NitroX
AH member
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2010
- Messages
- 31
- Reaction score
- 3
- Location
- Barossa Valley, South Australia
- Website
- **not**permitted**.com
- Member of
- SCI, ADA, SSAA, BGRC, SAFGA
- Hunted
- Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Australia, New Zealand, England, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden,
As you have quoted my comment, I think I need to reply direct to your "general" comments.
I think you need to actually read what I wrote, before writing in response to them really a load of BS.
Or maybe the taxidermist should actually have decent systems in place, so they don't cut off the tags already on trophies, then mix up the trophies with other, or purposefully substitute them.
As the taxidermist had all the trophies listed on the manifest, and CHARGED for working on them, cleaning,, bronzing etc, bit hard for you now to suggest blaming someone else. Don't you think ???
Sorry?! Are you for real?
All the trophies were killed and delivered.
They were marked on the invoice which was sent to me.
So the taxidermist admitted they had them, were BILLING for the work done of them.
But was too INCOMPETENT to deliver them. Or DISHONEST and stole them.
As for trying to blame the PH or outfitter, I was in the vehicle with him with the trophies in the vehicle when delivered.
This is so similar to another time when I had a taxidermist near Pretoria (Big Buck Taxidermy) lie to me about never receiving paperwork from an outfitter. When they had lost it themselves. Why was I was so sure? Because I was also there, in the office of the taxidermist, when the PH handed over the paperwork in them.
Yeah, we know how it works too.
Too many crooks or incompetents in the taxidermy business.
Some try to shift the blame to others in the hunting industry, rather than clean up their own act.
The Namibian PH association really needs to see the taxidermy industry cleaned up in their country from the number of negative reports received.
But the taxidermist did receive everything. Charged for everything. DIDN'T deliver everything.
Sorry no wounded animal "trophies" delivered to the taxidermist for the taxidermist to make an excuse over.
Coin is the relevant word.
Why deliver the trophies to the correct client, when a corrupt taxidermist can charge for them anyway, then re-sell them to someone else?
Or an incompentent one, sit in his leather armchair and complain about how bad his stff is, instead of getting out there in the workshop and supervising, and making sure the jobs are done right.
My Useful Tips:
MAKE SURE you do a search on not only the Outfitter, PH, Hunting concession, etc, MAKE SURE you also do a search on recommendations and negative reports on the taxidermist as well. Even though a dip and pack job should be blindingly simple for anyone competent.
MAKE SURE you tag every bit of your trophies, so the taxidermist can not makes excuses to blame someone else for their ffff-ups.
Try to be there when they are delivered. Not always possible especially when the hunt happens in remote locations.
REMEMBER to take photos of your trophies, so when they arrive, they can be compared to what was actually delivered. Raise hell if they are different.
MAKE A NOTE on every internet hunting forum, on the HUNTING REPORTS site, everywhere you can when you are charged for stuff not delivered. MAKE SURE the name of the taxidermist is well known so they can't screw other clients in the future.
MAKE A NOTE for the PH Association in the country. One of the biggest area for complaints by clients seems to be AFTER the animals are down. Are they treated properly by the outfitter, are they IDed properly, are they delivered to the taxidermist, and then the problems seem to increase TEN FOLD. Does the taxidermist mix them up? Funny thing, is the guys complaining always seem to loose exceptionally large trophies and get tiny ones, wonder why? $$$$ changing hands perhaps? Does the taxidermists staff have the skills to do the job? Dip and pack, should be a breeze. If shoulder mounts etc, I like to physically sight their work before committing anything to a taxidermist. Can a taxidermist keep track of their own paperwork? Really!
I have had exceptional work from some. HHK in Zimbabwe for example did all this work in house, smart, hey?, and the dip and pack job was done extremely quickly and I was surprised how quickly my cape buffalo and zebra trophies arrived in Australia.
Used another taxidermist for dip and pack on my first Zimbabwean safari. Unfortunately the outfitter used an inferior salt on the trophies and the eland suffered hairslip on the neck. Also magically a lovely black and white zebra rug turned into a brown and white zebra rug. Years later we worked out it was a completely different skin by comparing photos of the stripe patterns, not to mention colour ....
Had trophies delivered from Zimbabwe to be consolidated with some South African hunted trophies in 2002. Unfortunately those SAf taxidermist (Big Buck Taxidermy) lost the paperwork for the SAf one. The outfitter could not replace the paperwork, as he had dealt with Jaco du Plessis whom disappeared at the time as did allegedly the registers. Steve "Shakari" heard about it and helped with new paperwork so they could be exported.
I've used two different Australia taxidermists, Gary Pegg and Mario Carnesi, plus a New Zealander one, the name I forget, and mostly no problems, and good work.
