Just sent Coppersmith $1598 to clear Customs and Fish and Feathers, $2100 shipping from Namibia to DFW,$4900 cleaning and tanning four zebra hides and skulls of eight head trophy's plus cleaning several pick up skulls. Exactlly half the price of the 30 day hunt. Now the taxidermy bill. I was not expecting the cost of ship dip and Customs but it is part of the deal.All my trophy's are in Texas and I am glad.

Huh ? Is this common? Thats a lot more than I am budgeting.

That seems REAL high.....unless prices have jumped WAY up since 2009...my last trip.

Gary
DRSS
NRA Lifer
DSC

$8600 to get your hides and skulls home, either things have changed dramatically in the last 6 mos., or someone saw you coming.

If you take the four zebra rugs off that is $6200,Coppersmith told me there bill would run $400-$600,but it was $1500.I would do it again though. I was fun watching my daughter kill.

I've had Coppersmith clear 3 shipments for me and their fees have never been over $500. I'll have to go back and look, but I think the shipping charges have been in the $500 to $1,000 range. I think I paid $100 to $200 for the last zebra I had tanned in Namibia.

My taxidermist charges $1050 per for tanning zebra hides and that is why it is so high.

So if you paid $4,000 for tanned zebra hides you paid $900 dip and pack on the rest.

Presonally I don't think this stuff gets talked about enough on safari and guys quickly turn a "$5,000" hunt in to a $10,000-$15,000 hunt.

Look at this hunt.

Approx

Flight $1,500
Daily rates 7 day hunt $2,100 (cheap)
Trophy fees $3,000 (cheap)
Clothes, practice ammo, gear, etc $500 (cheap)

He is in for almost $16,000 without a single shoulder mount and assuming he didn't shoot a lot of game like gemsbuck, kudu, and eland!

We just had two seperate shipments come in from Zimbabwe a few weeks ago. They were both around $1,200 dollars. We had them sent straight to New Methods tanning in San Francisco. New Methods has a customs clearing department. This saves clearing customs in New York or somewhere else, and then forwarding them to be tanned, thus paying another shipping fee.

I hunted Namibia in June of 2010. I paid $1477 for 8 head of game (1-kudu, 2-gemsbok,1-waterbuck, 1-zebra hide only, 2-warthog, 1 hartebeest) and received all in US on January 6th. After process thru the clearing house in Chicago I paid the Chicago company about $500.00. I thought this seemed reasonable. The only question I still have is, why does it take so long to get from field to US?

The four zebra hides cost 2400, to get tanned in Namibia.I killed kudu,two orax,eland,blue wildabeast, hartabeast,impala,four zebra, two springbuck. Brought back as pickups black wildabeast skull, kudu skull, three springbuck skulls and probably some stuff I forgot.Two orax on a culling hunt and a client wounded zebra which I didn't bring back..Thirty days for me 14 for my daughter,she killed one of the orax, two of the zebra and one springbuck. Goin' again in May. Here it is divided out $2500 clean skulls and dip,$2400 tan four zebra,$2100 ship two crates,$1598 coppersmith. Broken down doesn't look too bad except for coppersmith,got me on that one.

You paid way to much. PM me and I'll help you out on your next Safari. We paid $200.00 per animal for dipping and shipping to the tannery in North Carolina. The safari took place in Namibia. Paid the same from South Africa twice.
Ch

If I ever go back to hunt Africa again I won't spend a dime on taxidermy. Great photos are good enough for me.

This will only help a little, but I have always cleared my own shipments. That is possible because I live in a city with US Customs and USFW offices. I have found both to be consistently helpful. The process is not complicated and you can save the broker's fee.

Guys always get qoutes on shipping Let them know they are not the only game in town.
Some Nam. taxidermist and shipping agents work their ass off to screw you.
Don't feel bad they got me one time too.
BUT PAM YOU WON'T GET ME AGAIN.

The only company that would give me a quote and stick to it was Maria Felix at hunter international. Coppersmith and Flora and Fauna would not. I had a Salted Zebra hide tanned last year in California for 300 dollars. That was for a life size mount, a rug would have been 250 dollars.

I had Reiser tax. do the cleaning pre-tan and tanned four zebra. Rainer Seinfold did the shipping . I am satisfyed both did a good fair job considering how much stuff I had,13 head plus pickups. Coppersmith got me.

It might be a good idea to start making a list of people and businesses to avoid to save potential problems.

In 2008, I had four Euro mounts, a Steenbok shoulder mount and a Zebra rug done in Namibia for about a grand.

Shipping was less than $400 and customs clearance was $430

Well, when my son and I did it in 2008, I had 5 euros done, 3 backskins, and a Zebra skin rug, felt backed. I had them done in RSA, by Highveld taxidermy. The bill was $1800. When shipped, and cleared, my 1/2 the bill approx. $800. I didn't feel I got ripped, on anything. We used D&L CBH, in Elk Grove, IL to do our clearing. The girls were great, and I would use them again.


Mad Dog

From Zim 2009 trip all in on seven animals was $4000. Coppersmith was $500 of that. The rest went to Zim?? Yeah, too expensive. We live and hopefully, we learn.

I recently received 14 fully mounted animals(including two buffaloand one eland from Mozambique through Trans Africa Taxidermy and shipped through Tracker International. Crate sizes, 102"X50"X52" and 68"X44"X50" total wt 860# Total bill $3400 shipping and paper work, $1300 customers clearance, and $500 additional freight shipped to my door (1700 miles). The taxidermy was excellent and saved about $4000 from local prices. In addition, just the shipping and clearance of raw trophies would have been $3200.

Always ask once you get a quote: "Does vaseline come with that or do I bring my own."

quote:

Originally posted by catosilvaje:
I had Reiser tax. do the cleaning pre-tan and tanned four zebra. Rainer Seinfold did the shipping . I am satisfyed both did a good fair job considering how much stuff I had,13 head plus pickups. Coppersmith got me.

When did you hunt and how long did Reiser have your stuff? How long before Reiser said they were done and the shipper contacted you?

that is a bit Pricey, We hunted Namibia may 2010, My Friend & I took 15 Trophies. Not here yet, ready to be shipped , Our quote is $ 4500/-

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by catosilvaje:
I had Reiser tax. do the cleaning pre-tan and tanned four zebra. Rainer Seinfold did the shipping . I am satisfyed both did a good fair job considering how much stuff I had,13 head plus pickups. Coppersmith got me.

When did you hunt and how long did Reiser have your stuff? How long before Reiser said they were done and the shipper contacted you?

This question was not directed at me, but I can tell you that we hunted in October and returned on the 13th of Oct. Reiser's invoice was on my email when I returned from the trip. My trophies then went to the shipper, they sent me a bill in December, they were out for the holidays but when they returned to work on January 10th, they confirmed my payment. My trophies were shipped this past weekend and should be with fauna and flora right now, but I have not gotten confirmation.

Reiser charged me $800 for dip and pack, the shipper charged me $1500 for shipping to NYC. I had a baboon skull, warthog skull and cape, zebra hide, eland skull and cape, impala skull and cape, and a gemsbok skull and backhide. I will have to pay Fauna and flora, the shipping to the tannery, tanning, and shipping to my taxidermist.

I have no regrets, to do it over again I wouldn't change a thing. To do it again, I would only bring one or two trophies home with me.


For this trip, I built a rifle, bought a S&B scope, Pelican case, ammo cases, bullets, safari clothes, airline tickets, trophy fees, daily fees, gratuities and who knows what else. I'm absolutely sick and tired of writing checks and doing wire transfers at the bank. Their eyes pop every time I do a transfer to Africa. I will go to Africa again, but it will be different next time. I'm not complaining, I'm just ready to start saving for the next one and get this one over with.

How many crates and what was the weight and volmetric space taken up. Dipping & Packing around $600, Tanning???, Skulls cleaned & bleached???, shipping to RSA and on to USA around $1500 + or - , brokerage cost???
Looks pretty close to me.

Mike

Got the invoice yesterday .storage 223,import 70,customs duty 25,customs exam 185, airport transfer 210,bond to customs 65,inland freight 167,FWS CITES inspection 56,customs entry services 100,FWS entry 200,food and drug 25, manipulation service 50. TOTAL 1377, SO Coppersmith only charged 216, of the 1593 total? Maybe they didn't get me afterall. Everybody gets a piece .

quote:

Originally posted by retreever:
How many crates and what was the weight and volmetric space taken up. Dipping & Packing around $600, Tanning???, Skulls cleaned & bleached???, shipping to RSA and on to USA around $1500 + or - , brokerage cost???
Looks pretty close to me.

Mike

Airlines have prices to to their convenience: Volume or Weight and calculate which of the two is going to cost more and apply/charge accordingly.

All of those charges were Coppersmiths fees for getting the job done.If you clear them yourself you don't have to pay those fees.

Thanks doc you can bet I'll do it next time.

My brother, acting as my represntative has claimed several trophy shipments on my behalf. You pick them up at the freight dock, get FDA inspection, Customs inspection and Wildlife and fisheries to inspect them. Takes a little coordinating to get the inspections lined up but we have always been able to get it all done in about half a day.

None of these charge for the inspection,so all the fees are from Coppersmith, Fauna and Flora, or whomever gets it done for you.