Last Oct. I had a safari in KZN. Great trip, took a couple of Impala, a VERY NICE NYALA! zebra, and wildebeast. After talking with my guide I decided to leave the mounts with KZN Taxidermy to have my work done there...then ship the finished mounts back to California.

Woke up this morning to this email:

Dear Sir,





It is with sincere regret that we at KZN Taxidermy have to inform you that on the night of 27 July 2007, a blazing veldt fire rage through our town and surrounding areas.

Gale force winds, which shook most of our country from the early morning, fuelled the inferno which left only but ashes and tragedy. Our whole farm including our Taxidermy Workshop has burned to the ground.



We regret to inform you that your trophies have been damaged by the fire. We have photos and newspaper clippings attached to this letter.



Should you have any queries, please feel free to contact us.





Sincerely,

Isao smith

I've already sent him an email, offering my condolances, as well as letting him know that I hoped there were no injuries, or loss of life. Anyone have anything like this happen to them? I'm assuming I'm screwed....unless anyone here can offer any other suggestions.

Steve Murphy's law and look at it this way, now you have to go back...Was he insured???

Mike

Or did you insure the skins as unmounted trophies?

I always do.

Sounds like a bummer for all involved. I do hope you go back someday. Next time, and this is nothing negative towards the Africans, Ship your things home to be mounted. More plans of recourse when the stuff is in the USA. Good luck toKZN getting back on thier feet, and good luck to you making back out hunting.

I agree. While I planned to go back, now I have no choice! While I am obviously upset by this, my loss pales in comparison to KZN. I hope Isao is able to recover from this.

Because I am such a savvy worldly type I didn’t bother even investigating insurance on the mounts. How does trophy insurance work? Do they replace cash value of the actual trophies…or do they have some other formula for pay out? Has anyone had any experience collecting? This was a very good…albeit not tremendously expensive lesson for me….well…emotionally I guess it was if not financially.

If any of you know Iaso please contact him and wish him the best. Sometimes crap happens to the best of us.

They typically set a standard value based upon the species and type of mount (ie shoulder, rug, full, etc).

Larry is right. I always have mine insured with Life Form Taxidermy. It adds some cost to the taxidermy, but this is a good reason for it.

on the bright side, now you don't have to pay the taxidermist, the freight, etc. and we all know that them taxidermist fellows charge so much that now you can afford to go back on what you save

Good attitude Butchloc! You know...I spent a lot of time on a group of Kudu and was ultimately unsuccesful....Thank God! As much as I am going to miss that Nyala, loosing a Kudu mount as well would have been even worse!

Sorry to hear of this. Assuming you have some high-quality digital pictures (say min 1500x1500), pick your favorites and upload to one of the services offering large format canvas printing in say 18"x24". Get a nice African-themed frame (if desired, but not needed if the canvas is wrapped) and you are all set! Check out: http://www.art-hammer.com/

Good excuse for another safari!

Sorry to hear the bad news.

Steve,
I got that message this morning too. I lost 8 animals and my hunting buddies lost 40 +. I'm headed to Mozambique Sept. 1 and thinking of stopping by, armed !!!! Got a call into Ally to see what's up and why he didn't contact us earlier.
Tom

Is that Ally Robbins by the way?

Yes it is. I have a friend that is there hunting with him and they are going out there, Isao Smiths tomorrow...More to follow...

Yes...my hunt with with Ally Robins,...(great hunt by the way). KZN Taxidermy had my mounts

I'm so sorry to hear Steve and loucfir. Steve, I believe that you hunted with Ally right after I had taken my rhino with him and Brad Rolston. Were you the one that brought some additional pictures back from Ally for me? Sorry about your bad luck.

Steve:

I hate to sound like a hard ass but it seems that when something goes wrong in the professional hunting world it is different than if it happens say in any other "profession".

Certainly we have fun while hunting and hopefully enjoy friendship and commeraderie during our hunts but that does not preclude the tremendious amount of currency that exchanges hands hence we call it business.

Prefessional Hunters and Safari Operators are in many countries held to a high standard of professionalism and are bound by regulation to perform certain tasks. In countries where the govt. does not stipulate this the hunters and industry should fill in.

Preperators, Taxidermist, Freight Handlers etc all can purchase or offer insurance along with a conditions and or disclaimer of their liability.

At the very least a committment to replace the capes and horns or offer you a real value credit against a future hunt is in order.

Fires, floods, truck hijackings on the way to airport and many other potential situations are all part of the business these folks sign on to when the offer to do business with you.

You state that "after talking with your guide..." As an agent for KZN Safari or KZN Taxidermy you can assume he was compensated for his sales efforts.

I'd be most comfortable with offering your condolences along with inquiring as to how he and hopefully his insurance intends to resolve your claim.

Best Regards

Mike O

loucfir,

hold on bud. You're going out armed? The fires destroyed most everything in the area and I'm sure records weren't exactly untouched. And, I imagine they may have been other concerns than getting you an e-mail toot-sweet. In fact, during that time I had to wait seven days to get an e-mail from a business in the area because of the fires.

I have no business relation with KZN taxi, I just know them by rep and it is an honorable one. I'm sure they will do all they can to make things right.

So, before you go off half-cocked and armed, chill out and get some friggin facts.

Use Enough Gun....yep...that was me! You're out in Vegas right? (Nice Rhino by the way!) Were/are you effected by this too?

Madabula....thank you for you're post. For the time being I'm going to wait and see what transpires on their end. Hit Shapens, and I'll be the first to admit in my business we've had to deal with unforseen situations. KZN gave us "notice" which is exactly what they should have done. what they do from here shall be interesting!

Yes, here in Vegas with Bwanna and a host of others. I was in the Limpopo on the night of the 27th and it was very windy up there. And, it had been very dry, with a lot of the watering holes dried up. So, I have no doubt about the issues discussed. I hope that the taxidermist and Ally will see some way to help you out of your loss. You couldn't have prevented the winds nor the fires and as brushy as KZN is, I don't think that you could have done a lot to have saved a farm if you were in the right place at the wrong time. We will all hope for the best for you and loucfir. I know where there's another 30" Nyala up in the Limpopo. . .

Tip:
In my vast Safari experience, (one trip!), I learned not to insure with the taxidermist or broker, you may get screwed. I did. I'll buy my insurance before I go, next trip.

I lost a whitetail deer scoring 162 a few years ago when my taxidermists shop burnt. Biggest deer I had ever shot but what can you do. As dissapointing as it was it wasn't his fault and we can't bring it back so I guess all we can do is have a few drinks and enjoy the pictures.

Steven,

I hope you didn't spend all of your money on landscaping. It just goes to show sometimes you need to save for those unexpected events.

JB

Hi Jeff....thanks for thowing in your 2 cents! I've just shot an email to you!

Steve, my condolences. I guess that's why there's so much banter on this site about not even messing with bringing trophies home. I have to admit, I always do, and probably always will. I'm certain you'll have a good time replacing what you've lost and that's the real value in African hunting - actually doing the hunting. Hopefully, the outfitter and taxidermist will make it easier for you to come back and get the trophies replaced.

Well...just got an email from KZN. My Nyala was consumed by the fire, but the rest of my mounts survived. So not a total loss! Damn shame on the Nyala, but to keep things in perspective...this time yesterday I figured that I had lost everything! Thanks for all your input guys!

Steve,

Every dark cloud has a silver lining?

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren