Shipping Questions

swashington

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I will be hunting South Africa for the next two years. Can I have my taxidermy shipped to Atlanta or anywhere near Florida or does everything come in through NY? My trophies will be worked by Splitting Image.

Thanks in advance.
 
Join the club , I would rather cut pulpwood in hell than drive in Atl. But my daughter and son in law live there so we get to visit them when we go.
 
I have used Coppersmiths in Atlanta several times with good results. Agree with y’all on driving up there, it’s awful.
 
All depends on your import broker if you are using one or doing it yourself.
 
All depends on your import broker if you are using one or doing it yourself.
How hard it is if you do yourself?

Let's say couple shoulder mounts, nothing complicated.
 
I will be hunting South Africa for the next two years. Can I have my taxidermy shipped to Atlanta or anywhere near Florida or does everything come in through NY? My trophies will be worked by Splitting Image.

Thanks in advance.


Congrats on your upcoming hunt! Listen to the experts on here. Coppersmith is excellent, get it through ATL, DO NOT bring back warthog, vervet monkey, baboon, or bushpig, and by all means get a good dip/pack operator to bring your hides and skulls back and get the taxidermy done in America.

Why get the work done in the USA? 1.) If the hides are ruined, you paid a fraction of the cost getting them salted/dipped/packed only to throw them away, rather than receiving a ruined hide they had the audacity to taxidermy and crate. 2.) The prices for importation and customs continue to grow astronomically, keep the weight down. 3.) The quality of the best-in-world US taxidermist is less than the cost of worst-in-the-world African taxidermist plus the cost of freight/cargo/crate. 4.) If you have all the hides/skulls here, you can slow-play your taxidermy on your terms and budget, rather than having a lump sum payment sent to Africa for to-be-determined quality mounts.

Exception to all of the above: Curios are always better done for lower cost in Africa. Furniture. Boxes. Campaign furniture. Zebra rugs. Gun slips. Knife Sheaths. Elephant leather. Carved horns. <- All of that stuff is done very well in Africa for 1/10th the price.
 
How hard it is if you do yourself?

Let's say couple shoulder mounts, nothing complicated.
I have no idea but after reading about some of the experiences that members here have had doing it themselves I'll hire a broker, and I have twice.

All it takes is a small mistake on some paperwork and you might spend a week getting it taken care of. Then there are storage fees that you might incur waiting on USFW to inspect your crates.
 
I will be hunting South Africa for the next two years. Can I have my taxidermy shipped to Atlanta or anywhere near Florida or does everything come in through NY? My trophies will be worked by Splitting Image.

Thanks in advance.
Splitting Image is as good as any US taxidermists and their prices and wait times are half of what we have here.
 
I fully realize that having swine, primates or avian in a crate may cause some delays in the inspection by USDA . I’ve only had 4 shipments one with warthog one with a bushpig and one with a baboon and have had absolutely no issues. Baboon and bushpig were finished taxidermy and the warthog was dip & pack. But if I see a giant warthog or a good boar bushpig next year I will definitely bring them home . Most likely finished taxidermy to lesson the possibility of a delay.
 
Congrats on your upcoming hunt! Listen to the experts on here. Coppersmith is excellent, get it through ATL, DO NOT bring back warthog, vervet monkey, baboon, or bushpig, and by all means get a good dip/pack operator to bring your hides and skulls back and get the taxidermy done in America.

Why get the work done in the USA? 1.) If the hides are ruined, you paid a fraction of the cost getting them salted/dipped/packed only to throw them away, rather than receiving a ruined hide they had the audacity to taxidermy and crate. 2.) The prices for importation and customs continue to grow astronomically, keep the weight down. 3.) The quality of the best-in-world US taxidermist is less than the cost of worst-in-the-world African taxidermist plus the cost of freight/cargo/crate. 4.) If you have all the hides/skulls here, you can slow-play your taxidermy on your terms and budget, rather than having a lump sum payment sent to Africa for to-be-determined quality mounts.

Exception to all of the above: Curios are always better done for lower cost in Africa. Furniture. Boxes. Campaign furniture. Zebra rugs. Gun slips. Knife Sheaths. Elephant leather. Carved horns. <- All of that stuff is done very well in Africa for 1/10th the price.
yes but my question is can you buy and take as carry on or they ship it to your door or what, say for a zebra hide.
 
Good points all, appreciate the input. Glad I am not the only one who hates Atlanta. Seems like I have a trailer behind me every time I drive there. This last trip was with a 27ft boat. Nightmare.
I thought about doing the dipping and packing route with a taxidermy job here but after some research Splitting Image has a very good reputation.
I am planning on getting a couple of warthogs but only want the tusks. The smaller tusks will make some really cool hat racks and the longer ones coat racks. Might even find a curio shop over there to make them.

I am definitely going to go with Coppersmiths. Since posting this I have read dozens of good reviews about them and it seems like a no brainer. Still having a hard time swallowing the $1500+ to get them to do it but better than trying to get it done myself.
 
I’ve never paid more than around $600 for clearance through coppersmiths, I haven’t cleared anything since 2022 though. Back then their base clearance was around $450 or $500.
 
Using a well knowledge broker will be key for any and all safaris. I use D&L custom house brokers and have for the last 8 years bringing back many cities 2 and tops permit animals from all over Africa and Asia without any issue they do quality work.


I’ve read about comments above saying don’t bring back warthog, vervet monkey, baboon, or bushpig. This is BS I have brought back numerous warthogs, bushpig and monkeys you just need to have a good broker and have all the documents in line it is very simple.
Atlanta has a port so can be very easy for you, again just find a broker that you can rely on that knows their stuff.


Splitting image and Badger cargo do a terrific job they have taken care of my past two South Africa Safaris and I highly recommend using them.



Can’t wait to see how your upcoming Safaris go.



Cheers,
 
yes but my question is can you buy and take as carry on or they ship it to your door or what, say for a zebra hide.
You can even buy a Zebra hide at Joburg airport in the duty free zone after customs..
They will pack it for you and you can carry it.
 
I’ve never paid more than around $600 for clearance through coppersmiths, I haven’t cleared anything since 2022 though. Back then their base clearance was around $450 or $500.
That was my experience as well; costs were quite reasonable for the Customs clearance services. I was fortunate in that Coppersmiths were able to clear the crate fairly quickly, thus avoiding airport storage fees.

I've used them twice; once with dip & pack and the other time with completed taxidermy (euro mount). In both cases, they were able to forward the crate within a day or so. The dip & pack went to tannery and taxidermist, and the euro came directly to my residence. I thought their freight costs were very reasonable.

You might want to consider obtaining a quote for them to just deliver directly to you in Florida rather than driving up to Atlanta. Regardless of the price, it costs you nothing to ask.
 

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