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Is it advisable to pre-tan zebra/leopard/giraffe skin in Africa ? And what is pre-tan ? AD | ||
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After waiting two years for Taxidermy Enterprises to ship my stuff, the safari company and I agreed to have the capes "pre-tanned" in Zim to determine if they were still good. I was in Zim at the time, went by the tannery and looked at the skins in the pickle. They "appeared" okay. When I got them back in the states, they had ZERO stretch, the ears had rotted off, in other words they were ruined. These were unusual circumstances but I would never again have anything tanned in Africa, the tanneries over here generally do a better job. Just my .02 worth | |||
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Anton, out of necessity, I had Life-Form in RSA pre-tan a Jackal, Impala and female Duiker cape before shipping home. Check out my Duiker mount in the Taxidermy section. Grafton did an excellent job. The condition I received said skins was fine. Mainly it's the final shaving they omit. Grafton may be able to give you his advice as he's the guy who did the work. I think the thread was "Cute little thing" or something like that. Grafton posted it. My personal choice is to have my tanning/taxidermy done here. Much more control over the situation from start to finish. Cheers, David Gray Ghost Hunting Safaris http://grayghostsafaris.com Phone: 615-860-4333 Email: hunts@grayghostsafaris.com NRA Benefactor DSC Professional Member SCI Member RMEF Life Member NWTF Guardian Life Sponsor NAHC Life Member Rowland Ward - SCI Scorer Took the wife the Eastern Cape for her first hunt: http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6881000262 Hunting in the Stormberg, Winterberg and Hankey Mountains of the Eastern Cape 2018 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/4801073142 Hunting the Eastern Cape, RSA May 22nd - June 15th 2007 http://forums.accuratereloadin...=810104007#810104007 16 Days in Zimbabwe: Leopard, plains game, fowl and more: http://forums.accuratereloadin...=212108409#212108409 Natal: Rhino, Croc, Nyala, Bushbuck and more http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6341092311 Recent hunt in the Eastern Cape, August 2010: Pics added http://forums.accuratereloadin...261039941#9261039941 10 days in the Stormberg Mountains http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/7781081322 Back in the Stormberg Mountains with friends: May-June 2017 http://forums.accuratereloadin...6321043/m/6001078232 "Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading" - Thomas Jefferson Every morning the Zebra wakes up knowing it must outrun the fastest Lion if it wants to stay alive. Every morning the Lion wakes up knowing it must outrun the slowest Zebra or it will starve. It makes no difference if you are a Zebra or a Lion; when the Sun comes up in Africa, you must wake up running...... "If you're being chased by a Lion, you don't have to be faster than the Lion, you just have to be faster than the person next to you." | |||
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A. Dahlgren, my recommendation is to have them shipped to the US for tanning. As David mentioned above, his duiker was in good condition with a "pre tan" but the skin needed to be thinned and additional tanning oils applied to get a proper amount of stretch from the skin to make it workable. The key thing here is consistency of the product. When a skin has been "tanned" in Africa, I really do not know for sure what I am dealing with and I have to look at each skin to see if it can be mounted. Many of the skins may be just "pickled" and there is no telling just how they were tanned or what chemicals/acid was used. If you alrerady have a taxidemist here in the US, let he or she use the tannery of their choice. by doing this, there is no guess work on the consistency of the product. The taxidermist will be very familiar with the thickness and amount of stretch and how that skin will dry, shrink, etc.. In other words, your taxidermist will be working with something they are used to working with. If the skins have been cared for properly and salt dried, I see no advantage to any kind of "pre tan" in terms of storage. It is most likely a way for the dip and pack taxidermist to get a little work out of your shipment. I am not saying that you can not get a decent tanning job in Africa, just that it will make your US taxidermist a bit nervous as they will be working on an unfamiliar "tan." I hope that makes sense. | |||
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Thank you Grafton, David and sevenmag. If I get a leopard this year I will send it to Phil Soucy, I live in Sweden so it will be alot of shipping and filling in cites paper but well worth it IMO. AD | |||
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Anton, I had Lifeform Taxidermy in South Africa do some mounts for me in the past. Kudu pedestal mount, was well done. They tanned an eland skin a beautiful dark brown. My wife confiscated the eland for dining room chairs. A warthog was tanned without the hair, it turned out nice also. My zebra wa tanned in the usual fashion with felt backing and is on the wall. There are a few others as well. All the tanned skins are well done, have not cracked or dried out. Seems like first class work. | |||
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used to be a good tannery or 2 in zim, but i think they are closed. i wouldn't trust taxidermy unlimited to mount toilet paper. in lusaka on the other hand michael borman does an outstanding job. if i know the kind of work i'm getting i much prefer to tan over there. no hair slips that way. its done in less time than it takes to get them here. by that i mean almost every hide i have shipped raw and tanned here has had some sort of problem & I blame it on the time it sits around over there before shipping. on the other hand everything i've had tanned there has come through perfect. bottom line is to know who is doing it | |||
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Take Grafton's advice, ship un-tanned capes and full mount hides to your taxidermist in the US, they almost always use different chemicals this side. All the best Roger VIERANAS Bow & Hunting Adventure Safaris Namibia #TPH00157 Roger@vieranasbowhunt.com www.vieranasbowhunt.com http://www.facebook.com/Vieranas.Safaris.Namibia "The true hunter counts his achievement in proportion to the effort involved and the fairness of the sport" Saxton Pope | |||
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