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Ouestion on my 2014 hunt

Myself and the wife is going next year (2014) on our first Africa hunt, the question is what is the best way to have the horns, skulls, capes and hides done. Should we have them mounted/tanned there or have them done in the US. Thank you very much for any info on this.

Dip and pack there only! Any tanning and taxidermy should be done here in the US. Just not worth the risk of poor quality, poor service, high shipping, and all the other nightmares that go with having taxidermy work done in RSA.

Stay as long as you can and shoot as much as you can. Have fun, it is a great adventure.

--Jim

Ditto what Jim says. Hunted there last month. Definitely have work done in US

Russell

Have had all work (Euro mounts and hides)done in Africa. Have recieved top quality work- the key is to pick a reputable taxidermy service. Turn around time is normally 7-9 months. Work done is less expensive that in U.S. and I think importation of crate into the U.S. is much easier than with dip & ship products.

Just returned from Africa and am having all work (Euro mounts, hides and swish tails) completed again in Africa.

It's not that you can't get decent work done in RSA for a cheaper price...my issue was there is no re-course if something doesn't turn out right. For instance...you get the wrong warthog mount back, a horn is not fixed the way you requested...etc. What are you supposed to do? Mail it back?

I've used Highveld Taxidermy twice, '03 and '07 but my last trip in '11 I used a local Alaskan guy.

juat an fyi....but in july trophies entering into canada must be ready to hang.....taxidermy already completed. This is a recent change....like I say, just an fyi for any canadian hunters heading to SA.

I had my hides tanned there and they came out just fine. I would not have anything mounted there though. TBB

I have had work done in both places. It is usually about 20% cheaper all In to have it done there. I do believe the overall quality is a little better here.

The other comments are right. It would be difficult or impossible to fix something if it was wrong. That being said, I have never had anything go wrong.

I usually would prefer to take the 20% savings and put it toward my next Africa hunt. There are good taxidermist there. It is up to you.

Highveld is great as is their work. I did have some issues on my last shipment that was not taxidermy related but damage done while crating. I sent them pics and explained what I found while opening the crate. They told me to have the repairs made and they would cover the cost. I did have the repairs made and sent Highveld the bill. I promptly received a check for the costs. With Highveld you do have recourse as they stand by their work. If you use Highveld you will not have any worries in my experience.

A few suggestions to consider or ignore as you choose.

I would do as many euro mounts as you can. If the SA firm has good ones on display, have them do them.

I have never found that I have any recourse with local taxidermist. Not a factor for me.

Most local guys do not even know what some of the animals look like. If the SA guys do good work, get it done there.

Some of the most troublesome interactions I have ever had have been with taxidermist.

Think euro mounts!

Enjoy your hunt.

I'm certainly biased about having it done here vs in Africa. Here for the most part you are dealing with a single taxidermist who in most cases is doing the work. Some here are lacking in their knowledge of the nuances of how African species should express attitude etc, but most do quality work none the less. In Africa you also can find a few good ones who are doing the work themselves, but in many shops over there you are not dealing with a single artist. As I witnessed in a tour of Highvelt Taxidermy each operation was being handled by one or more local African natives sort of like an assembly line. Some were doing hide prep, others were doing ears others were doing eyes, etc. The end result will not be the same as if the owner of Highvelt was doing the work himself. Not likely, as he does over see things but probably spends most of his time in the office doing business. I imagine they had somewhere near 40-50 workers on site producing all the mounts and pedestals, etc. You certainly will take your chances (more so)in Africa with the quality. I can not conceive of that since I usually have a hand or two in doing my own taxidermy. I mounted the last set of trophies I took on my most recent trip, having them only dip/pack and ship the green capes and horns. For me it is the only way to go to insure quality mounts. If you want Euros than no problem, have them done there. Also, if you have your capes, skins tanned over there it will mean you have to deal with dry tanned capes. Those can present more challenge to the taxidermists here since many complain of the poor quality of the capes with little to no stretch and too thick from lack of proper shaving. If you have the tanning done here as a wet tan there can be much less hair slippage since they are not tumbled. Your taxidermist will probably prefer that to dry tanned. To each his own, but I observed enough to know on my RSA hunts that doing it here is the only way for me.

What AZ-Rich said...X2

If I were doing skulls and hides i'd do them over there. If you want shoulder mounts, send home.

Hides or euro there. Mounts here. Have had 2 buddies with nightmares after having their mounts done over there.

Bringing back swine (warthogs and bush pigs) or monkeys will greatly increase your costs due to requirements that they be packaged separately and there are additional steps, inspections required. All of this increases costs significantly. If you just want skulls of those things, you should definitely have them done European in Africa so they can be sent as finished products along with your green hides/horns without the extra costs.

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