The best time to call your taxidermist about an African hunt is before you get on the plane.
Most safari hunters come home with more animals than they have ever dealt with at once — a kudu, a gemsbok, an impala, a warthog, a zebra, and whatever the outfitter talked them into on day nine. Those animals arrive together, months later, in one crate. If nobody has thought about what they will become, they become six shoulder mounts on six walls, and the collection never quite adds up.
Plan it first and it becomes a room.
Before you leave
A conversation before the hunt takes twenty minutes and changes the outcome. What we will cover:
- Which species you are likely to take, and which are worth a pedestal or a lifesize rather than a shoulder mount
- How the animals will relate to each other as a group
- What your space can actually hold — ceiling height matters more than people expect
- Field care that protects the cape, especially in heat
- What to tell your outfitter and skinner before the first animal is down
- Realistic timelines, from hunt to wall
See also our guide: Hunting in Africa: Preparation, Trophy Care and Bringing Your Skins Home.
Planning the finished collection
This is where the value is. Options worth considering for African game:
- Shoulder mounts — still right for most plains game
- Wall pedestals — more presence, better for the animals you care most about
- Floor pedestals — cape buffalo, eland, kudu, the centerpiece animal
- Lifesize — leopard, cheetah, warthog, smaller cats
- Multi-species pedestals — several animals on one habitat base
- Custom African habitat — thornbush, red soil, rock
- Backboards and panels
- Full trophy room layout
A common and effective approach: one or two centerpiece animals on floor pedestals with real habitat, and the rest arranged around them. Better than fifteen shoulder mounts hung at the same height.
Custom Taxidermy Habitats →
Trophy Room Design →
Getting your trophies home
This is the part hunters find most confusing, so here is the honest version.
Your trophies are prepared in-country — typically dipped, packed and documented before export. Your outfitter usually arranges this, or works with a dip-and-pack facility that does. From there a shipping agent or broker moves the crate to the United States, where it clears customs and any applicable federal requirements before it reaches us.
We work with brokers and freight agents regularly and can use ours or yours. We will tell you what we need and when, and we will coordinate on timing.
What we do not do is act as a substitute for the regulatory process.
On USDA specifically: Stehling’s is a USDA-approved import facility (W10015) for avian species. That approval covers birds. It does not cover other imported wildlife. Some species — including suids such as warthog and bushpig — must be processed through a USDA-certified tannery before they can come to us. We will tell you which of your animals that applies to and where they need to go first.
If you are hunting birds internationally, contact us before the trip so our facility information is on your paperwork correctly. See USDA Import Services for Avian Species.
Shipping to our studio
Once your crate is stateside, it comes to our Jefferson facility. Talk to us before it ships so we know what is coming and when. See Shipping to Us.
African species and pricing
We mount African and exotic game regularly and publish pricing across a wide range of species. See our Pricing page for the African & Exotic list, and our African taxidermy work for examples.
Paying for a safari collection
A collection of ten or twelve animals is a significant investment, and it arrives all at once. Our Easy 8 payment plan spreads it over eight months with no bank and no credit check. See the Pricing page for current payment options.
Common questions
When should I contact you about an African hunt?
Before you go. Even a short conversation changes what you tell your skinner and what you come home with.
Can I decide on mount types after I see the animals?
Yes, and most hunters do adjust. But going in with a plan means the capes come home in the condition your plan needs.
Should I mount in Africa or the United States?
There are real tradeoffs in cost, shipping, quality control and turnaround. We would rather walk you through them than give you a one-line answer — our Africa guide covers it in more detail.
How long does an African collection take?
Multiple animals ordered together run on our standard production schedule — see the Pricing page for current delivery times. Factor in shipping and clearance time on top of that.
Do you handle the import paperwork?
We coordinate with brokers, and we hold a USDA-approved import facility designation for avian species (W10015). We are not a customs broker, and our USDA approval does not extend to non-avian wildlife. We will tell you clearly what applies to your animals and who handles each step.
What about warthog, bushpig or primates?
These require a USDA-certified tannery before they can come to us. We will point you to the right facility.
Can you design the room too?
Yes — that is often the best part of an African project. See Trophy Room Design.
I am going on my first safari and I am overwhelmed.
That is the normal state. Get in touch with whatever you know so far — you do not need a species list to start the conversation.
Request a safari consultation
Tell us where you are hunting, roughly when, and what you hope to take. We will help you plan the collection before the first animal is down.