Hair slippage

[btheis13]

My buddy just got his crate back from RSA and I got the chance to go take a look at them today. Bullseye Taxidermy in Limpopo did his work. The kudu, nyala and bushbuck all appeared to have hair slippage, especially on the mane. Is this common for these animals? Or is it a taxidermist issue?

All of the other work he's had done there has been pretty good.

I plan to harvest these same animals on my '25 trip and I am now questioning my choices.

 

[Flipper Dude]

An old kudu or bushbuck is pretty much hairless on the neck when shot. Nyala I don’t know.

 

[BryceM]

If it’s only in the mane, it’s sometimes how they tanned it. This happened to my zebra. I’m not sure if it’s breakage of the hair or true slippage.

Can also be imperfect field prep, not enough salt, temps that were too high, lots of blood, etc.

 

[Frederik]

All 3 of those species are prone to hairslip and should be treated and handled properly in the field itself.
If there was evidennce of hairslip when the taxidemry started the tanning procress this needed to be communicated to the cleint. Now it's a matter of who is responsible taxidermy or PH?

 

[Hunt anything]

The problem with hair slippage is that it can be hard to accurately know who to blame. 1)How long did it take to skin the animal?
2)Was it fleshed properly?
3)Was it salted properly?
4) was it allowed to dry properly before being stored.
1 - 4 usually the outfitter’s responsibility
5) when tanning was the correct pickling solution used?
6) was it shaved to thinly?
5 - 6 tannery responsibility or taxidermist if they do in house tanning
7)taxidermist received bad hide and he’s screwed and gets the blame.
From talking to several African taxidermists they universally say tiny ten, spiral horns and cats are notorious for hair slippage.

 

[BRICKBURN]

My buddy just got his crate back from RSA and I got the chance to go take a look at them today. Bullseye Taxidermy in Limpopo did his work. The kudu, nyala and bushbuck all appeared to have hair slippage, especially on the mane. Is this common for these animals? Or is it a taxidermist issue?

All of the other work he's had done there has been pretty good.

I plan to harvest these same animals on my '25 trip and I am now questioning my choices.

Got some pictures of the issues?

Sadly, if not handled in the field perfectly the taxidermist can't save them.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

My suggestion is always get skull cleaned, cape tanned, and both shipped to taxidermist over here. That way if the cape turns out no good, you'll still have a skull for the wall. You can shop for another cape and take your time. Make sure your taxidermist here has written conformation that he is to let you know immediately if hide is no good.

 

[IvW]

90% of the time it is a field prep issue.
All spiral horns are prone to hair slip.
Lots of factors make this worse.
Recovery time, time, from shot to skinned temperature, black rubber on truck bed etc. Etc.

If as you state it is only in the mane areas it soulds like a skinning issue. Any fat left behind there is an issue also if it is skinned too close it is an issue.

Skinning and cape preparation in the field is critical......

 

[ActionBob]

I've yet to see a mature male Bushbuck with much hair on the back of the neck. Between all the ticks, pushing through brush, and fighting they lose their hair. Kudu probably much the same. I've never shot an Nyala nor been present when one was so no experience there.

Did your buddy oversee the skinning and salting?

The worst case of hair slip I've personally experienced was on an eland. The camp was not tightly run and the skinners and other camp staff were much more concerned with getting as much meat hoarded away as possible than with skinning and salting the trophy. I kept asking the Outfitter/PH to go deal with it but he did not until it was afternoon and the eland had been shot early morning. And during November in Mozambique. I should have just done a skull mount but the taxidermist (Stateside) insisted he could work with the cape. Poorest cape i have on any of my mounts.

These trophies have to overcome a lot to arive to your home in good condition! Every step of the way is an opportunity to screw them up! A hunter needs to monitor what he can while he can.

I suggest you ask lots of questions of your buddy. He is very unlikely to find anyone willing to admit to any wrong doing. Before blaming the taxidermist, does he have good detailed pictures of the condition the animals were in when he shot them? What was the weather like? Were they skinned and salted right away or hauled around on a truck for half a day? Did he check on the skinning and salting? Did he inspect the capes as they were drying? Did he properly tip the skinners? One always wants to deliver candy and small gifts to the skinners. Make them your buddies