Unfortunately, regulations in Canada have made it not cost effective to have capes sent dip and pack. Many tanneries simply won't deal with it. We don't have the space to designate SOLELY to accepting and processing dip and pack foreign stuff. Then deal with regular rodent inspections, no pets on the premises, etc., etc. The tanned kudu cape in the first shipment may be repairable. The freebie Karoo did for second shipment was good. But they put those horns in the pot with the skull and pretty much wrecked them. More on that later.
That's the way I do mule deer and pronghorn because they have to be tilted significantly. Clients seem to prefer the angled plaques, I don't. Whitetails can be mounted on plaques flat to the wall by simply trimming just a bit off the bone that surrounds the spinal channel. Trim as needed with a course file to change the pitch and bring G2 to nearly vertical position. For elk cap mounts I prefer mounting them flat against the wall. Not entirely a natural pose but saves on space and still displays all features of the antlers nicely. Mounting the antlers flat drops the brow tines to a downward angle which saves on room space, especially at a level where room space is needed. Note how the brow tines on this rack of mine are less intrusive. The royal points do protrude more but they're higher than my head.
Tell them you want to see photos of progress. Definitely must send you photos of the stuff BEFORE it goes in the crate. Not photos of it in the crate covered with packing crap. They claimed that's all they had for insurance company. Maybe ask them to send you short video walking around the mounts from different perspectives. I heard Karoo is shipping stuff themselves now instead of going through that ripoff forwarder outfit. You should get a complete breakdown of everything before sending them the money to ship. Be aware that shipping weight is different than actual weight. Shipping weight is calculated based on dimensions of the box. Air freight company can pick between which of two rates works best for them. Kinda makes sense when you think about it. So you should see a quote from the airline or oceanic shipper included in breakdown from whoever is handling the freight. Have you found a customs broker? Keep an ear to the ground with those guys. The African shipper (Karoo?) should send you documents indicating expected arrival. Send them to you AND your broker. Make sure the customs broker is moving the stuff along through inspection after arrival at port of entry. My last shipment wound up in the Twilight Zone and I had to pay a helluva storage fee to air freight company. Then my broker didn't get ANY info from the truck freight company when the crate was picked up. Return to the Twikight Zone!
The outfitter did attempt to make it right. They arranged for a Skype call to the manager. He agreed to tan a second cape and made all kinds of assurances that skulls would be cleaned properly the next time and no painting. He said that was common practice in Africa. I said it is NOT in North America and I can't have painted crap in my home which is essentially our taxidermy business showroom. Fortunately, I had some experience cleaning painted skulls and nothing to do during lockdown so fixed what could be fixed. Also, I told him if they are painting skulls it should appear on their website's description of dip and pack procedure. Had they done that, I would have given instructions against it (but Karoo would have to properly clean the skulls). Anyway, it seemed some satisfaction was reached. Then Karoo struck out again. Chapter two later today. Yes, I did go back to the same outfitter a third time but no Karoo. And the outfitter did help mitigate the damage of second disaster by setting me up with some replacement trophies at below bargain basement prices. Two were at cost I'm sure. I had great experiences hunting with that lodge. And really, when you get down to it, the experience is what counts, not the stuff on the wall. But having a taxidermist screw things up AND charge through the nose, well that just leaves memories that can erase the long difficult stalk, good shooting, beautiful scenery, and wonderful people. It also wastes money that could be used to finance another memorable adventure.
I do like that diamond shaped plaque. I'm going to make one of those up for one of my moose caps as an option to show clients. Thanks.
