Forums.NitroExpress.com

Home | Ezine | Forums | Links | Contact NitroExpress.com: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME?

View recent messages : 24 hours | 48 hours | 7 days | 14 days | 30 days | 60 days | More Smilies

*** Enjoy NitroExpress.com? Participate and join in. ***

You are not logged in. [Login]

Main Index · Search · Active Topics
New user · Who's Online · FAQ · Calendar

Hunting >> Hunting in Africa & hunting dangerous game

Pages: 1 | 2 | >> (show all)

hoppdoc
.400 member

Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA

WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME?
#56363 - 04/05/06 07:00 AM

A friend and I were viewing "impact shots" from a deer outfitter when a female co-worker came up and was livid.

An emotional outburst occured--
"That hunter hurt that animal!!"

We made terse responses that not only would we shoot the animal in question but that we would eat it to!!

The conversation continued--
You wouldn't do that if the animal could ATTACK and KILL YOU!!

We both chimed in as if on cue and said NOT SO-if even if the animal could KILL US!!

You would hunt an animal for sport even if it could KILL YOU?? You are here in civilized society [with its comforts] and you would do that? Your insane!!
Then we got the idiotic macho ruthless barbarian accusation and the vehement statement to leave the animals and wilderness alone and she left.

Bottom line--

Why do we hunt DG? Are we proving ourselves the ultimate preditor? Why do some hunters refuse to hunt DG?

What do you think?

Why do you hunt DG?

--------------------
An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Edited by hoppdoc (04/05/06 07:15 AM)

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

500grains
.416 member

Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56384 - 04/05/06 01:51 PM

When I hunt I like to walk as much as possible. And I really like following tracks. Plus I like to shoot big stuff. So elephant are just perfect, with buffalo being a reasonably close second. Getting real close to elephant is also quite exciting, especially when they make that growling noise. The trumpeting scares me so badly that I think it has given me aflinch. And some day I would like to track a lion too. But until then...

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

shakari
.400 member

Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: 500grains]
#56391 - 04/05/06 03:40 PM

Trying to explain why we feel the urge to voluntarily put ourselves in harms way and hunt (esp DG) to a non hunter is a little like trying to explain colour to a blind man.

Perhaps the quote from Ortega y Gasset is as good an explanation as anything. He said something like: " One doesn't hunt in order to have killed, one kills in order to have hunted"

The philosophy of hunting is surely one of the most complicated aspects of what we do...........

Perhaps you might like to ask her where the leather from her shoes came from etc (you could also mention food, medicines etc) and then point out that wild animals fairly hunted have a better life and a better end to that life and are put to better use than those animals kept domestically and executed for her convenience.

--------------------
Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com

Edited by shakari (04/05/06 03:50 PM)

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

luv2safari
.400 member

Reged: 09/11/03
Posts: 1410
Loc: United States

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56396 - 04/05/06 04:24 PM

It beats the Hell out of a weekend of "honey-dos"!

I feel a little bit more alive when all is done and over, although I always feel remorse for an animal gone.

--------------------
Hunt with Class and Classics

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

hoppdoc
.400 member

Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56406 - 04/05/06 10:30 PM

Hunting is like feeling alive, renewed again when the game is suddenly present and action taken.

DG is like the moment of truth--
you are initiating something that may harm /kill you despite your weapon, indeed your actions must be exact and totally committed to such action.

IMHO-
Other hunters mention they will not hunt DG because of cost when in reality I suspect it is their primordial RAW FEAR of facing their mortality they avoid. They do not want to find out they may be lacking if attacked. They would have no problems rolling about shooting from a secure vehicle if an animal HAD TO BE TAKEN[hunting ethics momentarily aside], but do not want to face DG with odds less in their favor.

--------------------
An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

allenday
.333 member

Reged: 18/04/04
Posts: 318

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56409 - 05/05/06 12:10 AM

Dangerous game hunting is a larger-than-life hunting experience. It's the stuff of dreams and of nightmares, and it's perhaps the most inescapable part of African legerdemain that can still be lived and still experienced in all it's glory, here, now, and today in the 21st century, and it's one of the few remaining legitmate adventures left on this earth.

And for the hunting man who grew up reading the great writers of the past and present; from Baker, Pretorious and Selous to O'Connor, Page, Carmichel and Boddington, dangerous game hunting represents the ultimate possible adventure, period.

That's why I do it -- to live the adventures of legend for myself. And I do it because I'm vitally interested in the animals themselves, knowing that without the stewardship of hunters, such magnificent animals that, in and of themselves, bear witness to the fact that yes -- God the Creator DOES exist -- will not be able to survive long-term.

And when I'm an old man, too old to hunt anymore, I'll be able to pass on my old and new books of Africana to a younger generation, and I'll be able to point to various trophies in my personal collection and relate tales of my own, veryifying the timeless link between hunters old and new, and offering reassurance that the adventure and the tradition can still be lived, the dream can still be fulfilled and passed on..........

AD

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

jorge
.275 member

Reged: 13/07/05
Posts: 88
Loc: Orange Park, Florida

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: allenday]
#56410 - 05/05/06 12:29 AM

What Allen says abot covers it from my perspective. I must also add however, that I do love the adrenalin rush and the chance however slight, that if I don't do my part, I can lose for keeps.
It's the closest thing I've found to night catapult lauches and landings as well as the wisful puffs of AAA drifting across your windscreen. Like Winston Churchill once said, nothing in life is more exilirating than to be shot at (we can insert bite, stomped or gored here) and missed! jorge

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

JPK
.375 member

Reged: 31/08/04
Posts: 734
Loc: Chevy Chase, MD

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: jorge]
#56414 - 05/05/06 01:00 AM

For me its the whole range of emotions from excitement to determination to fear...I am totally alive and focused and every second is critical. Whether I take a shot or not, even after the imediate emotions have ebbed a real high remains.

Elephants, close and in the thick stuff, do it all for me. Dry mouth, definite fear, huge adrenelin. The need to concentrate while not loosing perspective, the knowledge that you could end it by backing out but the imperitive to push forward. I've only hunted two tuskless, but if the experience is consistant as I hunt more elephants, I will have to hunt elephants til I'm no longer able.

When it comes to the meek, the over civilized, the anti hunters, I think Shakiri's response is on the mark.

JPK

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

iqbal
resigned as a member

Reged: 05/02/03
Posts: 778
Loc: Karachi,Pakistan

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56415 - 05/05/06 01:17 AM

Not having hunted DG's except for wild boar(if you could call that a DG) I am really not aware of the exhilaration or thrill experienced in hunting one.However even while hunting non DG's I feel alive and the adrelin rush is something I would like to experience over and over again.I'm sure this feeling would increase manifold when facing a DG and knowing that it could go both ways,kill or be killed,that would be the ultimate thrill.

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

shakari
.400 member

Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: iqbal]
#56417 - 05/05/06 02:02 AM

I'll add to my previous comments by saying that I never feel more alive than when I'm either right in amongst the big stuff or following up something big & angry....... I simply can't wipe the smile off my face at those moments.........

--------------------
Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

DoubleD
.400 member

Reged: 23/11/03
Posts: 2454
Loc: Retired in Oklahoma

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56421 - 05/05/06 02:48 AM

In reply to:

Other hunters mention they will not hunt DG because of cost when in reality I suspect it is their primordial RAW FEAR of facing their mortality they avoid. They do not want to find out they may be lacking if attacked. They would have no problems rolling about shooting from a secure vehicle if an animal HAD TO BE TAKEN[hunting ethics momentarily aside], but do not want to face DG with odds less in their favor.

I want to be polite here, I Realy do...I will be.

You are mistaken.

--------------------
DD, Ret.

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

JPK
.375 member

Reged: 31/08/04
Posts: 734
Loc: Chevy Chase, MD

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: DoubleD]
#56423 - 05/05/06 03:57 AM

DoubleD,

I am sure that there are many who long for the DG hunt but who cannot make it happen for one reason or another, $'s included. Or perhaps the ultimate hell, can only go once and find themselves addicted and yearning in perpetuity to go back. I am equally sure that there are those who doubt themselves and their mettle and invent reasons no to hunt DG. As well as those who have a taste of it and decide for one reason or another, that it is not for them.

JPK

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

hoppdoc
.400 member

Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: DoubleD]
#56425 - 05/05/06 04:08 AM

Upon reflection--
My opinion indeed may be biased by my hunting buddies and I may indeed be quite mistaken in saying COST is not the major factor preventing DG hunts. If your means are so limited(as so many hunters experience) that Africa is not even an option then obviously the whole DG thing and my statement regarding that is totally irrevelant.And obviously more hordes of hunters would go to Africa if the price was conducive.

Among fellow hunters in my middle age bracket not moaning about the cost of hunting( who have hunted Canada,Alaska,CONUS et al) I note three groups. Some prefer just whitetail,some bigger game but no American DG like big bears and then others really want the Bear/Boar experience.

How many want the DG experience and how many don't?
Has todays PC civilized society emasculated its hunters?
It would be interesting to know!! More hunters hunting DG would go a long way toward preserving DG as a wildlife resource in the future.

--------------------
An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

Charles_Helm
.333 member

Reged: 09/11/05
Posts: 337
Loc: Dallas, Texas

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56432 - 05/05/06 05:21 AM

Hoppdoc:

Many people who can afford to hunt plains game may not be able or willing to pay the typically much higher daily rates (and frequently, trophy fees) for dangerous game, or may just not see the point. I am not particularly interested in criticizing fellow hunters because they have a different approach.

At the risk of being impolite, I believe that you have posted that you have not been to Africa, so perhaps your views on the subject may be different once you have done so.

I have very limited experience myself so will refrain from further comment except to say that for me the presence or potential presence of dangerous game increases the wild feeling of the hunting area and adds an element to the hunt that I do not believe you get in more-civilized places.

--------------------
Some pictures from Namibia

Some pictures from Zimbabwe

An Elephant Story

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

DoubleD
.400 member

Reged: 23/11/03
Posts: 2454
Loc: Retired in Oklahoma

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: JPK]
#56435 - 05/05/06 05:25 AM

In reply to:

I am equally sure that there are those who doubt themselves and their mettle and invent reasons no to hunt DG. As well as those who have a taste of it and decide for one reason or another, that it is not for them.

I believe this is true but not for a whole class of persons who simply don't have the means.

To condemn a class due to a lack wealth is arrogant.

And I also believe there are those who don't feel they have what it takes and make no excuses about it. They are at least honest.

And on the other side of the coin I'll bet there are those who have the means and use their money to prove to everyone how brave they are. The really don't have enough sense to know what danger they could be in. Their money will protect them. I'll bet everyone has run onto this guy before.

And like those using lack of wealth as there excuse, those people out to prove themselves to others with their money are a very small minority also. Very Small.

But then to condemn a class because they have wealth is also ignorant.

I don't look down on the lowly Squirrel hunter and I don't look with awe upon the DG Hunter, I look at all of them with respect as they are all hunters!

I doubt I will ever get chance to hunt African Dangerous game because it exceeds my means. But that doesn't make me afraid. And at almost 60 Years of age, with a bad knee, I probably shouldn’t even consider it, but given the chance you bet your sweet ass I would!!!

My wife would let me because she is vested in my retirement program.

--------------------
DD, Ret.

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

Charles_Helm
.333 member

Reged: 09/11/05
Posts: 337
Loc: Dallas, Texas

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: DoubleD]
#56436 - 05/05/06 05:39 AM

In reply to:

My wife would let me because she is vested in my retirement program.

Now that is funny!

My wife reminded me just this week that she thinks I am crazy and that she has no real desire to be a widow. There are some benefits to being underinsured and a poor retirement planner...

--------------------
Some pictures from Namibia

Some pictures from Zimbabwe

An Elephant Story

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

JPK
.375 member

Reged: 31/08/04
Posts: 734
Loc: Chevy Chase, MD

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: Charles_Helm]
#56443 - 05/05/06 09:38 AM

DoubleD,

You should have just quoted the whole of my post rather than just the later half and then mosey through six or seven paragraphs to repharase the first half and make the same point.

I look up to soldiers who have been in combat and hold them in higher regard then a fellow soldier who missed combat, no matter what the reason he missed combat.

Likewise the airline pilot who kept the crippled jet whole or on the runway, rather than a fellow pilot who has not met that challenge, whatever the reason he has not faced that challenge.

I have the highest regard for elephant hunters, whether they are of limited means and do it or did it as a job or of unlimited means and do it or did it as a hobby.

As for some rich prick trying to prove to others that he is macho or brave or whatever, I doubt you would find that fellow going back. Keep in mind that pricks needing to prove themselves to others, rather than only to themselves, come from all economic backgrounds.

JPK

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

Dark_Helmet
.333 member

Reged: 09/01/04
Posts: 399
Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: JPK]
#56449 - 05/05/06 12:29 PM

great discussion.

economics plays a large role, but seeing as how a DG hunt costs no more than a decent car these days, I would hesitate to use it as a key metric.

most simply lack the balls to just DO IT.

some of us are too busy using said balls to make babies at the moment.

gotta make more hunters!

--------------------
_________________________________________________________________
When someone says a rifle is "ugly," what they really mean is "push feed."

-me

(long live the Mauser 98!)

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

shakari
.400 member

Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: Dark_Helmet]
#56463 - 05/05/06 03:00 PM

Double D,

you said " And at almost 60 Years of age, with a bad knee, I probably shouldn’t even consider it, "

Of course you should....... I had a client about 3 years ago who was 70 years old, had 2 buggered knees, a heart condition and diabetes. He had a 21 day licence and took most species. Since then he's had at least 2 overseas hunts per year in the USA for bears and other species and it looks like we'll be hunting together for Elephant and roan and a few other species next year. ...... never give up!!!!!

--------------------
Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

JPK
.375 member

Reged: 31/08/04
Posts: 734
Loc: Chevy Chase, MD

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: shakari]
#56477 - 05/05/06 11:19 PM

Good point Shakiri.

Another example is the fellow who is a member here - and/or Accuratereloading.com? - who successfully pursued a PAC bull elephant this spring in Zim while on crutches, overcoming some type of permanent knee injury!

Hats off to your client and the other hunter for their perserverance and determination! Hats off to you and Buzz Charlton, the other PH, for succesfully working a plan that accomodated your clients' limitations! Where there is the will there is a way (ussually).

JPK

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

tinker
.416 member

Reged: 12/03/05
Posts: 4835
Loc: Nevada

If only for the budget... [Re: hoppdoc]
#56483 - 06/05/06 12:28 AM

Hopdoc-

I'll stand up here to accept your invitation to a DG hunt with you where you pay my travel, expenses, and trophy fees.
I'd even be happy to let you cover the taxidermy and shipping fees for my trophies.

Please accept my application first for the fully funded dangerous game hunt. As I'm a bit occupied with the little baby girl and young wife, I'll need a few months lead time in order to get my schedule straight.
Feel free to contact me here via the site and we can go from there.

In return, I'll get you out for a little dangerous game sport here in the Oakland,CA area. I promise a very thrilling and rewarding experience.

--Tinker

--------------------
--Self-Appointed Colonel, DRSS--

"It IS a dangerous game, and so named for a reason, and you can't play from the keyboard. " --Some Old Texan...

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

shakari
.400 member

Reged: 09/02/03
Posts: 1107
Loc: South Africa

Re: If only for the budget... [Re: tinker]
#56485 - 06/05/06 01:05 AM

We actually had a great safari and he took some fabulous trophies...... 2 Buff in less than an hour, an EA Eland that would have been number 4 in RW and number 1 SCI had he wanted to enter it and a real nice Lion amongst other things. We also laughed from start to finish. - he was a real comedian and relished every moment of his time in the bush.

--------------------
Steve "Shakari" Robinson
Kuduland Safaris (Africa) Ltd
info@kuduland.com
www.kuduland.com

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

Boomer
.300 member

Reged: 13/04/05
Posts: 144
Loc: The Hudson Bay Coast, Canada

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56501 - 06/05/06 08:24 AM

"Danger is the spice of life, too little is bland…..too much is unpalatable." - Jeff Cooper

--------------------

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

MRobinson
.275 member

Reged: 29/01/06
Posts: 66
Loc: New England

Re: WHY DO YOU HUNT DANGEROUS GAME? [Re: hoppdoc]
#56519 - 06/05/06 01:33 PM

Money is certainly one of the prerequisites to DG hunting. Maybe an adventurous spirit is another, I don't know.

I did it and continue to do it because I am lucky enough to have the means and I have found that I love it.

At first, I wondered if I could do it. I wondered if I would feel fear, if my nerve would hold. I thought that I could and would manage well enough, but one never knows until one is tested. Self-confidence is definitely a prerequisite to DG hunting. But shooting straight can be a bit tougher when one's life might depend on it.

For me, hunting DG was and continues to be a personal test and an intensely personal experience altogether. And it is also an adventure that makes all others pale in comparison.

I have never hunted only plains game while on safari. I need the spice of pursuing DG to get and keep me interested. It makes my blood run fast and hot. So much so, that I doubt that I will ever hunt in Africa unless dangerous game is on license.

--------------------
Mike

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

hoppdoc
.400 member

Reged: 02/03/06
Posts: 1791
Loc: Southeastern USA

Re: If only for the budget... [Re: tinker]
#56614 - 08/05/06 09:26 AM

Tinker--

I understand your eagerness to jump at such an over and I made that same offer to an african hunting buddy for years until I just decided to schedule a hunt and DO IT.

I am blessed with 4 beautiful children and a high maintenance wife(what husband out there doesn't have a high maintenance wife?)!! and my time is limited.I understand the relative limits of $$ as probably only 5% of hunters will ever go on an african hunt. Still the African experience is something that just has to happen--and will sooner than later!

As for hunting in Oakland I don't know if I have the automatc weaponry or training to deal with the local criminals/vermin!!

The thrill of DG hunting is one I have entertained for years. I just have to go before I get to old to deal with the physical requirements of such a hunt.

--------------------
An armed man is a citizen of his country, an unarmed man just a subject.

Edited by hoppdoc (08/05/06 09:31 AM)

Post Extras:

Print Post

Remind Me!

Notify Moderator

Pages: 1 | 2 | >> (show all)

Extra information

0 registered and 226 anonymous users are browsing this forum.

Moderator:

Print Topic

Forum Permissions
      You cannot start new topics
      You cannot reply to topics
      HTML is disabled
      UBBCode is enabled

Rating:
Topic views: 5716

Jump to

NitroExpress.com

Powered by UBB.threads™ 6.5.5

Home | Ezine | Forums | Links | Contact

Copyright 2003 to 2011 - all rights reserved