What to do with a giraffe

[arizonajake]

I am contemplating taking a giraffe during my planned 2021 safari. My problem is space - or lack of it - in my home for a shoulder mount. I am considering a European mount, but there will still be a lot of hide, bones, etc. left, which I do not wish to waste.

Can anyone provide me with ideas on how to utilize giraffe hide, bones and other parts? I have heard of the legs being used to make lamps, but have never seen any. Any information y'all can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Jake

 

[Foxi]

What to do with a giraffe..................
let live, how about that ?

 

[The Engineer]

For lower ceilings a mid neck mount will work. The bone is highly prized for knife handles. Mounted lower legs/feet can be used for table legs. The hide can be used just like any other leather. I am making a gun slip made for my double from part of my hair on hide.

 

[arizonajake]

What to do with a giraffe..................
let live, how about that ?

They live to an old age. We take animals that are near the end of their life cycle and the fees we pay guarantee their survival. Legal, regulated hunting benefits wildlife. Emotions do not. How about that?

 

[arizonajake]

For lower ceilings a mid neck mount will work. The bone is highly prized for knife handles. Mounted lower legs/feet can be used for table legs. The hide can be used just like any other leather. I am making a gun slip made for my double from part of my hair on hide.

Thank you very much!

 

[Firebird]

I’m surprised at you Foxi-game management is game management wether it is giraffe or those cute, adoraeable little row deer.
A guy wants to pay to hunt a giraffe on foreign soil and pay to bring it home and keep as much of it as possible in his home-well if it was me I would use as much of the hide as possible to upholster furniture. Saw a mount once of a giraffe neck mount drinking. It was awesome, just not gonna work in my basement. Would love to hunt a post prime giraffe someday and would love to hunt a roe deer someday. Just want it to be the right animal in the right place. . .

 

[375Fox]

Carved giraffe leg bones look really good. These were at taxidermy in Namibia.

 

[rookhawk]

I'll tell you what you don't do with a Giraffe:

You don't eat it. It's the only game animal I've ever tasted that I would not enjoy again. It has a musk and is tougher than tough...just ridiculously tough. Keep in mind, I eat everything and anything but this one I cried "uncle".

Regarding hunting giraffes:

It's a very odd and annoying hunt compared to all the other beasts of Africa. A few reasons:

1.) It's vitals aren't all that big so you want to get fairly close for the shot because it needs to be dispatched swiftly. Usually, they will bump, bump, bump keeping you at distance.

2.) For every 100 shots you could take you may only have 1 shot you want to take. Just because you can kill a giraffe doesn't mean you can RETRIEVE a giraffe. You're evaluating not just the shot, but how far it will run after a perfect shot and where it will collapse. Can you get a truck there? You're considering a lot of strange factors in your mind as is the PH other than normal hunting considerations. It's a logistics operation of epic proportions.

3.) Then are you ready for the commitment for what you'll do with it once harvested? It can't go to waste. Do you have 6 hours to dedicate to processing and loading it in multiple trips back to camp and get it distributed to the local villages? When you harvest a giraffe, the hunting day is over. That meat must be brought to the villages and it takes about 4-5 trips with a cruiser to retrieve all of the meat. The hide alone is many hundreds of pounds and fills a cruiser in itself.

It's a curious game animal and it provides its own challenges, for certain. Also, leave no doubt that it is a game animal. It's closest living relatives include the Okapi and the North American Pronghorn Antelope.

 

[micbo]

Hello Jake,

Many great things can be done:

Giraffe shoulder mount: Takes up approximately 8’ of height on a wall and a width of no more than 24” to 30." Can also do a free standing pedestal.

The skin itself makes beautiful rugs or upholstery.

The leg bones can be carved in Africa, and yes, you can make lamps with those. The look afterwards looks like ivory. They are beautiful, and if done in Africa, can be very reasonable. I have heard of leg bones being carved into very ornate scenes for as little as $250 per leg bone.

Thank you!

 

[Newboomer]

One of the hunters in camp last year got a giraffe. Down on the ground he stretched close to 16 feet long head to tail. It was all one man could do to lift just the head which was over 3 feet long. They had to have a truck and a 20 foot trailer to haul him. They used a big tractor and slings to load him. They figured he weighed over 4000 lbs. The hunter shot him in the morning and it took a crew all day to process him. Giraffe are a whole lot bigger than you think.

 

[Philippe]

What to do with a giraffe..................
let live, how about that ?

Like @Foxi , I don't consider the giraffe to be game ...

 

[arizonajake]

Like @Foxi , I don't consider the giraffe to be game ...

To each his own...

 

[Graham Hunter]

I don't think this is the forum to start bashing anyone's choice of what legal animal they wish to hunt!

 

[gillettehunter]

I'll rewrite what Jake already said. They are LEGAL to hunt. The name of this site is Africa HUNTING .com. I don't intend to hunt a Giraffe either. There are a lot of animals that don't hold an interest to me but they are legal to hunt. Hunting the old past prime breeding age animals helps give them value. Without that there would be less of them in Africa.
Those that have negatively responded here should start their own thread. It is poor manners to "crap" on anothers thread, especially when they want to utilize a animal they intend to hunt. My mom used to say if you can't say anything nice then don't say anything at all. Perhaps some of you might consider before you type.
Bruce

 

[dchamp]

I have a friend whose wife took a Giraffe a few years back. She had part of the hide turned into a couple of soft rifle cases. They look real good. I think she had it done by a taxidermist in Africa. Good luck with your hunt.

 

[rookhawk]

Like @Foxi , I don't consider the giraffe to be game ...

I find this to be an odd position to take because it isn't supported by science.

It most certainly is a game animal and the giraffe family has yielded many other game animals over the past 50 million years.

If you're saying that it shouldn't be hunted even though its a game animal, that's a different debate. But arguing that the giraffe isn't big game is like arguing the sky is not blue.

Please elaborate your position and get more specific: You think its too easy to hunt in your experience. You don't like the taste. You don't believe species outside of cervides and antelope should be hunted. You don't believe any animal weighing over 1000KG should be hunted. Etc. Etc.

 

[rookhawk]

More to the point regarding taxidermy, a few common things are done:

-Giraffe bone is usually retained. It can be carved into scrimshaw or other materials.

-Legs can be taxidermied into lamps, pedestals, or ash trays.

-Neck skin can be turned into gun cases

-Whole hide can be an area rug that literally fills an entire room

-Skull can be turned into a coffee table under glass

-Shoulders to head can become a "shoulder mount" about 7-8 feet in height off the floor of a room

There are many ways to derive additional utility from the management of an animal population beyond meat for the local community. With Giraffe, there is such an astounding amount of goods that can be created just from an individual animal.

 

[Spooksar]

I shot a management Giraffe on my first hunt in Namibia interest hunt. We had a 5 ton flat deck to load it onto still took 2 hours to load. It ran 800 yards with 2 shots in the lungs. Their vitals are in a different spot then most animals. We loaded it and took to the butcher shop and left. They do make a nice rug and I have seen a head mount that looked good.

 

[Randy F]

Like @Foxi , I don't consider the giraffe to be game ...

There are plenty of people that would say the same about any and everything you've taken in the name of hunting. However, the majority of those people have likely never been exposed to hunting, understand hunting, or even want to understand hunting.
I'm a bit more than shocked that a member of this forum might have that frame of mind.

"That's all I have to say about that." - Forrest Gump

 

[rafaellinne]