Hey African taxidermist. Im doing my first safari work and am wondering does all the skins come from africa butchered like mine.I have holes cut, eye lids gone you name it. I was exited to get these animals now I dont know if I ever want to do any more african.
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I hate to say it this way. This seperates the men from the boys. I've been to Africa twice. The PH's motto on everything is the taxidermist can fix it. If you have experience in big game it can be done. I have had to do things from turning lips and ears that weren't done to making lips and eyelids and creating ears that were shredded. Adding hairs to the already minimal haired animals that slipped and bug eaten. Making manes out of some other hide. Putting in patches to areas where there is no skin left opr shredded beyond recognition. You are forced to learn and be creative. It can be done, and the repairs unnoticable. To let you know, most forms don't fit either. You will have to alter them by making them larger or smaller, making turns etc. There aren't that many sizes to work with. I recomend buying a couple capes and horns and try a few before tackeling cousomers things. There is a lot invested there for someone to be experimenting with. Good luck let me know if I can help
Brent Dean hit the nail on the head,lots of tick and bug damage.Remember guys and gals african animals from africa, not from a game ranch in Texas.
Zoo animals are where most manikins come from,they are not anatomically correct for the species in Africa. Have fun be creative with the art of taxidermy, african hides are a challenge indeed, but very rewarding. Ask for advice if your not sure, people are willing to share their experence and tricks of the trade.The reason I do my own tanning is because of the way the tanneries rehydrate skins,ending up with hair slipping.
....You get some practice before you tackle the customer mounts. If you alredy don't have an African price list, that is substantually higher than your North American prices, you are about to learn a valuable(and costly) lesson. If you need help, take Dean up on his offer to help. He does great African work!
Not all Safari companies are hacks when they take care of your trophies. I had the extreme good fortune to hunt SA last year and my outfitter's skinning staff was top notch. The skinned everything the way I wanted it and I checked everything afterward to make sure. I didn't need to! They did a great job and did it right. Not only that, but I had everything back in under 90 days.