Ontario Hunter
AH legend
Okay, after giving this a great deal of thought and upon consulting the forum management, I've decided to tell my horror story. I am by nature kind of a cranky old fart, so I had to be sure this is about a genuine crummy taxidermist and not my negative disposition speaking.
In the spring of 2019 I met a fella at the local gun show who had been to South Africa the year before. He had a great experience and put me in touch with his lodge. We both wound up hunting there in August. I shot eight respectable trophies and the lodge sent them to their designated taxidermist, Karoo Taxidermy. The stuff finally arrived in town the day after the provincial COVID lockdown February 2020. I was able to pick up the large wooden crate at the freight terminal. Inside were naked euro skulls for each animal and tanned cape for kudu and tanned blue wildebeest hide for wall hanging. I ordered tanned cape because processing dip and pack in Canada has become almost impossible. I ordered the euro kudu because it wasn't clear how long it would take before my taxidermist daughter could do the pedestal mount. Also, if the cape was messed up, I would have something more than horns nailed to a board to hang on the wall.
I opened the crate in my driveway ... and the stench nearly knocked me over! Every skull was wrapped in bubble wrap and securely attached to the sides of the plywood crate. Fortunately, it appeared Canadian Ag Dept inspectors had only unwrapped the buffalo skull which, it turns out, was the only properly cleaned one in the lot. The horns were removed from kudu and gemsbuck. The others (blue wildebeest, springbuck, blesbuck, and impala) had horns still attached with rotten flesh underneath. Cape buffalo skull had horns attached but properly cleaned of flesh (somehow). ALL skulls were PAINTED white, presumably to cover up the rotting flesh. Blue wildebeest skull had big chunks of meat left on the back of the skull. The springbuck and impala smelled so bad I had to leave them in the garage until I could strip and boil the skulls. It took days to strip the paint and clean each skull. The blue wildebeest skull looked like a jack-o-lantern with half the teeth missing. The buffalo skull had NO teeth. Chunks of brain were left inside the impala skull. All skulls were badly grease stained (another reason why they were painted). The warthog's jaw was attached with huge round gobs of gray sculpting epoxy. The teeth were stuck on with another kind of epoxy. The glue was simply painted over. All the horns left on the skulls had multiple holes drilled in them that were patched with what appeared to be window glazing putty. Bugs tumbled out of three skulls while I was cleaning them. That would have been the kiss of death for my trophies had the Ag inspectors made the discovery! The kudu skull was the last to be cleaned ... and the worst. Apparently, Karoo lost or destroyed half the nose. They just dug something up from some other critter, obviously another species (waterbuck I think), and slapped it on with a mass of glue covered over with white paint. The piece of bone didn't come close to fitting properly and it was so badly grease stained that several attempts at peroxide bleaching failed to make it match the skull. Well okay, this one is going to get mounted so no big deal if the skull is a wash. Not to be. The cape had slipped hair on the left shoulder that clearly was on the hide in the on the ground photo. Then I unrolled the blue wildebeest hide. Crap! It's some chocolate colored critter, obviously a cow, and obviously not my animal. I shot my bull from right side through both shoulders. This one was shot in the back with exit out right armpit. It was clearly on the ground when killed. Probably sick and dying.
Yes, I was very upset. During my second trip the lodge wanted to drive me down to Karoo Taxidermy for a meeting with the manager. I declined. I come to Africa to hunt. Get me another taxidermist. Instead, we had a Skype conference call. The manager agreed to tan up another kudu cape (which was on my list). Would do nothing about the wildebeest. Unclear who was responsible for that: lodge, tannery, or taxidermist. They were supposed to give me a deal on the next shipment. No more painting the skulls. Okay, I'll give them another chance. Wish I hadn't. Stay tuned for chapter two.
I'll attach a couple of photos.
Note the white paint still in skull seams.
In the spring of 2019 I met a fella at the local gun show who had been to South Africa the year before. He had a great experience and put me in touch with his lodge. We both wound up hunting there in August. I shot eight respectable trophies and the lodge sent them to their designated taxidermist, Karoo Taxidermy. The stuff finally arrived in town the day after the provincial COVID lockdown February 2020. I was able to pick up the large wooden crate at the freight terminal. Inside were naked euro skulls for each animal and tanned cape for kudu and tanned blue wildebeest hide for wall hanging. I ordered tanned cape because processing dip and pack in Canada has become almost impossible. I ordered the euro kudu because it wasn't clear how long it would take before my taxidermist daughter could do the pedestal mount. Also, if the cape was messed up, I would have something more than horns nailed to a board to hang on the wall.
I opened the crate in my driveway ... and the stench nearly knocked me over! Every skull was wrapped in bubble wrap and securely attached to the sides of the plywood crate. Fortunately, it appeared Canadian Ag Dept inspectors had only unwrapped the buffalo skull which, it turns out, was the only properly cleaned one in the lot. The horns were removed from kudu and gemsbuck. The others (blue wildebeest, springbuck, blesbuck, and impala) had horns still attached with rotten flesh underneath. Cape buffalo skull had horns attached but properly cleaned of flesh (somehow). ALL skulls were PAINTED white, presumably to cover up the rotting flesh. Blue wildebeest skull had big chunks of meat left on the back of the skull. The springbuck and impala smelled so bad I had to leave them in the garage until I could strip and boil the skulls. It took days to strip the paint and clean each skull. The blue wildebeest skull looked like a jack-o-lantern with half the teeth missing. The buffalo skull had NO teeth. Chunks of brain were left inside the impala skull. All skulls were badly grease stained (another reason why they were painted). The warthog's jaw was attached with huge round gobs of gray sculpting epoxy. The teeth were stuck on with another kind of epoxy. The glue was simply painted over. All the horns left on the skulls had multiple holes drilled in them that were patched with what appeared to be window glazing putty. Bugs tumbled out of three skulls while I was cleaning them. That would have been the kiss of death for my trophies had the Ag inspectors made the discovery! The kudu skull was the last to be cleaned ... and the worst. Apparently, Karoo lost or destroyed half the nose. They just dug something up from some other critter, obviously another species (waterbuck I think), and slapped it on with a mass of glue covered over with white paint. The piece of bone didn't come close to fitting properly and it was so badly grease stained that several attempts at peroxide bleaching failed to make it match the skull. Well okay, this one is going to get mounted so no big deal if the skull is a wash. Not to be. The cape had slipped hair on the left shoulder that clearly was on the hide in the on the ground photo. Then I unrolled the blue wildebeest hide. Crap! It's some chocolate colored critter, obviously a cow, and obviously not my animal. I shot my bull from right side through both shoulders. This one was shot in the back with exit out right armpit. It was clearly on the ground when killed. Probably sick and dying.
Yes, I was very upset. During my second trip the lodge wanted to drive me down to Karoo Taxidermy for a meeting with the manager. I declined. I come to Africa to hunt. Get me another taxidermist. Instead, we had a Skype conference call. The manager agreed to tan up another kudu cape (which was on my list). Would do nothing about the wildebeest. Unclear who was responsible for that: lodge, tannery, or taxidermist. They were supposed to give me a deal on the next shipment. No more painting the skulls. Okay, I'll give them another chance. Wish I hadn't. Stay tuned for chapter two.
I'll attach a couple of photos.
Note the white paint still in skull seams.
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