is there one single company in south africa that actually does dip pack on a 58" kudu that results in you getting back a 58" kudu instead of a 55" kudu with horns that havent been completely destroyed.
Only way that is possible is if your tape measure starts on 2 inches or they are not the same horns. No taxidermy process can make kudu horns shrink 3 inches in a couple months.
I however agree that in many cases not enough attention is given to field preparation of clients trophies.
TMS is right, too many PH's and Outfitters just leave the whole lot to the taxidermist or dip and pack place. This causes problems when the sculls need to be cleaned after too long drying out or just being salted and the flesh not removed properly before being sent from place of hunt to taxidermist or D&P.
It is a simple task, to do proper field preparation of trophies but sadly is neglected by many. I have seen this more often with bigger companies who have multiple clients hunting in camp at the same time and they simple do not do it or just don't care. Smaller outfits seem to take more care and spend more time on doing this properly as well as Zim, Nam, Moz.
Having worked as a Freelance PH for a very long time, that was part of my job, to check on the activities of skinners in the skinning shed as well as proper preparation of the trophies my clients hunted. Cleaning of sculls and proper boiling is done(a simple task if performed correctly). The proper tagging of the trophies is also done and checked. I like to put the skins in a brine solution as soon as they are done after that they get a drip dry and then into the salt. After that when put out to dry they always go skin down and not hair down on the drying rack. When folding they always go hair inside. I always measure the horns and record the information in a taxidermy register.(left horn length, right horn length, left base, right base and tip to tip). In the same register I record all instructions on what the client wants to have done for each. D&P only, left facing shoulder mount, wall pedestal etc. At the end of the Safari my tracker/skinner will unpack my clients trophies we will then inspect them together and ensure all is recorded and tagged correctly and all instructions are recorded as needed. This is a 4 copy document, I keep one, one goes to the outfitter, one to the taxidermist and one together with the PH register to National Parks.
Incorrect handling and field preparation by PH, Skinner or outfitter of clients trophies can cause damage to them that no D&P or taxidermist can really fix or sort out. Hair slip on spiral horned antelope(especially Eland) and also in particular Klipspringer come to mind.
The trophies the client eventually receives is the memento's of his hunt, something when he looks at it in his trophy room will bring back fond memories of the hunt and not of what a crappy job somebody did in preparing them, something he is also paying a lot of money for and they require the utmost attention.
PH stands for Professional Hunter, the first part of this name does not always hold true for all activities on the hunt and unfortunately, not enough attention to detail is given to this and results in what you guy's are mentioning here.
