Hair slippage or normal characteristic?

[Mort Hill]

Just a real pisser. Sorry for the anti climatic end to a great trip. Not what you expected or paid for. Little recourse at this point other than some type of monetary compensation. Bitter pill to swallow.

 

[PARA45]

Man, so sorry that this happened to you. Unfortunately, you are not alone on this one, and it's very common. I was a victim of sh*tty work, and pathetic customer service from the taxidermist company that did the work for me. Lesson learned, and a pricy one. I will never mount another animal in Africa, I'll have them done here in the US.

 

[Red Leg]

Just remembered I had a pic of the area they stored their sculls and hides. It's a bad angle into the light, but you can see the salted hides stacked up on the shelves in the back ground. How does this compare to what you guys have seen for storage?

View attachment 299682

That is pretty typical, and in fact, better than many. I have hides come out of humid, equatorial Mozambique and never issues like these show.

 

[harden]

Just remembered I had a pic of the area they stored their sculls and hides. It's a bad angle into the light, but you can see the salted hides stacked up on the shelves in the back ground. How does this compare to what you guys have seen for storage?

View attachment 299682

WOW, Totally exposed to every bug and vermin in the area...Uncontrolable way to store skins.

 

[Areaonereal]

Who did that taxi?....

 

[Gater]

Who did that taxi?....

I'd rather not say at this time as I'm still working on a resolution with them.

 

[shootist~]

And what Outfitter was affiliated with the taxidermy?

 

[DLRX]

Plain BS...just unacceptable!!!
Were the capes salted at all ?

 

[steve newcombe [uk]]

Same old salt being used again and again

 

[jeff]

I also think that proper care from harvest to storage would have solved the problem. I just finished a few mounts for a fellow AH member that were extremely poor due to improper salting and storage, one bushbuck was unmountable.

 

[Hank2211]

WOW, Totally exposed to every bug and vermin in the area...Uncontrolable way to store skins.

My experience with taxidermy in Africa is more like @Red Leg's. While I've never seen hides stored in the open quite to this extent, they tend to be stored in sheds or parts of warehouses which are more or less open - if only to promote airflow, and equally they tend to be stacked high and on top of each other. I agree with Dennis that this isn't ideal, but it's the way things are done there.

Having said that, the results aren't usually like what we've seen here - if they were, no one would have their taxidermy done in Africa, at least not more than once!

Personally, I've had too many variable and negative experiences with African taxidermy to trust any valuable trophy to them. I don't want to take over this thread, but the stories I could tell and the pictures I could show of some of the taxidermy I've been sent . . . I assume many of us could say the same.

 

[Gater]

Guys, the more I look at the waterbuck and kudu, the less I think they're even my hides. Let me know what you think.

Waterbuck - the one I shot was WAY darker in color. Can the color of the hair lighten that severely during the tanning process?

Kudu - biggest clue is that mine had a large tick hole in its right ear. There's no such hole in the mount I received, nor is there any evidence of it being repaired (not that they would). Also, look at the white stripe across the nose on the one I shot vs my mount. very different shapes - however, I understand the mold won't exactly match the size and shape of the original animal, so that may be normal? But, the one I shot had white patches above its eyes and my mount isn't white at all.

Thoughts?

 

[superdutch]

Yeah, no way that is your kudu, and I don’t think the waterbuck is yours either!

 

[harden]

I am in agreement with you. If its repaired I don't care how good you are and this guy aint, IT WOULD BE visable on close, very close inspection. Waterbuck it wont lighten up that much

 

[IvW]

Hair slip....
Main cause is almost always bad field preparation and incorrect care of the hides before they even reach the taxidermy...

Ending up with somebody else hides can also be the same reason...

If hides and trophy's where properly marked with the right tags and said trophy's where logged in a Taxidermy register, with the proper instructions noted down as to what you as the client want done with each trophy and this register was signed by yourself, the PH and Outfitter and a copy attached with the copy from the PH hunting register, then only a deliberate act of changing the trophy's could lead to them being mixed up.

This is just one point of attention to detail by the PH conducting the hunt that distinguishes a great one from well just another one who has qualified to conduct a hunt...

It is supposed to be Professional in the first part of PH...

Sorry for your loss, I would get the PH, Outfitter and Taxidermy to sort this, makes it a lot easier if you have mentioned paperwork in hand if not it will go left and right until you have had enough and give in...

I wish you all the best...

And yes that is not your Kudu cape..

 

[Mekaniks]

Not your capes

 

[Gater]

Thanks for the responses guys. IvW makes another point that I hadn’t thought of suggesting the hides aren’t mine - I provided VERY detailed instructions for the mount positions I wanted. When they 1st sent me pics of the molds for approval, both the zebra and kudu were VERY wrong and VERY different from what I requested.

 

[Mekaniks]

You should copy and paste this thread in an email to them, with the subject line "The world is watching"

 

[chiefdale]

When you put a hide on and glue it... that hide ain’t coming off. They probably just grabbed new hide and threw your horns in it.

 

[Gater]

The incorrect molds were before the hides were attached.