My Argentine outfitter included the price of trophy permits, packing, dipping, yada yada, etc. into the price of my March red stag hunt. Said all that was left was transport from BA to USA. This was at the end of the hunt when we were settling up.
The bill for transport came two weeks ago: $1100 to transport two red stag skull plates and one cape to LAX.
Needless to say, I was a little hot. This is all before contemplated taxidermy costs. Had I known, I would have saved the aforementioned several hundred dollars in fees to the outfitter too.
Thankfully, I took a LOT of pictures. In the future, unless I take something truly stellar, I can't see dropping that cash on getting international trophies home and then mounted.
As much as I love good taxidermy, I'd rather take great pics and throw the rest of the cash into more hunts. Or my IRA.
Rick,
I had a similar experience getting a Water Buffalo skull and horns back from Argentina. The transport fee was outrageous. My outfitter charged me separately for pack and dip charges, on top of it all.
My first trip to Africa was in 1998, to Namibia. Dip, pack, and freight charges to the US weren't all that bad, but in the past 17 years, costs have escalated significantly.
I've got one more African animal at the taxidermist, and that's it! No more. No room left in the house, and no appetite for spending outrageous bucks on more African taxidermy. If I happen to take another exceptional head of NA game, I might consider it.
