Taxidermy for first timer

[trperk1]

Hi- Im hunting in SA in April. Debating on best process (easiest and cost effective) for my trophies. I’m i interested in hearing the pros and cons of getting trophies mounted in country vs dipped and shipped

 

[Mekaniks]

In my opinion "Dip em and Ship em"... Find a good US taxidermist and let him do all your import paperwork as well.

Get with a US taxidermist well in advance, and he will likely give you pre made tags to attach (zip tie) to your trophy's when you are in SA. The tags will have your name and all the shipping info to help reduce any confusion when they get to the SA dip, pack and ship company.

If you have all the taxidermy done in SA you will have zero recourse if something goes wrong, and much harder to change your mind during the process. Lots of horror stories around here if you search the archives.

The cost of shipping completed mounts is also going to add up fast......And probably offset any savings you might have by having the work done in SA. There are lots of good US taxidermists that have tons of experience with African animals.

 

[everett]

From my limited experience…
I’ve only had taxidermy done in Africa twice. It was far less expensive than in the states, and the first time I had it done, had mounts on the wall in less than seven months.
These days, I expect shipping may cut into some savings.
Having work done over there doesn’t give you as many options if there is a problem with finished work, and communication before then can be more challenging.

Doing work stateside allowed me to space out the work over a number of years so it seemed like less of a blow to my pocket book.
Cons of stateside for me have been cost, and it could be a couple of years from the time you take animal until it’s hanging on your wall.
Just my limited experience.

 

[JimP]

On my first hunt I had my trophies dip and packed and sent to my taxidermist here in the US. Since that time my taxidermist here has tippled his prices and is 15 months out once he gets the capes and horns. It also was a year and a half before I got all my mounts done.

My trip this last June I am having the mounts done in South Africa for a quarter of the price plus I should have my crate sometime next month, 7-8 months after I shot them.

Am I taking a chance on the taxidermy? Yes, I am. If there is a problem with the mount I'll just have to live with it but after seeing pictures of the mounts I believe that I'll be happy, but I'll see when I get them..

 

[Andrew62]

I have done both, just this past May I shot animals with Tsala in South Africa, they were mounted, shipped home, and hung on my wall before I went back over to hunt South Africa in September!!

There are pros and cons to the whole process. The young man who went with me in September is saving 7000.00 in mounting costs from the US to Africa, now what shipping will cost I do not know, but probably a lot. The mounted animals we saw in a taxidermy shop over near Grahamstown were of good quality. The animals I had mounted at a shop in the Limpopo were of very good quality.

Consider mixing up regular mounts with European style mounts to save costs.

 

[RLL]

Dip and pack any skin mounts you want to the US, to your taxi of choice. Euros and esoteric stuff, do there.

 

[shootist~]

There are horror stories on both dip and pack and S.A. Taxidermy. Research reviews well.
I had mine Taxied in SA to cut out potential dip & pack issues (over boiling). But I saw several Safaris worth of taxidermy by that company over here, which gave me some confidence.

The only issue was a 30 day hold on everything since the two guys I hunted with took Warthogs, and the Taxidermy company we all used - @LIFE-FORM TAXIDERMY, was in a different province.

Air freight was $4k last April for 5 shoulders, 3 Euro, and a Zebra rug btw.

 

[R.M.C.]

If money is no object and you want the absolute best taxidermy work done, dip and pack. If you're saving for a second safari, get one or two favorites shoulder mounted and the rest euro mounts and tanned hides and have them shipped home. The shipping is a killer either way.

 

[Vintageguy]

I went with taxidermy in South Africa and saved probably 25 to 40 percent on costs of the mounts but then gave that back in the astronomical shipping this past year. However, my local taxidermist doesn’t have experience with African mounts, definitely a minus, and they told me they are having real trouble sourcing forms for everyday stuff let alone unusual forms. Add to that a one year wait for one shoulder mount and that made up my mind. I wanted to see them before I die, lol.
They were here in 9months as promised by the taxidermist and looked great.
The surest way to save is closely considering what to mount and how. Taxidermy is a known, shipping is the one that’ll get you.

 

[Inline6]

Taxidermy is one of those special things. If money is no object and you have the space it is a no brainer. Our hunt of 15 animals (Buffalo to Springbok) could have been repeated for what we are spending on taxidermy and freight.

Have read several times on this forum how taxidermy is all well and good. That said they would rather hunt then have mounts hanging on the wall. I could not appreciate reading that then, I fully understand that now. Space fills up on walls quickly, money leaves the account quickly. Saving up for the next hunt takes twice as long. I would still have mounts done, they will have to be an exceptional trophy before I would commit again. Pictures on a digital frame with all the different animals, people, and scenery will be more my speed next time.

Understand some people money doesn't matter. For other that do, it is worth the soul searching.

 

[Patrick Hargan]

I went in 2021 and went the dip and ship route, by advice of my taxidermist who has personally been on 15+ safaris. Everything went seamless, even having a warthog in the mix. Even with the holding period and FWS inspection, everything reached the tannery in less than 8 months and all capes and skulls were to my taxidermist by the year mark. He did an amazing job, and will be receiving all my trophies from my next trip in May of this year. I have friends still waiting on mounts done in SA from the same time that have been sitting in storage for many months now, and still no delivery date in sight. They definitely ate up the cost savings by having it done there, in storage and shipping costs. I’ll be going dip and ship in May, no questions asked.

 

[Inline6]

As a side note, we ran number on using a local guy that does very good work. He has done a lot of African animals. We compared his prices to Splitting Image. We figured if shipping was 5k we were saving money and coming out ahead. Shipping by sea was well over that and by air you can add another 5k+ to that price. With today's cost of shipping I'm not sure what the best way to go. Our order was large and our two crates combined are 1300#s. So we may be the exception and not the rule.

Have read many stories about hair slippage, skins coming back damaged, capes are harder to come by stateside vs in Africa. Damaged mounts, people have experienced out of pocket repairs as well as the company in Africa telling them where to send them to for repair and customer was not out of pocket. The key is picking the right company. Our PH is setup with Splitting Image, for us that was a win, less foot work. He would ask us how things were going with the mounts, he was not afraid to make a call on our behalf if needed. In my eyes that goes a long ways. If things get a little sideways a taxidermy company is probably not going to be accommodating. If a PH the brings in a couple hundred animals or more a year makes a call, it probably carries a little more weight. It is just more food for thought. The best resource you have is this forum, many people have answered my quest along the way and I can't thank them enough.

Either way having talked with several people about shipping. Everyone recently has been a little taken back with the cost of shipping. Just plan for that, I believe I read on here at one time the taxidermy bill would be about equal to the safari, the person the wrote that was dead on in my case. I did not believe it until I experienced it.

Good luck on your adventure!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Photographs!

 

[ActionBob]

I think the dynamics have changed on costs. Shipping has gotten so expensive that depending upon what you have done, like a big giraffe shoulder mount, buffalo, eland... shipping might be so high that it could be a better choice to dip and pack and ship as small a crate as possible.

Now if you can get simple shoulder mounts and Euro's into a nice single compact and reasonable weight crate.... costs may be reasonable.

Now for some serious advice;
If you got really good pictures, even hired a video guy... you could save enough to hunt about twice as muck. Not that many years ago it was more like half the cost of the hunt.. But hunts have largely gotten more economical, shipping has gone way up, and taxidermy costs have gone up... Now for me it's not changing my lifestyle by "paying" for taxidermy, at least not noticeably. But it is affecting my life as in crowding g the house. It has gotten out of hand in the house and it's going to get worse (or stored somewhere not in the house).... I had grand plans for a nice big trophy room but now thinking of relocating someday sooner than later. What is the resale on a trophy room investment? Probably not much at least compared to what it costs.

And the more taxidermy I do, the more I like full mounts Think ahead of what will become of it down the road. Full mounts could be museum pieces. Somehow that seems a better fate than other possibilities. Where are all these shoulder mounts going to end up?

Somedays it seems like life would be simpler had i started out with just pictures....

 

[Just Gina]

I have seen better taxidermy come out of Africa than what a person in the states has done. Taxidermy from my first safari was completely RUINED by a taxidermist in the states. Flip side, I have also seen bad taxidermy come out of Africa. If you decide to have some done in Africa, insist on pictures of the process as it is being done.
I would research what would be most cost effective in getting what you are wanting. The cost of shipping and taxidermy has gone up a lot.
Taxidermy also (in my experience) can be quite the burden and at times, an annoyance. It does not take much taxidermy to clutter a space if you do not have a trophy room. If you like it in every room of the house, (which I hate) it still doesn’t take much to fill up a house. My opinion of course and probably not the same feelings everyone has on it. Good luck with your research and whichever you decide, we will all enjoy seeing pics and hearing stories!

 

[Fixfire]

I’ve seen some poor “attempts” at African animals buy some local taxidermist. Of course some of the more famous/recognized guys do great work but be prepared to pay and most annoyingly, wait. My mounts, done in SA are fine and were on my wall in 10 months. Cost hasn't resonated with me so I guess it was what I expected going in.

 

[gizmo]

Hello, I would be glad to help you if I can. There are some positive and negatives going both ways. I handle many many safari’s over the course of a year and I am also a USDA certified taxidermist which cuts out some shinanagins and can save some money. Feel free to reach out and I’d be glad to help or point you in the right direction if you’d like.

 

[trperk1]

Gizmo- I would appreciate some advice and insight into how you could help

 

[Hunt anything]

I’ve done both as well, as most have said there are pros and cons with both. With what was supposed to be my one and only safari I had my trophies dipped and packed and mounted in the states. They are far and away my best mounts. All of the poses were done to my specs but also my most expensive. My second were mounted in RSA done very well but a couple of the poses were off and a few cuts from the tannery. My third and fourth were also done in RSA while the taxidermy is good the poses on just about every animal looked nothing like any of the pictures I sent for each mount. The RSA taxidermy was a fraction of the cost of what it cost in the states and they were able to replace a couple of capes that ruined at no cost which would have been difficult here. My next safari will most likely be a dip and pack shipped to my house and then taken ala-cart to a good taxidermist like gizmo as I can save money to have each mounted.