This is a 2 part question:
1. If you are only doing european skull mts, and say a zebra rug, non backed/soft tanned, would it be wiser to have it done in RSA, then shipped as finished product to the US?

2. I have heard this both ways, can 2 hunters[father/son], have the trophies shipped home in the same crate, if each hunter has a separate trophy list?

Thanks.

Mad Dog

If you are doing European mounts, have them dipped and packed and sent stateside. The big advantage to doing taxidermy in Africa is that it is less expensive. The disadvantages include lack of personal supervision of the work and higher freight. My one and only experience was with Life-Form in RSA. My mounts look great so far and I am very happy, however European mounts are much less labor intensive than the shoulder mounts, so the diff between getting them done here or there is less of a factor and your chances of getting a quality tanning job here are probably better. Also, the freight will be less for horns and hides.
As far as I know, there are no probs combining trophies in the same crate, check with your freight forwarder and customs broker.

I won't advise on where you should have the taxidermy done, but you can consalidate the two hunter's trophies as long as all the paper work for both hunters comes with the shipment.

Having stuff done over there saves the dip and pack charges, which can be almost as much as getting Euro mounts done. Freight is higher but only on shoulder mounts etc...flat skins and horns on a plaque cost the same as shipping raw. Then you can clear yourself and not have to worry about getting the stuff shipped to a licenced facility in the US, obviating stateside shipping. It's a no brainer.

I would check regarding crates. I was told the regs have changed and you can NOT commingle two hunters' trophies any more. But you can always put everything under one hunters name.

quote:

I won't advise on where you should have the taxidermy done

Aww come on Jerry, lets gets em going on the U.S. taxidermy vs. African taxidermy

If you're doing european mounts, no question have them done in the RSA. The shipping for the dip and pack would be the same, and the work on taxidermy will be less in RSA.

Mad Dog, let me suggest a contact for you in RSA. I have had good experience with Trans African Taxidermy ( www.transafrican.com ). It is run by Rodney Kretzschmar. They run the tanning and mounting and shipping right on their premisis, so they can control costs better. They like to pick you up in Johannesburg and let you visit around the facility before you decide whether to use them or not. A skull mount Kudu runs $215. I'm always looking for a better deal, so if you run across one I'm all ears.