Delta ban on Trophies

I just an email to Delta letting them know I will no longer be a customer of theirs. We need to let them know that this will cost them.

broncolcj said:

Does anybody know what other airlines ship trophies from Africa to America?

I do believe I hear Satan laughing with delight.

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+1

I appreciate a warped since of humor.

no matter what the facts are the media will tell it the way they want.the fence straddlers on hunting will never get the truth,if they did they would then understand hunting and would lean to the right way of thinking.

I also just sent them a lovely email. Too bad Americans don't have a choice that is much better than Delta to fly with. If we could only get Alaska Airlines to fly direct to South Africa...hmmm.

Also posted to their facebook message board and it only too ~15min for a PETA troll to respond to it.

Delta transferred my lioness to an inbound warehouse today for CBP clearance. The timing on that was close!

Warbird782 said:

Delta transferred my lioness to an inbound warehouse today for CBP clearance. The timing on that was close!

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That is good news. You must be living right.

Mine is supposed to ship tomorrow and tracking still shows "confirmed" so we'll see. I really have my fingers crossed that it gets loaded and flies tomorrow.

JimP said:

From what I read it is only the big 5 that they are banning so if you are shipping plains game that is still a go for now. This isn't saying that they won't do something else down the road.

I think that right now they are just caving to all the bad publicity that is happening in two incidents when all the facts are not present yet.

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I feel it's important that we as a community need to voice our opinions more loudly. Where are all the conservation organizations in all this? If hunting makes that much money for conservation, why aren't these organizations lobbying and getting the correct information out there? I know the anti's have a loud voice and the media is biased towards the liberals, but social media is a powerful tool and there are other means to get the info out.

I have been responding to almost every YouTube video I can find about Cecil and going to war with people in the comments. You can't let them just say what they want, you have to attack them with the truths of the matter; get the crowd on your side. Attack their arguments and avoid any form of name-calling, there is no place for ad hominem in our defense. Call out their B.S. and don't move from your position. Sure it's a lot of work, but as someone who has never hunted Africa, I want there to be an Africa when I can afford to one day go.

I think one of the key problems with gun and hunting cultures is that we are always playing defense, trying only to educate those who are interested. We need to push beyond that and educate anyone we talk to. My wife, mother, and father knew nothing about the contributions hunting made to conservation, but I told them all about it once I learned. Even my friends have changed their position on hunting big game once I explained the economics behind it. We can't attack with tired rhetoric or negative statements about the other side, we need to fight uneducated and ignorant people with education. Any time you come across and anti, offer them the number to call their state conservation department. Tell them hunter's education is free. They want the government to take care of them, let the government supply them the facts about hunting.

P.S.: I am aware hunter's education is not taught by government employees, but the education manuals are.

Warbird782 said:

Delta transferred my lioness to an inbound warehouse today for CBP clearance. The timing on that was close!

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I'm glad it worked out for you. Be sure to post pics once you've got it all taken care of.

From what I understand it's only the big 5..... Nevertheless, they are just the latest in bandwagon jumpers. Screw them. I hope hunters find better travel solutions. Just to make point. Yes, cargo will always happen..... Air/sea. Probably pay more & take longer.... Thanks to high demand, low supply..... Friggin' aholes. I'm flying emirates in May.... Suck it delta & SAA

@BWH where does Emirates fly out of from the US to RSA?

Specifically.... DFW-Dubai-JNB..... Not bad.... A few hours longer each way. Nice, new planes, good service, reviews, etc.....

Warbird782 said:

Delta transferred my lioness to an inbound warehouse today for CBP clearance. The timing on that was close!

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Hope all your paperwork is in order so as to please FWS. They are looking for trouble these days.

BWH said:

'm flying emirates in May.... Suck it delta & SAA

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Uh,yeah, Emirates also banned trophy shipments along with the others

The last I heard SAA was again shipping trophies, there is a thread about it here somewhere.

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/saa-cargo-lifts-ban-on-trophies.23327/

Also SAA isn't that bad of a airline in my round trip with them. The leg room was enough for me to stretch out in coach and I'm 6'4" and 230lbs, and the food wasn't that bad either for airline food.

I read some reviews on them and I expected the worst but they were a lot nicer than the Delta plane that I flew on from Salt Lake City to NYC on my way out.

On edit I added the link to a thread

JimP said:

I think that right now they are just caving to all the bad publicity that is happening in two incidents when all the facts are not present yet.

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Agree, this sounds like a preemptive move to make sure they don't get any bad PR associated with shipping the soup du Jour of the protesters and bunny huggers of the world.

Since they are still shipping PG what do they really have to lose, in their mind anyway?

What a joke....

I had my last trophies shipped by sea. Takes longer than air freight, but unless you are dying and want to see the trophies before you leave this mortal coil, what is another couple months?

It really is a business decision. I can't imagine that air freight of big 5 trophies represents much of the overall Delta air cargo income. We can piss and moan and boycott on the passenger side. Hunters represent probably a measurable fraction of passenger fares, and a ship isn't a viable option for most of us. But in the end, they know we don't really have much choice. They know we'll fly some airline and they know that all of them are more or less the same, at least domestic carriers and eventually we'll be back.

For a while I stopped flying US air because they lost my luggage for 4 days on a nonstop to Frankfurt. Not sure how complicated "here's by bag, put on the plane, take it off in Germany" could possibly be, but they managed to jack it up completely. I spent 4 days living out of my carry on and I had a great time. Hell, I ended up having 5 drinks with lunch at the first place I went to and the owner comped them all! A positive attitude is contagious. They can misplace my luggage but they can't ruin my vacation.

I had some satisfactory flights on other airlines and then I tried to fly United to Canada for New Years and the connecting flight (also United) was delayed but they told us specifically it wasn't delayed enough for us to miss the flight to Canada. I got to the gate to see the plane pulling out. I asked what the deal was, didn't they know our connecting flight was delayed given that it was a United flight? They said they knew it but were told to go anyway. We ended up stranded in Washington DC for the night, it took them 4 hours to get our luggage to us, and they wouldn't pay for a hotel. So they were off the list. I was absolutely livid. But I called AMEX platinum, told them my situation, asked them to do something, anything to make things ok and I really didn't care how much it cost. I ended up getting a FANTASTIC hotel in Washington on my own dime and enjoying myself in Washington rather than Canada. So scratch United but not my vacation.

Delta had always been good to us, and I was running out of options so I booked them for my Argentina flight. I just went with one checked bag and my usual small, appropriately sized carry on full of expensive and fragile gear. When I got to the check in desk for the short connecting flight, the lady told me that there was no room for any more carry on luggage. I asked did my ticket not include a carry on? She told me that others had brought too much and there wasn't room. So I asked where I should retrieve my bag upon arrival to Atlanta. She told me that it would be checked through to Buenos Aires. I explained that it contained fragile and expensive gear and what should I do when it wasn't there in Buenos Aires? She shrugged her shoulders so I asked if she was dismissing my concern. She specifically said, yes, I am dismissing your concern. So essentially, since she failed to enforce the rules (there were people on board with large backpacks AND oversized carryons, and one woman in front of me had a bag so big she couldn't retrieve it upon arrival because it had gotten wedged into the compartment) on carry-on size and number limits, I who followed the rules was screwed. By the time I had gotten to Atlanta, I made a new friend in the waiting area and we went out for beers. Talked hunting and that was that.

At this point, I've learned that unless I sprout wings or suddenly have the economic wherewithal to afford a private jet capable of intercontinental travel, I am pretty much at their mercy. They just realized it before I did. I can no longer boycott the airlines that have screwed me over and continue to fly. So, I'll fly whatever is convenient time and route-wise; I'll go in smiling but fully expecting to be screwed in a new and creative way by people who for that shining moment in their lives have all the power. If things work out as planned I will be delighted and surprised, if they don't that's the way it is and I'll try again the next flight or the next day or whatever. In the meantime, I'll find something to do and I'll enjoy it because I'm not a miserable SOB and I'm not going to let some idiot f up my vacation. I'll continue to wear a jacket and tie like I did in the days when jet travel was still a luxury and enjoyable and pretend it still is. After all, no matter how bad they manage to make the experience, there is still something pretty damn amazing about flying 600 miles an hour 8 miles high. I'll take the high road and try my best to be pleasant to or at least ignore the jack wagons and I'll continue to compliment and thank the many people who still actually try. If they can manage a kind word and a smile while working in that industry, the least I can do is return the kindness 7 fold while I'm on vacation.

So if dip/pack.... By ship/freighter ain't that big of a deal. Probably save some money.

The crying shame of all this is the media and the social media and even the government (on both sides of the pond) don't have the wherewithal to stand on fact and evidence based research that hunting and conservation are better for wildlife surviva than any other method. Teddy Roosevelt was right about hunting and how it saves big game...public opinion untempered by fact is still just opinion…

You're damn straight! It's a shame..... One can't have an opposing opinion on Bruce Jenner, Fergeson, MO, Baltimore riots, Hunting, rainbow flag, confederate flag, etc.... Without your life being destoyed & rode out of town on a rail..... So what do all the chicken shits do???? The side with the radicals just not to be ostracized. It's a cold day in hell..... Total BS!!!!

The business about the carry on above makes my blood boil over! Some of the things I see the ignorant masses haul aboard a plane and get away with it makes me want to go berserkers! On my trip last year, this little Asian fellow came on with a carry on nearly as tall as himself and asked me to stow it in the overhead bins. I asked him how in the hell it got it past the folks at the door. He just laughed at me, and yes I put it in the bin for him and took it down as well. No way he could do it, too short. But the fact that the airlines LET this happen is what really makes me mad. All they need do is put one of those little contraptions at the gate that checks carry on size. No fit, no go. Tag it and throw it in the hold. Tough sh*t. Stop trying to get away with stuff. Then you don't have happen what happened to Bert. I cannot imagine some twerp telling me what they told him and basically not even caring. What a world.