Guys am about to embark on a leopard/nyala hunt to Zim late May Would like to hear from anyone that have recently had experiences of getting their taxidermy work done in South Africa or Zim and shipped back to the US insofar as quality, price and timelines are concerned

Hello,
Used 3 time TRANSAFRICAN-RSA texidermy, best in Africa (my personal opinion), very professional, high quality producers and money wise they are average (+- 5% of other derimists quotes) but in timing they normally take 10 -12 months easly.
You will not be disappointed by their work.

Sorry one more thing, I shipped all trophies to Pakistan not USA.
Cheers.

I can recommend Field & Stream Taxidermy in Louis Trichardt (Makhado)

http://fieldandstream.co.za


http://www.kapstadt.de/schindlers-africa

Taxidermy Africa

I used Collettes and they are fine, however, I would pay more attention to the freight shipping to the US. They can cause some wonderful problems. I just got another charge added to the original (that I had already paid in full) because of the exchange rate! Who knows? Just be aware that they have you in the palm of their hand and can do whatever, whenever, however.

Life-Form Taxidermy is a very good one!

Best regards, D. Nelson

+1 for Lifeform Taxidermy. Turnaround was about 8 months, was in contact quite a lot, very professional staff, good work.

Splitting Image Taxidermy. I know the owner very well, he's one of the most ambitious and talented people I've ever met.

Check his website out, I can promise you won't be disappointed with his work and prices. Splitting Image Taxidermy

+2 Life-Form. My mounts from there are now over 10 years old and still look great.

I have used Life Form Taxidermy located in White River South Africa for 10 out of my last 12 safaris, including all of my numerous Zimbabwe trophies. I currently have another order of trophies with them.

As your from the U.S. I see no advantage in getting work done in Africa. the best taxidermy in my opinion comes out of the states. Plus you will save on shipping and import duties. Having used some of the above named companies I can confirm that it's a lottery at best regarding the quality of the finished product.

Taxidermy Africa x 5.
They do all my client's trophies.

quote:

Originally posted by Shikaribabu:
Guys am about to embark on a leopard/nyala hunt to Zim late May Would like to hear from anyone that have recently had experiences of getting their taxidermy work done in South Africa or Zim and shipped back to the US insofar as quality, price and timelines are concerned

On my first trip to South Africa, I had the taxidermy done in the U.S.A. and it took about 3 years to get my mounts. You may think that was bad but the friend I went with on that trip that used the same taxidermist still hadn't received his mounts 6 or 7 years later (yea, really).

On my second trip, I used Life Form Taxidermy. I had my mounts about 1 year after they received the hides, etc. for processing. The quality of the taxidermy was better than that of my "award winning" U.S.A. taxidermist and it was a little less expensive.

On my last trip I used Wild Africa Taxidermy. My mounts arrived a couple of days ago (I haven't unpacked them all yet). It took about 2.5 years to get them and the two I've unpacked look good and they did a nice job on the flat skins.

I think some of the delay in getting them had to do with one safari company being a bit unhappy losing their kickback to another taxidermist and not being entirely cooperative in getting the hides etc. to them. Then there was the CITES animal that delayed things a bit.

Once again, a bit cheaper than having the mounts done in the U.S.A. After my first experience with U.S.A. taxidermy, I would never have African mounts done here again.

Just my opinion but I have never seen African taxidermy that looked as good as what is available here. I had it done once in SA and when the dust settled with higher shipping costs of mounted heads versus shipping and doing it here I didn't see much cost difference. It is quicker but that is the only advantage I saw.

Good quality taxidermy can be had in SA and the US. Ii have received both good and not so good from both places as well as Zim. The difference lies in the not so good stuff. If done if Africa you have absolutely no recourse. If done in the US you have avenues to follow to make it right.

Cal

My one and so far only experience went with High Veld in Pretoria. I have no complaints....good communication and shipping and packing were very good. I would/ will use them again.

I have used Highveld three times. I was happy with the first two and waiting on the third now.

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
Good quality taxidermy can be had in SA and the US. Ii have received both good and not so good from both places as well as Zim. The difference lies in the not so good stuff. If done if Africa you have absolutely no recourse. If done in the US you have avenues to follow to make it right.

Cal

Totally agree!

I have used Trophex for all my animals from two trips.

Full body mount on a Caracal, and a Silver backed jackal. The jackal needed some attention, I had shot him thru the left shoulder at about 65 yds with a 180gr Barnes factory 300 Win Mag round.

They also did a Kudu, a Gemsbok, a Waterbuck, a Blesbok, all head/shoulder mounts, and the flatskins.
I felt I needed a full rug from the Zebra I shot, and they did that as well.

Coppersmith handled the shipments for me.

All of my mounts, with shipping, import tariffs, etc; from Trophex to my front door was about 40% of the quote (for the taxidermy work only) from the big three here in the US.

They all look good, half from 2010, and the rest from 2012.

I had my PH handle things for me. He made sure everything was done to his high standards before he paid them the $$$ I sent him. If you have a good PH, and I have hunted twice with this gentleman; he will take care of you. He wants to see you again, and taking care of everything is in his best interests. I think that is definitely the way to go in RSA.

Rich

+1 on Highveld.

I have used them twice and the work is outstanding.
Is it any less expensive?

Not really when you add in the shipping costs

etc. Very close to the same as what a quality local artist would do it for.

The quality is superb and worth every penny!

Shane

quote:

Originally posted by CharlesL:
I have used Highveld three times. I was happy with the first two and waiting on the third now.

Cal x2.

I had standard PG done there, but I'd have your cat done in the USA. A cat can really look stupid if done the wrong way. There are some great "stuffers" on the forum. It's worth the cost, although I haven't shot one. Hit up Mr. Huffaker.

I've used Bullseye Taxidery twice. Very satisfied with the price, time and quality!

I have used Safari Taxidermy in Pietersburg/Polokwane for all my work and everything has been top notch and prompt.

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
Good quality taxidermy can be had in SA and the US. Ii have received both good and not so good from both places as well as Zim. The difference lies in the not so good stuff. If done if Africa you have absolutely no recourse. If done in the US you have avenues to follow to make it right.

Cal

Totally agree!

+2

quote:

quote:Originally posted by cal pappas:Good quality taxidermy can be had in SA and the US. Ii have received both good and not so good from both places as well as Zim. The difference lies in the not so good stuff. If done if Africa you have absolutely no recourse. If done in the US you have avenues to follow to make it right. Cal

I also agree 100%. Having spent years in the profession myself, I can attest to the above quote from Cal. Furthermore, I've used Taxidermists in RSA & Zim and will only submit Life Form (RSA-Mpumalanga) as quality work on large cats. Others produced low average to sub standard work. That said, we in the USA are fortunate to have some of the finest Taxidermists in the world. I won't name them because several are members here and friends of mine, besides, you can see examples of their award winning mounts in the Taxidermy forum. Cost for taxidermy within the USA is generally more expensive, however, once you discover your shipping costs and fees to send your African mounts to your home, those initial savings will sink quickly. Granted, most worldwide hunters wouldn't know the difference between high quality and average mounts, and most will submit satisfaction due to a cheaper price, but for those who truly want to look at their trophies each day as works of art, save a little extra coin and pay a true artist for his time. Not that difficult to sort out the quality artists. LDK

Another vote for Steve and Susie at Collett's Wildlife Artistry in Bulawayo. Steve is very creative and did an excellent job on my plains game.