Separated From Ammo

[BeeMaa]

This is exactly what happened to me only the ongoing flight was to Zambia. By the time my ammo got to Lusaka and then on a supply flight to our camp the hunt was pretty much over. I’ve tried to mitigate this risk on subsequent trips by extending my layover in Johannesburg.

This is exactly what we do. Make sure there is enough time between flights. Although recently it pretty tough getting an airline to stick to their schedule.

 

[Andrew62]

On one of my trips to Zimbabwe my gun arrived on the same plane I was on, my luggage arrived 9 days later.

On one of my trips to the rain forest my luggage and gun made it, I saw my luggage bag and rifle case being put on the air charter into the rain forest, I then saw them both being taken off the air charter. Got to camp, my PH says, 'didn't you bring luggage?' After watching my bag come off the air charter someone put it back on the plane. My bag arrived 7 days later when another camp had a hunter coming into the rain forest.

The moral of the story is, when you hunt with a common caliber, like I do, .375H&H, ammo was available both times this happened. Had I been hunting with a host of other calibers I would have had a bigger issue on my hands.

 

[MTJumbo]

If you have an unusual caliber or a special cartridge, try to ship it to your PH ahead of your hunt. Correspond with him to see of he got it. It would be a small price to pay if you need to shoot your own ammo.

 

[Hogpatrol]

So far, only one lost, then recovered bag on the way home from RSA. If hunting with another, we split the ammo. He has half of mine and I have half of his.

 

[375Fox]

If you have an unusual caliber or a special cartridge, try to ship it to your PH ahead of your hunt. Correspond with him to see of he got it. It would be a small price to pay if you need to shoot your own ammo.

That’s not possible. You can ship ammo inside the US. You cannot ship ammo internationally.

 

[dhoover]

I considered starting a thread on the Delta flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg. My gun made it, but my clothes and ammo did not until day 8. My wife and friends went to Victoria falls for a several days and flew back through Joberg and she got my bag and brought it me. I had a set of hunting clothes in my carryon with my binoculars but not my boots. I had to buy a cheap pair of boots in a mall on the way to the ranch for $30 and they weren't worth that much. Luckliy Glen had some 375 Ruger 300 grain TSX that I had left after my last hunt 2 years ago. In every picture I'm either wearing a Glen or Francois shirt.

I had a 4 hour layover in Atlanta and still my bag didn't make it. It sat in Atlanta for 7 days before they sent it over. When my wife picked it up, they wouldn't allow her to take the ammo (which was in a locked ammo box) because she didn't have a rifle to go with it. Even though she had a copy of my rifle permit and Gilbert helping her. So, my ammo is now with Africa Sky waiting on me for next time. Actually, Glen was going to get it from them at some point.

My bag wasn't missing anything but several guys on our trip were missing KUIU or Sitka gear and binoculars but no way to know where it went missing.

Delta is wholly not responsible, stating that all claims for lost or missing luggage must be filed against the final leg of the journey per international law. Even though my whole problem was Delta's fault.

 

[Andrew62]

This is a bit off topic but I really recommend everyone use AirTags or something of the sort when traveling. Last year when I was flying from Harare to JNB on to IAD, when I arrived back to JNB I was told my rifle did not make the flight down from Harare. I pulled out my phone, showed the guy at the SAPS office that my gun was showing there at JNB, he still didn't believe me. After several pleas for him to find someone to go look, they did, and they found it. Without the AirTag I have no idea what would have become of my gun.

 

[Firebird]

Never happened to me but this is why it’s a nice thing to do to leave excess ammunition with your ph. Someone, someday might need what you left behind. I don’t know if that is legal in all countries and some handloads probably shouldn’t be left behind

 

[rifletuner]

In 2007 I flew from Johannesburg to Uppington for a hunt in Namibia. I was travelling with a friend and when we arrived at Uppington our rifles came out of the plane and my case was unloaded along with both our rifle cases. But my friends case never came out.

Our outfitter went off and spoke to the airport staff. Turns out the flight was overloaded before departure from Joburg, so the baggage handlers randomly offloaded some cases from out plane and the flight departed. Not only did my friend have none of his clothes etc, he had no ammo. But his rifle was a 300 win mag and the outfitter had ammo at his property, so we were out hunting right after we resighted my friends rifle to the new ammo that evening. I took my 308 Baer on that trip, which is a 300 Wby length case with a 35 degree shoulder. If my ammo went missing I would have been in a lot of trouble for the trip. That is as close as I have come to a complete screw up. I have travelled with wildcats a few times and managed to stay lucky, but that was a very unsettling experience.

My friend was eventually reunited with his bag, but it was a big screw about.

 

[BeeMaa]

I’ve heard of friends on a trip splitting up their ammo (different cartridges) between them to minimize the risk of late or lost luggage.

Wouldn’t hurt if you were both shooting the same cartridge. My wife and I will travel with our 300WM’s and split the ammo. Not that 300WM is hard to find, but we like a specific bullet and load.