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Ladies and gents, I want your opinions please,

on which is the better way to fix the trophies after a South African safari. Assume we're talking a basic package tour, impala, dik-dik, maybe kudu or sable.

The two main options are: dip and ship to your home, and have your capes or Euro mounts done right there, in South Africa.

I've been told that the latter would be cheaper and the quality of SA taxidermists is on par or even better than what can be done in US or Europe.

What would you say?

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As in all things in life, there ar trade offs. Taxidermy in SA would be more cost effective. Shipping costs would be increased though because of the significantly larger and/or greater volume of shipping crates and protective packaging required to ship completed mounts.

Another trade off:

How might one select a taxidermist in SA and be completely confident that the work is done properly? There are many stories of cross eyed and lop sided substandard mounts coming from the African continent. The degree to which this may be true is of course subjective and certainly rumours to this effect won’t be discouraged by non-African taxidermy businesses.

On the other hand, bringing your trophies home, you have the time and geographical proximity to the taxidermist to carefully select your taxidermist as well as some degree of recourse if they don’t do a good job. The flip side is that not all Euro or American taxidermists have deep experience in doing African animals and may not use the proper or correct supporting parts. Further, the work will cost more.

If one considers the cost of the trip, travel, outfitters fees, tips, permits, etc, why would one desire to cheap out on the finished product?

Your memories may grow fonder over time, but a poor mount will NOT improve over time and you (or your wife/GF/boyfriend) may well end up wanting to throw out the ugly moldy lopsided piece of poorly done junk on the den wall after having stared at it for far too long.

Edited by Postman (02/11/17 09:28 PM)

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