Why is it different to hunt captive bred lion vs eg antelope or deer?

Good rational question.

I hunted on a fenced property in South Africa one time. The animals were far wilder than free range bred animals over the border in Zimbabwe. Why? Because of the huge and constant hunting pressure during the season. Clients at the begining of the season probably had tame animals by the multitude to shoot. When I was there, they had been hunted probably every other day for three months. And the ONE hartebeest 'trophy' left ran at the slightest. Same of the ONE or TWO impala rams, etc.

If you know the "names" of the "trophies" and they can only go as far as the fence, it is canned IMO.

Hunting free range was FAR more enjoyable. Hunted bushbuck nearby which were free range. Agin far more enjoyable than chasing agitated beasts around in the thorn jess in between fences.

Lions as the supreme predators on the apex are special. As apex predators, shooting a tame one seems to miss the whole point. The videos of canned lion hunts also showed how it works. How a canned lion defeated a whole troop of 'hunters' yet was too stupid to actually bite one of them. A true wild lion would have flattened him and mauled him. Lions are hunters themselves, canned lions are just prey.

As for the time between release and "shooting". Yes this can have an effect on wildness. But I will always remember a released fallow buck. Released a year before. Magnificent "trophy". I was hunting cull beasts. Local wild bred fallow only. The wild deer we could see on a hill across an open paddock where the released buck was feeding. If we disturbed him, he would run into the other deer and they would flee. How to get across the paddock without disturbing him?! In the end the only way, was to cross out in the open. The released buck looked up, then dropped his head to continue feeding ....

Contrast to that, a poorly antlered wild bred fallow on an opposite ridge would turn and run at the mere sight of a human, all one would see is the flash of sunlight on its palms as it turned ...

That released magnificent antlered buck now is proudly displayed as a "trophy" on the then Club President's wall ... wondered if he was able to walk right up to it and shoot it while it fed ...

The difference between captive bred and wild is more than a period of time.