Let’s be Honest!!!

[Huntforever]

"Taxidermy work in Africa used to be a no-brainer because the lower local labor costs easily offset the international shipping fees. But is that still true today? Let’s look at the raw facts, crunch the numbers, and leave the emotions and self-interest at the door. "

 

[Scott CWO]

My shipment of four capes, skulls and horns on the way right now from South Africa to Seattle cost me $825 in shipping costs. I prefer to use a US taxidermist. I thought $825 was more than reasonable.

 

[Trogon]

My current taxidermy shipment information is below, shipping this month. Dimensional and actual weights included, this is for three shoulder wall pedestals, 1 skull, Blue wildebeest Euro and the tanned wildebeest hide.

The shipment comprises of 1 x wooden case with the following logistics:

Chargeable mass: 158 kg

Actual mass: 73 kg

Dimensions (in cm)

Crate	Length	Width	Height
1	124	78	98

Cost:
Air freight, to the amount of US $ 2,083.84, which terminates at Chicago (ORD) Airport, which excludes clearance and delivery charges.

Taxidermy cost in South Africa was $3K for Tsessebe, Nyala and Springbuck wall pedestals, Springbuck skull, wildebeest Euro and tanned wildebeest hide.
"

 

[Ontario Hunter]

My shipment of four capes, skulls and horns on the way right now from South Africa to Seattle cost me $825 in shipping costs. I prefer to use a US taxidermist. I thought $825 was more than reasonable.

Who were you using as a shipping agent? That is quite reasonable. Is that just the air freight (Turkish Airlines)? The freight handlers have been skinning me for their "fees."

 

[farmer_john]

"Taxidermy work in Africa used to be a no-brainer because the lower local labor costs easily offset the international shipping fees. But is that still true today? Let’s look at the raw facts, crunch the numbers, and leave the emotions and self-interest at the door. "

This is not from experience just what ive read so anyone feel free to correct my understanding.

Tanning/leatherwork is cheaper in africa
Taxidermy works faster but not nessesairaly better than usa amd can be worse with little legal remedy if turns out badly

 

[Hunt anything]

Watching closely. I’ll be receiving my 5th crate later in the year, no CITES, primates, swine or birds so it should be rather straight forward. Finished taxidermy. Importer, customs broker is Coppersmiths in Atlanta where I will pick up the crate myself.

 

[coreydb]

I just paid over 3k USD to have my almost five hundred pound crate of trophies shipped to Atlanta. Africa Outbound was the shipper/exporter, via Turkish Airlines. Fees went up (for me) roughly 30% from my last shipment that weighed roughly the same. Can't do anything about it except allocate more money for shipping costs with future hunts.

 

[uplander01]

I've never had taxidermy done in Africa, always have it shipped back and have Legends Taxidermy in Michigan handle it. When comparing costs with buddies that do have it done over there, it's not really that much less.....but what I will say is the quality I end up with having it done here at home is far better than what I've seen come out of Africa. But Legends is a very credible and long standing top taxidermist in the US.

 

[PARA45]

This will probably be my last shipment of finished taxidermy. From now on, either Euro mounts, or just pictures. I'm going to allocate any shipping and taxidermy $$ to other hunts. I don't have a trophy room (my wife's thinks otherwise), and I'm basically out of room.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I am going to come back to this thread when I can offer some actual input on my mounts. We are finally going to be getting them after 3+ years of waiting. Should be another few weeks as the air shipping has been paid to the exporter.

Right there is one issue I have already. I would rather have a dip+pack come back in 6-8 months then sit in the USA at a taxidermist for completion than wait 3+ years for potentially questionable work in-Africa.

The back and forth I've had with the exporters and taxidermist in Africa is tiring. We were told the work was finished, but the exporter didn't have the crates. Then export paperwork expires. The outfitter/taxidermist, and RSA government, take forever to resubmit. Then the crates arrive for export. Finally the paperwork is finalized but now air rates expired. I'd much rather have the skulls/capes/hides dipped and pack, sent right out for export, and deal with the rest here. The idea of finished work sitting in some crate in an African warehouse is not comforting.

As for dip and pack, from what I am seeing, there is absolutely no reason for it to take longer than 6-8 months and I might even be overestimating that. To have the base goods in the USA is more comforting.

I am biting my tongue on the quality of the mounts because I need to lay eyes on them first. I've talked to folks who used the same outfitter as me and the work has been 50/50. I don't want to tell other peoples' stories for them. I will be sure to tell mine when I finally get the work.

On here I've seen good work in Africa. No one ever posts the bad work though. I've seen photos of bad work...and it's bad. All the mounts I've seen here domestically have been very good.

Dip+pack isn't without risk though. My bird taxidermist here also does high-end big-game (Africa, NZ, Argentina, etc.). He told me a story about a customer who requested dip+pack on a Lord Derby Eland. When the capes/hides/horns arrived to the taxidermist here, the outfitter ignored the dip+pack, and sent it out for a tan that was the wrong process. They ended up sending it out for a re-tan here in the USA and it was 50/50 whether or not it was salvageable. Thankfully, for the customer, the tannery was able to get it right and the mount came out very nice.

 

[Rock375]

I'm planning my fourth safari in 2027. My plans for this time are just take pictures and enjoy the hunt. My safari taxidermy cost in 2024 was 65 to 70% of what the Buffalo planes game package price was. Taxidermy, shipping and import fees etc. have dramatically increased. I've always had my mounts done in Africa and can honestly say they have always done an excellent job. The quality is every bit as good as all my domestic taxidermy work from my North American hunts. My trophy room is getting full now anyway, so I'll allocate the money I save on African taxidermy for future hunts. I would add, If I was going on my first couple of safaris, I'd definitely have the taxidermy work done all over again. I throughly enjoy my mounts. Africa is such an enjoyable experience.

 

[375Fox]

I am going to come back to this thread when I can offer some actual input on my mounts. We are finally going to be getting them after 3+ years of waiting. Should be another few weeks as the air shipping has been paid to the exporter.

Right there is one issue I have already. I would rather have a dip+pack come back in 6-8 months then sit in the USA at a taxidermist for completion than wait 3+ years for potentially questionable work in-Africa.

The back and forth I've had with the exporters and taxidermist in Africa is tiring. We were told the work was finished, but the exporter didn't have the crates. Then export paperwork expires. The outfitter/taxidermist, and RSA government, take forever to resubmit. Then the crates arrive for export. Finally the paperwork is finalized but now air rates expired. I'd much rather have the skulls/capes/hides dipped and pack, sent right out for export, and deal with the rest here. The idea of finished work sitting in some crate in an African warehouse is not comforting.

As for dip and pack, from what I am seeing, there is absolutely no reason for it to take longer than 6-8 months and I might even be overestimating that. To have the base goods in the USA is more comforting.

I am biting my tongue on the quality of the mounts because I need to lay eyes on them first. I've talked to folks who used the same outfitter as me and the work has been 50/50. I don't want to tell other peoples' stories for them. I will be sure to tell mine when I finally get the work.

On here I've seen good work in Africa. No one ever posts the bad work though. I've seen photos of bad work...and it's bad. All the mounts I've seen here domestically have been very good.

Dip+pack isn't without risk though. My bird taxidermist here also does high-end big-game (Africa, NZ, Argentina, etc.). He told me a story about a customer who requested dip+pack on a Lord Derby Eland. When the capes/hides/horns arrived to the taxidermist here, the outfitter ignored the dip+pack, and sent it out for a tan that was the wrong process. They ended up sending it out for a re-tan here in the USA and it was 50/50 whether or not it was salvageable. Thankfully, for the customer, the tannery was able to get it right and the mount came out very nice.

I support having taxidermy work done in the US because of the quality, but I think your situation (and the others caught in it) is more of an exception. Typically the work is done much faster in Africa because they have the labor both in tannery and at taxidermy. That’s part of problem though, a taxidermist supervises the work rather than does the work in most cases.

The reason I replied though is your dip and pack story. If you are going to have taxidermy work done in Africa, it’s really only from 3 countries South Africa, Namibia, or Mozambique (because everything transits through South Africa). You can’t compare dip and pack work from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Cameroon, Uganda, etc because that’s really the only option and quality can be questionable. If you are going to compare dip and pack to taxidermy, it has to be South Africa to South Africa or Namibia to Namibia. The story about the lord derby eland is very odd because there are no taxidermy option available there. I think there was more to that story.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I support having taxidermy work done in the US because of the quality, but I think your situation (and the others caught in it) is more of an exception. Typically the work is done much faster in Africa because they have the labor both in tannery and at taxidermy. That’s part of problem though, a taxidermist supervises the work rather than does the work in most cases.

The reason I replied though is your dip and pack story. If you are going to have taxidermy work done in Africa, it’s really only from 3 countries South Africa, Namibia, or Mozambique (because everything transits through South Africa). You can’t compare dip and pack work from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Cameroon, Uganda, etc because that’s really the only option and quality can be questionable. If you are going to compare dip and pack to taxidermy, it has to be South Africa to South Africa or Namibia to Namibia. The story about the lord derby eland is very odd because there are no taxidermy option available there. I think there was more to that story.

I'm curious too and do appreciate the input. I often looked at a lot of the posts on here stating things like "I am only taking photos from now on" as being a little ridiculous. However, now I am seeing why people are saying this.

From what you and I have discussed, the outfitter makes all the difference across the board. Who they work with for dip+pack, taxidermy, logistics, etc.

It's the difference between waiting 3+ years or 6 months.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I'm planning my fourth safari in 2027. My plans for this time are just take pictures and enjoy the hunt. My safari taxidermy cost in 2024 was 65 to 70% of what the Buffalo planes game package price was. Taxidermy, shipping and import fees etc. have dramatically increased. I've always had my mounts done in Africa and can honestly say they have always done an excellent job. The quality is every bit as good as all my domestic taxidermy work from my North American hunts. My trophy room is getting full now anyway, so I'll allocate the money I save on African taxidermy for future hunts. I would add, If I was going on my first couple of safaris, I'd definitely have the taxidermy work done all over again. I throughly enjoy my mounts. Africa is such an enjoyable experience.

This is the one thing we/I missed going our first time and I guess most first timers do as well. For example, we didn't even know we needed an importer until we were squaring up the last day of the safari with our payments. Another hunter told us about it and the outfitter confirmed.

If it's a buffalo hunt that's $15,000 for 5 days it really is:

$15,000 for the hunt and buffalo
$1000-$2000 for the shoulder mount if done there
$2000-$3000 in air freight
$1500-$3000 in importing, warehousing, misc fees, and inland transpo.

So yeah, on the high side of those figures that's an additional $8,000 on top of the $15,000 for the actual hunt, or 50-60%.

Good rule of thumb you pointed out. Depending what you end up taking, how many animals, and type of mounts...figure another 60-70% on top of the hunt cost for your trophies to get to your door.

A lot of people are probably like us their first time. Didn't know they needed an importer, didn't know shipping was that expensive, didn't know there was that much involved getting it back.

If it's worth it to the person, go for it. I think a lot of people just don't realize the after-hunt work and cost to get your trophies home.

 

[Huntforever]

My shipment of four capes, skulls and horns on the way right now from South Africa to Seattle cost me $825 in shipping costs. I prefer to use a US taxidermist. I thought $825 was more than reasonable.

That’s sounds like a good price. Do you know the weight and dimensions of the container? Also, who did you use for shipping?

 

[Huntforever]

My current taxidermy shipment information is below, shipping this month. Dimensional and actual weights included, this is for three shoulder wall pedestals, 1 skull, Blue wildebeest Euro and the tanned wildebeest hide.

The shipment comprises of 1 x wooden case with the following logistics:

Chargeable mass: 158 kg

Actual mass: 73 kg

Dimensions (in cm)

Crate	Length	Width	Height
1	124	78	98

Cost:
Air freight, to the amount of US $ 2,083.84, which terminates at Chicago (ORD) Airport, which excludes clearance and delivery charges.

Taxidermy cost in South Africa was $3K for Tsessebe, Nyala and Springbuck wall pedestals, Springbuck skull, wildebeest Euro and tanned wildebeest hide.
"

Trogon,

Did you research to see what it would have cost to have the work done in the states? My guess is $1200, $1200, $950, $200 and $250 for mounts and skulls totals $3800 us taxidermy cost.

 

[Huntforever]

I just paid over 3k USD to have my almost five hundred pound crate of trophies shipped to Atlanta. Africa Outbound was the shipper/exporter, via Turkish Airlines. Fees went up (for me) roughly 30% from my last shipment that weighed roughly the same. Can't do anything about it except allocate more money for shipping costs with future hunts.

Would you mind sharing what all you got into the crate and the size ?

 

[Trogon]

Trogon,

Did you research to see what it would have cost to have the work done in the states? My guess is $1200, $1200, $950, $200 and $250 for mounts and skulls totals $3800 us taxidermy cost.

@Huntforever, I have had previous trips taxidermy done in the States, honestly disliked the delay with getting dip and pack given to taxidermist and then another long wait. I think your numbers are fairly close. My cost was $3K for my taxidermy done in South Africa.

 

[farmer_john]

Whps best in zimbabwe or other place to tan elephant hide and tusks

 

[trperk1]

$3,370 to Chicago shipping this week or next.

SHIPMENT DETAILS
Destination Port: ORD
No. of Crates: 1
Dimensions: 213x93x98cm
Actual Weight: 120kg
Vol./Chargeable Weight: 324kg
Contents: Fully processed game trophies