Regret On Photos Being The Only Trophy

[MattNZ]

Hey team have booked in my first safari and am now ironing out the minor details

One of them is for the lesser trophies I am taking whether to have only a print made of them rather than getting them made into euro mounts which will save a fair whack of money as its a long way to get the trophies back home. so I was wondering those of you who have made the decision to leave your skulls in Africa do you regret it now or are you happy enough with the photo to remind you of the hunt? especially those who will not be back to Africa for a number of years if ever

Looking forward to hearing everyone's opinions

 

[Bos en Dal SAFARIS]

Hi Matt

Trophies do add alot to the trip but it is always nice to see the horns or tusks afterwards! I guess it is something you have to decide for yourself... I can however suggest if you only take photos back to ask your outfitter about the PHASA medal sceme. Just something you can add to the photo frame, it basicly works on the SCI scoring system and you get Gold, Silver or Bronze plated medals with a certificate accompanying them. Stating where you shot the animal and the score.

It does not break the bank and also something you have to show of your hunt.

Enjoy your hunt!!! And take loads of pics

Best Regards

 

[BRICKBURN]

Matt, I was just forced into making the decision about leaving some trophies behind.
The change in the CFIA interpretation stopped me from bringing back the capes to have the animals mounted here.
I scaled back to Euro Mounts and some just tusks and horns.

I at least have something.

If import export and transportation issues are not worked out reasonably in the near future for other trophies I will be making the same decision with them. Not happy about it. I like to have the trophies as a reminder.
Then it will only be pictures.
At first the thought was disturbing, now I am starting to come around to accepting the idea.


I am starting to make a move toward a policy of mostly photographs and perhaps only bringing incredible specimens back.

 

[rnovi]

At some point or another one runs out of wall space...or places to hang trophies.

My first trip to Africa I knew I was going to put a lot of trophies on the walls. Part of it was decorating the house, part of it was preserving the memories. And part of the future is going to be asking the question "How to keep it all tasteful". It won't do me much good to have 40 trophies in a garage gathering dust...

So pictures are a good thing. And I'm all for keeping the Euro mounts. And then my wife and I will get creative: Wall Sconces for horns...she takes hides and covers chairs and cushions.

I figure I have two more safari's and maybe three more "other" hunts that I could collect trophies from and then the answer is going to be to do pictures only or to "hunt on consignment". I have a few friends that are willing to pay for the trophies. I'll pay the trophy fees and the hunt, they can have the head.

So, in the long run I fully expect to only bring back truly epic specimens and the rest shall be consigned to Memories of a Life Well Lived.

 

[enysse]

Matt it AWEFULLY expensive in the long term with a lot of mounts. I started to see an error in judgement on my part a while back. You can spend $9000 on a hunt and have $10000 is shipping and taxidermy. Plus you need a lot of room to place them on the wall. And really you have to add the extra property taxes for the space every year, heating and cooling costs and whatever it cost to get that room in the first place.

 

[MattNZ]

cheers for the replies all I'm reading it that mostly everyone does there utter best to get all of their trophies home until all the space in their home is gone (and if they don't have the coin to further expand their homes)


will put the question out there though, if you were only going to hunt Africa once before you started a family (which I imagine will prevent further trips for many years to come and still a lot of deer I haven't hunted in NZ) would you reduce the amount of shoulder mounts to free up funds for euro mount or would you have some trophies only as photo's so that you could increase the amount of shoulder mounts will put it as a scenario which funnily enough the situation I'm in

the budget is $4,000 USD
transport back from Africa to NZ will run at $1500 USD for a kudu and gemsbok shoulder mount and an impala euro mount (so quite pricy)
trophies to be hunted are cape kudu, gemsbok, impala, blue wildebeest and lastly springbuck
to make your decision on how you would allocate the funds less complicated we will make it taxidermy work has to be done in SA only
also once trophies hit NZ they will be hit with a 15% GST bill on the cost of the taxidermy work done

really looking forward to see how you would all choose to spend the coin, and yes I wish I could allocate more coin to taxidermy but sadly that would blow the budget and no doubt result in me loosing the part of my anatomy that will enable me to have kids one day

 

[enysse]

Matt, your plan is fine. Just remember, Africa will hook you good and going back will aways be on your mind .

 

[Nyati]

I only have euro mounts because of space issues.

I have also given away trophies after getting better ones.

 

[Royal27]

I can relate.... My appetite is bigger than my pocketbook, especially for the mounts. I can afford to hunt more than I can afford to mount....

I think I'm going to wait until after the hunt to really make the decision on what to mount/euro mount, or perhaps not mount at all. I can't see completely not mounting something (for me personally) as long as it was a "first."

These are tough decisions for sure!

 

[sestoppelman]

It is tempting to bring back all the skins even if not used for mounting. Resist this temptation if you can. The skins cost money to tan and ship and end up not being used and then given away for nothing usually, though I did manage to sell some hides once. I think we all like to bring out stuff home but its costly. I think if I had to choose, I would choose pictures.

 

[RogerHeintzman]

Well Matt,

Don't get married, think of the all the extra cash!!

Do at least one shoulder mount so there is no regret down the road. It will create more conversation. Do flat skins/euros of the others.

"A dream can be relived, again and again in Africa."

 

[MattNZ]

Well Matt,

Don't get married, think of the all the extra cash!!

"A dream can be relived, again and again in Africa."

haha that was a priceless call if only I could get away with that could be back in a couple of years for a buffalo

cheers everybody for the replies is good to have your personal preferences, have given me a lot to think over

 

[Savage Hunter]

I've been looking at some wingback chairs that a South African company makes using blue wilderbeest or zebra hides.
Thinking about looking for a leather chair and taking it and my zebra flatskin and recovering the seatback and maybe arms with zebra hide.

 

[RogerHeintzman]

Fabulous!

Choices, Choices.

 

[Fjold]

Euros and photos

 

[Dinsdale]

Euros and photos

Ya......but show that Buff mount you have to tell the rest of the story. LOL

Really like that one, very well done;<)

 

[richteb]

cheers for the replies all I'm reading it that mostly everyone does there utter best to get all of their trophies home until all the space in their home is gone (and if they don't have the coin to further expand their homes)


will put the question out there though, if you were only going to hunt Africa once before you started a family (which I imagine will prevent further trips for many years to come and still a lot of deer I haven't hunted in NZ) would you reduce the amount of shoulder mounts to free up funds for euro mount or would you have some trophies only as photo's so that you could increase the amount of shoulder mounts will put it as a scenario which funnily enough the situation I'm in

the budget is $4,000 USD
transport back from Africa to NZ will run at $1500 USD for a kudu and gemsbok shoulder mount and an impala euro mount (so quite pricy)
trophies to be hunted are cape kudu, gemsbok, impala, blue wildebeest and lastly springbuck
to make your decision on how you would allocate the funds less complicated we will make it taxidermy work has to be done in SA only
also once trophies hit NZ they will be hit with a 15% GST bill on the cost of the taxidermy work done

really looking forward to see how you would all choose to spend the coin, and yes I wish I could allocate more coin to taxidermy but sadly that would blow the budget and no doubt result in me loosing the part of my anatomy that will enable me to have kids one day

Matt
If NZ is anything like Australia (pretty sure it is), and you are wanting to bring back some sort of trophies I would highly recommend you discuss this with a taxidermist before making any choices. I can tell you that costs made on poor information can spiral out of control, especially once you are committed and your stuff is in transit.

From my experience if you decide to ship trophies home I would strongly investigate the cost difference in mounted vs skulls and capes. Also most safari companies charge a dip and pack fee which is usually a sliding scale (say as an example 1-6 them 6-10 ect).

Next as far as shipping goes, the cost is based on weight and volume so for example if you decide to ship one kudu skull & cape the then cost will not be significantly different if you add impala, bushbuck, warthog for example, as the shipping crate will not be that much bigger or heavier.

I paid about the same as your estimate for buffalo cape, back skin and full skull, Eland skull & Cape, Bushbuck skull and skin for full mount, impala skull and cape, some wood carvings and other stuff we bought. Entire crate weighed in at about 110kg. Even though the dollar value to get all the trophies mounted is significant. I chose to get all the capes tanned. In this state they will keep for a long time I as money allows I will get them mounted (this may take several years).

Due to the different laws imposed by individual countries it is hard to get advice from others. The best you can really hope for is to get ideas on the different stages your trophies will go through prior to arriving at your front door and then do your home work.

 

[david small]

Consider one shoulder mount if You can,and the rest European mounts, or photos. This will equate to a much smaller bill. wall space needs to be a consideration. You can spend as much on taxidermy as You do on a hunt...consider Your long term finances and travel plans.

 

[ActionBob]

the budget is $4,000 USD
transport back from Africa to NZ will run at $1500 USD for a kudu and gemsbok shoulder mount and an impala euro mount (so quite pricy)
trophies to be hunted are cape kudu, gemsbok, impala, blue wildebeest and lastly springbuck
to make your decision on how you would allocate the funds less complicated we will make it taxidermy work has to be done in SA only
also once trophies hit NZ they will be hit with a 15% GST bill on the cost of the taxidermy work done

Matt;
As long as your shipping a couple shoulders back anyway, you may as well bring all your trophies home. I doubt the shipping will change much. Depending on your taxidermist, it may be a lot cheaper to simply have the skulls cleaned and bleached. Get them home and then screw them to a plaque yourself or order some http://www.skullhooker.com/ to hang them. But check the difference in cost, some taxidermists charge very little extra and some are a lot?

Impala and Wildebeest make great Euros. I would have a full flat skin done from the springbuck if not mounting it. Might just bleach that skull and set it on a shelf?

Tanning backskins is not very expensive.

Or you could dip and pack everything home and then just have pieces mounted back home as you can afford it.

I added up costs from a year old price sheet and for a Gemsbok and kudu shoulders, impala and blue wildebeest euros, a springbuck flatskin and bleached skull it comes to about $2000. So if $1500 is the full cost of shipping and clearing, you have $500 to work with yet.... Of course there may have been some modest price increases.

 

[Divernhunter]

We could not come home with only photos. We had the dip and pack thing done. I am having a number of shoulder mounts, especially on some that were high on the SCI trophy list rating. I also got some full and back skins. The jury is out on that move. I want to possible make gun cases etc out of part of them, but that can wait. It is easy to mount the skulls to a plaque and post a photo of you with the kill next to it.

At the very bare min I would bring the skulls home with only a dip and pack done in Africa.

Remember if you get them her with dip and pack you can take your time doing what you want with them as time/money allows. Even capes and skins.

If you take a Zebra then you MUST bring the hide home. You could sell it for a good price if you did not keep it.........or give it to me