My first instinct when reading post like the one Oz Hunter quoted, or Poprivit's is to practice Irish Diplomacy, as I believe Oz Hunter is doing. (Irish Diplomacy: To tell a man to go to hell so that he looks forward to the trip)

But in situations like this, where the original poster or other posters are looking at their first safari (and fortunately, have booked with a Class A, top of the line outfit) and must harbor all of the anxiety that I did prior to my first trip - and probably most others did as well, and some additional anxiety because of 1.) the current trouble 2.) unresposive and unhelpful post like Poprivits, Rscott's and other's, I think it is more than appropriate to make it clear that nay sayers' and shit slingers' opinions and experiences are theirs and not nessecarily shared by others. Maybe even that their negative experiences and opinions are unique to themselves.

And Rscott, to the extent that your pretty shitty post was directed to me, and I assume it must have been, I've never gone to the SCI convention, find the "record book" a poor reason to hunt, and hunting for a tape measure an abomination. And why the apparent envy directed toward some other guy's money spent on a hunt? If you had half an idea of how to play within the system, you'd know that hunts like my last one can be remarkably cost efficient. But to learn how to do that you must be more than a follower dragged along by a PH. Either way, why the bitterness and envy, eh?

And as far a bragging, well, two things, first, I'm damned proud that I have the grit, the determination and the mental toughness to keep walking, keep tracking, keep humping, day in and day out over terrain from pretty flat to terrain where the map names mountains over a long hunt to take advantages of opportunities as they arose, second, if you've done it, it ain't braggin, it's just story telling.

JPK