What to do with a giraffe

I had not really thought about hunting giraffe but it was part of a Kwalata SA package hunt I purchased on a DSC auction. For me it was a great hunt and I thoroughly enjoyed the time and other hunting I did at Kwalata on that trip. My PH jokingly said there were three rules for giraffe hunting:

1. Shoot it near a road.
2. Keep shooting until it is down.
3. Make sure you drop it near a road.

My first shot was in a dry pan that had road access. The giraffe bolted at the first shot and ran across the pan where my second shot dropped it in its tracks (Broke Spine) right at the end of the road into the pan. As others described, a tractor, large trailer, and winch were used to load and even with the mechanical help it was quite a task. After that, i completely understood why they hoped the giraffe went down where there would be road access as recovery would be a nightmare otherwise.

I forgot to mention, the half neck mount can be whatever height you want with the bottom neck turning into the wall. This also can leave enough neck skin to make a rifle slip.

I hope you enjoy your hunt as much as I enjoyed mine.
 
I loved waterbuck and most people say it isn’t worth eating. . . So I googled “best giraffe mounts” and you won’t be surprised to know that most of the pix I liked originated on this very site. Loved the twisted neck mount although want to fix the habitat and the drinking one still a personal favorite. Also be careful when you google “giraffe mounts” as apparently people take lots of pix of giraffes mating. . . Proximo lived in the wrong day and age!
Also many fine examples of skin, skull and bone work-
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I have an old Classic Range Rover that needs re-trimming. I always wondered if the hide of ONE Giraffe would do the job? Or might I need Two?
 
Rookhawk you are completely correct. We have lost some of the tastiest meat to 'fast food'. We only use quick cooking cuts because we are in a rush. Although KFC figured out early that fat=flavour when they deep fry everything.

I love doing a potjie with the family. 6-8 hrs stewing cheaper cuts of meat. Never had giraffe. I sat 20 m downwind of a rotting giraffe for two nights (12 hrs each) while the lions we were filming fed. The carcass steamed in the early morning from the heat of rotting and the maggots seethed like living rice. Then I found out my boss who sat upwind to film the action could not smell a damn thing. It was just his little joke to make me sit in the stench. Oh well- I slept like a baby but don't know if I can face giraffe on a plate !

Your reference to Potjie suggests you're South African Boer? The amazing thing the Voortrekkers knew, and the Indians knew, is that marrow is the nectar of the gods. Rendering down bone-in meats for hours in a stew releases all the buttery marrow and all the collagen breaks down to make a rich, delicious dish. As Americans, me and my bretheren are not immersed in a culture that even sells these "off-cuts" of meat that create these delicious meals. Trying to do such fine cooking with a sirloin, strip steak, or even a pot roast is so much inferior to using a tougher, more durable cut with more bone and fat in the braising liquids.

For all my slander against giraffe meat compared to every other game animal I've consumed in Africa, it might very well be better than good in the right potjie rendered down all day. It's just once you've had bushbuck, eland, kudu, and buffalo marrow or ossa bucco the idea of settling for giraffe is a painful sacrifice.

P.S. - @Firebird The waterbuck I ate from the Zambezi valley was one of the finest week of meals I have had anywhere in the world for any price. Did I get lucky, or is the negative reputation of waterbuck unfounded? I found it exquisite.
 
I kept it simple, enough head and neck to fit on a pedestal in a corner. I was supposed to have a rug too, but the tannery botched it and hair slipped. View attachment 366760
Ya know? That really looks classy. I really like the way you did those. Well done!
 
Leg bones scrimshawed look really nice IMO.
 
I have eaten Waterbuck several times and thought it was excellent. Breaded Cutlets with Zak at Motsomi were fantastic.
 
I don't know if I would shoot a giraffe, but I have to admit a good shoulder/neck mount really dominates a room in a way that I like. Our outfitter in SA had a couple of them in our quarters mounted across from each other in the common room. Note the carved giraffe statue on the table beneath the mount. I like it when someone pairs a piece of related artwork with a mount.

lodge giraffe.jpg


I would also love to have a giraffe flat skin for the floor. They cost a lot more than I expected, but they are large and costly to ship, as well as probably labor-intensive to prepare and process. It seems that anything involving a giraffe and taxidermy costs a lot. The bone carvings are pretty neat. They are a lot of animal, and it seems like there is plenty you can do with them.
 
I am actually in Zimbabwe and about 1/4 Afrikaans-my kids must be around 3/8 as my wife has more Afrikaans blood than I do. But regardless of heritage, you are completely correct-cheap cuts with bone and marrow make the tastiest stew. In our family, we fight about marrow-my wife and kids love to suck the marrow out while I attempt to prod and poke it out into the gravy. Now you have got me going- I will have to have a potjie this weekend-right after I go to the range and chrono some reloads !

Waterbuck produce an oil from glands in their skin that they rub over the fur and that is where the musky smell comes from. The trick is to skin the animal without transferring the oil from the fur to the meat. Basically skinning technique-if you hold the skin only and pull it while skinning-taking care to not touch the meat with your hands then you are fine- knife and right hand on the meat side and left hand for the skin. The problem comes when skinners shove their hand between the skin and meat.
 
I am contemplating taking a giraffe during my planned 2021 safari. My problem is space - or lack of it - in my home for a shoulder mount. I am considering a European mount, but there will still be a lot of hide, bones, etc. left, which I do not wish to waste.

Can anyone provide me with ideas on how to utilize giraffe hide, bones and other parts? I have heard of the legs being used to make lamps, but have never seen any. Any information y'all can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Jake
What to do with a giraffe?
Answer:
1) Well you should've thought about that issue long before you shot it!!
2) Get it shoulder mounted with a brush on it's head and use it as a chimey sweep!! :ROFLMAO: (y)

(Sorry mate, I saw the title of the thread and just couldn't help being deliberately facetious!! :ROFLMAO:)
 
On the side topic of cheaper cuts, if you have never had an oxtail stew then you haven't tasted perfection!

Where my uncle lives, Muranbah - Austtralia, oxtail was sold as pet food at the butchers. Due to the fact it is a mining town there are many South African or Zim residents working there. When they found oxtail at pet food prices they bought it all as often as possible. The butcheries and shops caught on and now the price is the same as rump steak!

Find a way to prepare giraffe so that it is tasty and you'll be on to a winner...
 
Excellent for lion bait and as others have mentioned, makes for great rugs and bone carvings.

I can't believe someone on this site would be so against giraffe hunting. Keep negative thoughts to yourselves. Even on the internet, have some good manners.
 
What to do with a giraffe?
Answer:
1) Well you should've thought about that issue long before you shot it!!
2) Get it shoulder mounted with a brush on it's head and use it as a chimey sweep!! :ROFLMAO: (y)

(Sorry mate, I saw the title of the thread and just couldn't help being deliberately facetious!! :ROFLMAO:)

Or do a full mount, affix a seat on its head and use it as a blind or machan... ;)
 
I am contemplating taking a giraffe during my planned 2021 safari. My problem is space - or lack of it - in my home for a shoulder mount. I am considering a European mount, but there will still be a lot of hide, bones, etc. left, which I do not wish to waste.

Can anyone provide me with ideas on how to utilize giraffe hide, bones and other parts? I have heard of the legs being used to make lamps, but have never seen any. Any information y'all can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Jake
Killing the single old bull I have killed is one of the high lights of my hunting career. Unfortunately the hide I finally received was not from the fantastic trophy I paid for, it was from a young animal, poorly tanned not near the memento. Having said that, perhaps one day I will get another. I'm not so concerned about color, but size.
I brought back the skull, which will sit on a (large) shelf someday in a trophy room, the hide, which I wanted to use as a rug, and lower leg bones for knife handles etc.
 
Hi All,
Considering the outcry that my intervention sparked, I will try to provide an answer on my vision of the hunt to those who have had questions (especially @rookhawk).
First of all, my intention was not to hurt or offend anyone on the Forum, just give my opinion as anyone can here even if this advice does not go the way some would like whether . It is true that my intervention was rather concise and laconic and it could be interpreted as an attack on the author of the post @arizonajake. This was not the case . If this was taken as such, I apologize.
I was born in Africa (West Africa) and I still live there at almost 60 years old (Central Africa), I have been hunting since I was 8, birds first and first big game at 13, mixing here in Gabon hunting, spearfishing and big game fishing.
I consider that big game hunting should be practiced on foot by going up a track taken in the morning, or by meeting (as is often the case here in the forest).
Hunting for me must be practiced on:
1: dangerous animals (big cats, buffaloes, elephants) for the adrenaline it brings.
2: animals whose trophy is measurable (by points or by inch) and comparable to other previous animals hunted by other hunters or by oneself (always larger).
3: the hunting of birds involving those authorized and respecting the quantity of animals killed that nature can withstand (ethical and reasonable hunting)
4: suidae remaining to the appreciation of each (I like pig hunting) and respecting the rules enacted on the territory where we hunt.

I don't practice hunting our cousins whoever they are

Afterwards everyone is free to do as they want, it's just my way of seeing the hunt and I respect these other choices.

Philippe

I wait the storm .....

Ps: Sorry if my English seems bad, I am French and for this answer I used Google Translate.
 
Regarding giraffe rugs since folks are bringing this up.

I strongly recommend getting giraffe rugs and hair on tanning done in Africa.(I normally recommend dip / pack and taxidermy at home)

1.) it’s cheaper
2.) if the hide is ruined, you know it $2000-$3000 earlier in the process!
3.) It’s preserved faster, thus giving a better chance for a good product
4.) you’re shipping a lighter finished product that has been skived, rather than a 5x thicker green hide
That's what I've always done, and by using taxidermists in Africa, they have the most practice and resources in mounting African species. Another good reason to have your mounts done in Africa, is that you avoid a the headaches of tight quarantine laws when importing a "wet" trophy into your home country.

When all is set and done, I also get the taxidermist to send me a SEPARATE copy of all the paperwork. When quarantine see that I'm quoting the same documentation as they have, they then stop trying to invent ways to prevent me taking possession of my personal items.
 

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