The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting Travel Forum Some of my questions on traveling to NamibiaGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I have never flown overseas with guns and I've never been to Africa. This August I will be flying to Namibia, so here we go: For the Custom form 4457 do you list rifles and scopes on seperate forms? My luggage is checked through from LAX to Atlanta and then to London where I have a 13 hour layover. Is there any special paperwork for the UK if I land at Gatwick and leave from Gatwick? Is there a firearms license required in Namibia, before I get in country? (I would ask my PH but the inconsiderate bastard is out hunting. You'd think that he would be sitting by the phone and computer until August 14th in case I have questions!) I've read Delta airlines baggage rules for travelling with guns but nowhere does it say that you can put ammunition in the same case. Does the ammo have to be in a locked box inside the rifle case or inside a seperate checked bag? And lastly, why is time going by so slowly? Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | ||
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You can do the 4457 however you want. I generally put one rifle/scope combo on its own form and use a separate one for cameras and binoculars. That way I can take a form for each rifle. I did have one customs agent try to match a scope serial number to the second rifle but it was easy to sort out. Your travel agent should tell you about the layover. Generally if your bags are checked all the way through and you are not claiming them in the UK or changing airports you should be fine, but verify with the travel agent and stay in the international transit part of the airport unless you are certain that leaving it will not require you to claim your luggage. You should be able to complete most of the Namibia firearms form before you leave but it should be completed and the permit issued on arrival at the firearms office. When I was on Delta they wanted my ammo separate from my rifles but that was 2005. There seems to be inconsistency at times between airline policies and the views of the gate agents. If you are ready for the trip it will take a while to get here, but if you are not ready it will arrive sooner! ------------------------------- Some Pictures from Namibia Some Pictures from Zimbabwe An Elephant Story | |||
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You can fill out 4457 for gun(s)separate from scopes currently mounted.Your 4457 is good for as long as you own the gun.I have made several trips,and have mine laminated so they dont get tattered.If you are taking any camera gear,fill one out for that also.4457"s prove ownership for reentry to the US,so you dont pay duty on your own possesions. On ammo;be prepared to be flexible,take a lockable ammo box (I use a Stong ammo case that fits in my checked bag).Just smile alot,and go with the flow. Biggest mistake on my fist trip was not just letting it happen,worried that everything was another thing to worry about.I've been in houses that are as big as the Windhoek airport.Very easy to go though. Have a back up plan for guns in England,just in case you have to switch airports(you need a bonded agent for gun);look for past thread on london airports. Your biggest problem is you will want to go back! I've used 5 outfitters in 3 countries,Namibia is the best...fair prices,good hunting ethic,fast and cheap trophy export. PM me for good shipper if you like... Good hunting, I'm going back in 09,Europe this year. | |||
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My bathroom is bigger than the room they check your guns in  The Namibia PH sight used to have a copy of the firearms form....looked old and then scanned I just got one there and filled it out while waiting on my case to get in the window. The Namibian police didn't seem to mind. On the flight from Frankfurt, after breakfast they gave us the form to fill out, you give it to them w/your passport, and we had plenty of flight left to fill it out. This is the only form that threw me for a loop, they need an address for where you are hunting. The "pbox" or whatever in Windhoek won't work. You want to find the correct answer now! Robert Robert If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy. Thomas Jefferson, 1802 | |||
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Thanks for the help guys, I forgot about the 4457s for the cameras. I'm sure that Karl will fill me on the forms when he gets back from hunting but at least now I know what to ask for. Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Frank, My PH told me we would do paperwork @ the airport customs. You should put your camera gear, binos, guns & scope on 4457, break them up any way you want. I can't help w/ travel, first time to Namibia, but I've always flown direct into Joberg. This Sept. I am going LAX via Franfurt to NAmibia. Hopefully all goes well. Lufthansa & United have a baggage handling agreement w/ AirNamibia. I'm not sure Delta does so you'll have to stay ontop of your luggage transfer. Hey, if you feel like driving up to Tehachapi one Sunday before you go, I'll treat you to some range time @ the shooting club there. I'm going to be there next Sunday, & once in July as well, fine tuning the 404j for buffalo. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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By the way, Delta also has the following in their website: "Firearms transported to the United Kingdom as checked baggage require a permit from the United Kingdom. The passenger must contact the United Kingdom for more information regarding this permit." My interpretation is that "to the United Kingdom" means actually imported into the country through customs, not merely in transit as baggage on a connecting airline. However, as the note says, you should "contact the United Kingdom for more information". So, I suppose you need to give the Queen a buzz and ask her if she needs to issue you her Royal blessing. | |||
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Delta explicitly asked us if our ammunition was in a seperate piece of luggage. My experience was that the ammunition may NOT be inside the gun case. I know that the website and TSA regs say otherwise but what matters is the undertsanding of the Delta employees you deal with. I would play it safe and pack ammo in your luggage. ______________________ I don't shoot elk at 600 yards for the same reasons I don't shoot ducks on the water, or turkeys from their roosts. If this confuses you then you're not welcome in my hunting camp. | |||
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With all due respect DC, doing something that is not specified in their regulations is not necessarily playing it safe. There is nothing in their regs that says the ammunition CAN be anywhere other than in the gun case (although it clearly can.) You always run the chance of getting a baggage agent who either doesn't know the rules or has been misinstructed by a superior (who also doesn't know the rules.) Always print off the rules from the airline's website, along with the TSA rules, and carry them along with all of your other important papers and documents. If the baggage agent gives you the wrong instructions relating to your guns and ammunition, politely show them the instructions you are following and explain to them that you have followed them to the letter and to please ask a supervisor to approve any deviation from those instructions that the agent is attempting to require. Knowledge is power. Be polite, but be firm and know the rules well before you go. We have to realize that it is only about every 10,000th passenger that shows up with a firearm as a part of their luggage. Most baggage agents are unaccustomed to dealing with firearms, and many of them are, quite understandably, intimidated. Laying the written rules out in front of them makes it easier for both of you. Help them through the process of inspecting for loaded condition and filling out the red "gun unloaded" tag that goes INSIDE the case. Some of the agents you run across, just like the doctors, accountants, or gunsmiths you deal with, will be morons or have outsized egos. If you get one of these, you've got a problem. But most of them are just decent people who are trying to do their job appropriately and when you bring them a firearm, they are forced to cope with a somewhat rare and largely unfamiliar situation. Help them and they'll likely try to help you. | |||
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I learned the hard way that "Posbus" is the equivalent of PO Box; I had thought it was a street name. Caleb | |||
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I will be sure to get the actual location from Karl before I get there. Thanks Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Print the airline/TSA rules the day you leave for the airport...after you recheck them, just in case something got changed since last time you checked them. I did it for my Africa trip and also when flying domestically. Robert Robert If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy. Thomas Jefferson, 1802 | |||
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My family and I leave for Namibia on July 21st. I will have fresh copies of the TSA and Airline rules in my carry on with my tickets and passports. Here is a link (http://www.natron.net/napha/english/huntinglaws.html) for information on the firearms going into Namibia. You can down load/print the form and have it filled out when you get there. Good luck and safe hunting. | |||
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There is absolutely nothing in the TSA regs that says ammo MUST be in your gun case. It is clear that most gate agents I have encountered believe that ammo CANNOT be in your gun case, so why court trouble? "You may carry the ammunition in the same hard-sided case as the firearm, as long as you pack it as described above." TSA Firearms Regs I am aware of no rule that prohibits ammo from being checked outside of your gun case, and I have been asked several times to confirm that my ammo was NOT with my gun. ______________________ I don't shoot elk at 600 yards for the same reasons I don't shoot ducks on the water, or turkeys from their roosts. If this confuses you then you're not welcome in my hunting camp. | |||
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Frank, THIS is important, you can't just fill in a PO Box............ you MUST have a physical address. Have a good hunt, I'll be there in August as well.  Verbera!, Iugula!, Iugula!!! Blair. | |||
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Most hunting locations will not have a formal physical address. However, if you simply use as your local address the name of the "farm" and the town nearest its location ("Wilhelm Gastfarm, Omaruru") it will normally suffice. If you have the number of the road on which it is located, adding that information will help. We simply used the name of the farm and the town, plus added the P. O. Box mailing address of the farm and the officials approved it without comment. If your guide or outfitter has a street address in town, then I am told that using that address will work. | |||
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D.C., you are correct that there are no rules or regulations that require your ammunition to be in your gun case. However, rules allowing it to be elsewhere in your checked baggage are only implied and not expressed. It is much easier to prevail when you are following expressed rules (i.e., gun case may contain "not more than 11 pounds of ammunition") than implied rules. Another problem with carrying ammunition outside of your gun case is that there are other places in the rules that indicate that ammunition must be in a locked container -- and your "other" baggage MUST not be locked. Some address this by putting the ammunition inside a locked box within the "other" baggage. This is a reasonable solution, but still, it is outside of the specified rules. I don't doubt your experience with agents insisting that ammunition NOT be packed in the gun case. Some airlines may have such rules. Delta, the airline of which we are speaking, does not. Some Delta agents may mistakenly be advising that ammunition may not be carried with inside the gun case. They are clearly misinformed and misinforming. My point is that you are "courting trouble" less if you follow the airline and TSA WRITTEN guidelines to the letter, rather than depending on the verbal information you were given by some individual agent or agents sometime in the past. Whatever he or she told you then doesn't mean squat now. The only thing you have to rely on is what is written in the airline and TSA regs. Do it like they say to do it and you are on the safest ground. If you end up losing the argument despite having the written standards on your side, then you can always put the damn ammo in your damn suitcase and be done with it (until reversed at the next stop). Let me reiterate, "playing it safe" does not mean doing next time whatever someone may have erroneously told you last time. "Playing it safe" is doing it according to the written rules and regs. | |||
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The form that asks for the address was on your left as you enter the building from the plane. Do not screw around go right to the tables and get your form, fill it in, and get in the passport line. It will ask for an address where you are staying, several people got sent to the end of the line for not having this address. One guy stopped and showed me what they were being anal about. WTF, where the hell is the address for the Tsesib Conservency. Think quick, Strand Hotel Swakopmund. Wife and kid have pens ready, passport officer looks at it and says all is well. Wife and kid scribble the same thing and off we go. Every other foreigner will be filling out this form, get to it and get to the gun office. Move with a purpose and all goes well. Keith What counts is what you learn after you know it all!!! | |||
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Tsa states "You must securely pack any ammunition in fiber (such as cardboard), wood or metal boxes or other packaging that is specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition" and "You may carry the ammunition in the same hard-sided case as the firearm, as long as you pack it as described above" however if you are flying SAA thay say: "Ammunition A maximum of 5kg securely boxed ammunition per passenger will be permitted for carriage either as a separate piece of baggage or within checked baggage in the hold of the aircraft. Screening authorities may however delay baggage containing ammunition, if such ammunition was not declared at check-in and is therefore not marked with an appropriate tag indicating that such ammunition was already security inspected." | |||
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Joe, Thanks for the quotes. Although the SAA rules don't say you can't have the ammo in the gun case, it is my understanding that their agents (or perhaps it's the SAP) are interpreting it that way. Not having flown on that airline, I can't personally say. The rules of individual airlines may or may not track those of TSA. They may be more restrictive if the airline choses. That's why it is important to print BOTH the TSA and the airline rules to carry with you. In the case of Delta, their own "house" rules specifically allow ammo inside the gun case, so that's what I do when flying that airline. If an airline you are traveling with has rules that specify otherwise, then follow those rules. | |||
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THis is very true. Regardless of what TSA states, you are at the mercy of the Airlines you are flying. if you can find the info you want on the airlene webs site, copy & take it with you. If the counter person still jerks you around, ask for a supr & plead your case then. Patience is definetly a virtue when dealing w/ the whole travel/guns thing. LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT! | |||
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I just returned from my first 10-day PG hunt in Namibia. Was better then I could have hoped for..After I got there!! Tip - make 3 copies of everything. Customs forms, your passport, filled ou Namibia import form and your "motivation" letter. Put a copy of everything in each gun case, you keep the origials and a full set of copies with you, and if you travel with someone else give each other a set. Make several sets of keys for the case and put them in different places. I did this and here is why. My GF and I flew through J'berg and both checked bags (with half ammo for each rifle split between them) and the double gun case did not make the flight (with a four hour layover in J'berg), and the next fligh wouldn't be until the next day (if they found them). Lost bags person in Windhoeck was friendly, filled out a lost bag form, I left a complete set of copies as stated above and departed the A/P for the B&B. PH shows up at 10am the next morning right on time, calls the A/P and is told the bag had not been found but would be delivered to the PH's place (500km NW) just as soon as possible. Low and behold all bags showed up at the PH's place late afternoon of the second day with the required Namibian Customs forms filled out. Only damage was two lost days of hunting and $100 in gifts (cosmetics for the PH's wife) were stollen and someone broke open one of the steel ammo boxes in one of the bags. Filled a claim with SAA for the stolen stuff, the destroyed ammo can and two days of guide fees. That was three weeks ago and haven't heard squat from SAA and frankly don't expect to, and will NEVER fly through J'berg again. | |||
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TSA regulations are for the US and I can assure you that foreign customs and airline employess don't give a rat's ass about the TSA (and with good reason I might add) and their rules unless you are returning to the US. International flight regulations require the ammo and guns to be packed in separate pieces of luggage or whatever. The rules apparently require that they be in some kind of lockable container, most use a metal box. I used a heavy duty plastic camera type case that was initially foam lined, after taking most of the foam out, it nicely held about 7 boxes of ammo, which included 4 of the larger Fed Prem boxes (way more ammo than we needed, I might add, but who knew the baboons would be so uncooperative). I taped the key to the outide of the case, and packed it in a separate bag. It was opened by the TSA in the US, so the "gun case and ammo" issue didn't seem to bother them. I and my son also specifically hunted with common calibers (.308 and .300WM) so that, if worse came to worst, we would easily be able to buy in country ammo. A fact that many might consider when choosing their Namibian hunting cartridges. Is it likely you can get by with the case/guns/ammo in the same package? Certainly, but if you run into a stickler, especially overseas, you may be in a world of shit if you don't have the ammo in some kind of case that you can ship it in separately. For instance, we had to ship just the above mentioned "camera" case as a separate checked luggage from FRA to WDH. Frankly I didn't like our chances, but the German customs assured me they would personally load it on the plane and, wallah, 10 hours or so later it was there in WDH. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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I just, as in last night, returned from Namibia. I've got a couple of tips that might make your trip a bit easier. First, if you're traveling with a companion, one of you should IMMEDIATELY, as soon as you clear the initial customs check point, go to the little room which is to the left and in front of the "normal baggage" claim area and stand there, hopefully in front of close to the front of the line. This little room is where ALL the gun cases will be unloaded off plane, not in the baggage area. Meanwhile your companion can see to your other checked bags that will arrive in the other room. It seems to take about 5 minutes or so for each hunter to get his paperwork in order, and that is if everything goes smoothly. The hunter has to unpack the guns, show the serial numbers to the Namibian police official and he then enters them into his book, and THEN you sign them and he stamps them and wishes you a pleasant hunt and you're out the door. If there are 20 huntes in line in front of you, the time wasted is significant. It is important but not essential to have the paperwork filled out ahead of time.....for god's sake, once you've got it and are leaving the airport, be sure to keep it safe. We had no problem leaving, simply the reverse of the process, showed them the guns and serial numbers and we were out the door but without your paperwork it would likely be more complicated. How much more, I'd just as soon not have to find out. Unlike what has been posted here, it is extremely helpful if you have an actual physical address, even if it is not the exact location where you'll be hunting, just neglect to mention that little detail to the airport police official. The Namibian police officer we dealt with at the airport was friendly, efficient, and very polite BUT he didn't like the fact that we only had a PO Box as an address. I was polite as well, showed him our paperwork which only had a PO Box on it, and he let us in with no real problems. However, it is certainly possible that a substitute or a new official might not be so generous. Get an address, 99% of the ranches have one, and if not, then get the PHs address. It will likely never be a problem, but why ask for trouble when you can so easily avoid it ahead of time. As posted here and in other places, BE SURE TO HAVE COPIES WITH YOU OF ALL RELEVANT PAPERWORK, CONTRACTS, TICKETS, ETC. AND ESPECIALLY OF YOUR 4457s for your return. Finally, Namibia is a wonderful country with great hunting, pleasant people, decent prices and is, in general, much cleaner with much less of the grinding poverty seen in the rest of Africa. You'll love it, start saving for your next trip. Have fun. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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Gato: Let's hear about your trip! How was the layover in Germany? | |||
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Trip was wonderful. I could and might go into detail but the ranch we hunted on, Otjikoko or Martin Walter Farms, has been extensively reviewed by a couple of recently returned hunters. Their reviews were very favorable and those reviews were well founded based on our experiences. I had a helluva time convincing my 14 year old that he couldn't stay in Namibia. His two younger sisters assured my via email that it was a wonderful idea!  As far a Germany goes, the 2 1/2 day layover was kind of a semi-mistake IMO. The dollar/Euro ratio is so high that costs over there are astronomical when you convert dollars to Euros. Luckily, I can afford it but the whole time I felt like I was being screwed without being kissed. A .2L (or roughly 7 ounce) coca-cola was about $7, and this was not an unusually high price but about the average. Only place I've ever been where beer on an ounce for ounce basis was substantially cheaper than coke. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed it, had a nice day boat trip on the Rhine viewing Castles, etc, and we really liked the country and people, not to mention the beer, did I mention the beer?, but compared to how reasonable and enjoyable Namibia is, I'd rather have spent that time (and money) there. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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How did you arrange to handle your guns during the Germany stopover? I'd love to do something similar on my next trip. (I put some loose cash into FDIC-insured CDs demoninated in Euros a couple of years ago, so it wouldn't hurt so much for me to "go native" in Germany for a few days.) | |||
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Thanks guys, I appreciate all the input. Now, I'm the very best at minimalistic packing and I was planning on bringing a Tuffpack and one carry on bag. If I run into an airline employee who insists that I check my ammunition in a seperate bag, what do I do? Frank "I don't know what there is about buffalo that frightens me so.....He looks like he hates you personally. He looks like you owe him money." - Robert Ruark, Horn of the Hunter, 1953 NRA Life, SAF Life, CRPA Life, DRSS lite | |||
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Your baggage allowance is two checked bags. Be prepared for any contingency by checking a soft-sided duffle with a lockable metal or plastic case inside it, even if that's all it contains. If you don't need it for your ammunition, you can use it on the return for souvenirs and dirty clothes. | |||
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Stonecreek: The German/gun storage problem was a concern prior to travel but turned out to be mostly a non-issue, just as Kathi assured me it would be. First of all, since you've been there, I'll mention that the Frankfurt airport, which is supposedly the largest freight airport in the world, must handle freight a helluva lot better than they handle passengers. It is a confusing, relatively poor informationally designed place and this was by no means my first rodeo. That said, when you get your baggage, including your gun case, you kind of wander around a bit looking lost and ask the first polizei or zoli (customs) that you see where their office is. It is kind of behind and centrally located in the baggage area. Go there and explain that you have some firearms that you are taking on to Namibia, or wherever. You will be promptly and politely attended to. Bitching aside, the German customs officials I met were friendly, helpful, and courteous. They simply put my guns and ammo (back to the separate box issue in a minute) in what they called bond after I told them what my travel plans were and issued me a two page receipt with descriptions, etc all in German. I wanted them to keep the tuffpak as well as the bag (that is piece of luggage which contained the ammo container) the ammo was packed in, since the HD plastic camera case mentioned above is relatively small and easily stealable if someone was so inclined, but that balloon didn't fly, so I left them my tuffpak and just the ammo box. They told me to come back WITH TWO AIR NAMIBIA WDH LUGGAGE TAGS WHEN I WAS READY TO DEPART. (Aside, I think this is where the rubber might meet the road if a traveler had his ammo and guns in one case, if one did, I'd do everything I could to avoid mentioning that little detail. In this instance, the German customs didn't even ask me to open my tuffpak and just wrote up a description of it on the receipt, so I could have had ammo in there and gotten away with it) Frankly the baggage tag issue worried me the whole time, since I could easily forsee that an airline employee/ticket agent wasn't going to just hand out luggage tags to every passenger with a "story". In my opinion it creates a huge liability/ security problem for them and I can't imagine it happening over here in the states. Further discussions with other travelers have lead me to believe that my worries had at least some basis in fact, since some said they got them easily and others said they wouldn't give them to them until they went and fetched a customs official, which as you can imagine isn't the easiest little detail to accomplish. In my case, and because of my concerns (that is how long it MIGHT take to get our guns/ammo on the plane to WDH), we were the first in line for the continuing flt to Namibia. After standing there a couple of hours waiting for the counters to open, the ticket agent, a very nice lady, after she understood what I wanted (that is two WDH luggage tags) just handed them over, checked our other two bags, and wished me a good trip/hunt. I took the two baggage tags downstairs to the customs office, same location as above, and, after checking my paperwork, they retrieved the guns, tagged the tuffpak and the small camera/ammo box and said they would personally put them on the plane. As mentioned earlier, I mentally kissed a couple of hundred bucks worth of ammo goodbye, but amazingly, both tuffpak and ammo showed up in WDH, no problems. To be polite, I asked the German customs official if I owed them anything and hey said, "No, it's our job, have a nice hunt." So we did. This is how it played out for me and I would have no real concerns about doing it again, however, like any security/guns situation things can change. Not telling you anything but I'd be sure to check how the wind is blowing much closer to your actual travel dates. Incidentally I talked with several German hunters who were waiting in line with me to get our Namibian gun papers and they were quite definite that "Greens" as they called them, would deliberately misdirect guns in the FRA airport. Said this had happened to them 3 out of 5 times going to Namibia. One reason I like a tuffpak which is not instantly identifiable as a gun case. I would also avoid having stickers on the outside of any case indicating it contained firearms, such as a SCI membership decal, etc. Probably just my paranoia at work but I like to minimize problems when the cost is so low ahead of time. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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Thanks for the rundown. It all sounds pretty straight-forward and sensible. The only "iffy" part does sound like the luggage tags. So, you left your guns and ammo with German customs for about two and a half days? I wonder if they would be just as accomodating if it were a week or more? Tell us about you and your son's hunt when you get ready. | |||
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Stonecreek: I'm not about to address current or future German Customs practices beyond my experiences reported above, but my feeling, stress "feeling", is that a week would be no real problem. They basically just shove the guns (and ammo if you have any) into a closet type area. It seemed to be a normal, "no real concern" process with them. Kathi would have much more insight into this than I would. Also in an earlier thread there is a contact email for the Germans, you might just ask them. However, the "official" responses that I read seemed more problematic than the actual on the ground responses that I got in person, probably typical bureaucrat CYA syndrome which is universal. Finally, while I think the chances of loss in a German customs area are extremely small, the actual security there seems pretty rudimentary. I'd have some minor concern if I was leaving extremely high value firearms "in bond" for a week or so. I'm not much on insurance, for instance, we had two rifles and scopes which would easily total $4000 replacement uninsured on this trip, but I might consider it if I was carrying leaving high value doubles, etc. xxxxxxxxxx When considering US based operations of guides/outfitters, check and see if they are NRA members. If not, why support someone who doesn't support us? Consider spending your money elsewhere. NEVER, EVER book a hunt with BLAIR WORLDWIDE HUNTING or JEFF BLAIR. I have come to understand that in hunting, the goal is not the goal but the process. | |||
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