Like the title says, let's talk experiences with taxidermy and household goods in trailer through Canada and back into AK.

I am looking at pulling a trailer with some household goods from MT to ANC.  I understand the ammo concept and am working on the permits to exceed 5,000 RDS, so no issues there and will be flying up my non Fudd guns.  

I have a shoulder mounted bull elk and a pronghorn mount.  I also have a black bear rug and skull that was harvested in Montana.  

I understand AK black bears and skulls are CITES animals, so I'm thinking I will just mail the bear rug and skull to AK vs. dealing with taking it through CA.  

So does anyone have any experience taking taxidermy mounts through Canada and back into AK?

What if any paperwork is done with taxidermy leaving and entering US and CA?

Also, as far as household goods, anything in particular when exiting US into CA and then re-entering US?  


Thanks in advance Everyone!

UPDATE

Alright, I have arrived to Alaska and thought i'd provide an update and lay out my experience moving to AK.  Like many, I decided to pack up all my belongings and drive the ALCAN.  As you can see by the date of this posting, I left a little later in the year, and because of that, ran into winter driving on the ALCAN.  So with that, here is my experience:

1.  I transported over 32k rounds of loaded ammo through Canada, 150 lbs of powder, and 30k of primers.  For this, I applied for a permit through Canada.  The process is now electronic (http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/explosives/resources/publications/19434) and I did mine solely based on weight.  Specifically, my permit was good for "X" kilograms of loaded ammo, "X" kilograms of powder, and "X" kilograms of primers.  I did not specify caliber, round count, quantity, etc., it was all about weight.  I received my approved electronic permit within 3 days of submitting it.  

2.  As for firearms, I chose to not bring any, and instead flew them all up.  Lots easier and I recommend this.  It'll definitely help you clear customs a hell of a lot easier.  

3.  Taxidermy.  I have several pieces of taxidermy.  I drove up all my non-CITES animals (a CITEs animal are bears and other "endangered" furbearers; google it for more info).  For non-CITES animals, you must go to the US CBP office at the border prior to departing the US and fill out a form listing all the taxidermy items you have.  Its a very simplistic form and takes mere minutes to complete.  Once you do, the CBP officer stamps it, makes a copy, and gives you a copy.  The officer who helped me complete the form was kind, cordial, and helpful.  

Now on with my experience:

EXITING the US - Prior to crossing the border, I went into the US CBP office to declare I was exporting my taxidermy (elk, deer, antelope).  I filled out a form, the officer stamped, made copy, and gave me copy.  I did not discuss any of my possessions, etc., because I did not have any firearms.  If I did not have any taxidermy or firearms, there would've been zero point of stopping for US CBP, instead I would've proceeded directly into Canada.  

ENTERING CANADA - I entered Canada via Montana (my home state).  Upon entry into Canada, their immigration officer asked me several generic questions, to include if I had alcohol/tobacco (I did not), if I had weapons (I did not) and at that time, I informed him I was transporting ammunition and handed him my printed out permit.  The Canadian agent looked at my permit and asked if I really possessed 450 KG (950 lbs) of loaded ammo.  I affirmed that I did, he asked why I would own so much, I told him I was a competitive shooter.  He asked how many loaded rounds of ammo I had, I said roughly 32,000 rds.  He again asked why I needed so much, I told him this was actually pretty light for me, as I shoot IPSC/3gun and normally shoot 40,000 rds a year, so in the Spring, I normally possess 70,000 plus rounds of ammo.  He seemed personally shocked and said he would have to go talk to somebody.  He came back 5 or 10 minutes later, asked me again if I had any firearms, I again told him I did not.  He then asked how many guns I owned in general.  I answered and he asked where I had these weapons stored.  I told him I still owned a home in Montana and all my guns were in a safe in my house in Montana.  He asked specifically how many handguns I owned, I answered, and he then continued on with the "where are the guns at in your vehicle."  He asked me some of the calibers of ammunition I possessed, i told him, and he again asked if i had a handgun hidden in my vehicle or trailer.  We played this game for another 5 or 10 minutes and he finally told me to have a nice day and I was off into Canada.  NOTE:  I never exited my vehicle and no one ever searched anything, it was all just conversation.  The agent was polite yet firm.  

EXITING CANADA - You do not go through customs when exiting Canada, you merely just drive out of the country.  There is a giant sign saying do not bother the customs agents in Beaver Creek, YT customs if you are not a commercial entity exiting the country.    

ENTERING US - I entered the US via the ALCAN Border around 2030 hours.  I handed the US CBP agent my passport, he asked me if I bought anything in Canada, I told him I bought some trailer tires in Canada, as I had cut them on the ALCAN, he asked if I bought anything else, and I answered no.  He asked what was in the trailer I was pulling, I told him household goods, he asked if I possessed a firearm, I told him NO, he then asked if I had anything to declare.  I told him I had several pieces of taxidermy in my possession and had completed the appropriate paperwork with US CBP prior to exiting the US.  I began to hand him a copy and he said he saw the US CBP stamp and I was good to go.  At that point, he told me safe travels.  Entire time speaking with US CBP was less then 3 minutes.  (I was not searched nor did I exit my vehicle.)


KEY POINTS:  Driving the ALCAN this time of year is interesting to say the least.  I hit winter conditions (icy/snow covered roads) the last 1000 plus miles.  It was slow going and I probably averaged 40 to 45 mph.  Take extra fuel with you in gas cans, never let your fuel get below half way, and carry sleeping bags, because you might sleep in your vehicle.  All in all it was an amazing trip and i'm glad to be here.  If you have never driven the ALCAN, I suggest you do someday.  I travelled alone but plan on someday taking my wife and kids on the ALCAN (in the summer) so they can see it.  

If anyone has any questions about the permit process for ammo/reloading supplies or anything else, let me know.  Everyone here helped me with this process, so i'm definitely here to help anyone I can.  

:)

I can't speak for the taxidermy portion but did move up here almost exactly a year ago from Bozeman. I've also taken a few trailers of household goods from AK to MT when I was stationed up here.

In my experiences, the Canadians at Sweet Grass - Coutts crossing always asked few questions and didn't seem to care about our household goods or trailer. Most of the time they seemed half asleep.

Coming into AK has been a little different. The first time they took everything out of my car and examined it for a while. The second they just opened some boxes on the roof and grilled me. And last October they just grilled us about our dog's shot records and didn't even ask about the trailer.

I also flew up my NFA stuff and AR's, good move.

So US customs gave you shit coming back into the US?   Hmmm, that leads me to my next question, I understand the Canadian permits for ammo and reloading components but how about for entering back into the US once I arrive in AK?

I figured as a US citizen, they wouldn't much care what I had unless it was illegal (drugs, etc.).

Am I going to need to grt permits from the US CBP to enter back into the US with ammo and reloading components or is the standard declaration form cbp4457 enough??

I guess I need to call CBP next.

You figured wrong.  I've crossed the US/CAN not dozens of times, but many times.  Almost uniformly, going across the US border either way was more painful than entering Canada.

The Canadians are worried about weapons, but the US guys hassle you about everything.   I find the Canadian guys much more professional.

My experiences exactly. And while coming through the US border crossing into Alaska is generally just an annoyance, after 3-4 days on the Alcan, it can feel downright painful. You'll be fine and I don't think you'll have major issues, but just be prepared for a delay. You might luck out and get somebody who was just transferred up there and isn't bored to death, yet

Just finished our 4th haul up the AK highway, plus we have a couple of shorter jaunts into Canada.  Every crossing is a new experience.  We have never been searched.  We never lied to any question they asked.  When we moved a pronghorn head up no one asked if we had any dead animals.  I never gave it a thought until I read this posting.  That head is from the first hunting trip I got to go on, must be 55+ years old. On the one trip we carried long guns (with all the paperwork) we had no ammo, powder, or primers.  All other trips we had powder and primers and were asked a lot of questions about where the guns were.

Our crossing point has been Sumas for our AK trips.  Always laid back, quick and friendly.  This last time the line was long as was the wait.  They had agents walking through the line of waiting cars/trucks looking inside and asking questions.  Young guy next to us in a sporty car got his stuff searched a lot.  Short hair cut, blue arm braid hung from his rearview.  We felt sorry for the guy.  While they were searching his stuff the line in front of him opened up and I tried to move over as our line was not moving at all.  That was noticed and we got a visit from the agents.  Lots of questions for us, many of them asked several times.  Soon enough we were on our way.

This was the first trip neither BP asked where I worked.

Our worst experience was a short visit to Vancouver, BC, coming back into the US.  We'd been on the road a long time and it was pretty warm.  They flagged our truck/trailer and had us pull over.  We go out and asked if it'd be very long as the dog was in the truck.  Two agents told us to go inside.  The Wife said she was going to let the dog out to pee and roll the windows down on the truck.  I thought the female agent was going to draw her gun.  It was a long wait until someone with some brass walked by and asked why we were sitting there.  "We don't know."  He said he was off duty in 20 min. and he would get us cleared.  Away we went.  Jerks.

PS.  Gas in TOK was 40 cents (?) less than Glennallen.  We carried enough extra that we didn't have to pay the gouge tax in Glennallen this last time.

Oh yeah...  I showed the Canadians a list of rifles I had with me, and they proceeded to strip my truck down to bare metal.  After 3 hours or so, I put my truck back together like the jigsaw puzzle the box was.

I asked them what they were looking for, and the line "Mosin-Nagant M91      7.62x54R" made them think I had an AK in the truck due to the 7.62 on the line.    I gave them a short but polite education on the differences between a 110 year old 5' long rifle against a 3' assault rifle and their chamberings, and how both rifles came about.  To their credit, they were both embarrassed.


Most gas stations take US dollars at a decent exchange rate, but not all.  Be prepared if carrying cash.  Make sure you have enough gas to go the full length of the Cassiar highway as gas may not be available outside Bell 2, and you have to pay extra if you buy from the Natives as a non-tribal member.

And a bit of a varriation on this one... I got up early to hit the road one morning, swung by Tim Hortons in Fort Nelson at 5am (when they open) and grabbed coffee. Was going to pull into the Esso there and top off, as I maxed out the pump limit the night before at a different station when I pulled into town, but that station wasn't open till 6, so even though their pumps took credit cards, the pumps were turned off.

I skipped the 2-3 gallons I needed and hit the road. I didn't want to wait an hour, or drive the mile or so back into town to see if the other gas station was open or not.

UPDATE in the original post

Thanks for the update.  Glad you had a safe trip.  We made our last run in late Sept. because we didn't want to deal with the winter roads...glad we did!

Glad you made it up with no issues!

That was the same conversation I had in 2015 going up. Even the "why do you need so much ammunition?"

Didn't even look at my dog's paperwork.

Kudos to your pops for driving up in the winter, that definitely had to be a hell of a trip!

Thanks for that report, OP. I'll be in the same boat next year, but I think I'll send the firearms up via ffl. Likewise I'll just ship all the kits up.

So where are you settling down in state?  As a heads up, don't take Viper up on his offers to run brass through his cleaning system for reloading.  That's how he gets (and pimps out) his ammo slaves.

Tag

I'm in the matsu for the next 5 or 6 yrs.  Then I'm moving up to Fairbanks.   I used to work in Fairbanks 5 yrs ago and want to get back up north and out of the Anchorage area.

Ha, I prefer driving it in the winter..been on it almost 50 times now(used to drive motorhomes and travel trailers up for a dealer years ago..) love driving that road.....Oh welcome by the way..now tell me you are a hunter too right?

The sole reason I moved here was to hunt and fish.  Mostly hunt though and get lost in Alaska when not at work.  

Ah, well awesome.. we have a small group who hunt together, if you have issues getting hunting partners, or need info, let me know....might be able to add another to the group...