The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Cost to ship trophies from NamibiaGo | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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| One of Us |
I just received a quote from my shipper for $1200-$1500 (depending on the destination) to ship via air freight 4 skulls/capes and one tanned zebra skin. The shipment is going from Windhoek to either Atlanta or Baltimore. This seems high to me. Anyone else have a sense of whether this pricing is off? | ||
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| One of Us |
Well....I just got a quote for my shipment as well. $1279 for a hippo skull and a red hartebeest skull and cape. I told them i was not going to pay it. This is after $435 for dip and pack as well. I told them the price was double what I paid to ship 9 animals out of Zimbabwe. There story was there are fewer carries shipping this kind of cargo now so the prices went up. It is really extortion. Basically, after you get home, someone you don't know, or have any idea who they are, emails you and wants your credit card number for payment. They have your trophies hostage and you have few choices. Heck, the "documentation fee" was $346. Insurance $165. Everyone that goes by and touches the crate gets $30-$50. Sorry but it struck a nerve | |||
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| One of Us |
yeah, it's robbery. I've been doing cull hunts lately for this reason. I'm wondering if you could have them shipped via sea cargo? | |||
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| One of Us |
Tex84, in 2017 I got an estimate for trophy shipment Namibia to Auckland, NZ for trophies I am due to get this year. Including documents, insurance the total was USD $1857.00 which they were sure would be close to the actual cost. My consignment should be a little larger and heavier than yours as it includes tanned Giraffe hide. I got a consignment from Zimbabwe in late 2016 that I am sure was a bit less but cannot find the info just now. Maybe costs in Zim are somehow a bit cheaper...?? Hunting.... it's not everything, it's the only thing. | |||
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| One of Us |
Yep, rip-off! IMO, a good outfitter should arrange the best possible dip and pack and export company. Also, a few follow up phone calls would help (by the outfitter) as well. I realize it’s not all on the outfitter but more support would help. If I ever go back, they can keep the trophies | |||
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| One of Us |
Thanks, guys. In 2015, I had a crate shipped from South Africa that included 3 finished shoulder mounts and a tanned zebra hide. The weight was about 150 lbs and costs $1200. Here, this latest shipment weighs 80 lbs and is much smaller in size. I just don't see why it should cost the same or more than what I paid in 2015. | |||
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One of Us |
Just one more reason i don't bring stuff home anymore. Everyone in Africa has their hand out...... Vote Trump- Putin’s best friend… To quote a former AND CURRENT Trumpiteer - DUMP TRUMP | |||
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| One of Us |
I can recommend shippers from Namibia if you would like. But most of the Nam taxidermists do not add on a lot of fees for crating and shipping - not like dipping and packing fees. But $1200 - $1500 is not overly usurious. It's a long way from Windhoek to Atlanta and crates take up a lot of room. I routinely ship from Nam and every shipment is around $1200 to port of entry in the US. Remember that dipping and packing fees are highly negotiable. So it pays to make sure this is covered BEFORE the hunt. Most of the time you come out way ahead if you coordinate with a taxidermist to arrange pick up for your trophies from the operator. ___________________ Just Remember, We ALL Told You So. | |||
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| One of Us |
ocean freight - 1/4 the cost - takes 30days | |||
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One of Us |
Seems to be about right to me. Right being "the going rate". | |||
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One of Us |
...I say that hunters go into Paradise when they die, and live in this world more joyfully than any other men. -Edward, duke of York ". . . when a man has shot an elephant his life is full." ~John Alfred Jordan "The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." Cicero - 55 BC "The smallest minority on earth is the individual. Those who deny individual rights cannot claim to be defenders of minorities." - Ayn Rand Cogito ergo venor- KPete “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” ― Adam Smith - “Wealth of Nations” | |||
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| one of us |
I paid $425 for a shoulder mounted springbok, kudu skull, and hyena skin. Air, not ocean. | |||
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| One of Us |
One of the major reasons my Africa hunting has slowed down. Considering possibly for good. | |||
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| One of Us |
You could have more fees on this end. 200 inspection?, 200 recrate (cardboard lid on a cardboard box on a pallet), another 300+ motor freight on top of air freight in 2006. Forget how it broke down but it was a $700+ add. | |||
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| one of us |
The shipping fees I paid from Namibia were within the range quoted to me beforehand and I thought were reasonable. What was NOT reasonable were the fees charged by the stateside warehouse/receiver. Outrageous -- more than the freight. | |||
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| One of Us |
Tex84: At that price, and the limited amount, style, sizes and weight of your shipment, you might want to seriously consider just booking a roundtrip ticket outside of the prime May-Aug flying season and just bringing them back with you as "extra checked luggage". We have only brought back tanned flat skins and European mounts and done it this way five times. You're still going to have to pay the dip/pack fees and export permit document fees regardless. You can do your US import permits yourself for FREE via the USF&W Website. Only time they charge extra fees is if you are bringing back a CITES App II animal(s) and if you are going to clear after "normal office hours" and if you want to clear via an "authorized alternate port of entry". The CITES II permit is valid for two years and last time I renewed/updated it, it was only $100. Had to pay a couple hours of overtime charges because our flight didn't get in (home) until 9:30pm. You can clear in any of the main US ports of entry, like ATL, JFK etc. for free other than the CITES permit. Book yourself a late season cull hunt and bring back nothing but pics and memories. Again, I've done this a number of times and the MOST I've ever had to pay was $325 to USF&W the first time I brought back CITES II rugs (mountain zebra) and I pay $100 to USF&W to clear at an "alternate port of entry" that just happens to be where we live. If you need to pay the airline and extra bags/weight, it's always less than $100 per bag/box. The local USF&W office had been EXTREMELY helpful. They review all the export and import documents before I go over so they KNOW exactly what to expect and that everything is 100% correct. They meet us at the airport baggage claim area and check all the boxes and confirm all the original documents in my hands match the copies of the docs I submitted for the permit and we're out the door on the way to the house. | |||
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One of Us |
I just pulled my receipt. Windhoek to Houston the total cost was $1,695.40. This was in December 2017. This included Sable horns, cape, warthog skull, Blue W horns/cape, Black W skull, Red H horns/cape, Steenbok horns/cape, Klipsringer horns/cape, Mtn Zebra shoulder mount hide, Mtn Zebra full rug hide Then all the lovely fees in Houston and then shipping from Houston to Salt Lake were in addition. | |||
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| One of Us |
I've abandoned my trophies from two safaris, one in Namibia and one in Zim. I've about had it with everything Africa. | |||
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| one of us |
I have not brought anything back from Africa for a very long time. I did try to bring back a buffalo from Cameroon but it disappeared aboard a big Swiss Air jet and was never heard about again. On a sort of similar topic, I had a brown bear skin and skull sent from Anchorage to Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada a few years ago. $400 for shipping and another $2,100 for paper work .. Sonsabitches...    | |||
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| One of Us |
My shipment of 11 plains game (horns, capes and some backskins) from Windhoek to George Bush Intercontinental was $1700. I didn't notice this at the time of my shipment last year or I would have said something, but the highway robbery was the $387 for the inland shipping from the port of entry to quality fur dressing tannery. That was like 30 miles! | |||
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One of Us |
I haven't brought anything but pictures home from my last nine trips to Africa. So far the Africans haven't figured out a way to ad fees to pictures. The money saved goes a long way towards paying for the next hunt. Tom Z NRA Life Member | |||
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| One of Us |
At least for plains game, the cost for taxidermy plus shipping equals or exceed the hunt costs. Vote Trump- Putin’s best friend… To quote a former AND CURRENT Trumpiteer - DUMP TRUMP | |||
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| One of Us |
Shipping cost are excessive no matter wherefrom outside North America. Everybody has there hand out on both ends. It all comes down to size and weight of the shipping crate. The space the crate takes up is what appears to be the driving cause for the shipping cost. I just have hides and skulls shipped for that reason. Anymore, unless it is something truly special I just European the skulls. Tim | |||
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| One of Us |
I've done okay on the shipping for 2 hunts. In 2013 from Namibia I had 3 Euro mounts and a Mtn zeb rug shipped to US for 640 plus another 440 in import fees. In 2017 from SA it was 567 shipping and 380 import fees for 4 Euros and 1 zeb rug. I tried to get costs up front in Botswanna in 2015 but nobody wanted to talk specifics so those trophies remained in camp. If you ever get to Tholo and see a big Blue Wildebeest that is probably mine. Cheers | |||
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| One of Us |
I hope the African outfitters are reading this thread. They have no idea how these extra charges are hurting their business. I know of several diehard African hunters who have just said "screw it", we are tied of this BS. For first time hunters, it is absolutely the kill card when looking at Africa. | |||
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| One of Us |
Every hunter should discuss/negotiate these things BEFORE the hunt. Knowledge is power and everything in Africa is negotiable. ___________________ Just Remember, We ALL Told You So. | |||
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| One of Us |
Great advice | |||
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| One of Us |
It's not only trophies. I just May 23rd mailed a plastic foam filled rifle stock from CO to Australia. Box weighed an even three pounds. USPS charge was $69 by "regular delivery time 6-10 days". Arrived on June 6th. George "Gun Control is NOT about Guns' "It's about Control!!" Join the NRA today!" LM: NRA, DAV, George L. Dwight | |||
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| One of Us |
It’s no different then in the US, cost me $2100 from Conroe Texas to Edmonton Alberta for 3 shoulder mounts and 3 Javalina skulls Member NRA, NFA,CSSA,DSC,SCI,AFGA | |||
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| One of Us |
So true. There's a young guy I met at my gun club who often hunts geese with me. I've been trying to talk him in to joining me on an African hunt. I warned him about the shipping charges and he's done some research on his own. He's wants to get some taxidermy done but the costs associated with an African hunt have been the one thing that has stopped him from hunting the dark continent. Tom Z NRA Life Member | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Cost to ship trophies from Namibia
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