Recent RSA taxidermists experience

[Ontario Hunter]

On holes being drilled in horns. On my first safari Hunters and Collectors in Port Elizabeth did a euro for me on a bleastbuck. They drilled on small hole on each horn to reattach them to the skull once I received my dip and pack.

When my taxidermist and I unpacked my crate he was quite surprised by it but said that is a easy way to attach the horns. Hunters and Collectors even supplied a couple of very small screws to attach them.

Hmm. Probably why these holes are there. The horns were tagged by wrapping colored tape around the tips and writing my name on the tape. Tape was easily removed.

I attach my horns with hot glue. Easy to heat and remove them if needed (e.g. box up skulls for storage or moving).

 

[USN]

On our 2022 hunt with Nick Bowker the 3 of us had our animals and back skins done by African Wildlife Artistry. All 3 of us were very satisfied with the work. I was very reluctant to have any work done in SA as I have seen and heard to many horror stories. Nick put his reputation on the line so we went ahead. Crating and packing was done by African Trophy Exports. The crates and packing were imaculate and no wasted space. Everything arrived in excellent condition . Delivery was 10-11 months. All in with shipping and taxidermy and crating we were a minimum of 35% less that having our mounts done at home. And at least 18 months sooner. The owner of African Wildlife Artistry was trained in the US.

I also used these on Nicks recommendation, excellent work and turn around time. The shipping was a hassle but that was due to earthquake in Turkey but it was sorted out.
I currently have my second hunt items with AWA and have recently paid balance by credit card. They caught an error I wasn’t aware of after payment and refunded a large amount to my credit card. I would have missed it and overpaid. Happy happy and they will do my third hunt items also.

 

[Canebrake]

In 2015and 2018 Safari Taxidermy in Polokwane did the mounts and were better than the Karoo guys. Their communications were very timely and always informative.

I'll be hunting about 1-1/2 hours South of Polokwane next September and this is who was recommended. Is their work "suitable" or should I go ahead and work out the logistics to get everything to Splitting Image?

 

[Graham Hunter]

I strongly suggest African Wildlife Artistry. They did work for 3 of us last year. Turn aroung was about 8-10 months. Very happy with thier work and I am fussy! Good communications and effort on thier part. They are out of Somerset East. Also used African Trophy Exports to ship and was pleased with them as well.

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

I'll be hunting about 1-1/2 hours South of Polokwane next September and this is who was recommended. Is their work "suitable" or should I go ahead and work out the logistics to get everything to Splitting Image?

Bullseye is worth visiting in Waterberg in the Limpopo province. They will give you a tour of their showroom, shop, and go through their process and every step. You can get whatever you want done there. They are very easy to work with and the quality is great! Updates, communication, and delivery were all as expected; clear, detailed, thorough and prompt. The whole experience was easy and stress free!

Bullseye Taxidermy – For the Professional seeking Excellence

bullseyetaxidermy.co.za

 

[migrabill]

Bullseye is worth visiting in Waterberg in the Limpopo province. They will give you a tour of their showroom, shop, and go through their process and every step. You can get whatever you want done there. They are very easy to work with and the quality is great! Updates, communication, and delivery were all as expected; clear, detailed, thorough and prompt. The whole experience was easy and stress free!

Bullseye Taxidermy – For the Professional seeking Excellence

bullseyetaxidermy.co.za

Great to hear. I’m heading to RSA for my 1st ever African Safari. I will be hunting in the Limpopo and will be using Bullseye. Did you see if they had the floor pedestals that is the shield with the spears? If so, did you catch a price?

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Great to hear. I’m heading to RSA for my 1st ever African Safari. I will be hunting in the Limpopo and will be using Bullseye. Did you see if they had the floor pedestals that is the shield with the spears? If so, did you catch a price?

Email them or call and talk to them. They are so helpful.

They will proved quotes and work with you. I had a few specialty requests and they were very accommodating and the prices are great. The packaging and shipping crates were done right with no damage! They made me a beautiful Buff scoped rifle case too.


Talk to Trish. Tell her you got a referral from Roger from Ca…

Bull's Eye Taxidermy

bullseye@icon.co.za
PO Box 1124, Vaalwater, Limpopo, 0530, South Africa
+27 83 690 0061
+27 14 755 4945

www.bullseyetaxidermy.co.za


My Golden on a Pedestal is really nice, but simple.

I had a special treatment on my Crock head.

 

[Brian]

After having a problem with Trophex screwing up the work and stealing my Kudu horns, a few years ago, I switched to Bulls Eye. They are always excellent to deal with and do excellent work.

 

[Borderer]

Our you staying at Afton? If so talk to Richard about his new taxidermy/shipping business. Best prices I've seen and I'm sure the work will be done right.

I got a price from Richard as well. He is very competitive and the work of his that I saw looked good

 

[Letzhunt]

I emailed Bull's Eye and Trish got right back with me. I have more questions but unfortunately they are off until January. I'm leaning towards them or splitting image. Bull's Eye is much closer to my camp but Splitting Image said they pick up all over SA for free. How do the two compare if anyone knows. Is Bull's Eye cheaper? I don't have a price list from them.

 

[Rare Breed]

Hey all. Headed to Limpopo next June. Plains game of standard varieties is on the table. Probably your typical, Impala, warthog, kudu, zebra, blue wildebeest etc.

Weighing the pluses and minus of dip and pack then mount here in the states, (usda approved taxidermist just an hour away) vs having taxidermy done in RSA and shipped home. I’m trying to get a good feel for taxidermists I should look into in RSA and if anyone wants to PM me costs I’d be very interested too.

I know people are pretty split on taxi work done in the states vs RSA and im still debating that but I’d like a full picture before I make that decision.

Here is my point of view. i wish i kept my taxi Africa cost because it seems for whatever reason shipping to my Atlanta hometown port i have gotten very good total costs each time might just be luck

1. My Africa taxi work has been excellent and very timely.
2. If you use dip and pack it would have taken me almost twice as long to then actually getting the finished work into my home
3. it was much cheaper no comparison i remember at the time to use Africa taxi
4. you increase the risk your dip and pack might have hair slippage versus with final taxi they have to both find and fix before shipping to you

for the above reasons i will continue to use Africa taxi

 

[Doug3006]

I emailed Bull's Eye and Trish got right back with me. I have more questions but unfortunately they are off until January. I'm leaning towards them or splitting image. Bull's Eye is much closer to my camp but Splitting Image said they pick up all over SA for free. How do the two compare if anyone knows. Is Bull's Eye cheaper? I don't have a price list from them.

I toured Bulls Eye when I was hunting in Limpopo last June. I decided to have them do my work. Their operation is very impressive. They tan hides on site. Their work is very good. I was especially impressed by their crating operation. They take that part very seriously. Communications have been good so far. They should be finishing my stuff soon. I’ll post a review once I receive my work.

 

[Doug3006]

I’ll PM you a picture of their price list later today.

 

[Letzhunt]

That would be great. Thanks Doug3006!

 

[USN]

Funny this post came up today, the crate from my second trip is coming today to the house with several euros and wart hog and kudu shoulder mount. I used Africa Artistry and Africa trophy exports again on the recommendation of the outfitter NickBowkerHunting.com. I trusted Africa Wildlife Artistry so much that when they asked how I wanted the kudu response was whatever the artist thought best to display. Waiting on a surprise Christmas gift for me. Pics later today, of course DHL is already 2 hours late for delivery. Oh the first trip taxidermy for a kudu and sable is being done here in OKC and supposed to be ready mid January at double the cost. Pics will follow.

 

[Brian]

We have used Bullseye for about 15 mounts. They do excellent work and have excellent service. They also did an excellent job with the shipping. We went to Bullseye after a very bad experience with Trophex. (Heads-up) I Don't think that it gets any getter than Bullseye. Brian

 

[PARA45]

My safari to Limpopo, with Taxi done in South Africa was a total disaster to be polite. I paid way too much for mediocre work. That left me scar for quite some time.

Last year I went to the Eastern Cape, and the Taxi that was recommended by the outfitter did a great job on the dip & pack part. My Taxi here is in the states said that everything looked good. Soooo, fingers crossed that everything will be fine. One of the sponsors here is doing the mount of my animals. My bad experience this time around was with the custom broker here in the US. They misquoted me by $1200.00, and most of that was due to storage by the thieves from Turkish Airlines.

I really don't know what the right answer is, but I personally will probably continue to bring the mounts to the US and get them done here.

Here is a picture of my impala so you can get an idea. No way to fight this issue since the Taxi is in SA, and I was stuck with a mediocre mount.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

My safari to Limpopo, with Taxi done in South Africa was a total disaster to be polite. I paid way too much for mediocre work. That left me scar for quite some time.

Last year I went to the Eastern Cape, and the Taxi that was recommended by the outfitter did a great job on the dip & pack part. My Taxi here is in the states said that everything looked good. Soooo, fingers crossed that everything will be fine. One of the sponsors here is doing the mount of my animals. My bad experience this time around was with the custom broker here in the US. They misquoted me by $1200.00, and most of that was due to storage by the thieves from Turkish Airlines.

I really don't know what the right answer is, but I personally will probably continue to bring the mounts to the US and get them done here.

Here is a picture of my impala so you can get an idea. No way to fight this issue since the Taxi is in SA, and I was stuck with a mediocre mount.

who was your customs broker ? so we can watch out

 

[PARA45]

My broker was Coppersmith, the individual who I was dealing with is who was to blame for the misquote. However, the best Coppersmith could/would do was to lower my quote by $100.00.

My crate sat in the Turkish warehouse for 10 days. I had a warthog in the crate, and Coppersmith knew about it. The individual who I was working with somehow forgot all about it, and I ended up paying for his mistake.

Besides that, their work was good, and my crate arrived at the Taxidermist without any issues.

 

[Hyde Hunter]

I used Coppersmith early this year with great service and will use them for the shipment next month and have 3 shoulder mounts along with a set of buff horns and 2 warthog skulls coming on Turkish and you can bet I will be on Coppersmiths everyday when they ship so there will not be storage fees