Crate has arrived

littlejoe · Jan 25, 2012

The crate with my horns and hides has arrived. I was shocked at how well everything had traveled. All of the skulls are almost good enough to just put right on the wall now.

They had pulled the sheaths off of every animals and had them cleaned and individually wrapped with the skull. Still was in unreal shape; I think.

I now need to get the hides to the taxidermist and away we go.

My buddy said none of his came with the sheaths off and his freight bill was a joke. They put all of mine and my buddies in one crate, 30 total animals and they traveled great.

kevinp · Jan 26, 2012

Just like Christmas all over again, right! Great to hear there were no issues with your Trophies!

littlejoe · Jan 26, 2012

You will be able to tell me pretty quick if the hides are in as good a shape as I think. Talk to you soon.

Blueticker · Jan 29, 2012

littlejoe
I am planning on going to Namibia next year and was wondering who you used for your shipping. Did you hunt in Namibia or some other country?

stinkystomper · Jan 29, 2012

whatever you do DO NOT pay your outfitter directly for dip pack. make sure you are put in contact with a reputable dip pack company in the area. Pay them directly and get a receipt. tell your outfitter to deliver the trophies to that dip pack company and pay the $200 trophy transfer fee to your outfitter.

There have been a lot of operations/scams pop up recently involving this. The outfitters charge you a rate of $200/trophy to dip/pack. they then contract with a dip/pack company for about $30/animal to do the job and many trophys are getting ruined doing this the cheap route even though you paid a mint. A good dip/pack company runs anywhere from $80 to $130 per animal. Hope this helps.

littlejoe · Jan 30, 2012

My stuff was in amazing shape. I took some of the hides to my taxidermist, KevinP, and he said he had never seen them packaged like mine were. Each individually wrapped. Also, all of the horns had been popped off and taken care of. If not done quite soon they have to be soaked a long time when they get home to get the sheaths off. My friends came home in tact and his freight bill was a lot more than mine since my horns had been removed and the animals took up less space. They put mine and my buddies 30 total trophies in one crate. Saved us a bunch on shipping.

Paul Smith who is located in Port Elizabeth handled the dipping and crating, Rex Freight forwarders sent from PE to New York, Fauna and Flora took from customs and shipped to a USDA taxidermist and then he shipped them to me. They are in tremendous shape. Very easy for me and all is well from what I can tell.

I have heard horror stories from others in this regard.

Grandslam4 · Jul 20, 2012

I am going to South Africa in September, can you tell me if there is a USDA Taxidermist in Utah I can have my horns and capes shipped. The PA will drop my animals off at a Taxidermist in Africa who will take care of the horns and capes. But, I need to find someone in Utah to ship to. Thanks

Blank · Jul 21, 2012

Sam Raby in Bluffdale can receive them for you (Animals in Motion).

littlejoe · Jul 24, 2012

I would also check with Stephan Woolstenhulme (Summit Taxidermy) and Dirk Bawden (Big Stuff Taxidermy)

kevinp · Jul 25, 2012

Once your trophies have cleared US customs through a broker such as(Coppersmith or Flora&Fauna)..they can then be shipped to anyone or anywhere in the US...the only exception would be if the crate contains Primates or Swine, if so, then they would need a 2nd USDA inspection....most of my shipments comming in from Africa clear customs and are then sent directly to my Tannery which holds a USDA permit for the 2nd inspection if needed...

littlejoe · Jul 27, 2012

Kevin, I was not aware it could go directly to the tannery. Good info.

I highly recommend Fauna and Flora and Coppermsmith. I have used both with zero problems. Done exactly what they said they would do for the cost they said they would do it.

On another note, I was told by Fauna and Flora that had mine and my friends warthogs been crates seperately only that crate would go to the USDA taxidermist and the rest could have come directly to me. In the future I will consider that if/when I shot another boar. Just a thought.

Kevin, good to see you a week ago. Your work is stunning like always.