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A Warning About Bad Trophy Salt

(posted August 11, 2004)

If you are headed to southern Africa on safari this summer, be aware that some alarming reports are surfacing about the use of bad trophy salt by some outfitters. The use of bad salt can cause trophy skins to become so stiff and dry they can’t be softened and re-hydrated. In some cases, it can contribute to hair slippage.

At this writing, the problem appears to be limited to South Africa, but we don’t rule out the possibility that it is occurring in other countries as well. As a hunting client, you need to take firm action yourself to see that your skins are treated only with what is called 1st Grade salt. The salt should be white in color, not grayish, and it should be fresh out of a newly-opened sack. Do not allow your outfitter to re-use salt that has already been used to treat other trophies. Offer to buy the salt yourself and pay for shipping it in, if necessary.

Long-time subscribers know the use of bad salt surfaced as an issue several years ago, when taxidermists in the US and elsewhere began to complain about stiff, unworkable skins coming in from Africa. The culprit, it turned out back then, was the use of what is called pan salt – that is, salt taken from dried-up natural depressions. Such salt is often contaminated with soda ash and lime. It can also contain bacteria that can cause a condition called “pink rot.â€

The first word we had of this new problem came in yesterday from Rodney Kretschmer of Trans African Taxidermists in South Africa (Nicole@transafrican.com), who says he has seen an “alarming†deterioration recently in the quality of the skins coming in from local outfitters. He says he has seen at least 150 “bad skins†come into his shop within the last two weeks alone. Three quarters of those are in such bad shape, he says, they will need “patch-up work.â€

Kretschmer said the problems he was seeing might not all be due to bad salt, but also to simple mishandling of trophies. He urged clients themselves to get involved in the handling of their trophies. “Clients need to be sure they check on their trophies at night when they come in,†he said. “That’s particularly true if they are on a short-duration, high-harvest hunt. Properly skinning and salting up to three or four trophies a day can be a challenge.â€

We immediately called Dieter Ochsenbein, President of PHASA (Professional Hunters Association of South Africa) and a taxidermist himself. He said the problem of bad salt had not emerged as an issue at PHASA or in his own shop this year. But he may not have heard about the problem himself, he said, because he pays for and provides high-quality salt to the outfitters he works with.

“There is no excuse for an outfitter to use bad salt,†Ochsenbein said. He noted that at current market prices a 50-kilogram sack of salt is only about $2 in South Africa.

Up in Botswana, it is worth noting, outfitters are using very high quality sea salt, according to Debbie Peake. Reached this morning by e-mail, she said they have been doing so since 2000, when the issue of bad salt first arose. “To date, no taxidermists or clients have complained about bad salt damaging skins from Botswana,†she wrote.

Here at The Hunting Report, we have decided to create a forum on our web site where complaints and comments about this problem can be lodged. Taxidermists, outfitters and clients alike are urged to weigh in. Simply go to our web site, www.huntingreport.com. The forum is on the Home Page.

We hope the problem of bad salt and/or poor trophy care is limited in scope, and that this early warning will lead to preventative measures. But do your part – if you’ve had trophies ruined by bad salt or poor trophy care, report the problem. Likewise, if you’ve seen bad salt in an outfitter’s skinning shed blow the whistle. There is no place in the hunting community for outfitters who skimp on salt and/or don’t take proper care of clients’ trophies. – Don Causey, President/Publisher.