I just got back from my first Trip to Africa! Bagged 2 Oryx, 2 red heartbeest, 1 kudu, 1 Mountain Zebra, Springbok, and warthog. Now it's decision time which taxidermist in Namibia, or get them back here. I got to visit Nyati wildlife art seems like a good outfit. If you had worked done at Nyati please post any input. Also were you able to negotiate on pricing with them. Lastly if you had pedestal mounts done is it cheaper to get the "pedestal" here and save on freight. Pictures to follow soon.

Bengal -2x I have had work done in Windhoek by Reiser. Good work and well priced.Eight and 10years ago. Even if the price is OK wherever you choose, take a long hard look at what has happened to freight charges in the last 24 months or so. With the recent fuel increases expect another 15-20% by the time you are ready to receive shipment. I have done the math and from now on it is dip and ship for me. Good luck.

I would bring them back and get them done here. In the end you will be ahead of the game and know they will be done to excellent standards.

Bob

Another vote for Reiser, they did my work 2 years ago. Reasonable prices and turn around. Recent fuel price increases have pushed shipping costs thru the roof. Look hard at European type mounts, you can sell the capes in the US and offset some of your expenses.

Taxidermy services are a mixed bag, with certain things done there more economical than here, and vice-versa.

1. Mounted heads: The prices I've seen in Namibia are very comparable to those in the U.S. The quality of work looks fine, but because mounted heads take up much more space in shipping, the transportation is expensive. If you want a head mounted, doing it here looks like the better deal.

2. Tanned backskins: Tanning is excellent and very cheap in Namibia compared to the U.S., likely because the disposition of the chemicals is less expensive there (as well as labor costs). By all means have your zebra and other full skins/backskins tanned there. The shipping on tanned hides is still mind boggling, but is somewhat less than on green hides and mounted heads.

3. I think mounted heads are a bit overrated. They take lots of room to display and are subject to deterioration with age. On top of being expensive. Most African game makes extraordinary Eurpopean skull mounts. This is essentially the way you will receive your trophies, with the bleached skull and horns typically slipped off of the bone bases. All you have to do is put the horns in place on the skulls anchored with a little silicone caulk, put a nail or screw in the wall protruding the proper amount to hang the skull by the hole through which the spinal cord entered, and you have an instant trophy display. Then use the money you saved by not doing full taxidermy on the heads to put toward your next trip back!

Here's how the displayed Euro mounts look.

I used Nyati, in 2006, for my trophies: Oryx, Blesbuck, Springbuck and Impala. All hides on felt and all European Mounts on solid teak (7/8"). The teak is great. No problems with the skulls. The oryx has some wrinkles in it, it's not flat. It will cost me about $200.00 to get redone. PH wasn't happy when he saw it, said he would mention it to Nyati.
I'd probably use them again.
Robert

I was in Namibia about this time last year, and ended up having everything sent back here to be done as the cost difference was really a wash once the shipping was figured in. I also have the option of helping decide on any changes that may need to be made much easier than when the mounts are being done half a workd away.

I'm perfectly happy with the results I got from Nyati.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Taxidermy services are a mixed bag, with certain things done there more economical than here, and vice-versa.

1. Mounted heads: The prices I've seen in Namibia are very comparable to those in the U.S. The quality of work looks fine, but because mounted heads take up much more space in shipping, the transportation is expensive. If you want a head mounted, doing it here looks like the better deal.

2. Tanned backskins: Tanning is excellent and very cheap in Namibia compared to the U.S., likely because the disposition of the chemicals is less expensive there (as well as labor costs). By all means have your zebra and other full skins/backskins tanned there. The shipping on tanned hides is still mind boggling, but is somewhat less than on green hides and mounted heads.

3. I think mounted heads are a bit overrated. They take lots of room to display and are subject to deterioration with age. On top of being expensive. Most African game makes extraordinary Eurpopean skull mounts. This is essentially the way you will receive your trophies, with the bleached skull and horns typically slipped off of the bone bases. All you have to do is put the horns in place on the skulls anchored with a little silicone caulk, put a nail or screw in the wall protruding the proper amount to hang the skull by the hole through which the spinal cord entered, and you have an instant trophy display. Then use the money you saved by not doing full taxidermy on the heads to put toward your next trip back!

bengaltiger,

what is quoted above is very good advice for all but the really very wealthy who intend to build a full trophy room one day. All who go to hunt in Africa return again. And again. And each year they have more and more trophies. More taxidermy and more spece needed to display them. So, unless you are really planning to go for taxidermy in a very big way with own trophy room take the advice quoted above. I can only add that you should make sure that your Hunting Outfitter ? PH skin the trophies for shoulder or full mounts and have the capes dipped 'n shipped back also. With proper insecticide treatment the capes should store pretty well until you are wealthy enough to have all the taxidermy done and build a trophy room.

A last thought>

So hopefully gou will get a 55" kudu on your hunt. Such a beauty warrants a shoulder mount? Yes!

And what if you get a 58" kudu on your next hunt? Such a wonderful kudu deserves a shoulder mount? But then you will have two! And where are you going to display them?

And what If you get a 60" kudu the year thereafter?

Enough said: My advice: Skin for shoulder mount or full mount. Dip 'n ship everything home. Once at home have real specialist treat and store pack the skins. Display the shulls. Wait for another trip to be over before deciding any further.

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

Ocean freight will become more popular...that way you get your mounts done for less and save money on the shipping as well. Some time ago, this was discussed on this forum. Apparently, you can't ship raw trophies by sea. I wonder why the operators don't/can't put all the trophies in one container at the end of the season, separately boxed. The first guy to do that is going to have some happy clients.

Russ, since last year (May 2007) it has been legal to ship raw (salted) trophies via Ocean cargo. Port of entry is New York. Passing Customs, they can proceed to other destinations: your local airport, Taxidermists, Tanneries etc.
Trophy shipments for multiple Hunters can be shipped in one container, regardless of what the PH, Outfitter, Taxidermist, Dip/Pack agent tells you. Once legal shipments leave their country (Africa) they have no concerns over how our USF&W and USDA manages imports. Each Hunter must have their own paperwork; no putting game under one name. All license doc's, permits (export or import) should be in order. That is the PH and shipper's responsibility. The addage "According to US laws, we can only ship each client separately" is how you get skinned, flem-flammed, bam-boozled, ripped off. IMHO, putting all clients off until the end of the season is how some southern African countries operate already, and why it takes 1-2 years to get trophies home, resulting in poor or ruined specimens. I'm guessing the operator that gets all clients trophies home in 3 months will get rich. I'll be the first to sign on the dotted line. Good hunting, David

First post ever...
I hunted Namibia 9/07(Gauss Safaris);from time of last shot to trophies in NY;62 days.Other hunters also have similar time frames from same outfitter/shipper.Used Harald Preschel Namibian safari Services, Windhoek.Best packing my tax. has seen,they gave me 3 options for shipping,depending on what i wanted to spend vs. how long it would take (longest was sea @30 days)I picked shortest time.Ten trophies= $750.via air though Frankfort.

IMO, dip and ship is the way to go, not only because of the high cost of shipping full mounted trophies, but also because one can look at length, over time, at the mounts done by someone here. I find, if any cats are involved, one should look very carefully at mounts done by prospective taxidermists you are thinking of useing. All animals have thier expressions, but cats in particular are too easy to be made to look like cartoon animals if done by the wrong guy!

The preperation of the skin, before mounting is as important as how the finished product looks when new. Pickeling of the skins leads to drying, and cracks down the road, tanning is the proper way to mount anything, but even that isn't always done properly.

My advice is to go to several taxidermy shops, and look thier work over, and ask for older references, and contact them to see how the work has held up!

finally just be glad you have the problem to deal with! That means you have been fortunate enough to have hunted AFRICA!

This is a work from Nyati

This is my "soon" to be ready Kudu.



It will be mounted on this shield.



And when it done it will look something like this.

Im going to Zim in October for ele,buff and leopard, but if i get a leopard In Zimbabwe i will leave it for Lifeform in SA - i love their cats, even if i think Nyati does a great job too. !

AD

See my previous post regarding my taxidermy in Namibia experience.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=614101167#614101167

The only person I have any faith in at all in regards to trophy shipping from Namibia is Pam Foerster. I'd look into her over Namibia Safari Services. I didn't use them largely due to TJ's PM'd advice. My two cents anyway, it would seem "woodmanDan" had a different experience.

I will need to make the same decision for a friend and myself next year in Namibia. I'm leaning on bringing them back for work here.

If cats were on the menu, I would also lean towards Lifeform.