Its interesting to note the apparently broad range of opinions on backup shots by the PH, both here and in talking to fellow hunters, and what I see is really more of a set of opinions that encompass the PH and his overall actions, with the subject of the acceptability regarding backup shots seeming to fall into a standard bell-curve of for and against, based on circumstances.

If a PH chose to shoot a bunch of holes in an animal for no apparent reason, I would take exception to this, but I still think it can be acceptable in some cases, as I believe it was in mine this past July.

However, what is absolutely unacceptable is the outfitter flat-out lying about animals and their status as wild, "concessions" that are really high fenced properties, sudden "opportunities" in the form of you-might-want-to-consider-shooting-this-[insert animal name]-because-I-can-offer-you-a-great-price-today, accommodations that are suddenly unavailable (bait and switch), excessive travel time to and from the hunting area (or worse, paying a full daily hunting rate to ride in a car all day long).

These to me are hanging offenses, which is why I probably won't hunt South Africa ever again.

A snap decision by the PH in a potentially dangerous situation, even one that I might not agree with after the fact, is a lot more forgivable, especially if you have a high regard for the man you are hunting with.