They are here!!

This was our fourth trip to Africa, I wanted my buff trophies cause it was my first buff hunt. I have been dismayed at the cost of using a broker to clear them. Several on AR told me to do it myself, so I gave it a shot.

All my research told me this was just another read the instructions, follow the instructions and all is good.

Last year I discovered Baltimore was a designated port. Went to the USFWS office in September before we went to Zim. No one was in the office(I showed up unannounced), called and talked to an inspector. No problem, people do it all the time. We will walk you through the process. Excellent, see you next year.

Starting in January of 17, TCI, Maple Freight, and Spherical Freight were in regular contact with me, All went smoothly on that side.

When I had a ship date I called the USFWS, great, now just call back when the freight company calls you to tell you where they are. I was given a tracking number by Sperical and was able to track my shipment through SAA cargo.

Wednesday got a call from Forward Air in Baltimore. We have your trophies, no storage charges intil after Monday July 17.

Call USFWS , they needed airwaybill number and which shipper had them. we set up an appt for Monday morning. The Inspector told me not to bother filling out the 3-177 form, told me it was easier for him to do it correctly than to try and correct my version.

My appt was for 8:15am, I arrived at 8am and was out of the office by 8:10 am. Crossed the hallway to customs and was out of there by 8:30am.

Most of the time in the USFWS office was shooting the shit and me asking questions.

Is this all there is to this? Yep. Really? Yep. Man I really pissed away a lot of money! Yep.

What about CITIES animals? As long as your CITIES permits are valid no difference!!

What about Swine and Primates? They have to go to a licensed establishment, but you clear them after YOU make the arrangements with the bonded carrier to get them there!!


Now I do understand it might not be worth the time for some people. And I also understand some people just would not be comfortable with the process. But if you are able it will save you some cash.

Costs- $400 to outfitter for dip and pack, invoice for that amount emailed to me by taxidermist. $650 for permits in Zim nd to get them to SA. $1050 to get them from SA to USA. $45 to Forward Air, couldnt figure out what for. $9 to customs for walk in clearing.

Feel free to contact me if you have questions


Keith

Just curious, wondering what the process with a warthog is when it's just a boiled & bleached skull (Euro mount) in the shipment?

Been clearing my own trophies for years, it is really easy and a straight forward process, sign up for eDecs and it is even easier. Glad you got it done. Only difference with primates is CDC clearance and the guys at the DFW USFWS office will fax the form to CDC in Houston and have clearance in 5-10 minutes.

Great post. It seems like the clearing agents have been treating hunters like the proverbial cash cow. I recently received an unsolicited email from a broker offering their clearing services out of New York. Being curious I looked at their fee schedule. $975.00 for basic clearing services with a $45.00 per day storage fee. What a rip off. Personally, I'm done with bringing trophies home from Africa. No more room in the house the costs are ridiculous. The money I save will go towards my next hunt.

Glad it went well for you. Baltimore is a great place to clear your own trophies. Spent 20 minutes talking with the USFWS officer about my ele hunt and how he wants to hunt Africa.

Cleared shipment from 5 safaris fir myself and my buddies that I hunted with. Never an issue and price was right.

After being ripped off to the tune of thousands by ABX of Houston, I will endeavor to do anything differently next time. Thanks for the report!

This thread's timing was perfect for me. For years I have had my trophies shipped direct to Jonas Bros. Taxidermy in Denver without any hassles.

Jonas only charged $50.00 for Customs clearance which was waived if you had the trophy mounted by them.

Fast forward 12 years (I had a long break between safaris).

After paying almost $2000.00 to Sperical and Maple Freight (which I thought was ridiculously high), to ship a single buff skull and cape, I got an e-mail from Jonas Bros with an invoice for $753.16!

It included a Brokers Fee/Freight charge of $433.16 (I assume to ship from DIA to Jonas Bros (although, I thought the $2k I paid Sperical was for shipment to Jonas Bros, not DIA)), a $195.00 Inspection Fee and a $125.00 Processing Fee.

As I recall, my last shipment from Zimbabwe (back in 2003) cost less than $795.00 total. And that shipment consisted of a buff skull and cape, and almost 120 lbs of elephant ivory!

Seems like everyone and their brother has figured out a way to gouge USA hunters when it comes to trophy shipment!

I personally think outfitters and PHs (at least the ones I hunted with, still give the hunter an excellent value for the money). But the sideline enterprises are another story.

That, IMO, is what will kill off trophy hunting (except for the few multi-millionairs and billionaires who hunt). JMO.

BH63