After the hunt costs for our 2023 Safari with Kubusi - with questions

[ILDRHNTR]

I was told by Laura at Coppersmiths in Chicago that when a crate arrives in Atlanta that there is no storage fee while it clears agriculture then gets sent to Chicago and and then to their warehouse to clear F&W and customs and no storage fees , that is how mine was handled last year.

@Hyde Hunter , thank you for the info. That would be great. I’m hoping the same goes for our shipment. It’s crazy all of the fees already. But, at the same time, if everyone broke down their charges to the degree we see here, it would probably scare us every time we bought anything.

 

[Ridge Runner]

@Hyde Hunter , thank you for the info. That would be great. I’m hoping the same goes for our shipment. It’s crazy all of the fees already. But, at the same time, if everyone broke down their charges to the degree we see here, it would probably scare us every time we bought anything.

It does and I did all 3, and soon to be 4, trophy shipments.

At the costs for taxidermy and shipping alone, I could have hunted a few more animals and stayed a few more days.

I simply justify it as sculpture art for the wall. Much the same as hanging paintings only in 3D.

Not much of a resolve, but broken down: overall cost of hunt + taxidermy + shipping ÷ # of animals = cost of each piece of art work. IMO, the 3D artwork is a bit more impressive to look at than simple pictures or paintings, as each one is a first of species or a more impressive than first of species.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

It does and I did all 3, and soon to be 4, trophy shipments.

At the costs for taxidermy and shipping alone, I could have hunted a few more animals and stayed a few more days.

I simply justify it as sculpture art for the wall. Much the same as hanging paintings only in 3D.

Not much of a resolve, but broken down: overall cost of hunt + taxidermy + shipping ÷ # of animals = cost of each piece of art work. IMO, the 3D artwork is a bit more impressive to look at than simple pictures or paintings, as each one is a first of species or a more impressive than first of species.

I agree as it being art on the wall and I wish that I had space for more than just one , probably my first Tiny Ten but anything else would have to go out to the barn per my wife, she already gave up a big wall of family pictures so my last 2 trips could go up but she says no more and the barn is not a place for taxidermy, so pictures only, and they can go in the spare bedroom and gun room

 

[Hunt anything]

I agree as it being art on the wall and I wish that I had space for more than just one , probably my first Tiny Ten but anything else would have to go out to the barn per my wife, she already gave up a big wall of family pictures so my last 2 trips could go up but she says no more and the barn is not a place for taxidermy, so pictures only, and they can go in the spare bedroom and gun room

The great thing about TT taxidermy is they don’t take up much space, even a full body mount of a dik-dik, suni or blue duiker can fit on a shelf or on top of a cabinet or small amount of floor space.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I agree as it being art on the wall and I wish that I had space for more than just one , probably my first Tiny Ten but anything else would have to go out to the barn per my wife, she already gave up a big wall of family pictures so my last 2 trips could go up but she says no more and the barn is not a place for taxidermy, so pictures only, and they can go in the spare bedroom and gun room

she already gave up a big wall of family pictures so my last 2 trips could go up but she says

Momma has to have her trophies on the wall to look at also.

Pretty sure every US state and several countries has laws regarding mounting family members and close finds on the wall.....and perhaps how they got there.
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I can't say this is 100% true....BUT....I'm pretty confident All women have it in their DNA to collect "Dust Collectors".

I'm Not talking about those kind of figurines or other things that may have potential to gain in value or favorite figurines of things they like, such as dolls, animals, plates, angels, nomes, etc., etc.. IMO, guys can or should support (tolerate) a woman's prerogative in her endeavors to reasonably collect such things. Even though they take up space for more important guy things like taxidermy, new gun safe, hand carved duck decorys, etc., etc.

What I'm referring to, are those kind of whimsical "what nots" that have no meaning, no purpose, sit scattered about, in the way, waiting to be trashed during a future "spring (or fall) cleaning".

In supporting the woman's "hobby", preferably the former, than regretfully the latter, things women like to collect only serves us guys as justifications to have "man cave(s)", ie. the garage, the basement, or a new addition to the house, or even a separate building we can call our own.

That is until she wants to learn about working on vehicles with her tools seperate but kept in the man cave,, wanting her firearms seperate but included with the man's cave firearm collection, wanting her taxidermy hung next to his mounts especially the mounts showing she got the bigger of the two animals, etc.,etc., And just like that the man cave is now just an extention of the woman of the house area where the man is allowed to decorate within her reasoning.

Thus us guys should be thankful and happy for what little space the woman of the house allows us to share inside her domain.

 

[Arctic97]

Here is what the shipping from the taxidermist in Polokwane to JNB and then flown to Seattle just cost me. My stuff is on the ground in Seattle going "through the clearing process". This includes having to go to a USDA approved taxidermist due to the Cape Buffalo trophies. Foot and mouth disease is reason for this requirement. This was flown on Turkish Airlines. I will drive up to Seattle to fetch it when it clears. I will also post what the Coppersmith charges end up being.

 

[Hunt anything]

Not too bad in today’s environment.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

Here is what the shipping from the taxidermist in Polokwane to JNB and then flown to Seattle just cost me. My stuff is on the ground in Seattle going "through the clearing process". This includes having to go to a USDA approved taxidermist due to the Cape Buffalo trophies. Foot and mouth disease is reason for this requirement. This was flown on Turkish Airlines. I will drive up to Seattle to fetch it when it clears. I will also post what the Coppersmith charges end up being.

View attachment 621107

good price who was the shipping company?

 

[ILDRHNTR]

Here is what the shipping from the taxidermist in Polokwane to JNB and then flown to Seattle just cost me. My stuff is on the ground in Seattle going "through the clearing process". This includes having to go to a USDA approved taxidermist due to the Cape Buffalo trophies. Foot and mouth disease is reason for this requirement. This was flown on Turkish Airlines. I will drive up to Seattle to fetch it when it clears. I will also post what the Coppersmith charges end up being.

View attachment 621107

Thanks for sharing. It will be interesting to see what the final Coppersmith charges will be. I just found out today that our mounts were shipped to the coppersmith’s Houston office instead of Chicago. They arrived last Friday. They will be cleared there and then shipped to Chicago. Luckily, Rex Freight is taking ownership of the mistake and covering the additional expense. Other than the delays, I can’t complain about the service to date. Cross our fingers we don’t get hit with any exorbitant fees from here on out.

 

[Arctic97]

good price who was the shipping company?

Condor Cargo and I will say these guys kept me informed every step of the way. Very nice to deal with. No complaints from my end to date.....

Taxidermist was Trophy Solutions Africa.....

 

[Hyde Hunter]

Thanks for sharing. It will be interesting to see what the final Coppersmith charges will be. I just found out today that our mounts were shipped to the coppersmith’s Houston office instead of Chicago. They arrived last Friday. They will be cleared there and then shipped to Chicago. Luckily, Rex Freight is taking ownership of the mistake and covering the additional expense. Other than the delays, I can’t complain about the service to date. Cross our fingers we don’t get hit with any exorbitant fees from here on out.

work with Laura in Chicago she has been fair with me, and since they cleared in Houston then when they get to Chicago Coppersmiths will pick up and take to their warehouse

 

[enysse]

Thanks for the transparency. I feel so screwed over getting my leopard out of Zimbabwe that I’m not sure I’ll ever ship anything again.

 

[Arctic97]

Thanks for the transparency. I feel so screwed over getting my leopard out of Zimbabwe that I’m not sure I’ll ever ship anything again.

I would like to hear about the issues you had, as I am hoping to have the problem of getting a Leopard out of Zim someday....

 

[Pancake]

I have a taxidermy shipment en route to me right now (hopefully arriving by Thursday). It was planned to fly from South Africa to Atlanta before being trucked to Chicago (as the port of entry) and then finally to me. After arriving in Atlanta on 6/29, my crate sat for about a week before customs/FWS reached out to my broker (Trophy Shippers) letting them know that my crate needed to go to an approved establishment for additional clearance.

John at Trophy Shippers was very helpful (I highly recommend them and plan to use them again after my next Africa hunt in 2025), and it sounds like he was fairly confused that my shipment needed an additional stop since I didn't have any primates, swine, or birds (I had seven finished shoulder mounts for various plains game). It came off like this was a new Atlanta procedure. In reading through this thread, it seems like maybe ATL had an incident of some sort recently that's prompting their new policies. Who knows?

For what it's worth, my dad had a crate coming at approximately the same time. However, his flew from SA to Istanbul to Chicago. His crate had eight finished shoulder mounts including a warthog, but there were no additional, surprise stops required for his shipment. He received his mounts last week and is very happy with the work of the SA taxidermist (Lauriston).

As an aside, even though my crate sat in Atlanta for a week, I had no storage fees. John explained that those only start to accumulate after the shipment arrives at the destination terminal. Since my destination was Chicago, there were no fees for the week my mounts spent in Atlanta. And then once my crate finally made it to Chicago, it was out the door and onto the next stop within the same day.

Maybe ironically, even though my crate is taking a lot longer to arrive than my dad's and I have an additional stop (i.e. more trucking costs and an additional clearance fee from the approved establishment), my total costs are still slightly less than my dad's because he was hit with two days of storage in Chicago. Storage adds up quickly!

 

[ILDRHNTR]

I have a taxidermy shipment en route to me right now (hopefully arriving by Thursday). It was planned to fly from South Africa to Atlanta before being trucked to Chicago (as the port of entry) and then finally to me. After arriving in Atlanta on 6/29, my crate sat for about a week before customs/FWS reached out to my broker (Trophy Shippers) letting them know that my crate needed to go to an approved establishment for additional clearance.

John at Trophy Shippers was very helpful (I highly recommend them and plan to use them again after my next Africa hunt in 2025), and it sounds like he was fairly confused that my shipment needed an additional stop since I didn't have any primates, swine, or birds (I had seven finished shoulder mounts for various plains game). It came off like this was a new Atlanta procedure. In reading through this thread, it seems like maybe ATL had an incident of some sort recently that's prompting their new policies. Who knows?

For what it's worth, my dad had a crate coming at approximately the same time. However, his flew from SA to Istanbul to Chicago. His crate had eight finished shoulder mounts including a warthog, but there were no additional, surprise stops required for his shipment. He received his mounts last week and is very happy with the work of the SA taxidermist (Lauriston).

As an aside, even though my crate sat in Atlanta for a week, I had no storage fees. John explained that those only start to accumulate after the shipment arrives at the destination terminal. Since my destination was Chicago, there were no fees for the week my mounts spent in Atlanta. And then once my crate finally made it to Chicago, it was out the door and onto the next stop within the same day.

Maybe ironically, even though my crate is taking a lot longer to arrive than my dad's and I have an additional stop (i.e. more trucking costs and an additional clearance fee from the approved establishment), my total costs are still slightly less than my dad's because he was hit with two days of storage in Chicago. Storage adds up quickly!

That is all good to know. Thank you for sharing. I am sure this is nothing new for many members. However, for the less experienced it is quite nerve wracking after reading of some horror stories about shipping and expensive storage. I imagine it will become less stressful as we gain experience here. Guess that just means we need to make more trips…..

 

[Hyde Hunter]

it has to clear Agriculture, Customs and Fish &Wildlife but that should have happened in Atlanta like mine last year, it cleared in Atlanta then back on the plane to Chicago then to me. no further clearances were needed

 

[Hunt anything]

That is all good to know. Thank you for sharing. I am sure this is nothing new for many members. However, for the less experienced it is quite nerve wracking after reading of some horror stories about shipping and expensive storage. I imagine it will become less stressful as we gain experience here. Guess that just means we need to make more trips…..

At least for me, unfortunately it doesn’t really get less stressful. After 4 shipments I still fret over shipments.

 

[Arctic97]

Well, I got the final bill from Coppersmith yesterday.
Now it moves to a USDA approved taxidermist who will do some of the same things I had done at the taxidermy in SA, but has the blessing of USDA to say there is no foot and mouth disease. The pain continues. You will note that airline storage fees were almost half of this. They are exorbitant in Seattle at least. You get one free day and then 190-250 a day, depending on your crate size. The agencies are in no hurry to clear anything so the fees add up. The rest of the fees here were close to the quotes they gave me beforehand, although a couple did increase - imagine that. Shipment arrived in Seattle on the 17th of July. After paying this bill I am told they should move to the taxidermist on Monday the 29th. Hope the info here is useful for those planning.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

yea that Turkish Airline store fee is a real shafting, in Chicago they can hit you for up to 348.00 per day after 24 hours, I do not know how but mine was only 290.00 for I think 4 days. no more Turkish Airlines for me just pictures

 

[Arctic97]

yea that Turkish Airline store fee is a real shafting, in Chicago they can hit you for up to 348.00 per day after 24 hours, I do not know how but mine was only 290.00 for I think 4 days. no more Turkish Airlines for me just pictures

This is any airline storage fees in Seattle I believe. But Turkish was used because there isn't much choice when there is a Big 5 trophy in the mix....
The problem is the slow movement once it hits the ground...