I'm talking to a taxidermist in Namibia regarding the packing of trophies to be shipped.

There are two options apparently - one is packed in cardboard (15% of order value), the other is in a chipboard crate (25%). Why would you not do it in the chipboard?

Second, and my main question - I guess the crate gets filled in with shredded newspaper. The mounts are put in, not attached to anything, but packed all around with the newspaper.

Is this packing method standard? I got one shipped to AK from WA and it was basically screwed from the outside of the wood crate into the back of the mount. That seemed to work well.

How have you guys had this done?

All I have seen are wood with the mounts screwed to the crate. I do not think Cardboard with loose trophies would work very well.

Everything I have had shipped was shipped in a wooden crate, with the mounts screwed into the side/top/bottom of the crate. I would think shipping loose packed with newpaper would be flirting with major problems.

Use a wooden crate. Cardboard will not work.

I have seen a wood exterior framed cardboard lined crate. All trophies were screwed onto the wood frame with serious 3" wood screws into the back of the mount. Smaller items were wrapped up and taped to the floor/bottom of the crate. No interior, loose paper, was used at all.

Loose trophies packed in crumpled up paper sounds pretty risky to me, I can't imagine anyone would try that.

You must also make sure the wood is approved for import into the USA.

Les

My trophies were shipped in cardboard, but they weren't loose. The mounts were wrapped in cellophane, and then a hardening foam was blown in, making it all one hardened mass.

I'd have doubts about the loose newspaper/cardboard combo.

My trophies came in a cardboard box, but they were all just unmounted skulls and horns, and some hides.

Each skull was wrapped in bubble wrap, then in an outer layer of plastic jammed full of excelsior and heavily taped. In addition to all that, the warthog and duiker skulls, and the warthog tusks, were in separate boxes also full of excelsior.

Then everything was packed in this very heavy-gauge cardboard box, once again jammed with even more excelsior. It all traveled just fine from Windhoek to Baltimore via British Airways.