Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Taxidermy question?

There seems to be differing opinions about weather to have your taxidermy work done in the RSA or here in the USA. What say you?

USA

Well, for me, I think it depends a lot on what you want done. When I went in 2008, I had euros and capes done. I was well satisfied with the quality of the work. It costs either way to have trophies sent back to the states. If you have a good taxidermist, here at home, and money is a problem, sometimes you can work out a deal to have 1-2 done a yr., and spread out the costs. Here is a few pics of my capes/euros.









That isn't all of them, but you get the idea.

maddog

If you are considering having taxidermy work done in RSA, I would strongly recommend you actually look at some of the work the taxidermist has done. Some RSA taxidermy work is great while some is amateurish.

The first time I went to RSA, I had my taxidermy work done in the U.S.A. and it took almost 3 years to get my mounts. The second time I went, I had Life Form Taxidermy do the work. From the time they received the animal parts to mount until I had the mounts on my door step was about 1 year and the work was done better and at less cost.

Some, in fact probably most, outfitters have taxidermists they'll probably try to steer you to and some of them become a bit surly and uncooperative if you don't use their taxidermist; probably because they get a kickback. I would recommend you have some type of understanding about this before you book.

USA

USA.

Mike

I had mine done in RSA by the same company that does most of the work for natural museums there. Taxidermy Africa http://www.taxidermyafrica.com/index.html

They quoted me a price 12 months before I went on the safari and delivery was just under 12 months to my doorstep in Canada. They honoured their quote, helped arrange an importer in Canada and did follow up after my trophies had arrived to make sure they were OK.

It is not easy to find a Canadian taxidermist that oes African.

InZim I have used Taxidermy enterprises, and they are quite good but there are a lot of really bad taxidermy operations there. Be very careful. USA is safer unless you use a very well known and reputable operator there.

Might add that while the cost of the taxidermy there can look really cheap, by the time you ship the oversized crates required to get fully completed work over here when doing full shoulder mounts a lot of the cost savings dissapears.

There is a thread on this subject every year and some very good discussions have resulted. You might want to do a search where you're sure to have all sides covered. Bottom line, taxidermy in either location can work well, but just make sure you know what kind of quality the shop has done previously and what the entire price will be before you commit either way. The entire pricing included not only the taxidermy, but any transport costs inside or outside the hunt country, shipping, customs clearance, duties, etc.

Rion White of Orion Taxidermy in Moose Jaw does nice African work. He's doing all mine from this year's trip to Zim. Not that Moose Jaw is exactly in your back yard.

I had my RSA stuff done over there by Red Dune Taxidermy in RSA and had it shipped over completed along with the two guys that I hunted with. In teh end it was very very reasonable in terms of price, shipping included. Shippign and taxidermy on my Zim stuff (Impala, Warthog, Civet, Baboon and buffalo) is looking to be at least double and maybe even triple what I paid for my RSA stuff (Kudu, Impapa, Gemsbok, Blesbok, Springbok, Blue Wildebeest). I would have had my stuff done over there again but in speakign to JP Kleinhans he said that there was a high probability of my buffalo cape ending up burned when they cook it in order to bring it into RSA.

He said he would love to do it but that I would "end up hating" him in the end. That's a stand up guy!

Whoever told you that is talking 1000000% absolute nonsense.

Pretty much every country in the world treats all trophies with short period irradiation to kill any bugs that may be in there and when was the last time any hunter in the world had a trophy damaged by 'cooking'? - To say nothing of why would a buff cape be more susceptible to the effect that anything else?

There are good and bad taxidermists all over the world and the trick is picking the best you can afford rather than the cheapest because the cheapest deal will get you second rate work and you have to look at your trophies for a very long time.

If you do want to go by cost, then generally, having it done in Africa will save you something in the region of 20-25% depending on the exchange rate at the time. This can be verified by doing a simple bit of internet research.

I'd also recommend Lifeform as one of the very best.

I've done both. There was a time when you would pay in RSA the Rand equiventlent of the dollar, making it a deal. No more, at least not form the big names there.

I now have them done in the USA. Very difficult to sort out delivery and/or other problems over the ocean. Can't expect your Outfitter to follow that stuff a year after your hunt.

The last two posts are very true.

Just repeating what JP told me. He said that about 80% of capes that he gets from Zim get burned when sent for radiation. Maybe he just didn't want to do it.

Mate, to put it bluntly, what he told you was complete BS.

We ship no end of trophies from all over Africa into RSA for taxidermy, including ultra delicate ones such as dik-dik and leopard and have been doing so for over 3 decades and have NEVER had anything damaged by the irradiating process.

I'll add that I also know a shed load of other companies that have been doing the same thing for many years and have NEVER heard of anyone else having problems either.

I don't mean to bad mouth your friend and he may well have had good reason not to want to send your trophies to RSA but worries about the irradiation process isn't a good reason.

Africa -- if ALL goes well you might save some money. Unless you get double-dipped on freight. Also, you pay the whole thing at once, sight unseen. Dip-and-pack can be a surprise too, like finding out they burned your horns in the boiling process. No recourse if it doesn't work out. Reputation is EVERYTHING!

USA -- more control over the process, timing when mounts become available (spreading the cost over time), better tanning (depending on who your taxi uses), mannikins can be modified / purchased in varied poses vs. the "straight on" look. Not likely you are paying extra for kickbacks, but our labor is higher.

Tanning is a chemical process and shaving is a mechanical one and they can be done well or badly anywhere in the world. To suggest American tanning or shaving is better than anywhere else in the world is inaccurate to say the least.

Also, since when did African taxidermists become incapable of modifying mannikins or buying or making mannikins in a variety of poses?

I'll bet that the average African taxidermist has considerably more African mannikins than the average taxidermist from elsewhere in the world.

And that is one of the main reasons I went with African taxidermy, especially after seeing representative work the particular taxidermist company had previously completed.
Randy

Never been to Africa, so take this for what you will. I have seen some great examples of work from outfits in Africa and I have seen some horrible examples of work from outfits in Africa (and sometimes these are from the same taxidermy shops too). I have also seen really good and really bad taxidermy here in the states (and, again, sometimes from the same outfit). If you've got an SCI magazine handy, flip through the pages and look at the various taxidermists advertising. Some places have, IMO, below par taxidermy work coming out of their shop, others have excellent looking mounts.

Taxidermy is a big thing for me. I try to find a taxidermist who, first, does quality work and, second, is reliable. It has taken me awhile, but I've finally found a taxidermist who turns out top quality work and who has been very reliable and easy to work with. I even had him touch up some of the work that others taxidermist dropped the ball on (and a big name taxidermist at that). It seems silly to me to use anyone else, state side or in Africa, when I have a taxidermist I trust and I know will deliver a product that meets my high expectations.