Hi, following on from the cull hunt thread, how much do trophies cost? What has always put me off trophy hunting is not the fee but the potential cost of shipping and taxi work, what kind of money would a skin/rug or warthog tusk mount be? Also has ayone hunted here?http://www.etosha-hunting.de/

Thanks guys!
Matt

MattMck,

I have hunted a few chaps who hunt purely for the experience. They are usually very particular about the style of hunting they desire. Occasionally they will take a trophy home but otherwise the memories and the photographs are normally sufficient.

I do much the same when I hunt. I have a magnificent set of Kudu horns that adorn my wall. It was a Kudu I hunted but was later killed by Lion or Leopard. I picked up the distinct set of horns purely for the memory.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
MattMck,

I have hunted a few chaps who hunt purely for the experience. They are usually very particular about the style of hunting they desire. Occasionally they will take a trophy home but otherwise the memories and the photographs are normally sufficient.

I do much the same when I hunt. I have a magnificent set of Kudu horns that adorn my wall. It was a Kudu I hunted but was later killed by Lion or Leopard. I picked up the distinct set of horns purely for the memory.

I understand your meaning Andrew. I've got a lot of critters coming stateside from my recent hunt. It will be costly. I did it anyway because, being my first African trip, it felt right to do.

I doubt I'll be bringing "everything" back from future trips. (Cats of course will be coming home )

Matt, I do about 10 low cost hunts with Brits every year. some guys take sculls and hides, others nothing. They all love the sun, bush, and nights around the bar and fire. Then they get a cheap hunt out of it as well. We use it to take mainly surplus female animals off, but sometime the odd big warthog or Impala comes in as well. cost of scull mounts ussualy about 80-120 quid. Shipping is expensive. do not know how much. Most of our guys are regulars and have teamed up to ship there stuff together, and split the cost. Wait a bit longer, but works out a hell of a lot cheaper. Give me a PM or drop me an e-mail if you might be interested.

Cheers,

I love African hunting and have taken around 15 Impala and 15 Springbok but that does not mean I wish to "just hunt". I do indeed love to hunt but when not culling or bait hunting, I
like the big ones! My preferred PH's know that I want SCI/RW min as my min because I tell them!
Tell them you want "representative" and that is what you will get!
I nave killed a few that my PH said that is not what you are looking for....but I did not have one and made a personal choice.

Most first time hunters make the mistake of having everything they shoot mounted. Understandable but try to keep the urge to mount animals under control

I would say mount if

1. The animal is record book quality - well into RW
2. Particularly memorable hunt
3. Rare species eg a Suni, that you know you won't get another shot at.

The rest you can either do Euro mounts (not expensive at all) or just photos.

Typically you spend as much on the mounting/shipping as you do on the trophy fees ... so every animal you mount is another you can't afford to shoot.

We have an American taxidermist here in Zambia who exports most of the trophies. The skulls and horns he prepares for export are of European mount quality. One simply requires a nail and hammer.

Matt, I did my first trip to Africa (Namibia) this September.
I brought home a lot of photos, a heap of video and a set of warthog tusks. When I was planning the trip I was going to bring a lot more back but the more I looked into it the more expensive it was getting. Add to that, the Australian quarantine service really doesn't like 'dip and pack' so that meant heads would have to mounted in country or at least the capes would have to be tanned before shipment. The result was I put the whole lot in the too hard basket and did it the cheap and no hassle way.

I'm very glad that I did because I'm now planning for a second trip instead of finding the money for taxidermy and airfreight. I thought the trip was going to be my only trip to Africa, but as anyone who's been there will tell you, there ain't no such thing as a 'one off' trip to the Dark continent.

In 2007 I did my first (& so far only) outfitter guided hunt. I shot a really nice colour phase black bear and a young mule deer. I got the bear rug done & it is beautiful. I just got the deer hide tanned as the antlers were small. But the taxidermy, shipping, customs clearance etc. cost me more than the 6 day hunt.

Now I am dreaming of an African hunt & I could hunt & take a buffalo (along with PG) for the cost of taxidermy & shipping the PG. Fairgame gave me the same advice and I will certainly take that, thank you. I would any day take the experience, memories and photos of a dugga boy and PG in exchange for some PG mounts on the wall.

MattMck

I am heading to Zimbabwe next year to do a Plainsgame hunt on the Save Conservancy. I am not having any trophies shipped back to the UK. Its all about the experiance of being in Africa for me. The photos and the memories are what i will keep forever.

Mike