Cost of Dip, Pack and Crate...The Real Cost???

I have been doing my homework preparing for my first African safari for nearly a year. I've talked to numerous outfitters and negotiated rates and trophy fees. I also spent 3 of the last four days at the Dallas Safari Club convention speaking to many of the same outfitters plus several more. One expense that caught me off guard was the cost of dip, pack and crate of trophies.

I plan to bring home 6-7 animals, all plains game. For example one operator in Zim says 3-10 species is $600. One outfitter in Namibia said to expect a $2000 bill. And SA estimates run the gamut between the two.

What have y'all had to pay to dip, pack and crate 6-7 animals???

Thanks.

CK

CK1,
some outfitters charge an additional cost of dip & pack and some have it included in the package. In Tanzania for instance, trophy care/dipping/packing is mostly included in the package cost (i for one include it) and the only additional cost to you is the shipping charges which depend on the size and weight of the shipment.

Good luck with this portion of your trip. They have you over a barrell once you harvest your trophies.
I got quotes for the 5 animals i wanted the most. I added an extra warthog skull and 2 backskins. I was satisfied with the extra cost from my dip and pac and coppersmith. The cost i had to pay to get them from Joberg to atlanta was double what i was quoted. When i asked for an explination of why the cost was so different the communication lines went silent for good.

To get them to my taxidermist will end up being half the price of the taxidermy itself.

You can read my posts in the taxidermy section. But I believe it is one of the crookedness run business, in the whole world. It certain puts a damper on a safari with unexpected costs. I have had other SCI members in hushed whispers tell me the same thing. Ultimately if your lucky, you can take your safari costs and double it on a big plains game hunt to get the animals to your home and on the wall.

The shipping and dip and pack costs change with the wind, with most taxidermist. I got smart on my second trip and had everything written down on paper and agree to before I let anyone handle the animals.

Everytime I think of hunting in Africa I think of dealing with the taxidermists and shippers, and what the true cost of the hunt is really going to be. And yes, I'm frustrated by the whole process.

Good Luck!

Thank you for your post Enysse. Not all Taxidermist are like that but there is some taxidermist which are a big headache for us as PH's and Outfitters as well. They abuse the system for there own pockets and ruin a "what is suppose to be" wonderful time in Africa for the hunter.

I think it is time for us hunters to expose such taxidermist.

Just my opinion.

I appreciate the advice I got on here. I've actually gotten quotes to dip, pack and crate 7 animals to DFW from a taxidermist. They're in the ball park and it's nice to have some peace about this.

The problem exist with the Airlines and on this side of the big pond, not in Africa..Fish and wildlife inspection, airline fees that change at their will, particularly British Air...Last time I had something shipped was a medium size Cape Buffalo skull and cape, and a Zebra skin and they tried to bilk me for $2500..I told them to keep'em, the Brits were amazed, they thought I was kidding!...fortunatly I could do that but many could not as that may have been their only trophies of a life time.

Hi CK1,

the ongoing debate on actual costs of dip and pack linked to indeterminable freight rates at the time of quoting is always always going to be open to abuse, and ryan is correct once your trophies have been shot there is not always the time or stand point to negotiate on.

i am glad though that you have taken the time to educate yourself on these hurdles BEFORE you go on your hunt. i run a company called intercon freight, that has both a trophy recieving centre, a dip and pack centre and a freight forwarding centre all under one roof in zimbabwe. we take possession of your trophy from your outfitter or PH until its delivery to you personlly. one quote no service providers inbetween.

if you would like some more information on your trophies or what to expect drop me a note and i would be pleased to answer all of your concerns etc.

CK1, Gentlemen, the trophies you hunted belong to you, not the Outfitter, PH or your booking agent with whom you booked the hunt or hunted with. This means you have every right to querry who and how much it's going to cost to ship your trophies home. Nobody has got anybody over a barrel here. There are very few Outfitters that do their own dipping, packing and shipping of their client's trophies, this means they use a service provider and will charge for this service if it is included in theirs. If not they will deliver the trophies to a Taxidermist or Dip and Pack agent of your choice. Note of your choice. You must remember most and I do mean most clients are clueless as to how their trophies are going to get back to their home country and believe anything their Outfitter tells them. Outfitters get a commission from the Taxidermists they do business with and will often encourage you to have your work done locally to get this commission.

Also remember your hunting trophies must conform to import requirements of the country of import and as such have to go through a minimal process, then they must be packaged to conform to airline specs and then shipped.

To give you an idea of how a Dip-Pack is run:
We have to conform to State vet regulations in order to run and operate our facillity A yearly inspection and licence fee.
Wed are part 108 CAA approved which means we are a known consignor. Also a once a year inspection and re-approval
We use only timber and packing material approved once again a certification process and yearly inspection and re-approval.

These are but a few of the regulations we must comply with to make your cargo safe to export. Gone are the days when items where thrown into a box and put on an aircraft. Every regulation we must comply with adds a cost to you the end user, the same as your F&W regulations and inspections you must pay for on your end.

Processing your trophies for export is a necessary evil but you as the hunter can control this process and you have every right to choose whom you want to do business with. I always advise my client to contact me to tell me whom they are hunting with and I make all the arrangements to collect the trophies and finally get them to you. This is never a problem.

Please remember the less you want to do yourself and the more you expect your outfitter to do for you the more it's going to cost you. We have a special offer on for this year which equates to about a 20% saving on our regular price.

Just this past Friday I wired my final funds to get my trophies shipped home form RSA.

My trophies and what I had shipped home are as follows.

Waterbuck - skull, horns, cape, backskin
Gemsbok - skull, horns, cape, backskin
Springbok - skull, horns, cape
Impala - skull, horns, cape

I used the taxidermist my outfitter works with for my dip and pack. I paid $100 per animal for dip/pack. I knew this cost before I went and was fine with it as I checked some other places and seemed to be inline.

My cost to get these animals from Safari Cargo Sytems' warehouse in Jo-burg to the tannery in Michigan was $914. This included all freight (air), customs fees/broker at JFK (Fauna & Flora), and shipping from JFK to the tannery in Michigan.

I have them going to the tannery as that's who my taxidermist uses and it was "6 to one- 1/2 dozen to another" on costs if I had them shipped to me and then the hides still shipped back the the tannery. Figured one less step I had to deal with in offloading trophies.

So, for those for animals I have $1,314 wrapped up in shipping/dip costs. Some might think that's high but I don't.

I had talked to several people before I went asking what shipping costs would be and knew it would be about $200-$250/animal. Like I said that's just for shipping, not dip/pack.

Guys, something to keep in mind that we have learned over the years is to have your outfitter cut the top of the skull plate with horns in tact of your animals that you plan to have mounted. Most taxidermists in Africa will give you a break on the preparation and cleaning if it is not a full skull as it's less work for them. It also saves weight in your crate, which equates to less freight charges over the water and to your final destination. Of course you don't want to do this if you think you might want to do a european mount of the skull.

Andreas

I have a question that you may of assistance. I will be hunting the Cape region this May for several species found down there such as blue duiker, Vaal Rhebok and Cape grysbok. Then in October, I'll be in Zimbabwe hunting Cape buffalo and several species of PG such as klipspringer with the possibility of spotted hyena (hopefully) added as well.

With that said, would there be any way to have my May safari be held in country until my Zim hunts completes and then once my Zim hunt arrives in SA, have both safaris combined and sent Stateside via ocean freight under one combined crate?

I know its alot to ask for, but surely worth trying if it saves me from having to pay for 2 crates sent in the same year.

Any ideas or options you know of?

Thank you.

Scotty, best liase with the taxidermist in Zim and confirm if he sends his cargo via JHB. While this is possible you are still going to sit with two set of documentation and two lots of cargo meaning they may as well belong to two different people. Given that the two service providers use the same shipping agent you may get a better rate if you combine the shipments. You would also have to co-ordinate all the import and export permits. Shipping from two different countries is normally considered a separate shipment from each.

I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but I've had shipping costs from Moz to JHB equal that of sending the same freight to the US form SA. Transport in Africa is veeeeery expensive as we don't have the same infrastructure that you have in the US, plus we often don't have the choice of operators that you have. if you need more info please send me an email and I will gladly assist.