Kalunga:

Your stereotypes are provoking and they should be. They should provoke each and every one of us to look hard inside and judge ourselves for our motives and our actions.

I read this post and wasn't even going to get involved since I haven't shot a buffalo. I have shot various game in several US states and small game and plains game in central and southern Africa, two heads which scored high but I never bothered to submit. As for buffalo, my closest to hunting them was the temptation to dust their butts with SSSG buckshot out of frustration for their spooking the troop of monkeys we were hounding in the Congo years ago.

Your question brings up a specific problem that I believe may contribute to major problems in game management in the future. The future is now...

Now, here's my rant. Yes, I am using some hyperbole, but I hope you guys won't forgive me too much as I really do think we have a host of problems and I intend to pick on one.

Kalunga, you started it so don't blame me! Entschuldigen Sie mir!!

Speaking about American hunters in specific {maybe it applies to others, or will apply some day}, I am just about thoroughly and completely disgusted...

I believe we are reaching "critical mass" {pun intended} and a substantial part {but not the only part} of my problem with The Average American Hunter revolves around "his" weight {Read: obesity}. Yes, I have trouble with his typcal lousy shooting and hunt laziness but to a degree I believe they are impacted by his inability to carry his own bulk yonder and near. Please understand, I live in the mountains of Idaho and know very tough terrain {which exposes these faults dramatically} and I know the temptation to lean hard on equipment instead of the sinew God gave us. I spend my entire year trying to keep Old Man Age and past injuries and ailments at bay so I can enjoy the grind of getting close to elk, deer and bear. But what I see in the woods and what I read about as a medical crisis in our country I believe is contributing to changing attitudes about the quarry and the concept of the trophy.

I believe it IS true that many Americans don't care about HOW they get their trophy because they can't care! They are all-too-often too fat and out of shape to take on the challenge of a legitimate hunt. A Series III Land Rover or {here} the Arctic Cat 500cc ATV suits them just fine, because the possibility of their actually accomplishing a legitimate foot hunt is so remote and it represents a legitimate threat to their well-being. I submit that heart attacks are a far greater threat than angry buff to many an American hunter.

As I said, I am disgusted... I've seen them huffing and puffing just unloading their ATV off the pickup so they can cart themselves around looking for a big horned critter to beer'n'brag about.

Look at the dilution of real, wild trophies with darn-near pen-raised deer in Texas and elsewhere.
And in southern Africa, game ranching ethics have reached national political status. The sport as we knew it is under seige from within and the BFG's inability to shake the vehicle isn't pointing to a bright future for trophy hunting.

The pressure to provide a set of horns for some BFG is so high that many ranch managers and guides the world over face high temptation to make it all too easy.

Further, I'll put it this way. To me, I do not care one whit for another guy's trophy unless I know him deeply and personally. I don't care what species is being talked about and what yarn is being spun. Period. Good grief, I chuckle as I realize that I have far more involvement in fair-chase hunting here on the ranch shooting mutton sheep with my shoulder-stocked 9mm Browning High Power pistol than exists in many big game hunts all over the world and my knowledge and growing cynicism about the Hunt bars my belief in the Story unless the Man proves it.

Trophy Hunting??

I am really beginning to believe a system should exist to grade the conditions of the hunt without regard for the size of the horns. It may border on heresy, but I mean I wonder if we'd be better off if we forgot about horn size entirely. Maybe not quite yet, but soon. Or maybe a mathematical listing of horn size and locality {without the hunter's name attached} would suffice, with the New Culture I hope for emphasizing hunt type over horn size.

¿Quien sabe? But something new, please!

After this rant it may be hard for the reader to believe, but I personally have no ethical problem with any culture's hunting METHODS as long as the game are not erradicated. Hochsitzen, bait, hound hunting, calling, all are fine by me. But the trophy size means nothing to me anymore. So often it only means that a big set of horns swung close enough to the Machine that a blind-drunk, fat guy could shift his girth behind a shootin' iron long enough to clamp his eyes shut and yank the trigger.

All that to say this: My opinion is that if we really KNEW the hunt conditions we could much better judge the trophy.