Well said!

Unfortunately, these types of "hunts" for those who wish to indulge in this type of "hunting" has become the norm. Not just in Africa, but everywhere.

For example, here in the USA, many states have been inundated by feral pigs. They are so many of them and they are so incredibly destructive, they cause millions of dollars of crop and property destruction every year. They are considered vermin in most states and because they do not have game animal status, there are few if any restrictions on how they can be hunted or exterminated. In many states, hunting for feral hogs is allowed year round by any method the hunter or landowner chooses. So people use traps, snares, poison, guns of every type and caliber, bows and arrows, spears, knives, dogs.... They can be hunted day or night, chased down and shot from moving vehicles, helicopters or boats. Some companies even provide "hunts" with fully-auto, belt-fed machine guns equipped with night vision scopes. Hell, I've even seen videos of people using Tannerite (a legal, binary explosive used for exploding targets) to destroy (or merely maim) entire herds of pigs with a single blast!

Now, being a land owner, I do understand the need to eradicate feral hogs or at least to try to keep their numbers (and their destruction) in check. However, I prefer that it is done in an efficient and humane manner where all animals harvested are accounted for. Call me old-fashioned, but I was brought up to respect the animal you are hunting; to work for it, to earn it, and to foster the skills needed to hunt it the way it deserves to be hunted, and then to harvest it cleanly when the time came. Whatever your weapon of choice, you owe it to that animal.

This type of "chest thumping", ego-stroking behavior makes us all look bad and is not what hunting is all about. Quite simply, it should never be called "hunting", because there is rarely any real hunting involved.

J