A problem with modern client / PH scenarios is many clients may have only shot whitetails from high seats before.

Another problem is the video camera ... They capture the reality on a video ...

One famous much praised client was a compkete tyro. Robert Ruark, who wrote he'd never shot a rifle before, only shotguns at birds, before arriving on safari in Kenya. New rifles he'd never shot before ... Perhaps like many a DG hunter today with their new double or big bore rifle ... Often sold again after the hunt. .... I wonder how Ruark really went, no videos, the writer writes the "story" ...

I agree with GV. The "head on the wall" is often the main objective, along with the bragging rights. The tape measure is probably more important than the rifle, handgun, or bow,

Btw I think if one wants a stunt hunt, using a bow, spear, handgun, inadequate rifle, one should not be backed by a big bore rifle. Do it with your weapon and suffer the consequences ... Client deaths aren't good for business so this is rarely the case today. Actually sometimes a death from DG actually sells hunts !

The colonial farmer using a .303 or a 8x60 shooting buffalo for meat, or protecting his cattle from lions had no backup. The old ivory hunter using 4-bore muzzle liaders, maybe two of them, only had the second 4-bore carried hopefully by a hravevgun bearer black,

I remember one story which excited me a lot. Our intrepid hunter, I think in Malaya, hunted seladang/gaur with a 10-bore double. Maybe 12-bore. All from memory. Maybe a second rifle, carried by a gunbearer. The story is of a wounded bull, which then charges and throws the man again and again. Sometimes catching him before he hits the ground. The gun bearer, trackers watched from up in the trees, I believe the hunter was found and the trackers provided the story. The sort of thing that can happen when one hunts alone. Makes an inadequate shot. Follows up. Sh*t happens. In theory a 10-bore double rifle should be adequate. One wonders what sort of bullet or ball was used. Perhaps too soft. The FMJ was favoured in the nitro era because the SPs were often unreliable.

Real hunters hunted by themselves, Unfortunately today legally or practically this often is impossible, Laws require a "PH", Called in reality economic value adding to the economic activity, than often the real skills provided. The camps etc provided are a plus. And where like in Australia a PH is not required, the hunting areas are all locked up by outfitters,

But everyone needs experience. Everyone needs to start somewhere. Often one hunt is the lifetime experience.