Report of our Actual Expenses to ship trophies out of Namibia

My father and I hunted Africa for the first time in Sep of 2010. We hunted with Uitspan Hunting in the Kalahari region of Namibia. We just received the trophies here in the US this week. FYI, I thought I'd list what we paid for export of trophies and see how it compares with what others have found.

For the record I shipped:
Skull, salted cape, and horns of: Kudu, Gemsbok, Blue Wildebeest, Blesbok, Springbok, and Duiker
Skull and horns of: Red Hartebeest
Finished flatskins of kudu, springbok, and impala

My father shipped:
Skull, salted cape, and horns of: Kudu, Gemsbok x 2, Springbok, and Eland.
Skull and horns of: Red Hartebeest, and Blesbok
Finished flatskins of springbok and impala

After settling up with our PH, we incurred the following additional expenses:

Taxidermy shop in Windhoek for dipping and packing: $1,230
Shipping service for air freight from Windhoek to San Fransisco: $3,054
Customs clearing agent and freight from San Fran to local taxidermy shop: $1,560

Total bill is $5,845 or about $2,920 each.

Sound reasonable? Whether it does or doesn't, the hunter really is at the mercy of the various agents. One "lost" our wire transfer for a month or so. Only a phone call from the states to Namibia sorted that out. In all, I'm pleased. The trophies are in excellent shape and the taxidermy shop (and the PH) did a tremendous job of caring for our trophies.

Sadly, the real taxidermy expenses are just now about to start. In total we will probalby spend considerably more in export and taxidermy than we did for the actual hunt. Couldn't bear living without 'em though. Pictures are fine, but seeing that kudu will be a treat for years to come!

 

Wow. In 2007 my outfitter charged me nothing for dip and pack. Then my total bill from Coppersmith was $1,113 for shipping a mountain zebra hide and skulls/capes for a kudu, two springbok, a steenbok and a gemsbok. I guess I got off lucky on that one. I have a feeling that it is going to be a bit more when I ship my trophies back from Botswana next year.

 

bryce, did the shippin company set up the clearing agent for you or did you do it yourself?

 

The PH recommended the Taxidermy shop, the taxidermy shop recommended the shipping company, and I set things us with Coppersmith in San Fran. The part I wonder about is the shipping service, since coppersmith acted only as a receiving agent, not the shipping agent. Coppersmith didn't really sound interested in arranging for trophy pickup from my taxidermist in Namibia, so I went with the one the taxidermy shop recommended.

 

Bryce M

What was your point of shipping your animals from? South Africa or Namibia?

Were the 2 of you trophies the only ones shipped in the air cargo container or were your mixed with others to reduce air shipping?

Was your shipment delivered by coppersmith to your taxidermist in bulk or were your animals all by them selves.

Did you use an taxidermist that you were able to reduce your shipping due to their trucking line contracts?

Coppersmith in San Francisco was very helpful for my use...

My outfitter delivered my trophies to the exporting airport to be shipped with others to reduce the cost of shipping...all agreed to before i went on the trip...

 

The animals shipped from Windhoek, Namibia and did not transit through S. Africa. They went via Munich and London before they arrived to Coppersmith in San Fran. One carton contained my trophies and another contained my father's. As I understand it, there really isn't any way to combine trophies into a single container and get them through customs, USDA, and the other inspection points.

 

Not necessarily true...if they are going to the same place, and everyone has proper documentation, then it's not a problem

 

I went on safari with Dries Visser last July and here is what I brought home and what my total dip/pack/ship/import bill came too.

Kudu – skull, horns, cape, backskin
Eland – skull, horns, cape, backskin
Impala – skull, horns, cape, backskin
Blesbok – skull, horns, cape, backskin
Gemsbok – skull, horns, cape, backskin
Wildebeest – skull, flatskin
Warthog – European mount with plaque
Zebra – full hide

Dip/Pack through Swift Dip: $920
Shipping through Safari Cargo Systems (Jo’burg to Coppersmiths in Chicago): $1338
Coppersmith’s services and final shipment to Minneapolis: $613
Total: $2871

Just an FYI, I had estimated this was going to cost me about $2500 before I left - The biggest part that I missed in my estimate was the shipping charges. Hope the info helps.

nd

 

Who are you having do your taxidermy? I will be going to Namibia this summer. I see where you imported via San Fran. I am just 80 miles from SF and currently Shopping for a quality Taxidermist.


Rob

 

I'm having a guy here in Idaho do the final taxidermy work. I was referred to a group in Texas, but after you figure the additional shipping, not being able to see/verify the position and quality of the mounts, and working with someone whose work I've seen before all amounts to something.

 

you could have saved a bundle by shipping in one container. simply use one name on the trophys. you are allowed to export 2 animals per species. this is just one way around this. very simple and i am shocked that more people dont do this!

 

I tried that approach on my first safari with my dad. We had everything tagged in his name and all ready to ship. The ph called and told me the s.a. government wouldn't believe it so we had to break apart the crate and make 2. He said it stemmed back to myself getting a letter of invitation to hunt and my dad getting a letter of invitation. I brought a gun and a bow on my rifle permit and my dad brought a gun and his crossbow on his permit. I believe the only way you would get everything in to one crate is to have everything in one persons name and the other person would have to go as a observer. I am not completely sure of what exactly transpired but
1- I brought a gun into south africa
2- had a letter of invitation to hunt
3- we put all animals in one crate
4- maybe they didn't believe I was that bad of a hunter not to bring any animals home
5- I paid for my own crate and got my animals back.(less the hair on half of them but that is another story)
From that trip on I get my own crate.

 

we were a group of 28. we combined shipping. we are canadians and i believe that it is different regs than from u.s. hunters. we never got a letter of invite, and i rented a rifle.

 

When I hear about the various shipping charges my first thought is what a racket. Not a whole lot you can do about it. The dip and pack shouldn't be much of a surprise as you should be able to have a pretty good idea before you even go on your trip. The one cost that really makes me cringe when I hear people talk about it though is the broker fees or clearing agents. Overall I would have to say what a total waste of money with the only stipulation being on where you live. If you live no where even close to a port of entry then o.k your kind of in a spot. If however you are by a port of entry you are a fool if you don't clear them yourself. Know that might sound kind of harsh but it's the way I feel about it. I have gone twice to South Africa and had the first batch done over there and the second batch dip and packed. Both times I did the paperwork myself (which probably at the most took twenty minutes) and cleared them myself. These shipping agents make it sound so difficult and act like you are really setting yourself up for disaster if you even consider doing it yourself. What a load of crap! I only live about 45 minutes from PDX but even if I lived 10 hours away I would still save a lot of money doing it myself. Keep in mind all they do is the paperwork and go clear them, you still have to pick them up or pay them even more to set up shipping to where you want them. I hear them talk about this much for import fees and this much for export fees and have to laugh. Makes it seem like they are doing so much when in reality they are doing that 20 minutes of paperwork, contacting U.S. fish and game to schedule an appointment and that's pretty much it. I had a long discussion with the Fish and Game agent I have gone through both times and she agreed that it really was a racket and couldn't believe more people didn't clear there own trophies. Anyway that's my rant. Any questions on this incredibly complicated process (lots of sarcasim) feel free to get a hold of me and I'll help any way I can.

 

:agree:

It's a racket alright, but if you don't live by a port of entry, you are kinda screwed. All of your comments are spot on, to me! :agree:

 

Wow. That is a lot . I know that the most any of my clients have paid was 2600.00, and thats for some heavy trophies or lots of plains game trophies out of Namibia,south or Zim.. And thats having the client shipping their trophies to coppersmith in Seatac Wa. and then being shipped to my studio or my USDA tannery in Montana. Most of the clients will go through coppersmith will have their shipments COD instead of those wire tranfers that almost anyways gets messed up. It is true that you are at the mercy of all that are involved in the shipping part....

 

WOW I'm going to make this short and sweet. You guy's have talked me into doing the same thing I did last year, get my trophy's mounted there.
Taxidermy fees $4300 includes doc. Umilindi Taxidermy shipping $2100 to Atlanta, GA: Rex freight forward, Sprouls Customs clearing agent Alt. $140 I picked them up no charge 5hrs later I'm clearing space for them in my Game room. these include
Eastern Cape Greater Kudu floor Pedestal mount
Gemsbok floor Pedestal mount
Impala Wall Pedestal mount
Blesbok Shoulder mount
Black & Blue Wildebeest shoulder mounts
Mountain Reedbuck Shoulder mount
Springbuck Shoulder Mount
Warthog Tusk on sheild
and all in about 8 months from start to finish

 

I agree with you Bob. You have a great taxidermist and have the costs all worked out...you are very smart!

 

I don't know about being all that smart or just real lucky, I have heard the horror stories about leaving your Trophies over there thats why I went to the Taxidermy shop and checked out his work before making up my mind. what I seen and the recommendations from my PH made up my mind for me, I'm glad I went that route.

 

Just go a notice that my trophies are ready for shipping from SA. The bill includes "Currency Adjustment Factor" for $43 US. What the,exactly, is this?