REPORT: Disappointed with Taxidermy by Wild Africa Taxidermy

[Buckdog]

Ok you PH out there are not going to like this BUT you take 10's of thousands of dollars from us you treat us good when in your care we love you,
BUT WHY THE HELL DO YOU THROW US TO THE WOLVES WHEN IT COME TO OUR TROPHIES DIP PACK AND TAXIDERMY THEN SAY IT ISNT ON YOU IT IS ON YOU WE ARE IN A STRANGE COUNTRY RELYING ON YOU FOR ADVICE ETC YOU SHOULD TEND TO IT PERIOD!! YOUR REPUTATION IS AT STAKE IF WE GET OUR STUFF MESSED UP OUR HUNT IS RUINED!
if my trophies get messed up I will def put it on the PH TOP NOTCH SERVICE IS BEFORE DURING AND AFTER THE HUNT.

 

[siml]

@Buckdog , you completely correct, I am not going to like what you have said!! I will give my advice to a client about taxidermists, not just one but at least three, he can look at their work and chose the one he is happy with, I will put the pressure on the taxidermist to produce the best work he is capable of doing and time. But by no means am I throwing a client to the wolves as you would suggest.

It's like reading posts on AH about an outfitter or taxidermist and booking with them, if things go wrong, don't throw it at AH, but I am sure the admin of AH will do their best to help out, just like we do as outfitters.

 

[harden]

TMS, What Buckdog is referring to is the practice that is ALL to Common in Africa and JUST AS COMMON as in the STATES.
Commissions paid to Guides, PH's and anyone even Booking Agents involved in the salesmanship of taxidermy.....Far to often the recommendation of a taxidermist here and abroad is bought and paid for by the taxidermist and or dip pack company. A paid salesperson and that just happens to be the Guide, PH or Booking Agent that the hunter is involved with on the hunt or safari. The Hunter feels the recommendation is sincere and takes as his personal opinion and doesn't take into consideration it may be $$$$$ driven. Not all are involved but many many many are. Or the PH himself owns a taxidermy studio. I have NO PROBLEM or ISSUES with a PH owning soley dip and pack operation and would like to see more do it ! It is not a conflict of interest for me and I would Welcome many more PH's doing the proper dip pack and shipping!!!!

 

[siml]

Dennis, I hear what he was saying and what you have said. I don't take comm from dip/pack or taxidermist. But give the client the option, as I said in previous post, I push for dip and ship. A happy client is worth a lot more to me than the 10% comm I would get from taxidermist. I gave my opinion on what buckdog posted, you can't throw us all under the bus.

 

[JimP]

The problems that I have seen with taxidermist is that when they show you their work it is usually their work and is done as a display model. Then when you hand off your trophies for them to do the same to it they then give some kid with 6 months time on the job the job of making your trophy into something that you would be proud of. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. This happens in both Africa and here in the US. Right now my trophies from last year are being taken care of by the actual taxidermist that owns the shop here in the US. He'll let the others in his shop take care of the North American animals but he is the only one that does the African stuff, just for the reason that he wants it done right.

I know when I was planning my safari that I thought about having my animals done in Africa, that is until I looked at some of the mounts in my taxidermists shop that needed repair after being shipped back here to the states. The sad thing is that if you have it done in Africa you have very little recourse to have them fixed unless you want to have them shipped back and hope that they do them right the second time. As for getting a second cape after the first one is ruined or when something happens to it I wouldn't do it. My impala has a distinctive mark on his right side that make him quite distinguishable from the others and I like it that way. Perhaps they could take another cape and mar it to where it looks the same but it would never be the same animal that I shot.

 

[billc]

The outfitter is not the taxidermist and it is up to the hunter do some homework also. If the hunter is to lazy to check or get some of his own ideas on places to get work done how is that the fault of the outfitter. Almost all the outfitters I know will tell a hunter about a place they like but give them the option of looking at other places.
If they give you no choices then it just maybe what dennis is taking about and they are making something on it. I would bet though no outfitter is going to turn your hunt away if you tell them your using some place else.

No outfitter can make a taxidermist do something if they don't want to. People change and you just never know when they may just stop caring. I do think the outfitter should help if problems come up and just not walk away like it is to much trouble but your dealing with two different people and one can not always fix the others mistakes.

I doubt if any outfitter is going to pick a place that will screw the hunter on purpose. The outfitter is wrong if he picks the wrong place or he is wrong if he does not give any ideas. Time people realize they have say on there safari from start to finish and just stop thinking one person can do it all for them.

 

[Royal27]

I'm with @TMS here for the most part , but agree with @The Artistry of Wildlife too.

1. The only time you can blame it on PH is if he pressures you to use, then you also need to accept some responsibility because you still made call
2. Agree bad experiences happen here too, and often when the "recommendation" is accepted
3. If you aren't willing to do your homework in another country that is again on the hunter, same as here. You were willing to hunt there and acceoted that, so why not taxidermy?
4. Most times (not all) when there are big issues it turns out zero research was done by the hunter and they just used a suugestion that was taken completely at face value by someone they candidly barely know. How many would book hunt the same way?
5. Decision is often not made until after the hunt, when it should always be made before. And your outfitter should know the decision, clearly

So far I've had two minor issues with taxidermy.

1. Non responsive taxidermist before my first trip. Guess who lost my business? He emailed finally about a month before trip to send tags. Told him not to bother. Issue resolved.
2. Hippo skull overboiled and front of top jaw ruined. Dip and Pack that Chifuti uses out of Zim. I never questioned if there were options.

Maybe number two still happens, Who knows? Knowing what I know now though I should have at least asked. That's on me. Never blindly accept someones advice on anything, and again, in this case it is probably from someone you barely know.

 

[BRICKBURN]

.........
BUT WHY THE HELL DO YOU THROW US TO THE WOLVES WHEN IT COME TO OUR ................

Where is the line?
Booking flights, touring , charters, car rentals, gift shops, ???

 

[Royal27]

Where is the line?
Booking flights, touring , charters, car rentals, gift shops, ???

Rifle selection, don't forget that. If you buy a bad rifle that is definitely fault of PH.

 

[harden]

Dennis, I hear what he was saying and what you have said. I don't take comm from dip/pack or taxidermist. But give the client the option, as I said in previous post, I push for dip and ship. A happy client is worth a lot more to me than the 10% comm I would get from taxidermist. I gave my opinion on what buckdog posted, you can't throw us all under the bus.

I don't mean everyone of course I'm not painting a blanket...100% of all clients should take a recomendation as just that, not one that has been altered by a paid endorsement. I know some of you out there don't do it..that's good. I think that is the best way to do it. When your clients are with you they are listening to you and taking advise as they are far away from home...

 

[Buckdog]

I am with Dennis 100% we are far from home we are relying on you for advice and guidance. You are all 100% excellent PH and outfitters it just seem that no one want so take responsibility for after the hunt and that is huge and from what i see and hear a significant issue. you guys know it is potential problems thats why you wont touch it. what I am saying is good service starts before during and after the hunt. you should know who is who and i really dont care if you get a kick back if you recommend shop xyz just be damn sure xyz does the job 100%.
what does it say about the place Marius is using when he has to go and personally check on the crates this year? It screams he cant trust them to do the job so why is he letting them near any clients stuff? answer me that why do business with people you cant trust to do the job correctly? why let a cleint do business with someone who is shoddy, it just comes back on you and your business. choose wisely work with the best and hold their feet to the fire. Makes no sense to me and I run small businesses and will not tolerate or deal with shoddy suppliers, etc. I am certain no PH in africa wants any client to have issues but guys get a better grip on that end of the business model is what I am saying.
OR just use Dennis and let him take care of the details and I can assure you he will do it right and stand by his word and those he deals with. Yes dennis does all my work and I wouldnt let a african taxidermist touch my stuff it not worth trying to saving a few dollars to get messed up stuff.

 

[tedthorn]

Dennis is doing my work as well and if it wasn't for him sending me a reassuring PM way back in 2014 giving me options and some hope I was going to walk away from my D&P shipment, tell the pushy jackass shipping agent to keep my crate and just throw in the towel. Now all my stuff is safe and sound at his place.

If......
And that's a very big if.....I ever go back to Africa I will be better educated and not nearly as gullible but at the cost of not knowing any better and trusting my African Outfitter that he had my best interest in mind before and after my June 2014 safari.

I will note.....

My wife and I had the trip of our lifetime and enjoyed ourselves beyond explanation but the back side was no picnic nor something I would want to go through again.

I will not however return to the Komga area of South Africa ever again. Not because I had a bad trip but more so because I would rather test out a new area.......the hills of Namibia possibly

 

[siml]

I am shocked by what I have been reading on this post about the taxidermist(not you Dennis). I know Mozambique can be a little long getting trophies out, but that's usually the govt red tape. One bad experience I did have with taxidermist, he got his PH license without us knowing and begun poaching clients.

 

[edward]

"let the buyer be wear" truer than fiction.

 

[billc]

I am really having a hard time with guys who will spend months if not years picking there outfitter. They will call and email questions and look for answers. They talk to people who have hunted there maybe other outfitters about the place to see what they may know.

But then will not do the same thing looking for a place to handle there trophies. You can ask and email a taxidermist the same way. He does not get back to you or you start getting the bad feeling you take them off the list just like you did with the outfitters.

You hire your outfitter to take you hunting and help with your trip. He is not in charge of your whole trip and not getting paid to run your whole trip. He does not book your tickets but I am sure he trusts the airline to get you there. Just as he is trusting the taxidermist to do your stuff right. The outfitter can only do so much and some guys think they can do more then they really can.

I know the ph's on here go above and beyond to try to do the best for the clients they take hunting. Believe it or not they are just a human like us and can only do so much. I know they all will step in and do what they can if problems come up but lets be real about what they can do.

Hell now it gets brought up if marius checks on the crate there must be something wrong with the place to start. But it is also brought up why do the phs walk away from the hunter after the hunt. Cant have it both ways like way to many like to do.

 

[tedthorn]

I will add....

I asked questions and asked for D/P/S prices

I received answers but later found out that there was a failure to disclose the real prices all in

I was once told by a loved one.....

"But it's not a lie if I leave out part of the story that you don't want to hear"

Hmmmmm I think it is

 

[enysse]

You learned an expensive lesson. Don't beat yourself up too much, it's terrible that some one took advantage of you like that....it's a learning curve.

 

[harden]

Base line for Dip / Pack Services..... 100 - 120 Per Plains Game Trophy...... Cape/Horns/backskin Or Horns/Life-size skin.
Small stuff like jackal 50-80. Bigger plans game Wildebeest , Eland 140-150 , Zebra 120.
That's a good baseline to look for. I KNOW of some places charging at least twice to three times that.
Cape Buffalo/ Horns/Cape should be in the area of 150/180.
Giraffe Cape/Skull 450.
I have invoices from some places as much as 500.00 to dip pack a cape and horns for Buff.
I see invoices for Giraffe and skull 750.
Documantation,Vet Certificates done I see invoices for from 250-350 at good places, twice that at others.
Crating that gets dicey.....I've seen it a couple hundred to over 1,000. My base line best average I see 20.00 per trophy.
I'm all for paying fair prices for quality work but dip pack is a physical mechanical process that is done by low skilled workers it's not an art form.
The biggest conflict of interest I see it having dip pack done at a taxidermy studio. They want to sell yourof course taxidermy, so why would they make it a reasonable cost to take your work OUT of their studio? Some do and I commend them on their service! Others don't. They make it so expensive to move your trophies out of the studio for a reason. They charge heavy dip pack fees to make it more convincing to leave the work in their hands. It's not done by all the studios. I'm not making a blanket statement on all, but no one can deny it is done for that reason. It's form of business practice I cannot condone. I prefer to see PH's get Dip Pack done thru soley Dip Pack operations where the conflict of interest can totally be avoided. Or get the Dip Pack operation with experienced and good help on the ground in your own location that I have seen being done by many these days. One of the best Dip Pack Operations in S A then started doing taxidermy? Well he does not get my recommendation anymore. He saw hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars he then wanted for himself and hired taxidermists to start selling work under his roof..Not on my list for clients anymore.

Don't THINK it doesn't happen in the states EITHER. I spent HOURS on the phone last week helping a Spanish PH not get burned and I mean burned by a Alaska expeditor. He had his outfitter drop of 3 brown bears to a long time expeditor in AK for shipping. The three bears were going to be salted and shipped to Spain. By the time they wrote the bill up and showed it to him after he had already returned to Spain it was 1,700++ a bear just to get them to Seattle for export to Spain. $200 for a cardboard box? $400 for a 100 cites permit. $350 to fill out one form? The total for each bear like I say just to Seattle to ship to Spain was 1,700+ EACH 5,400 total .
I have paperwork for it. I made my calls.....lots of them.....made arrangements....called my contacts in AK.....He called his guide and the salting had already been done and skulls cleaned by this company so my client had to pay 800 for the 3 bears salting...He gets his guide to drop them off with MY PEOPLE .I got my people to re-salt the second time dry the skins and ship to my studio for 150.00 a bear that includes the SHIPPING Ak to Mich.
The cites will be gotten here by us for 100.
SOOOO bottom line a 5,400 bill for three bears he was about to pay , I get reduced to 1,550.00 for the three bears prepped salted and dried and skulls cleaned dropped at my studio door.... Then shipping to Spain that was not included in either price.

 

[Royal27]

@The Artistry of Wildlife ,

Are the issues, and we all agree (I think) that isues do exist, the same as they have always been?

In other words, has the internet and some customer knowledge made a dent?

Curious as to your opinion there.

 

[BRICKBURN]

Is this what your saying?