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Trevor Oertel
Unfortunately the "link" used in the original post by TA Opre
does not reflect on the true motive for the question of ethical hunting.
In light of some of the comments posted especially some of the later ones such as those by John Hahn
Morne Openshaw
Adolf Kleinhans
Jack Visser
I suspect the original post by Merelize van der Merwe was not seen by many commenting on here.
The ethics that TA Opre righly questioned was a post by Merelize of a "valentine's" gift she had received from her husband as she waxed on lyrically of how she had always desired a big black Giraffe and had to put a romantic interlude to a hotel on pause as she went forth to claim her trophy.
I suspect very few on here besides Austin Farley
and I saw the original post, which has subsequently been removed by Merelize.
The original post to my mind was unnecessary, provocative and designed to solicit exactly the International media response it has.
Personally I found the post in poor taste and unethical as potentially the years of good hard work undertaken by many hunters and conservationists to highlight the invaluable contribution that hunting makes towards conservation was spat on for Merelize's own ego and need to be noticed.
Hopefully this article in the Daily Mail
will touch on and quote enough of the original post to give one a better understanding of the now removed post which was not an innocent post as a hunter holding the heart of an animal they had just shot or an educational video of the workings of a giraffe heart.
Clayton Fletcher
made a brilliant observation of throwing a fellow hunter under the bus. Merelize's original post for her own ego and need to be noticed to my mind has thrown an entire industry under a bus and has undone years of hard work trying to justify and show the anti hunting narrative for what it is.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/.../South-African-hunter...
South African hunter poses with giraffe heart 'Valentine's gift'
DAILYMAIL.CO.UK
South African hunter poses with giraffe heart 'Valentine's gift'
South African hunter poses with giraffe heart 'Valentine's gift'
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Trond Livden
Trevor Oertel
the article reflects a lot of the inconsistent arguments from antis.
«Conservationists dispute this, saying that trophy hunting encourages people to breed animals for sport, which disrupts ecosystems and harms the environment.»
And then:
«Removing wild animals, particularly large males, damages the herds in which they live, animal activists argue.»
Breeding animals and then they suddenly are wild animals.....😏

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Adolf Kleinhans
Thank you Trevor Oertel
for trying to clarify. Your further explanation however does not change anything.
You may use absolutely any activity which is seen as good or bad, depending on who you ask, and draw the comparison.
Your concern seems to be with the bad taste, or rather the undermining of "the years of good hard work undertaken by many hunters and conservationists" - I take your point, but I argue that your point and the good hard work done was done the wrong way.
As stated in my original comment - we should not hide, or sugar coat. We should stand firm.
How does this picture in any way take away from "highlight[ing] the invaluable contribution that hunting makes towards conservation"?
In fact - I would argue that the "many hunters and conservationists" who worked so hard should have used this opportunity to explain that although anti's might not like the photo, the principle remains. You would have been able to garner MUCH media attention and drive the message. Just as butchery isn't a nice sight - it is part of the process. This is nothing different.
This is a missed opportunity and anyone turning on her should be ashamed - it is the very definition of hypocritical.
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Trevor Oertel
https://www.jacarandafm.com/.../south-african-woman.../
South African woman poses with giraffe's body and heart
JACARANDAFM.COM
South African woman poses with giraffe's body and heart
South African woman poses with giraffe's body and heart

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Graeme Bruce Pollock
Adolf Kleinhans
do soldiers display their kills , no , but we all know soldiers kill . Everybody knows hunters kill .
Nobody is saying be apologetic or hide the processes of hunting . We are saying dont taunt the public . Share with like minded people but for the good of hunting it is better to share the hunting experience, the outdoors , the fellowship , this promotes hunting . I can assure blood guts and giraffes hearts bleeding in a womans hands does not .
Unless you spend a lot of time promoting hunting as a land use to governments, communities and legislators you dont understand how important public perception is .
One small example in Northen KwaZulu , there was an experiment to auction injured dangerous elephants , it generated good income but was quickly closed due to public perception, and it was a minuscule anti reaction but it put end to a great income generating opportunity for conservation and the Warden was left to do the culling at the expense of the parks budget .
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Trevor Oertel
Adolf Kleinhans
I agree with just about everything you have written here.
I agree 100% that we should not hide or sugar coat what we do and nowhere have I ever advocated that we should, in fact the opposite.
How does "this picture in any way take away from "highlighting the invaluable contribution that hunting makes towards conservation"?" IT DOESN'T which is the very point of my comment! Merelize's original post did!
By this and your further comments on the photo I can only assume you did not see the original post by Merelize.
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
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Adolf Kleinhans
Graeme Bruce Pollock
I implore you to go read my reply up top to TA Opre
- your math is out.
The "public perception" you speak of, is not public perception. It is the overwhelming voice of anti-hunting groups and individuals sitting at home with 72 cats.
For the past three years, I have spent 80 hours a week working with the hunting industry's data. That is all I do.
I say this with respect: People forming arguments as you do in the last response, are drawing conclusions from the end result, not from the process. You say that there was public backlash, therefore we did wrong. When in actual fact many other factors come into play. It is a perfect example of what we call "ergo propter hoc" - because B happened after A, A must have caused B.
For example, the way in which you are now handling this situation. If instead of joining the anti's in judging these pictures, you used the opportunity to engage with the media outlets condemning it, you would have been able to reach the other 50% of the population who have no problem with it and an additional big chunk of those who just don't understand (but are flooded by "facts" from anti's). All of a sudden the scales tip. An equally loud pro-hunting voice could have been heard, and the absolute minority in which anti-hunting radicals exist would have been made more clear.
We like to talk about sustainability - do you really think that trying to hide the kill is a sustainable PR strategy?
To use your example - the army/government don't try to hide the kill. In fact, they always tell us "XYZ number of people were killed during ... ". But instead of hiding the kill, they explain it. That is what hunters should do. That is what the hunting community should do with this giraffe.
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Adolf Kleinhans
Trevor Oertel
I've seen the original post, no I did not memorize it. I have also read the article you shared.
I still fail to see the problem? Her husband buying her a hunt, her drawing the Giraffe heart comparison with Valentine's day, her smile, her picture, her choosing a hunt over going to a golf resort, her standing up for herself after being attacked by anti's - where is the fault on her part?
If I am missing something I would love for someone to tell me what it is.
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Morne Openshaw
Trevor Oertel
I saw the original post....

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Peter Apps
Adolf Kleinhans
What you are missing - by a margin that suggests a complete and utter lack of empathy with ordinary people - is that the man and woman in the street, the huge majority that neither hunt not oppose hunting, do not want to see dismembered carcases on their social media, and that when the ARAs seize on opportunities such as that provided my Merelize van der Merwe to plaster such pictures all over the internet, hunting's reputation with the general public slips down another few points that it can ill afford to lose.
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Adolf Kleinhans
Peter Apps
Ah I see where you are coming from.
Peter - there are dreams & ideals, and there is reality.
The dream and ideal would be that all hunting pictures are wiped clean of blood, trophies are neatly positioned, no ego's are involved, hunters position themselves and their rifles politely.
The reality is that will never happen. You will always have people who do not give two damns about the anti-hunters and who would much rather explain themselves than constraint themselves.
So the question is NOT how do we stop hunters from posting these pictures - because you won't. The question is how do work with it.
Now taking what I just said - feel free to reread my prior comments, it should make more sense to you.
We cannot hide. That is impossible. We must embrace and control the narrative. As I said in another post - we are wasting our breath here arguing among each other. We should be out there helping people understand.
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Peter Apps
Adolf Kleinhans
"We should be out there helping people understand." OK then, take the picture on the left at the top, the one of her brandishing the heart. How do we go about "helping people understand" that ?
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Adolf Kleinhans
Peter Apps
By not attacking her, but tackling individual objections to it with logical arguments. Most people aren't that stupid and might not like it, but will understand it.
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Adolf Kleinhans
Peter Apps
Let me make one thing clear just - you do not have to "defend" her, but you sure as hell shouldn't be joining the anti's in attacking her.
If someone has an objection to the heart, sure you are welcome to say yeah I understand why you might not like it, but some people hunt very often and aren't queasy at all. And then stop. Because anything you say in addition to that is false. That is the fact. She doesn't care that she is holding a heart - others might. And that is the only difference.
I talk to the general public about hunting loud & proud in city bars & corporate meetings and most people understand if you just take 30 seconds to explain. Many even say they'd love to try it.
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Trevor Oertel
Some seem to have a hard time understanding why I and others find the original post over the Valentine's period distasteful, provocative, selfish and inappropriate.
It has nothing to do with being proud of our hunting heritage, showcasing the butchering of an animal or educational. I just hope should Merelize or any other hunter feel it is appropriate to post a video of themselves ripping out the throat or disemboweling their next injured animal using their teeth their actions are defended as vigorously.
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Peter Apps
Adolf Kleinhans
In other words, because she self-identifies as a hunting heroine, and uses shock tactics to deliberately stir up hate camments from the anti-hunters, she gets a free pass ? She does care that she is holding a heart, she chose the heart specifically for Valentine's day and deliberately used it to whip up anti-hunting sentiment among the anti-hunters. I really am at a loss why you, if you promote hunting, cannot see how that damages the image of hunting.
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Adolf Kleinhans
Peter Apps Oh I see how it damages the image of hunting - but only because so many hunters are shying away from it. She is in the vast minority, and you will always have Marelize's. So instead of attacking her and complaining about how she is tainting our image, you should be using the opportunity to educate people.
As I said, there are dreams, and there is reality. The reality is that Marelize exists, and many more Marelize's will exist today, tomorrow and forever.
I'm not trying to provoke you Peter, but I simply do not know how to illustrate this point any clearer:
- It is your choice which strategy you choose to follow when socializing about hunting.
- My strategy is open & honest and aimed at informing; it will not win over the anti's, but nothing will; it has however been tremendously successful with the vast majority of "middle grounders". I won't be posing with any animal's heart any time soon but I also won't be attacking someone who does because that's dishonest and anything I say about that person would be hypocritical.
- You seem to be covering up "the gorry parts" and hiding the facts in the hope that the boogeyman goes away. This is not sustainable and your strategy is dead before it even began. In fact - you are playing right into the hands of anti's as all they do is claim that ph's and guides don't want to show you the truth, and boom they plaster your kills all over the web. Checkmate. They win.
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Austin Farley
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Peter Apps
The unique thing about the hunting community, is that we never cut off the bad fruit but rather cling onto it for dear life. Really damages the health of the tree in the long run.
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Peter Apps
Austin Farley
I really cannot grasp the rationale behind calls for hunters to stand as one, undivided block; that no hunter must ever criticise anyone who self-identifies as a hunter.
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Austin Farley
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Peter Apps
Neither can I. We're only shooting ourselves in the foot at this point.
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Peter Apps
Adolf Kleinhans
OK, so you will not criticise brandishing a heart on social media. Let's approach the problem from another direction; what activity, posted on social media, would you criticise because it damages hunting's image ?
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John Hahn
Trevor Oertel
Seeing I was named. I have seen a post which very much looks like her original post. It certainly mentions all the relevant details, the Valentine's Gift hunt, the joy of hunting a giraffe, the old giraffe, the heart etc on Valentines day.
I didn't really see anything that extraorindary in that post.
The UK gutter rag pinched the photos and stories off facebook. Like they always do. For sensational copy and full of their usual bias.
I have enjoyed a buffalo hunt for my 50th birthday. And written about it. Not being female, the gutter rags couldn't care less about some odl fart shooting a buffalo. They would have been all over it if it was a young femal huntress on say her 21st Birthday however ...

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