For those that care or have asked it has now been 16 months since our hunt in Namibia. As of today we still have not received our trophies and I have not been contacted by a shipping agent. In the last month I have been in contact with several other people who also have been waiting 8 to 15 months for their horns and skins. I’ve asked some of them to come forth and post here, but at this time they wish to remain nameless and I will honor that.

mark65x55

are you having them mounted there or is this just the horns and skins??

I had a client that hunted Mozambique, took two years to get 2 buffalo (horns & capes) and one kudu to me!

Everything was to be dipped, packed and shipped to us, no taxidermy was to be done.

Have you tried contacting the PH again (yes, I know who it is)? As of yesterday (or the day before) he was back in town and taking care of trophy arrangements. Give him a ring and find out what's up.

My last hunt in RSA took 16 months for the trophies to arrive. After a great hunt, that was a big disappointment, but at least mine finally arrived.

My experience has been the same; 18 months from Tanzania, 18 months from Limpopo, SA. I expect my tip to Zim. to be the same although I'll be using a differtent firm this time to handle the trophies. You must be patient when dealing with third world operations, unfortunatley.

Mark,

What does the safari company say?

At the end of June the PH said mid August, in mid August he said a few more weeks, in November he said they were at the shipping agents, in mid December I contacted the NAPHA. The NAPHA contacted the PH and then e-emailed me.

" Dear Mr. ******

Our sincere apologies for this very late response to your e-mail, our server has regrettably been out, and hence this late reply.
I have taken the matter up with Mr. ****** and he has assured me that the trophies have been sent. He also confirmed that it was his error and would take up contact with you, which I hope he has.
I trust that this matter has now been sorted out and should you require any further assistance please feel free to contact us at this address.

Kind regards
Carlin Sobotta
NAPHA Office"

That was a little over 30 days ago and still nothing. Really at this point I've pretty much given up.

Honestly Mark, I know you are upset but by now we ALL do. From several responses above you can see that your situation while exasperrating is by no means unique nor outside the bounds of others experiences. While everyone can share to some degree in your frustration I think you may be repeating yourself a bit and on the border of whining. If it is causing you this much grief perhaps you should forget it, move on, and hunt NA from now on. It is a shame to see your incredibly fortunate circumstance of taking an unplanned lion turn into this for you. But perhaps this is the cost of saving the $30 grand or so you would have spent to book a lion hunt on purpose. I would remind you to think back as I have of your original post where you were so excited to have had the experience of taking such a noble beast. You still own that experience and can enjoy it everytime you choose to close your eyes and think of it. If you were told that day that the trophies would not be home for a year and a half would you have not pulled the trigger? Of course you would have. Enjoy it man, you were blessed with an opportunity many here will never have.

Kevin,

I think Mark might be so upset because it seems he had been lied too, which would have upset me no end too.

Trophies that are only dipped and packed should never take this long.

Just my opinion.

Kevin,

If you think I'm whining then don't read my post! Is it whining to expect something, in a timely manner, which you paid for?

Yes, I am upset and maybe your right, it is time to move on. But if we don't talk about these things and it becomes our dirty little secret, then whos to blame when one of us gets burned on their next hunting trip?

I have thought of only hunting NA and maybe I will do jut that, but if I hunt Africa again the odds are I will NOT be shipping anything back!

Don't you have a hunt booked with the same guy? Don't you now know what to expect?

Saeed,
Thank you. To some extent you are right. Something like this is always harder to take when it happens between you and someone you trusted and called a friend

Agreed Mark, now I know what to expect and it is good to get things out in the open, but I believe you've more than made your point. (and you have not paid any shipping yet)

Just my opinion, and if you hunt africa again and want to bring back only photos and memories then I support that if it lets you enjoy it more. Remember your signature, I'm sure the fire is not out.

I'm sending Vaughan a deposit on monday and only hope I get as lucky as you were when you went.

When I hunted last fall with Vaughan he told me Dec., in an email yeaterday he said it maybe up to 6 mos. from now. I thought his time frame was a bit quick, but I wouldn't complain about recieving my trophies that soon. They were to be tanned. One Zebra flat skin, one Garaiffi flat skin, one Springbok shoulder with horns and 1 each Springbok skull w/horns and Gemsbok skull w/horns. Also to be shipped was the G skull.
Like you said when you left you felt you had a new friend in Namabia, eh.

Kevin,

Yes, Mark has made his point, received promises of remediation, but has not received satisfaction.

Someone is trying to screw him over, and it is still unclear why. I would think someone who is planning on hunting with the same outfitter would want to exercise due diligence; after all, the same thing could happen to you.

Mark, check your private messages.

George

I thing Mark has made his case and I agree with George. The time frames are out of line.

I hunted SA in late April and had Europian Mounts made of 5 animals. I just received a call from Coppersmith and my trophies are cleared and being shipped from San Franciso today. I will have them Monday.

I'm really confused. Having followed all this from the beginning, as we all have, I can't imagine why anyone would hunt with this outfitter. At least until this issue is ironed out.

Mark-I for one hear you loud and clear and will never invest my hard earned bucks with"your" outfitter.Tanned skins ussually come back in nine months,taxidermy in a year,but simply dip and pack should not take as long as either.Your delay is twice as long as normal and to be promised "by this deadline" repeatedly and then the date pass with no shipments is just not acceptable.Thanks for the warning.I do not need this kind of aggravation and will definitely avoid jumping in knowingly.