TSA locks are ILLEGAL for gun cases.
Are they actually illegal or just can't be the main locks? It's a minor point but is there an actual U.S. rule that says you can't add TSA locks in addition to your regular locks? My case has four locking points. Last trip I put two regular locks at each side and added a couple of TSA locks in the center.
TSA regulations state that you must transport firearms in a locked, hard-sided case and that "only the passenger should retain the key or combination to the lock." Since TSA agents can open TSA locks, this means that they can't be the main locks securing your case. It doesn't specifically state anywhere that you can't use a couple of TSA locks in addition to other locks. Since you didn't run into any problems when you mixed regular and TSA locks on your recent trip, it's clear that some TSA agents don't see that as an issue. On the other hand, I also wouldn't be surprised if you had a different agent at a different airport give you a hard time for doing that. For that reason, I'd say it's a much better idea just to fill all the holes on your rifle case with regular locks and carry a spare or two.
For more information on flying with guns, check out:
http://thebiggamehuntingblog.com/2016/06/how-to-fly-with-a-gun/On taxidermy, I am leaning more and more towards Europeans. Short of my buffalo and bushbuck, last years take in Zimbabwe will be Europeans. Same for our up coming trip to Namibia in June. Next years trip to Burkina Faso will only see my roan and bushbuck in a shoulder mount, the balance will be Europeans. Having the Europeans done in Africa is pretty inexpensive.
Taxidermy costs if done in the U.S. consist of:
1) Dip and pack at African taxidermist
2) African exporter
3) Shipping
4) U.S. importer
5) Shipping fee to your taxidermist
6) Taxidermy
If you use an African taxidermist you don't have the expense of the dip and pack
But except for the taxidermy, these are all fixed costs regardless of whether you go with shoulder mounts or euro mounts.
I recently did an analysis of the total cost involved with shipping a kudu, blue wildebeest, impala, and warthog to the USA from South Africa. My goal was to do as close to an "apples to apples" comparison as possible of the cost difference between doing taxidermy in South Africa and shipping those animals home as shoulder mounts vs getting them dipped & packed and finishing the taxidermy in the USA.
Generally speaking, taxidermy prices in Africa are cheaper than in the USA. Also, as postoak pointed out, you don't have to pay dip & pack fees if you elect to get your trophies finished in Africa. However, because they physically take up much more space (thus requiring a larger & heavier crate) shoulder mounts are much more expensive to ship than raw trophies.
On the other hand, it's generally more expensive to do taxidermy work in the USA and you do need to pay dip & pack fees if you elect to go that route, but that's offset somewhat by the lower shipping cost.
When all was said and done, I found that the total cost of everything involved (dip & pack, shipping, taxidermy fees in the US, etc.) was sightly higher to ship those four animals home as "raw trophies" and to get the taxidermy finished in the USA. That being said, the cost difference was very small (on the order of a couple hundred dollars).
European mounts are a different ball game though. It costs about the same to ship a European mount to the USA compared to the same animal as a raw trophy. However, you can avoid the dip & pack fees by getting your European mount(s) done in Africa and maybe save a little money. So, purely from a cost perspective, it's probably a better idea to get your taxidermy done in Africa if you only want European mounts. Keep in mind that you cannot ship finished and raw trophies in the same crate, so this advice only applies if you want to get all your animals finished as European mounts in Africa.
Of course, the exact cost varies depending on animals you're getting mounted, the taxidermist/dip & pack agent you use, and where you're shipping your trophies to and from. This conversation also does not take into account the quality of work by taxidermists in Africa vs the USA.
So what's the big takeaway here?
You can probably save some money if you only get European mounts and you do the work in Africa. On the other hand, there isn't much cost difference with doing shoulder mounts in South Africa vs the USA when you take everything into account, so don't worry too much about trying to save money in this area.
Instead, if you want shoulder mounts done, focus more on finding a quality taxidermist that's very experienced working with African animals and get that person to do your work.
