Gift ideas from trophies taken

I am going on my first safari with my dad and brother in a couple weeks and I would like to have something unique made from a part of the animal taken into some sort of gift/souvenir to remember the trip. Obviously the horns and skulls will stay intact but I would be interested in any gift ideas regarding a different part of the animal that isn't typically used in the taxidermy process?

We will be hunting traditional PG animals, though my brother will be going after a cape buffalo and my dad's top animal is a sable, so it would be particularly cool to have something from these animals

Keep your backskins from various animals you hunt. When you return home, your taxidermist can tan, then you can have made into almost anything. One of the more interesting things I have seen done is a bound area rug using a patch of each skin, or a patchwork wall hanging in the shape of Africa.

I’d be glad to help. I make pillows, furniture, bags, packs, guncases, home decor, and all kinds of stuff out of trophies.

Many of the animals have bones inside of the sheath we commonly recognize as the horn. A kudu is a great example. When the taxidermist removes the bone they normally discard it or save it to make curios for sale. You can request that they return them to you or have them make arrangements to have them made into some sort of souvenir. Kudu horn lamps are quite popular. The link below will show you plenty of examples. Also keep in mind that this does not change what the mounted animal looks like.

https://www.google.com/search?q=kud...hAhVKKa0KHU2zBmMQsAR6BAgJEAE&biw=1280&bih=579

Feet can be used for many variations..lamp stands ..bookends...pen holders etc
Scrotums for dice rollers..pen holders..
Tails for " swishes"....
Hippo feet for ice buckets..
My son and I are busy rebuilding a 1974 F100 truck.
Using elephant skin to upholster the seat, elephant trunk skin to cover the steering wheel...
Multiple choices here.. imagination is what it is all about!!!

You could send me some of the heavy bone or horn (even a piece of interestingly grained hardwood from the Brai firewood stack) and have knives made with it as handle material.

Great ideas. Von Gruff, have you used the bone inside the sheath of the horn that GA Hunter is referencing to make a knife handle out of?

ryanjones said:

Great ideas. Von Gruff, have you used the bone inside the sheath of the horn that GA Hunter is referencing to make a knife handle out of?

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Not so far Ryan but if it is hard bone then it should be like the leg bone of giraffe that I have used.

I made a necklace from the bullet recovered from my sable. Barnes vortex .416 Rigby. I had it coated in gold and added the diamond . My wife loved it!

Cape Buffalo from one of our members. I believe most of this stuff ended up as gifts.

@ryanjones & @Von Gruff, the inner bone / cores on Kudu & most horned animals is very soft & full of little hole (like a Wild Goat Von Gruff) a Water Buffalo starts to get a fair bit harder but I still don't think suitable for knife scales ?

Great idea to use other parts of your hunted animals !

Sarg said:

@ryanjones & @Von Gruff, the inner bone / cores on Kudu & most horned animals is very soft & full of little hole (like a Wild Goat Von Gruff) a Water Buffalo starts to get a fair bit harder but I still don't think suitable for knife scales ?

Great idea to use other parts of your hunted animals !

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Have done a couple from Impala horn for a good friend for his 3 sons from animals he hunted. All right handed boys.

The horn itself or should i say horn sheath from a hard honed animal like an impala is excellent handle material for a knife handle. The OP mentioned he wants to get something made from the parts of the animal that are not used in taxidermy. Horn sheaths are used.

The horn core itself though would be the worst possible bone to use for a knife handle. Not only is it oextremly soft but it is really porous as well- its full of holes that used to contain blood vessels. Now im sure with extensive stabilization you could maybe turn the horn cores into handle material. But while such a handle may look nice as a curio or display peice it would probably make for a crappy handle for knife you'd plan to use on a regular basis. Not to mention that the parts of the horn core that are not porous are elevated like little hills. So you would probably have to smooth that out when making a handle.

In my opinion if you want to create a knife from an animal you harvest that would be a conversation piece or curio-have it made from a jawbone half from the animal. The lower jaw is not generally used when you get a euro mount of a herbivore done and it is not used in making a shoulder mount either. A knife handle made from a jawbone would make for a knife that looks really cool but would not be very functional. Now if you wanted to get a functional knife made, from a part of the animal, then i would suggest to use the leg bone as handle material. There is plenty of material from the leg bones and on a large animal like say a sable or cape buffalo- it would be quite thick and sturdy and excellent for handle material. It would not look as cool as the one from a jawbone but it would make for a very functional knife. One that you could use everyday.

I saved the back skins of the animals I have taken in Africa and Canada. The skins of the African animals were tanned in Africa. Whoever did it did a wonderful job attested to by folks that work in leather here at home. And so much more affordable. I hope to get a pair of cowboy boots made from the back skin of my Cape Buffalo and a soft rifle case as well as belt cartridge holders. Possibly riding gloves from the skins of kudu, oryx and wildebeest. I had book end stands made from the feet of the giraffe, took home the shin bones (2) of the giraffe in hopes of finding someone to use them as custom knife handles and the other 2 shin bones were scrimshawed into hunting scenes, done in Africa. The hide of the giraffe was tanned hair on in Africa but a place to display it so far has been ellusive. Just some ideas for you.