Wet tan vs. dry tan on african game

I'm going to Africa next month and it will be my first experience working with African game heads. They will be all plains game. After talking to a few other Taxidermist a couple strongly suggested using a wet tan. One comment was that dry tanned hides are hard to use because they are stiffer when they come back than domestic hides? The hides will all be done commercialy. Looking for any help to make things as smooth as possible on these. Tried the search and didn't see anything to reletive. Thanks in advance.
Rod

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Rod

Rod;
From my experience I like the wet tan a whole lot better. It's easier to sew any holes and you have a whole lot better stretch.

Coyote

I'd never use anything but a wet tan

Personally, you have the upper hand from the very beginning with a wet tan. BUT, expect problems. Even if you cape the animal and salt it down, you may get a piece of crap. I suspect and it's been rumored that the agents you have to entrust with your hides often swap good capes for trashed ones no matter how much you pay in trying to prevent that. I got a kudu in with the entire eye orbit cut out. The hunter and the PH both told me that the hide had been in perfect condition when it was caped and salted, yet I was still left with recreating a 4 inch circle of missing eye orbit. Just letting you know ahead. I hope you are luckier than most.

Where in Africa?

If you are going to South Africa, and thru Joburg, I would suggest you use Kwiktan for your trophy prep and tanning. They use Luftan products and "so far" have done a first class job for me. They are taxidermist also so they know what is reguired. You will hear of the horror stories about tanning in Africa, but they must not have used Kwiktan. I think most problems started in the field with the skinners.
You will also save some cash by having them tan your skins. By the time you pay for dipping charges and then tanning in the states, you can just pay for them to tan.
They also sell souvenirs cheap, like $15 for a tanned Springbok skin, and they will ship them with your trophies.
I will be picking up a shipment from my hunt last September, this week. I went with three clients and we had Kwiktan process 22 trophies. The shipment also included several souvenirs. If I need to eat my words about the qaulity I will post it on this forumn!
If you have any questions about your trip, drop me an e-mail.
Good luck on your safari!