Hey Guys,
Looking to go to africa in the near future and I was trying to find out if you can ship more than one hunters trophies in a single crate? I am trying to get some buddies to go with me and thought this would be a way of knocking down some of the cost. Thanks in advance for your help.
Yes, you can if they are all destined for the same place, like a taxidermist.
Another point to consider is having them mounted over there- it will cost more to ship as the crates would be bigger. The airlines charge based on dim weight or actual weight, so you are better off (costwise) having any mounting done here in the US.
The previous thread is only correct on cube/volume crate charges coming back, but after a couple of trips to different countries we found the following: Taxidermist charges were only 25% or less in Africa than from the high-dollar, stateside proprietors. We were very pleased with the quality of work -when compared side by side- especially on the Cape Buff, Sable and Kudu mounts. Since quite a few mounts have "disappeared" in shipment thru Joberg airport and other places, take a hard look at the odds of theft / loss, of green trophies as compared to the finished mounts. Yes, it's strictly a personal decision (everything's a risk nowadays) but we got everything home, and were very pleased with the work.
Thanks for the insight guys, I am a taxidermist myself and have my own shop so I would be mounting the animals myself. All my buddies are from the same town. That is a big help. Thanks a lot.
Gentlemen if you want all your trophies to dissapear in one fould swoop then pack them all together. US Customs does not allow trophies from different individuals to be packed together. They will remove all trophies not labeled with the name on the waybill and return then to country of origin. this is a security measure and all cargo loaded onto an aircraft must be known cargo and must be addressed to an known individual. I repeat DO NOT pack cargo together. The only cost saving is the cost of clearing, the cost of crating will not be significantly more and your shipper can consolidate the shipment so you still get the bulk rate.