Coppersmith just called to say my trophies just cleared. My taxidermist is picking them up tomorrow. I was told to expect 9 to 12 months before my trophies would hit the states, but it's only been 7 months since my hunt with Vaughan Fulton.

I know from time to time, some of you ask what to expect in trophy shipment charges. Since it would have been helpful to me in the past, I thought I would list my charges. I had the cape and back skin from 1 mountain zebra; capes, skull and horns from 2 springbuck plus one back skin; cape, skull and horns from 1 gemsbuck; cape skull and horns from 1 kudu; and skins from 2 ground squirrels.

Number of pieces: 1

Weight: 56 kg.

Air freight - Windhoek-Atlanta: $714.00

Coppersmith charges: $454.02

Looks like Christmas in July!!!!

Yeah, those ground squirrel skins REALLY add to the weight and volume of the crate.

George

What a coincidence! I just faxed the charge slip over to pay for mine. They'll be shipping them out to Jerry Huffaker. Apparently mine were ready Friday but someone (maybe me?) removed the invoice from the fax machine before I realized it was there. I just found out about it this morning.

quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeS:
Yeah, those ground squirrel skins REALLY add to the weight and volume of the crate.

George

Tell me about it. And I thought the trophy fees for those things were a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by Jorge400:
Tell me about it. And I thought the trophy fees for those things were a lot.

The thrill of hunting dangerous game doesn't come cheap.

I am waiting on my shipping bill to come in. On this last trip it took only 3 months wait before the trophies are shipped. Last trip a couple of years ago it took 8 months. Looks like they are finally speeding up over there.

Jorge, thanks for posting the information. I will be hunting with Vaughan in '07 and hope to bring back a similar load of hides and horns. Did you consider taxidermy there? I don't know yet which I'll do, though of course I have a lot of time to think about it (too much, really.)

Jorge400:

I shot a Cape buffalo in early May. My agent in NY ( Fauna & Flora) informed me just before Thanksgiving that the buff had arrived. You and I were fortunate - judging from the posts I read nowadays in AR. ( My buff cleared customs in 1993)

quote:

Originally posted by wihntr:
Jorge, thanks for posting the information. I will be hunting with Vaughan in '07 and hope to bring back a similar load of hides and horns. Did you consider taxidermy there? I don't know yet which I'll do, though of course I have a lot of time to think about it (too much, really.)

Having the taxidermy done over there was not something I considered.

quote:

Originally posted by Jorge400:

quote:

Originally posted by wihntr:
Jorge, thanks for posting the information. I will be hunting with Vaughan in '07 and hope to bring back a similar load of hides and horns. Did you consider taxidermy there? I don't know yet which I'll do, though of course I have a lot of time to think about it (too much, really.)

Having the taxidermy done over there was not something I considered.

I got prices from Life Form, who have been highly recommended, but by the time you factored in the higher cost to ship the mounts it was a financial wash (at least to my limited ability to crunch the numbers) so I elected to go with someone over here. There are non-economic factors as well, but the economics alone did not seem to justify it.

We Band of Brothers! I just paid my bill from Coppersmith and my zebra, hartebeest, gemsbok, springbok and kudu are headed to Jerry Huffaker.
I hunted with Vaughan in May and feel great that it will be a few short months until I get my trophies from Jerry.
John

quote:

Originally posted by Lucky1:
We Band of Brothers! I just paid my bill from Coppersmith and my zebra, hartebeest, gemsbok, springbok and kudu are headed to Jerry Huffaker.
I hunted with Vaughan in May and feel great that it will be a few short months until I get my trophies from Jerry.
John

Does that mean you are in line ahead of me? Actually, I am prepared for a long wait as I imagine he has a backlog. And I still haven't figured out where the Zebra rug is going!

My wife and I have been having discussions about where my trophies will go. The only thing she was excited about was the zebra rug. We will be moving in late summer/early fall and I will have a whole room for my trophies. The wait will just give me more time to plan what I want to do with the room!
John