It seemed a bit unusual to me. Often brain shot elephants fall in this manner, but PG usually falls on its side. This giraffe took 4 rounds of .470 capstick ammo into his chest before dropping.

Nice one. I tried to talk my wife into a giraffe-hide comforter for the bed but she would't go for it. So I did not shoot one.

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Nice one. I tried to talk my wife into a giraffe-hide comforter for the bed but she would't go for it. So I did not shoot one.

Giraffe hide is extremely heavy. The tanned hide for a full body mount will weigh in excess of 400 pounds.

That would be a weighty comforter.

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Nice one. I tried to talk my wife into a giraffe-hide comforter for the bed but she would't go for it. So I did not shoot one.

Giraffe hide is extremely heavy. The tanned hide for a full body mount will weigh in excess of 400 pounds.

That would be a weighty comforter.

I don't want to get out of bed anyway.

(They do thin it, you know! I'm sure I could get it down to size, especially since I don't need the neck or legs...whose side are you on, anyway? )

Was this on your latest trip? 'Softs' or solids?

George

Excellent!

Why didn't you employ the 500 though?

George, it was the previous trip. I used both GS Custom FN solids and North Fork cup nose solids.

Tex, the .500 had plenty of action, and it wasn't fair to make the .470 sit on the sidelines the whole time.

I understand completely!

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:

quote:

Originally posted by Charles_Helm:
Nice one. I tried to talk my wife into a giraffe-hide comforter for the bed but she would't go for it. So I did not shoot one.

Giraffe hide is extremely heavy. The tanned hide for a full body mount will weigh in excess of 400 pounds.

That would be a weighty comforter.

How thick is Giraffe hide? Thicker than buffalo hide? I've never shot one, but would expect it to be a lot thicker than other large PG like Eland. I also seem to recall that it used to be used as rawhide for shields by some tribes in Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by Mickey1:
Giraffe hide is extremely heavy. The tanned hide for a full body mount will weigh in excess of 400 pounds.
That would be a weighty comforter.

A tannery could very EASILY shave the hide so that it is thin enough and light enough to serve as a comforter cover.

Best,

John

ErikD

Send me a private message at "sluttstykket" then i will send you a picture. (XO)

Erik,

I do not know how thick a giraffe hide is exactly, but it is quite thick and tuff, and must be thinned to be workable. I had the hide of that giraffe tanned, but as I shot it during Oct. when it is very hot, the hair slipped anyway. So I told the tannery to just keep it rather than paying the shipping home.

Giraffe are considered a pachyderm, their skin is an inch thick.

The term for thinning of a leather hide is skive. I worked in the leather department of Knoll International once upon a time. The best layer would be top grain.

I just recently read Edouard Foa's book After Big Game in Central Africa. He said that the Giraffe's hide can be as much as 1 1/2 inches thick. Can that be right?

Charles_Helm

quote:

(They do thin it, you know! I'm sure I could get it down to size, especially since I don't need the neck or legs...whose side are you on, anyway? )

JohnTheGreek said:

quote:

(A tannery could very EASILY shave the hide so that it is thin enough and light enough to serve as a comforter cover.)

I don't quite know how tanneries in USA and even Africa are set up. I have only seen a hide-thinning machine used to split leather at two taxidermists/tanners in Krugersdorp, South Africa. These skive machines are not nearly big enough to take a giraffe hide at a time. It can take a whole cow hide at a time though. It may be possible to cut the hide to approximately bed comforter size, then tan it and then do the skiving on the much smaller skin.

If no-one can tell for sure if it would be possible, I can find out and let you know. If someone wants to know?

In good hunting.

Andrew McLaren

quote:

Originally posted by Aspen Hill Adventures:
Giraffe are considered a pachyderm, their skin is an inch thick.

Thanks Ann. That would make it almost the same as a hippo hide:



We found it hard work skinning this hippo, since the hide was so thick and stiff. I can imagine that a Giraffe would be the same, if not worse due to it's size.

(XO-sendte deg en melding på Sluttstykke!)

By the way, although I used solids on the gerry, none of them exited.

EricD,that's a nice picture.Nice scenery,colors.

What film and camera were used to take that picture.Not that I know much about photography.Just interested.

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
By the way, although I used solids on the gerry, none of them exited.

Whoa... With a 470 Capstick. That is surprising.

quote:

Originally posted by shootaway:
What film and camera were used to take that picture.Not that I know much about photography.Just interested.

It was a Nikon D70s. I'm pretty happy with it, but it's not as good as a decent 35mm camera using Fuji Velvia or Provia in my opinion. But then digital is far more user friendly since I can just dump the pictures into my laptop.