Dip and pack skull, how clean?

[Spearhead]

I'm considering a dip and pack for my first PG trip from august and curious how clean a dip and pack skull is? Eyes, brain's sinuses etc? Just wondering if it's almost a euro or still has all the junk in it.
I ask because of the weight regardless of the significance.
Thank you for any help. Photos may just have to suffice.

 

[RR 314]

Usually pretty dang clean. Hast to be to pass inspection. Usually so clean sinus bones are blown out/gone.

 

[Dinsdale]

Has to have all the “junk” out or it wouldn’t pass USFW inspection

Right out of the crate from Zim, powder is insecticide.

 

[Dinsdale]

After a hot water wash with some dish soap. Baboons are really greasy and require a long time to get it out.

 

[Sarg]

Well the dip & pack I did, is ready to put on the wall on a nail or hook, !

We used to boil, power wash, separate horns (on the animals that, that was possible to do) & whiten in Peroxide.

So yes with a lot of Dip & Pack most skulls should be close to Euro, some times Road travel & freight can mess them up with dust & travel crude .

 

[Sarg]

@Dinsdale were the nasal bones in the box to so you could repair ?

I see there is a lot of grease still in those Baboons & Warthog skull they need extra de-greasing or they weren't boiled out in fresh water, you have to watch the boys on this, too lazy to change out the water & reboil when they get busy !

If you are only mounting your heads you can cut a lot of weight by having you skulls cut to skull caps, I'm normally poor & broke so the skulls could be on my floor or wall for 10-15yrs before I can afford to get them mounted, much longer on my big Water Buffalo, it was over 40yrs lol !

Primates - Hogs - Bears & some others have extra greasy skulls needing extra work/de-greasing.

 

[steve white]

Got some euro mount skulls back from Tanzania that stunk like high heaven. Not all pass muster.

 

[Dinsdale]

@Dinsdale were the nasal bones in the box to so you could repair ?

I see there is a lot of grease still in those Baboons & Warthog skull they need extra de-greasing or they weren't boiled out in fresh water, you have to watch the boys on this, too lazy to change out the water & reboil when they get busy !

They weren’t all that busy….LOL

What ya see is what ya get. But in all fairness I never intended to use the warthog skull and the baboons did clean up. I intended to mount most of it but never will.

I will never import anything again for many reasons…..cost on every level being the biggest factor. And frankly I have spent enough on getting stuff home and no one but me really cares about thelse types of items and it will all be in a dumpster soon enough.

I totally get wanting to get things home, but now I’m very comfortable with nothing but pictures.

 

[Sarg]

I'm sorry to say that is true, every one wants to scam money out of you on your trophies before you get them home.

My Muskox Skull & Cape will be twice the cost of the hunt & I still don't have them yet 3yrs later, much much worse then Africa, must be very scary on a $100,000 Markhor or Lord Derby, Bongo, Argali ?

 

[Spearhead]

They weren’t all that busy….LOL

What ya see is what ya get. But in all fairness I never intended to use the warthog skull and the baboons did clean up. I intended to mount most of it but never will.

I will never import anything again for many reasons…..cost on every level being the biggest factor. And frankly I have spent enough on getting stuff home and no one but me really cares about thelse types of items and it will all be in a dumpster soon enough.

I totally get wanting to get things home, but now I’m very comfortable with nothing but pictures.

This is my biggest concern. Shipping price and nobody but me enjoys it. It's not so much that it's my first trip over, it's that I'm leaving the animals behind. I have decent photos and that really is all I "need". Thoughts @Dinsdale @Sarg ?

 

[Spearhead]

What about dip and ship skulls without capes? Is that still pricey? I refuse to pay the outrageous shipping ransom, but skulls only might suffice. I embarrassingly have stressed over this for the last 7months. My wife is over it. She says leave it (and she is ok with mounts in the house).

 

[JimP]

The shipping and prep work is just part of the whole experience.

There is no reason to get all stressed out about any of it. You just make a decision and go with it.

At the very least you will have to have a shop clean the skulls and horns. Having a shop in South Africa do this will cost you just a little less than having them do a shoulder mount. Then comes the crating, trucking to the airport, and the air cargo. Once here in the US you can do the clearing yourself if you are close enough to a airport where you can do it. If not you need to hire a importer to do it.

In the end it is just money. I don't get the enjoyment out of a picture book that sits on a bookshelf and gets dusty. But I do have my pictures on my computer and use them as a screen saver, but I walk past my mounts several times a day as a reminder of my first safari.

 

[Spearhead]

The shipping and prep work is just part of the whole experience.

There is no reason to get all stressed out about any of it. You just make a decision and go with it.

At the very least you will have to have a shop clean the skulls and horns. Having a shop in South Africa do this will cost you just a little less than having them do a shoulder mount. Then comes the crating, trucking to the airport, and the air cargo. Once here in the US you can do the clearing yourself if you are close enough to a airport where you can do it. If not you need to hire a importer to do it.

In the end it is just money. I don't get the enjoyment out of a picture book that sits on a bookshelf and gets dusty. But I do have my pictures on my computer and use them as a screen saver, but I walk past my mounts several times a day as a reminder of my first safari.

Thank you for the reply @JimP

 

[BRICKBURN]

Eyes, brain's sinuses etc? .............

Any of this is still intact when it hits your health inspection it will be getting a ride back home or a quick trip to the incinerator.

 

[Sarg]

This is my biggest concern. Shipping price and nobody but me enjoys it. It's not so much that it's my first trip over, it's that I'm leaving the animals behind. I have decent photos and that really is all I "need". Thoughts @Dinsdale @Sarg ?

I'm sorry but I think we all have different attachments to our trophies, how hard we hunted them, size, circumstances & such, then the size of our wallets ?

If I was super rich all would be home & mounted a long time ago but then Id also have some where to put them !!

I can barely afford to hunt the animals in the first place let alone get them home, but try hard to get them here as it seems disrepectful to kill them & leave them there, plus I do like to see them in the flesh so to speak again when they return from the Taxidermist .

 

[Spearhead]

Any of this is still intact when it hits your health inspection it will be getting a ride back home or a quick trip to the incinerator.

I'm sorry but I think we all have different attachments to our trophies, how hard we hunted them, size, circumstances & such, then the size of our wallets ?

If I was super rich all would be home & mounted a long time ago but then Id also have some where to put them !!

I can barely afford to hunt the animals in the first place let alone get them home, but try hard to get them here as it seems disrepectful to kill them & leave them there, plus I do like to see them in the flesh so to speak again when they return from the Taxidermist .

Agreed @Sarg . The thought of walking away absolutely sucks, but I'm hoping euros might work if it's not a ransom to ship.

 

[JimP]

If you haven't looked into taxidermy prices in South Africa here is the shop that is taking care of my mounts and euros.

I expect to pay between $4000 and $5000 for the shipping to my home for 3 shoulder mounts and 5 euros. I'm hoping that it's on the low end.

Taxidermy Pricing 2024 – Frontier Safaris

frontiersafaris.com

 

[Spearhead]

If you haven't looked into taxidermy prices in South Africa here is the shop that is taking care of my mounts and euros.

I expect to pay between $4000 and $5000 for the shipping to my home for 3 shoulder mounts and 5 euros. I'm hoping that it's on the low end.

Taxidermy Pricing 2024 – Frontier Safaris

frontiersafaris.com

@JimP I hunted in Namibia

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I was surprised. Mine were white enough and clean enough I never considered that I need to do more. I haven't mounted them up yet - we're planning work on the house so I'm going to wait until change happens and the dust settles - but I won't have to do anything to the skulls; I can focus on display options.

 

[Firebird]

My skulls also made it home clean and white, rinse ‘‘em and hang ‘em. But I am a mount lover so have built up a good collection. But as I sit right now, if I hadn’t spent the money on SA taxidermist dip and pack and shipping to my taxidermist in the states, then I would have enough money to turn around and do it again.
I would have only pictures to show, but could launch the next trip.
so it’s a very personal choice, only you can make it.