Beware Of Wolfgang Schenk Taxidermy, Germany

[raamw]

I did a musk Ox hunt in Greenland in 2017, my Cape horns and remainder hide was forwarded to Schenk Taxidermy in Germany. He received my items for tanning and never mentioned that anything was wrong with the cape which was salted and frozen. He advised me that my items where ready 14 months latter and I needed to make payment which I did. I did not hear from him for a long period of time as did other hunters from the Greenland hunt. Pressure was used and he surrendered all the items to a third party that was hired from Denmark to pick up the items from Germany. The item eventually was delivered to me in 2019 and I turned them over to a Taxidermist who I have used with 50 years experience, When he re hydrated the cape for tanning the hair started slipping. Upon closed inspection when the hide softened he saw that the ears where not turned and the ears, eyes lips and other facial area where not properly fleshed for tanning, My Taxidermist stated in all his years he has never witnessed such an improperly prepared cape and the cape was not suitable for mounting due to the location and amount of slippage.. I presented these facts to Eric Schenk, (son) who runs his fathers operation and he sends a one liner that the items left his business in good shape. I have attempted multiple contacts with him and I can not get an explanation.

 

[spike.t]

Surely all the fleshing..fat removal etc etc etc should have been done in Greenland after all of you shot your animals....and skins being salted and the usual before being shipped....also if they were salted how could they be frozen as you lot use salt in roads to stop them freezing...so

 

[raamw]

I had contacted the outfitter who has been doing caribou and musk ox hunts for over 26 years and they stated this was the first they heard of a cape problem, plus Schenk should have inspected the hides for any damage since they would be responsible for improper tanning.

 

[IvW]

Field preparation is the main key to the quality of the cape, horns and the final mount.

Of course the outfitter will say he hasnever had this problem before....

Two years after it was hunted, I am not surprised...fleshing, turning lips and sorting the eyes out has to be done as soon as possible after the animal has been hunted, not after it arrives at a taxidermist..

 

[IvW]

Why did it go to Germany in the first place?

 

[raamw]

Greenland is closely paralleled to Denmark, after clearing a veterinary in the capital of Greenland the hides from the whole season was shipped frozen to Germany which along with Denmark are part of the Europian nation and things moves easily amoung the those countries. I t cannot come dierctly to the US in a raw state. Now for those critics the temperature in Greenland in March was between -15 to -40 FH, The skinning and hide preparation was done outdoors since the only building was for sleeping. After the season the hides from the season where transported to the greenland Capital and the shipped frozen to germany, it was only a couple of months when schenk received them He was the one that took close to a year and a half and we had to hire a driver from Demnmark to drive the 700 miles to gfet them back to the export company in Denmark, it was about a month latter when I received it so two years. The hide was tanned but some one must have sent a case of wildturkey and he was in a stupor for quite a while. The sad thing some serious medical issues came my way and that will be my last big hunt.

 

[Hank2211]

Very sorry to hear about this mess.

I assume it is possible for the hides to have been prepared to a certain extent in Greenland and then frozen, with the intention that they final fleshing and turning would be done as soon as the hides were thawed? If that's the case, then the first taxidermist should be responsible - unless he kept them frozen for the entire time he had them. That does seem more than a bit unlikely - a taxidermist would need a pretty big freezer to store a bunch of hides.

Having said all of that, field preparation is vital, and unless freezing semi-fleshed hides is a Greenland thing, the bad work would have started there . . .

 

[CoElkHunter]

Sorry to hear of this fiasco. I didn’t know there were Musk Ox in Greenland?

 

[raamw]

Very sorry to hear about this mess.

I assume it is possible for the hides to have been prepared to a certain extent in Greenland and then frozen, with the intention that they final fleshing and turning would be done as soon as the hides were thawed? If that's the case, then the first taxidermist should be responsible - unless he kept them frozen for the entire time he had them. That does seem more than a bit unlikely - a taxidermist would need a pretty big freezer to store a bunch of hides.

Having said all of that, field preparation is vital, and unless freezing semi-fleshed hides is a Greenland thing, the bad work would have started there . . .

If I was accepting rare animal capes for tanning I surely would inspect the hide to make sure it could be tanned, Schenk did not indicate that there was a problem, I spoke to everyone who touched that cape and each one would reply to my question except Schenk with his one liner....It left his shop in good condition. I would have that guy in court but you can't believe the hoops you have to go through to get the case into a civil court.

 

[raamw]

Very sorry to hear about this mess.

I assume it is possible for the hides to have been prepared to a certain extent in Greenland and then frozen, with the intention that they final fleshing and turning would be done as soon as the hides were thawed? If that's the case, then the first taxidermist should be responsible - unless he kept them frozen for the entire time he had them. That does seem more than a bit unlikely - a taxidermist would need a pretty big freezer to store a bunch of hides.

Having said all of that, field preparation is vital, and unless freezing semi-fleshed hides is a Greenland thing, the bad work would have started there . . .

I saw maybe 200 Musk ox but only one calve, there are no wolves in the mid to lower section of greenland since the people will hunt them down with ATV or snowmobiles and kill them on site since the wolfs will kill there Icelandic sled dogs, It is amazing they hunt about 6weeks and have 4 to 6 hunter per week so they will kill at least 30 or more musk ox. I went and we had 2 guys from spain and 2 guys from serbia each of the 4 guys where big time hunters and a total of 8 musk ox where killed . The guides told me that on occasion young sub adult Polar bears may come around but the authorities will capture and relocate to the northern parts of the country. The funny thing Greenland is for the most covered by an ICE sheet some places 2000' feet or more thick, nothing can live there because there is nothing to eat. Everything lives along the coast which the oceans keeps it warmer where the grasses will grow

 

[flatwater bill]

Raamw.................is it possible that your guide could get you another cape? Perhaps if there is local hunting someone would sell a cape to him. Sorry to hear of your illness and taxidermy problems. Looks like an adventure though. Hope you have the horns for a European mount..................FWB

 

[raamw]

I did talk with the outfitter and hinted and it did not go any farther than that. If I did with the outfitter I would incurr at least $2500 transport cost since only tanned hides can go to the US and there are no taxidermist in Greenland so to Denmark to Germany or Austria for tanning to an exporter to importer. The us importer charged around 1100 to clear and fly to Chicago

 

[da307]

I hunted southern Greenland back in 2014 during the late summer for muskox and reindeer and my outfitter also used a freezing container to store and transport trophies. There was no traditional prep of the capes one might expect. Trophies were caped to the neck and put directly in the freezer and remained in the freezer until October when the container should ship to Denmark. I suspect your trophies either 1) did not remain in a frozen state during the transit from Greenland to Germany or 2) the taxidermist/expeditor in Germany dropped the ball after the trophies were in his posession. Importing trophies from Greenland to the USA through Europe is also very expensive with most hunters paying over $3,000 to get them home and without taxidermy services. The hard part will be getting someone to admit fault and either offer you a refund or a suitable replacement cape. From my experience I can also say that two years is also more than twice the amount of time the process should have taken.

 

[johnnyblues]

Damn shame!

 

[CJW]

I'm confused. You said Schenk received the items for tanning but then when you received them your guy here in the states said they weren't good enough for tanning when he rehydrated them. If Schenk didn't tan them what were they doing there for 14 months and what services did you pay him for?

 

[Hannay]

Raamw - I'm very sorry to hear this story, especially as I am now waiting for a Greenland muskox to come to the US. I hunted there in March of 2020; my muskox and an arctic hare were received at the Danish taxidermist in July of 2020. They have cleaned the skull, "wet-tanned" the cape, and tanned the arctic hare pelt. My original idea was that I would pick everything up in Denmark, check it as baggage, and clear it myself through customs. However, they've now told me it is nearly ready, and with no planned trips to Scandinavia in the near future, I will just have them ship it and have Coppersmith clear it.

I plan to have it mounted by a well-known taxidermist in Texas and the first thing he said was that he'd have to see when he got it if it was mountable; he has received several from Greenland in the condition you describe. I'm hoping that's not the case; we'll see.

 

[raamw]

I'm confused. You said Schenk received the items for tanning but then when you received them your guy here in the states said they weren't good enough for tanning when he rehydrated them. If Schenk didn't tan them what were they doing there for 14 months and what services did you pay him for?

I received the hides and horns from Denmark, the hides where dry tanned, The cape had the face turned inside out. I then brought it to my taxidermist. in Illinois. When it came time to mount the head he soaked it to re-hydrate the cape is when he noticed the great amount of slippage. When the hide became softer which made him check and he determined that hide was not properly prepared for tanning and the tanning solution was not able to penetrate the shin. This was do to improper fleshing of ears mouth eyes and random improper fleshing.

 

[Cam Moon]

I was wondering the same thing as @CJW because what you said in your OP didn't make sense.
So what you're saying is that your cape along with X others were sent to Schenk Taxidermy in Germany for tanning. Your cape was then shipped (tanned) to you, and you took it to your taxidermist. You (and your taxidermist) understood that the cape was tanned and prepared to be mounted, but when he had a good look at the cape he realized that it was ruined?

 

[raamw]

Actually the slippage started during the re -hydration process, when the cape became flexible enough to in vert the damage from improper fleshing was apparent.

 

[CJW]

I'm getting the idea from everyone here that if I ever go muskox hunting I will be doing a european mount. Having heard what Hannay's taxidermist has to say it sounds like a big crapshoot.