So you think that African Taxidermy is a deal HUH?

[harden]

Any industry, be it Taxidermy, hunting outfitters, construction, carpentry or medicine have service providers that are on par, below, or above standard.

Perhaps I grew up differently, but I believe the quality of your work should speak for itself, and that constantly badmouthing others’ work to promote your own is poor style.

Ps. Had I lived in the states or Canada, I would also dip, pack and ship my trophies to be done there, if only for the convenience regarding logistics.

What you fail to realize is all of the mentioned services require a state test for liscening, insurance coverage and a liscening board that can pull that licence from terrible service providers. The taxidermy industry has no such oversight. A state or federal license can be had by anyone with $100. The only way to loose it is non compliance record keeping for each agency or a wildlife violation,Maybe. Destroy a hunters trophies with shotty workmanship even if they rot off your wall you keep your license. Taxidermy is a unregulated service unlike any other. Other professional services like mechanic, builder. doctor, lawyer, plumber require education and has oversight to protect people. I laugh at big words in taxidermy ads like state and federally licensed. I once bought my dog a taxidermy license and they gave her one.
I grew up in a time when America was great. I want to make it great again and keep it that way. I believe in supporting American workers and businesses. This post is to show you You can. High American quality for the same money or less than you can spending it in another country. MAGA

 

[Dewald]

What you fail to realize is all of the mentioned services require a state test for liscening, insurance coverage and a liscening board that can pull that licence from terrible service providers. The taxidermy industry has no such oversight. A state or federal license can be had by anyone with $100. The only way to loose it is non compliance record keeping for each agency or a wildlife violation,Maybe. Destroy a hunters trophies with shotty workmanship even if they rot off your wall you keep your license. Taxidermy is a unregulated service unlike any other. Other professional services like mechanic, builder. doctor, lawyer, plumber require education and has oversight to protect people. I laugh at big words in taxidermy ads like state and federally licensed. I once bought my dog a taxidermy license and they gave her one.
I grew up in a time when America was great. I want to make it great again and keep it that way. I believe in supporting American workers and businesses. This post is to show you You can. High American quality for the same money or less than you can spending it in another country. MAGA

Morning Dennis,

No failure of realization here. Irrespective of the presence, absence or incompetence of a regulatory body in an industry, the business principles remain the same. If you wish, use any other creative artist as a comparison then, be it a wedding photographer that does a poor job or anybody else, they also have no regulatory body reprimanding them.

I agree 100% with your sentiment regarding messing up people’s trophies, and respect your passion for creating world class mounts. I have never seen your work in real life, but the photos on here and Facebook leave no doubt that your work is top notch, and likewise for your trophy photography.

What I do not agree with, is your maintained collective bashing of Afrcan taxidermy, from the skinning shed to the final product, throughout numerous posts. Not all outfitters, PHs, tanneries and taxidermists here mass produce and only care about the client’s money.

I assume we will agree to disagree regarding the latter, and I am convinced the quality of your work alone will suffice to keep you in good business for as long as you practice your trade.

Regards,

Dewald van der Walt

 

[harden]

Thank you D , MAGA, Like my president I'm for my country and you your country !
Thats a dedication to our fellow countrymen. For love of country and our workers and businesses. AND You for Yours !
Appreciate your thoughts. I have never in my 50 years in this industry ever ran into a taxidermist here in the states that would recommend to anyone to get taxidermy mounts done it Africa. Where I'm different is I just publicly state it.
Don't put words on my mouth about a collectively attacking a group in camps and skinning sheds, I have complimented and HAVE in posts praised Skinners and Workers for PH's on great prep. ALONG with GREAT dip pack and shippers. Posting about Ph's themselves on great care of skins when I see it. And posted crap about bad ones when I hold it in my hands.
Should I post the ORANGE sable I cape just got back from the tannery that I will fix for my client that a PH used OLD sea salt on and turned in into a red mold stained sun dried grease burned no stretch piece of crap that it totally unmountable but I will mount it and fix it ....at my cost with 10 extra hours work? Would that again be collectively bashing Ph's?

 

[buck wild]

I know I'd like to see the cape- be a learning lesson for me.

 

[jeff]

It's surprising how many skinners and Phs don't know the correct procedure for good trophy prep. I constantly see dorsal cuts several inches off of the center on capes, ears not turned more than half way. I currently have a blue duiker for a life size laying down that that was dorsal cut, very short hair, if it was belly cut no seam would be visible.

 

[harden]

The BLACK SABLE is now orange, Buck Wild. The cape is from a well known outfit.

 

[ActionBob]

But in Africa you get all that black paint they put on the horns, thrown in for free

 

[Proneshooter]

Having met Dennis I can tell you he is direct, something I appreciate but many others may not. He took 3 hours out of his Sunday to meet my wife and I and it may have resulted in nothing for him. He was in the shop working but his guys were at home with their families. It was nice to meet someone else with the same business philosophies as my own. I am very direct with my customers sometimes to my detriment, but I would rather tell them the truth up front than to blow sunshine up their backsides like too many contractors do today. He sold us on his quality and be damned with his backlog, he was honest about that and I can handle that. Under promise and over deliver is a saying I have always liked and that is the impression I got from Dennis. His work speaks for itself and we are more than willing to wait for that quality. Looking forward to hearing from him soon.

John

 

[gizmo]

To Denis’s point, he is absolutely correct. To take it further, in general, to have the work done here it will save on an average safari 1-3000 dollars hanging on your wall. Turn around time will be anything from a few months to quite a bit longer but...... the work quality of having ANY competent taxidermist here in the US will be far superior to anything on that side of the pond. Plus, if there are any issues your dealing with someone at most a few 100 miles away as opposed to several thousand miles away annnnd you have at least recourse if something was to go south.
I can’t tell you how many people I talk to that get completely hosed by taxidermy companies over there and there is nothing they can do other than gripe and post a bad report. For what it’s worth before I owned a taxidermy company I got taken for a ride by an African taxidermist. To the point I got the outfitter involved. The one animal they mounted looked and still looks like crap and they tried to steal my floating bones from my lion. Fortunately I had an excellent outfitter that physically went and made them find the “lost” floating bones and they remounted my buffalo though it still looked crappy afterwards.

 

[scott fairchild]

Wow, what a thread!
I have used both US and RSA taxidermist.
First off I prefer to spend my money at home and support my local taxidermist. My first hunt in RSA I had the hides and horns shipped back and mounted locally. I knew the quality of work I would be getting , which was top notch, Artistic Touch in Toledo Ohio.
My following trip I used Taxidermy Africa because we got a redicules low price, about 1/3 the cost of having it done in the US. Their mistake for under quoting their price in advance of our trip. However their work was very good, I have difficulty seeing any obvious difference between taxidermist . I used Taxidery Africa on my following hunt again, but at regular prices, again I was satisfied with their work. One thing to keep in mind is the risk of handeling and the damage that can occur getting finished mounts home. A Buddy had a forklift fork go through the side of his crate and damage one of the mounts.
Last year I used Trophy Soultions, because I hunted in the Limpopo area and the cost to ship it to Taxidermy Africa was prohibitive. We visited their shop and was impressed with their process and the mints we saw in process. My mounts arrived ton Thursday. They did nice work and the communication throughout the process was good. I was impressed with the packaging, very secure. However, I had mostly European mounts.
It comes down to what your opinion is on the quality of work, cost difference and shipping risk.

 

[scott fairchild]

Wow, what a thread!
I have used both US and RSA taxidermist.
First off I prefer to spend my money at home and support my local taxidermist. My first hunt in RSA I had the hides and horns shipped back and mounted locally. I knew the quality of work I would be getting , which was top notch, Artistic Touch in Toledo Ohio.
My following trip I used Taxidermy Africa because we got a redicules low price, about 1/3 the cost of having it done in the US. Their mistake for under quoting their price in advance of our trip. However their work was very good, I have difficulty seeing any obvious difference between taxidermist . I used Taxidery Africa on my following hunt again, but at regular prices, again I was satisfied with their work. One thing to keep in mind is the risk of handeling and the damage that can occur getting finished mounts home. A Buddy had a forklift fork go through the side of his crate and damage one of the mounts.
Last year I used Trophy Soultions, because I hunted in the Limpopo area and the cost to ship it to Taxidermy Africa was prohibitive. We visited their shop and was impressed with their process and the mints we saw in process. My mounts arrived ton Thursday. They did nice work and the communication throughout the process was good. I was impressed with the packaging, very secure. However, I had mostly European mounts.
It comes down to what your opinion is on the quality of work, cost difference and shipping risk.

I forgot to mention the only reason I did not have the mounts done locally is because the lead time is pushing +1 year.

 

[BnC 04]

Do agree that there are options if something goes astray here in the states with a taxi vs over the pond. Have seen several guys work that I would call excellent. IMO a great taxi is separated by his/her vision to create uniqueness with every piece when requested.
I have several pieces done in Africa, price was good as was the shipping of them back home in 2 crates. The end result I would say is average, doesn't bother me too much as I knew the chance I was taking. Will also add, out of several dozen mounts the ones done overseas still to this day smell like a bucket full of buttholes. Has to have something to do with the tanning solution they use.

 

[scott fairchild]

LOL my trophy room has a defined smell to it. It does eventually get better as long as you don’t keep adding to it.

 

[Dee S]

My daughters trophies arrived last week. The wildebeest shoulder mount looks good. Hide is in excellent condition. Her Kudu, the animal we went to Africa specifically to hunt, is in poor shape. Bald spots all over the hide. She didn't even want to look at it after getting it out and unwrapping it, she is very disappointed. I hung it up high, over the fireplace, and no one can see the bad areas unless they get really close and look for them. But she knows, and she's OCD about this kind of stuff.
I found a man here in San Antonio, that is from RSA, and he will be taking care of my mounts, if I get any, after my next trip to Namibia. He and I had a nice long talk recently and he gave me a lot of helpful/useful knowledge concerning this very topic. Had I known about him before our trip and had this same conversation then, I would have had everything shipped to him. Lessons learned.

 

[Rell]

 

[Rell]

Taxidermy in Africa varies just like it does anywhere else. Karoo Taxidermy has done wonderful work for me on 7 or 8 shipments as has Life Form on 5 or 6 shipments.

Splitting Image has done shipments that where utter garbage. I threw most out after I cut the horns out of the mounts.

I think I’m general the qualitie in Africa varies a little even in the same studio, they are so large and have so many employees it’s hard for them to be perfect. The really good ones though do quality control before shipping and will remount sub par work before it leaves, not after.

don’t believe the advertising or hype, look at actual work done by a studio and pick the one that you like!

 

[Philip Glass]

African taxidermy is getting better. Here it seems it takes 2 years to get anything done. African has been on my wall in less than a year from the hunt. To each his own.
Philip