Shipping stuff *home* after a match

[memilanuk]

Plenty of threads about getting your stuff *to* the match, if you have to fly and ship gear/ammo separately... been there, done that, got the T-shirt, as they say.

Never really been happy with getting stuff back *home* afterwards.

I've done the usual... hand off to a friend that is local, or at least, lives close-ish, to ship back to me later. Sometimes that works, sometimes... well, life gets in the way.

I've shipped ahead to the hotel... but then I'm stuck scrambling on the back end trying to find a place that'll take UPS packages with ORM-D (or the newer equivalent) on a Sunday evening / Monday morning before I fly out.

Since I usually fly with as much ammo as I can, and ship the rest, I usually try to shuffle the boxes around and fly home with any remaining live ammo, and only have to ship spent cases, no live rounds (take THAT, UPS Store / Mailboxes Etc.!!! )

I've *heard* that you can arrange for on-site pick-up at the hotel (or hopefully, AirBnB location), but I'm not sure if that's just a business/commercial account sort of thing, or something that applies for everyone.

Anyone out there have a good solution for shipping left-over ammo, as well as some of the heavier/bulkier gear like spotting scopes, stands, rear bags, boards/plates, shooting mats, etc.?

TIA,

Monte

 

[rardoin]

I've bit the bullet and shipped the gear back using a UPS Store near my location. It cost a bit more than the shipping to the match which was done from a UPS main location (the stores upcharge a bit!). However, leftover ammo was carried back in my checked baggage. I traveled with my rifle as checked baggage but removed my optic and carried it on in a bag. My front rest was shipped in one case and I have a large SKB case that holds all the rest of my gear including spotting scope. The convenience of the UPS store outweighs arranging shipping from a cheaper, but less convenient main location....particularly if it makes my flight arrangements tougher or requires another day off from work.

Robin

 

[MislMan]

Has anybody here tried sending “packages/boxes” on the bus (Greyhound). A long time ago (20 years) I used to send packages using Greyhound and a transport. Just boxed things up and took the boxes to the bus station. Of course someone has to be at the final destination to pick-up the boxes when they arrive. Might still be able to do this. I do not compete nor travel with shooting gear so I have no idea if this could be work.

Edit: just checked Greyhound website. They do have a program for this called “ Bus Freighter” for this purpose.

 

[Keith Glasscock]

I had the nice people at the Whittington Center take care of it for me last year. Worked awesome, great people.