REPORT: Taxidermist Eastern Cape Port Elizabeth Johannesburg

Savage Hunter said:

We got our hides in a few weeks ago from dip/pack.
My wife is hugely disappointed because of her caracal hide.
All 4 feet have huge holes above the feet in the front.
hand sized patch of no hair on the side of the belly.
quite a bit of slippage all over, but especially on the belly.
The face isn't too bad. the ears look really good.
My taxidermist has been looking forward to getting the caracal skin and do a $5000 mount for $1500 if he could use it for competitions.
He looked at the hide and said it's barely worth mounting, if that.
What to do about it?
Is it the skinning and salting or the dip and pack company.
I don't know.

I just know that taxidermy ruins my hunt memories.
Taxidermy on the 1st trip was horrible.
This one was only dip/pack but half my stuff doesn't look too great, but the main animal was awful.

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This is really sad.

Can you share some pictures of this with us.

I agree very sad....The dip pack companies have nothing to do with slitting lips turning ears opening eyes and removing meat and muscle or removing fat off especially cats. They have nothing to do with cuts in the skins or ripped up ears, Dip pack will take your skins and rehydrate them and remove some last of the little pieces of meat off the skin the PH skinners did not get off, THEN they soak them in a solution required by their country and countries that it will imported to.
Then re-salt and re-salt and boil up the horns and clean the skulls ready for vet clearance and shipment.
YOUR PH is responsible for the prep. the skinning, slitting turning and removal of all fat grease and meat BEFORE salting. Delays in getting your trophy to the skinning shed will cause hair slip, skinners are NOT trained as well as you might think. PH's think their guys are great, But really are they?
NOT spending time in the shed with the guys prepping the skins is a mistake. Watch them even if you don't know how to do it you'll see if they are making cuts or tearing ears then they say something. They work for you at the time of your safari, ask to see your first skin from your first trophy, pick it up and shake off the salt and LOOK at it you'll see if their are cuts and rips and problems with non turned ears and greasy fat dripping off the skins.
If a skin doesn't look CLEAN and white, IT ISN'T ready for salt, any meat on it IT'S not ready for salt. Any veins or tendons left on it or blood on it, IT aint ready for salt. Every skin should be salted for ONLY 24 hours then RE-SALTED. Then that salt removed after another 24 hours and the cape hung and air dried and no where near any direct sunlight. In the shade inside a building with very good ventilation To many skin are left in salt too long and in piles of other skins and it's an oven. Have 40 capes piled on top of each other in salt and the bottom ones are virtually being cooked! Proper prep IS the MOST lacking thing in todays safari business !

The Artistry of Wildlife said:

...Have 40 capes piled on top of each other in salt and the bottom ones are virtually being cooked !...

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This technique is called composting here!

Great write up Dennis

I have used 8 different places for dip and pack and all could have done better, especially on communication. The best was Swift Dip by Thabazimbi. The most recent place I've emailed twice in the last 4 months and they have not bothered to respond at all ! In my opinion the outfitter has some responsibility there as he steers the client towards the service. They also usually get some form of compensation whether in kickbacks or free taxi work. In many cases the outfitter is quick to wash their hands of any connection once the hunt is over.

jeff said:

........... In many cases the outfitter is quick to wash their hands of any connection once the hunt is over.

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Not if they gave the referral. No amount of soap washes that stink off their hands!

As excited as I am about my upcoming safari, threads like this make me dread the taxidermy side of things. It seems like each taxidermist has posts of praise and disaster. The uncertainty is disconcerting.

I spent countless hours searching for a taxidermist. To me, the great artists can really pull off convincing big cat faces. I saw tons of good work, but bad cats on websites. Before I left home I had two or three places in mind, all local to where I'd be hunting, and incidentally to my PH's residence.
The last day we made time to visit two of them. The first one looked like a warehouse, and the people weren't very friendly. The second one was tough to find, requiring a phone call. Cliff, owner of Savuti Taxidermy, met us in the driveway. VERY friendly guy. He does all the art work himself, and the others prep skins and I don't know what else. The shop was clean, the showroom bursting with lovely work. Convincing cats and beautiful everything else. He answered all my questions right there, and was nearly always prompt with email replies when I got home. I even got a picture next to a full sized Leo.

My three points of advice would be check the close ups and the cats, and communication is a must, before and after the skins arrive there.

Best wishes on your future adventures!

rinehart0050 said:

As excited as I am about my upcoming safari, threads like this make me dread the taxidermy side of things. It seems like each taxidermist has posts of praise and disaster. The uncertainty is disconcerting.

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If you are planning to hunt in the Eastern Cape, look at African Wildlife Artistry in Somerset East. It is owned by Rudolf Ferreira.
I reccomend him. I have never had a client complain about anything.
They will also collect trophies if you hunt somewhere else

Being from Australia and the difficulties in getting green skins in the country, I visited 4 Taxidermists in PE in 2012 and put my trust in Paul Smith at Relive Africa Taxidermy. I have had 5 shipments of tanned skind and mounted trophies so far, with another lot about to leave. In the 4 and half years dealing with Paul I have found him to be 100% honest and trustworthy, professional in every way. I would not hesitate in recommending him and his staff.

Paul Smith
Relive Africa Taxidermy
Port Elizabeth
Cell: 083 234 1486
Email: reliveafrica@mweb.co.za

Cameron Johnson
Wildthings Taxidermy
Victoria Australia

Your post is timely. I was notified today that my next outfitter recommends Relive. I will be there in less than 10 days.

HuntingGold said:

Your post is timely. I was notified today that my next outfitter recommends Relive. I will be there in less than 10 days.

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Paul is Def great to work with.

Experience says have them done at home. I just saw a box of trophys from the EC no names mentioned. A friends hunt he is beyond disappointed and they are now at a shop being repaired tuned up..

I agree. While it's possible that some good mounts come out of Africa, I've never seen a single one, including what my outfitters have had on display. You go to places while you are there and see all sorts of bad work. Go visit your local taxidermist here in the states and see how many mounts from Africa he has in his shop to try and fix, or remove the horns and get a cape to have it done again.

Do them at home, and don't use Highveld Taxidermy, look at the piss poor stitches in the back.

DISGUSTING work shown in these fotos... very sorry to see that, as most taxis in RSA are way better than this.. obviously a Quality Control issue here.
I can 100% recommend Karoo Animal Art Studio in Beaufort West and Buck'n Bass taxidermy in Durbanville ( Cape Town area).. BOTH HAVE DONE MANY TROPHIES FOR ME AND NEVER A PROBLEM... fotos available if you need to see.
Bullseye in northern province ALSO done remarkable work for me when I was living up in Johannesburg area....

EddieWalker said:

I agree. While it's possible that some good mounts come out of Africa, I've never seen a single one, including what my outfitters have had on display. You go to places while you are there and see all sorts of bad work. Go visit your local taxidermist here in the states and see how many mounts from Africa he has in his shop to try and fix, or remove the horns and get a cape to have it done again.

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I disagree here.. living in Africa my whole life, I have used ONLY local taxidermists and you are very welcome to visit my trophy room when you visit RSA again... have YET to have even a minor problem on delivered trophies... sure, you go for the fly - by - nights trying to save a buck or two and you will get disappointed.
LIFEFORM Taxidermy in Witrivier ( White River ) Mpumalanga are probably the best in the country... BUT , you pay a lot more and wait WAY LONGER for the delivery due to high work load... I waited up to two years for my Tanzanian trophies done by LIFEFORM, but even after 12 years, they look the same as the day they were delivered.
I have since used Bullseye, Buck 'n Bass and Karoo Animal Art Studio and ALL have produced fantastic work.

Have had 22 trophies done by Marakalalo Trophies in Bloemfontein, RSA and all were done extremely satisfactory. I shot a couple of small critters with a .17 Fireball that literally blasted the hell out of them and they came back mounted as if they were shot with a pellet gun. I visited the shop and observed the craftsmen working like they were artists or surgeons. Also, I think a lot of it has to do with the prep at the outfitters before they go to the taxidermists.

Shameful really considering Highveld has a tremendous reputation.

I always puts a sad face on me when i see pictures of bad work!

gutterdoc said:

Hello all,
Looking for advice on choosing a taxidermist on the Eastern Cape near Port Elizabeth. Is there one that you preferred or disliked and why? I have some info on Wild Africa Taxidermy and Highveld near Johannesburg. Any others would be great. There does seem to be a large price difference between some and I don't know why. Any news on Bullseye or Splitting Image. My PH/Outfitter will deliver within a reasonable range. Just trying to find one who offers a clean, detailed representation on the animal. We have all seen some bad work.

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My recommendation is to ship hides and horns back to the US for taxidermy work. I have had two very bad experiences with SA taxidermists. The worst: I shot a pretty good buffalo but received a much smaller one from the taxidermist. No response from them, no compensation, only a sub sized buffalo calf sized mount. They gave all the right answers, made reasonable promises, quoted discounted price. But in the end, they have my money and I have mounts that are not what I hunted. Their shipping crate literally fell apart upon arrival and mounts were poorly wrapped and left loose inside the cheaply
constructed container. Never, under any circumstances would I trust my hard earned mounts to someone 9000 miles away that already has my money in hand.