Trophy Shiping Costs, Turkiye ( Turkey ) to USA

[30.06king]

Hi AH Members,
I have a question re hunting trophy shipping costs.
Some friends and I are wanting to ship Bezoar Ibex trophies from Turkiye to New Zealand, and are rather aghast at just the arifreight rates quoted. We all know about cost increases but these prices seem a bit off the scale.
What we are told, and what we are comparing to, is that recent Bezoar Ibex airfreight shipments to the USA ( We presume landed at New York, Dulles, Atlanta or Miami ) are costing about USD $ 2350.00 This we presume would be on Turkish Airlines.
Does anybody here have recent experience importing a Bezoar Ibex who could corroborate or otherwise these costs please ?
Cheers

 

[PARA45]

In my experience, the airfreight on Turkish Airlines was not bad at all, where Turkish Airlines makes their money is on their outrageous warehouse fees. Mine was a small crate, and I ended up paying $1200.00 for their fees. They know they have us by the b@lls since none of the other airlines are shipping trophies.

 

[JimP]

I would suggest that you contact a shipping importer such as Trophy Shippers on the forum here, Coppersmith or Safari Specialty Importers.

Any of them will be able to eliminate the storage fees that Turkish Airlines is gouging people with, they do however charge for their services but a lot less than what a few days storage would cost.

As for the fee for the crate to fly, there is no getting around that.

 

[PARA45]

I used Coppersmith, and I still ended up paying, even with Coppersmith claiming that they had a bonded warehouse.

 

[JimP]

I used Coppersmith, and I still ended up paying, even with Coppersmith claiming that they had a bonded warehouse.

My last shipment that I received last summer with SSI I had zero warehouse storage fees. Their price is a little higher than other importers but you get it back when there is no warehouse fees and for what they do.

 

[Vintageguy]

I did Trophy Shippers and got a rue rue on warehouse storage fees anyway. If this years shipment ends up costing close to last time it’ll be pictures only going forward.

 

[375Fox]

What city did you clear your trophies through? It was written previously trophy shippers doesn’t have a bonded warehouse in Chicago unless something has changed recently.

 

[30.06king]

@PARA45 @JimP @Vintageguy @375Fox
Gents, many thanks for the comments. Since posting my question we ( three of us ) have continued pursuing possibilities with our NZ based customs broker, a great guy trying his best to help. I'm unsure at this stage if there is light at the end of the tunnel, only hop we are moving in the right direction.
What we are looking at is shipment of three Bezoar Ibex trophies ( capes and horns ) from Turkiye ( Turkey ) to New Zealand. We all hunted in November 2023. So far we have not achieved acceptance from any airline that they would carry hunting trophies to NZ. Turkish Airlines will carry them but only as far as Australia and we can't find an airline wiling to fly them on to NZ.
A quote we were given to carry the trophies on Emirates ( assuming Emirates will even accept them which seems doubtful ) was USD $3200.00 PER TROPHY i.e. for despatch ex Istanbul and landed Auckland, NZ, before extra post landing costs ). We balked at that ! We asked about consolidating the trophies into one package to save some cost and were told that's not permitted. For the moment we are stuck bewteen a rock and a hard place but remain hopeful something helpful will come to light.

 

[PARA45]

My apologies, I read your post on my phone, and did not realize you were in NZ, and not in the US. Good luck with the shipment.

 

[30.06king]

@PARA45
No apology necessary, but thanks. Not so long ago we used to be quite well serviced by airlines, even down here in NZ, that carried hunting trophies. Sadly, now most seem to have jumped onto the antis bandwagon and refuse to ship hunting trophies. I'm jealous of you USA hunters as you still have a few options open to you but maybe we Kiwis are now at the point of being shut out.
We're still trying to find a way though. Haven't quite yet got to the point of quitting.

 

[JES Adventures]

I hunted Bezoar Ibex in November of 2022 and the full skin and horns were shipped April of 2023.

All of the pack, dip, crate and documentation on the Turkey side $1995. Customs broker in Texas charged $1053 to clear shipment.

JES

 

[30.06king]

@JES Adventures
Sir,
Very much appreciate your reply and information. A great help. Thankyou.
Cheers

 

[SWS1]

Morning, not sure on which broker you are using but Geoff Olsen has been superb with my stuff.He could be worth a call if your not using him already.
Actually , Ive got a mate in my village who is just sorting out his mid asian coming back from Krygz. I could ask him what he has been quoted but im sure Krygyz to NZ is a much more convoluted route than Turkey to NZ.

 

[30.06king]

Morning, not sure on which broker you are using but Geoff Olsen has been superb with my stuff.He could be worth a call if your not using him already.
Actually , Ive got a mate in my village who is just sorting out his mid asian coming back from Krygz. I could ask him what he has been quoted but im sure Krygyz to NZ is a much more convoluted route than Turkey to NZ.

Hi @SWS1
Thanks for your comments.
We are using Geoff Olsen, as we have done for several years. Yep, he is the "go to" guy and I think this particular case has him pulling his hair out but we remain confident he will find a way, eventually !
The nub of the "issue" is airlines. I think now all airlines we could have used to ship have policies prohibiting carriage of "hunting trophies". Almost all will not allow booking on any flight. At this stage we could get our trophies as far as Australia but seem to have no options for on-shipping to New Zealand so we are kinda stuck until we work out how to circumvent the obstacle. Despite the frustration we haven't given up yet and keep our fingers crossed.
Thinking about Kyrgz I don't thnik it would be more convoluted necessarily. Just a few more kms to travel. But, yes, please ask your friend what he was quoted and let me know ( PM ? ). Also, would help to know if his quote is for shipping to NZ ( Auckland, Christchurch ? ) and which airline/s his consignment got booked on.
Cheers

 

[SWS1]

Just checked with him and Geoff organised it all. It’s currently in NZ and being fumigated before heading across to David Jacobs…
I had my water buff air shipped at the start of the year from Aussie and that was still doable then via Raitts and Geoff… hunting banteng and water buff this year and had hoped they could come the same way!

Hi @SWS1
Thanks for your comments.
We are using Geoff Olsen, as we have done for several years. Yep, he is the "go to" guy and I think this particular case has him pulling his hair out but we remain confident he will find a way, eventually !
The nub of the "issue" is airlines. I think now all airlines we could have used to ship have policies prohibiting carriage of "hunting trophies". Almost all will not allow booking on any flight. At this stage we could get our trophies as far as Australia but seem to have no options for on-shipping to New Zealand so we are kinda stuck until we work out how to circumvent the obstacle. Despite the frustration we haven't given up yet and keep our fingers crossed.
Thinking about Kyrgz I don't thnik it would be more convoluted necessarily. Just a few more kms to travel. But, yes, please ask your friend what he was quoted and let me know ( PM ? ). Also, would help to know if his quote is for shipping to NZ ( Auckland, Christchurch ? ) and which airline/s his consignment got booked on.
Cheers

 

[30.06king]

Just checked with him and Geoff organised it all. It’s currently in NZ and being fumigated before heading across to David Jacobs…
I had my water buff air shipped at the start of the year from Aussie and that was still doable then via Raitts and Geoff… hunting banteng and water buff this year and had hoped they could come the same way!

@SWS1
Glad it all worked out for you both. Yeah, beginning of this year I'm pretty sure Qartar was still carrying trophies then and have only very recently jumped onto the "anti" bandwagon.
Might pay to have a word to Geoff before heading ocer to Oz. See what he says about getting trophies back now. If you need a CITES Permit it might be a hurdle ...??
I'm jealous of your upcoming Banteng, Water Buff hunt. Want to chase Banteng one day. A cool looking bovine. Best of luck.
Cheers

 

[SWS1]

He’s really helpful. Tried really hard when MPI impounded my axis cape in March.
I’ll give him a bell and see what he thinks. If it’s got to be sea freighted from Aussie that’s not too bad.
Banteng should be superb friends who’ve hunted them a lot tell me it’s a great hunt. I did water buff last year with Simon Kyle Little and really enjoyed it

@SWS1
Glad it all worked out for you both. Yeah, beginning of this year I'm pretty sure Qartar was still carrying trophies then and have only very recently jumped onto the "anti" bandwagon.
Might pay to have a word to Geoff before heading ocer to Oz. See what he says about getting trophies back now.
I'm jealous of your upcoming Banteng, Water Buff hunt. Want to chase Banteng one day. A cool looking bovine. Best of luck.
Cheers