When you call Canadian Border they can send you 20-30 miles by boat to check in with Customs. When theres a Boarder Station at the port you are going to. Beyond stupid !

I made it a lot easer for them.....I don't go to Canada for dinner or the weekend by boat and spend my money in the USA on dinner.
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A lot of the hassle has to do with the uptick in human, drug, and gun trafficking since the "good old days". An entire family of East Indians froze to death in the snow trying to cross into US illegally in Manitoba. The fallout from that was extreme. The smugglers were operating out of Florida. And then there's your Buffoon in Chief justifying tariffs on Canada because we are a funnel for fentanyl into US ... which it turns out was total BS. Nevertheless Canada border security had to beef up to make him happy. So don't put this all on Canada.
 
Flying united sav-dulles-frankfurt- serbia. Gracy has assured me i won't even need to stop that my rifle will be sent on to Serbia. I still am starting to get worried.
 
From my experience the documented process from United is not the problem. I flew them last month. We had a mechanical issue that cancelled our flight. It was a complete train reck. Until you get a knowledgeable representative you are screwed. When I finally got to bed (3:30am) I thought I had a new flight the following day out of Cape Town. I was in Johannesburg at the time but did not want to spend 6 days waiting on another flight out of there. It turned out the rep booked me on a flight that had left Cape Town 7 hours earlier. I don’t know how you even do that. A great rep saved the day and we flew out of Johannesburg that night. Just flew with United last week and a rep at the airport was telling me crazy stuff. I said we do this all the time. The next rep was great and on our way. Some randomly quote policy that is super inaccurate. Quality control needs to clean house.
 
Rem280 said:
Avoid Toronto at all costs.
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I concur. Toronto's Pearson International Airport is a CLUSTER _ _ _ _.

I avoid it at all costs now. It's not that long ago that it was rated the world's worst airport.
 
You guys are making my anxiety levels rise to unheard of heights!:confused: I have a moose hunt scheduled for a year from now (2027) with Roberts outfitting in Newfoundland, Canada. It has been a dream of mine to hunt moose, and I'm finally getting a chance to do it at 66 y.o.a.......or am I?
After reading these posts, I'm thinking my hunt is doomed! I'm now seriously considering cancelling the hunt, even though I've put down a significant down payment. Ive had negative experiences with Air Canada a couple of times in the past, and this is just exacerbating my feeling of doom!

Is there any other way to get from Detroit, MI to Newfoundland? I was originally planning on driving to Toronto and then taking a direct flight to deer lake, but with all the negativity I read in these posts, I'm thinking I just just quit now and avoid the hassle. Add to the fact that I am going as a single hunter, and I'm thinking that I'm going to be singled out and targeted because of this from what I'm reading.

Anyone have any positive things to say re: travel to Newfoundland? Driving is not an option......I can't take that much time off work.
 
Mr. 16 gauge said:
You guys are making my anxiety levels rise to unheard of heights!:confused: I have a moose hunt scheduled for a year from now (2027) with Roberts outfitting in Newfoundland, Canada. It has been a dream of mine to hunt moose, and I'm finally getting a chance to do it at 66 y.o.a.......or am I?
After reading these posts, I'm thinking my hunt is doomed! I'm now seriously considering cancelling the hunt, even though I've put down a significant down payment. Ive had negative experiences with Air Canada a couple of times in the past, and this is just exacerbating my feeling of doom!

Is there any other way to get from Detroit, MI to Newfoundland? I was originally planning on driving to Toronto and then taking a direct flight to deer lake, but with all the negativity I read in these posts, I'm thinking I just just quit now and avoid the hassle. Add to the fact that I am going as a single hunter, and I'm thinking that I'm going to be singled out and targeted because of this from what I'm reading.

Anyone have any positive things to say re: travel to Newfoundland? Driving is not an option......I can't take that much time off work.
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My advice is to prepare for the worst in Toronto. Plan for confusion, extra time, etc. Coming back US customs is a joke. They could careless about the meat I had and only worried about my gun. Cameroon had their shit more together than Toronto.
 
My hunting buddy and his son flew to Newfoundland with their guns in June 2025 and hunted moose and caribou with no firearm issues. I don’t know what airline(s) they flew. I DO know that I’m not flying anywhere Internationally anytime soon on MY dime with current flight costs what they are, regardless of whether I’m taking a firearm(s) or not.
 
Mr. 16 gauge said:
You guys are making my anxiety levels rise to unheard of heights!:confused: I have a moose hunt scheduled for a year from now (2027) with Roberts outfitting in Newfoundland, Canada. It has been a dream of mine to hunt moose, and I'm finally getting a chance to do it at 66 y.o.a.......or am I?
After reading these posts, I'm thinking my hunt is doomed! I'm now seriously considering cancelling the hunt, even though I've put down a significant down payment. Ive had negative experiences with Air Canada a couple of times in the past, and this is just exacerbating my feeling of doom!

Is there any other way to get from Detroit, MI to Newfoundland? I was originally planning on driving to Toronto and then taking a direct flight to deer lake, but with all the negativity I read in these posts, I'm thinking I just just quit now and avoid the hassle. Add to the fact that I am going as a single hunter, and I'm thinking that I'm going to be singled out and targeted because of this from what I'm reading.

Anyone have any positive things to say re: travel to Newfoundland? Driving is not an option......I can't take that much time off work.
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Honestly you are over thinking it. If you driving to Toronto it is a direct flight so just allow time at the border and get there 3 hours early for checkin. If you are connecting, just allow for extra layover time (2 or 3 hours).

I wouldnt be concerned in the least, I be more worried about where you drop your moose and pack out than any of the logistics.
 
I had another thread about the form 4457 for taking a shotgun on a hunt in Canada and what was needed to bring it home. We flew Delta and their subsidiary WestJet. The airport personnel in Calgary and Edmonton were friendly enough when returning, but we got 4 very specific sets of instruction from different ticket agents regarding why some of us would get seat assignments all the way home but some would not based on traveling with guns. Very confusing and unnecessarily stressful. We finally found a manager of some sort who clarified everything and was extremely helpful. She was very interested in our hunt and she said that all the men in her family were hunters and she hoped we would return to hunt again. Was nice to hear.
 
Ok, I'm on United bound to Chicago to connect with Turkish Air to Tanzania. No issues what so ever; in fact couldn't be better.
 
Spoke too soon; someone from Canada took my rifle case off the carousel instead of there own. I'd say "she" was stupid but it turned out to be an outstanding looking woman
 
Mr. 16 gauge said:
You guys are making my anxiety levels rise to unheard of heights!:confused: I have a moose hunt scheduled for a year from now (2027) with Roberts outfitting in Newfoundland, Canada. It has been a dream of mine to hunt moose, and I'm finally getting a chance to do it at 66 y.o.a.......or am I?
After reading these posts, I'm thinking my hunt is doomed! I'm now seriously considering cancelling the hunt, even though I've put down a significant down payment. Ive had negative experiences with Air Canada a couple of times in the past, and this is just exacerbating my feeling of doom!

Is there any other way to get from Detroit, MI to Newfoundland? I was originally planning on driving to Toronto and then taking a direct flight to deer lake, but with all the negativity I read in these posts, I'm thinking I just just quit now and avoid the hassle. Add to the fact that I am going as a single hunter, and I'm thinking that I'm going to be singled out and targeted because of this from what I'm reading.

Anyone have any positive things to say re: travel to Newfoundland? Driving is not an option......I can't take that much time off work.
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probably not what yu wanna hear - but a pretty simple solution. Check with your outfitter to see if he has a loaner for yu to use, carefree travel ... after all us Canucks use the same guns as you guys
 
coyote wacker said:
I can look out my back door and see Canada. Before 9/11 hop in the boat go over for dinner and drinks never a problem. Theres very good fishing on the Ontario side of Lk St. Clair I will not go because of the problem with Boarder Patrol, Customs and MNR all watching the border. When you call Canadian Border they can send you 20-30 miles by boat to check in with Customs. When theres a Boarder Station at the port you are going to. Beyond stupid !

I made it a lot easer for them.....I don't go to Canada for dinner or the weekend by boat and spend my money in the USA on dinner.
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As a Canadian, i haven't been to USA a single time since 9/11 and would not be sad to live out the rest of my days without ever going again. What is sad to me the bloody nuisance the USA has made of that once virtually open-border.
 
woodsrunner said:
As a Canadian, i haven't been to USA a single time since 9/11 and would not be sad to live out the rest of my days without ever going again. What is sad to me the bloody nuisance the USA has made of that once virtually open-border.
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Just what is this nusensce? Can you explain, I'd really like to know.
 
I must disagree not flying United Airlines to Canada or anyplace else. I just got back from a Yukon Moose hunt which I flew from Houston to Denver then onto Vancouver . I had zero problems with my gun or luggage. Once I cleared customs in Vancouver I flew Air North to Whitehorse and everything arrived with no problems or hassles. On my way back from Vancouver to Houston again zero problems with luggage or rifle case.
Hint...Do not fly Air Canada when booking with United. They are terrible about rifle cases. Make sure you are flying with a United plane and not Air Canada. Once in Canada book a flight on Air North not Air Canada.
 
You picked the two worst airports and the two worst airlines in NA and then threw a gun in the mix. I go out of my way to avoid all of the above at almost any cost, and that has taken some doing as I ran a US division of a Canadian based Fortune 500 company. I have even gone to the lengths of using a private jet to avoid them when my schedule is critical. Neither airline gives a flying fart about you regardless of your status or class of service, and both airports are run with complete incompetence.
 
Rafiki said:
Just what is this nusensce? Can you explain, I'd really like to know.
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Well, the list of nuisances that border causes a Canadian these days is long. But for starters, when i was a young man (suspect by vintage alone) i could pull up to the US border in whatever jalopy i was driving, and as often as not the border agent would do no more than ask me my citizenship. I'd tell them "Canadian" and they'd flag me through. If you added the additional question of "purpose for trip" that covered probably 80% of exchanges. No ID required, certainly no passport. Then came the passport thing. Then came the rise in exchanges with borderguards who were officious to the point of overt rudeness - rude as baseline. That's when i quit going to the U.S. It's worrisome when while being grilled a guy can't stop envisioning the same sort of exchanges happening in a pub, say, with the same characters and how that might go for them. I decided to stop putting myself in danger. I reckoned that living in the second largest country on earth with all the other countries to visit other than the US if i got the itch i had enough to keep me occupied without missing anything, and that's turned out to be the case. And the border thing has only gotten worse. This past summer a friend of mine was at the airport set to depart to New York City on a business trip. The borderguard immediately launched into telling him he had already used up his work visa time allotment (untrue.) When documents were produced to the contrary of the guard's claim, the guard told my friend he would be detained while it was determined whether he would be sent to a detention centre in Texas or not. Fortunately, my friend was able to tell him, sorry bud, i'm still standing on Canadian soil - i withdraw my request. He walked out. Similar experiences and stories abound today - and much worse. Okay, maybe "nuisance" is wrong word. "Gongshow" perhaps. I admit that you are typically safe from such banana republic nonsense, based on what i hear from other friends and family, when flying, that in this regard my friend's experience was a bit of an anomaly. Nonetheless, i hear more and more of late of folks here adopting a "fuhgeddabowdit" policy towards visiting the USA of today.
 
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woodsrunner said:
Well, the list of nuisances that border causes a Canadian these days is long. But for starters, when i was a young man (suspect by vintage alone) i could pull up to the US border in whatever jalopy i was driving, and as often as not the border agent would do no more than ask me my citizenship. I'd tell them "Canadian" and they'd flag me through. If you added the additional question of "purpose for trip" that covered probably 80% of exchanges. No ID required, certainly no passport. Then came the passport thing. Then came the rise in exchanges with borderguards who were officious to the point of overt rudeness - rude as baseline. That's when i quit going to the U.S. It's worrisome when while being grilled a guy can't stop envisioning the same sort of exchanges happening in a pub, say, with the same characters and how that might go for them. I decided to stop putting myself in danger. I reckoned that living in the second largest country on earth with all the other countries to visit other than the US if i got the itch i had enough to keep me occupied without missing anything, and that's turned out to be the case. And the border thing has only gotten worse. This past summer a friend of mine was at the airport set to depart to New York City on a business trip. The borderguard immediately launched into telling him he had already used up his work visa time allotment (untrue.) When documents were produced to the contrary of the guard's claim, the guard told my friend he would be detained while it was determined whether he would be sent to a detention centre in Texas or not. Fortunately, my friend was able to tell him, sorry bud, i'm still standing on Canadian soil - i withdraw my request. He walked out. Similar experiences and stories abound today - and much worse. Okay, maybe "nuisance" is wrong word. "Gongshow" perhaps. I admit that you are typically safe from such banana republic nonsense, based on what i hear from other friends and family, when flying, that in this regard my friend's experience was a bit of an anomaly. Nonetheless, i hear more and more of late of folks here adopting a "fuhgeddabowdit" policy towards visiting the USA of today.
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Thanks @woodsrunner . I can understand your position and understand I do; I too am of the age of remembering when things we quite different. It used to be the big question coming across the border was how many walleye do you have.

Unfortunately America has become a target, I don't believe Canada has. As an American I'm happy that our government has finally decided that loose border security is not a good thing. You read the news so you know the problems that we've endured for way to long. Still, if I were in your shoes I'd be thinking "I'm a good guy, a neighbor, I speak English for Christ sake". The thing is not everyone coming across the Canadian border are like you so questions have to be asked.

Think of it this way; Canada has it's own admittance policies that do not align with those of the US yet it shares a border with the US. We must know who is coming across as they may not be our neighbor.

I just arrived in Tanzania and believe me they have their rules and ask questions that you wonder why they were asked, I'm an American after all. I just figure their country, their rules; it's really not such a big deal.

I wish it was still all about Walleyes but it's not anymore.
 
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