Hi All…
I gave decide to jump in on this post without a lot to offer, yet. I hunted in Namibia with my son recently and after careful consideration decide to use Trophaendienste based on a few things. They were one of two recommended from the PH we were using, I had found a couple of good reviews on the web about them and I went to their shop and liked what I saw. It’s a good sized operation, with an incredible amount of commerce hanging on the walls waiting to be shipped. I would not say I am taxidermy pro, but my brother in-law brought back a warthog from Zimbabwe a few years back and I could defiantly see the off set eyes in that mount. I noticed no such distortions at Trophaendienste shop it was clean, well run and I was toured through the entire operation. For the record the other company was very difficult to reach and didn’t return emails or calls.
The final reason I made this selection was I had an opportunity to meet the owner Louw. One of the animals on our list when we hunted was a Giraffe. I am proud to say I was successful and harvesting one of these monsters. Here’s what reinforced my decision to use this company; a short period of time after we dropped the animal, a truck with a large plastic crate on the back showed up. My PH Michael, from Uitspan Hunting
info@uitspanhunting.com indicated that was the taxidermist I had selected. A gentleman dressed in tan colored safari shirt and shorts, he was sporting the typical hunting type hat with company name and logo - this logo was on shirt as well. Introductions were looked after, lots of chat about the magnificence of the whole event and on to the business of field dressing the giraffe. When it’s all said and done Louw’s clean, sharp looking company attire is now that of the local butchery. He is smeared in blood and dirt and grime from helping in the process. There was no hesitation, he jumped in lending a hand and was of a genuine aid to the whole process. This is not a guy who is afraid to get his hands dirty.
Where I come from this type of customer involvement goes a long way in saying this company cares about the end product they will ship to me. He mentioned due to the thickness of these hides, great care has to be taken in the early handing of them. He wanted to get it off the field and cooling as soon as possible and start the tanning process. That is why I feel confident about why I decided to select them.
That’s the how and the why; I just got the call from the shipping agent, (Peter de Villiers Pronto Global Air & Ocean Freight). The moment my son and I have been waiting for, we are just waiting for the quote on the final shipping costs as they needed our final destination address. I have seen photos of the crates and there are three of them. In total, there are eleven animals and some other related treasures. 2-Kudu, 2-Gemboc, 1-Eland, 1-Mountain Zebra – pedestal mount, 1-Impala, 1-Wart Hog all shoulder mounts. 1-Baboon and 1-Duiker, these were full body mounts and 1-Giraffe, shoulder mount from a floor base.
I will keep all that are interested in this post as we move forward in getting our trophies home. I have not included the dollars and cents of this yet. I will do that once we have our trophies in our homes and have had the appropriate amount of bragging parties that go with their arrival. I will then deliver the final tally and my comments on the whole experience of it all. One other reason I felt that confident in choosing Trophaendienste, was I knew I’d be back. As this was going to be a trip of a lifetime and I had been warned my may others I’d be back. At the end of day one, I had declared to my son, “I’m coming back”. I will be back in April / May of 2016. So, the way I see it, if by some quirky chance I am not delivered what I saw in Trophaendienste’s’ shop I will be back to have satisfaction. I just don’t believe after all of their efforts and communications that they are the kind of operation that does shoddy work.
Des