Hunting in Africa.

GT-40 GUY

Gone But Not Forgotten
I wonder how many hunting TV shows in Africa hunt in these places? Watch the whole video.

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firehuntfish

Senior Member
GT-40 Guy,

This is a propoganda video made by this wildlife sancutary group. They are the African version of PETA, GreenPeace, the Humane Society etc...This is no different than the commercials you see here on TV showing the poor the polar bear wandering around the barren ice looking helpless, or the cape fur seal with the big sad eyes looking like it's crying. Then there's the voice over with the sad music playing asking you to send money to save them...

I've been a life member of Safari Club International, and I have been fortunate enough to have hunted Africa 4 times with my 5th trip planned for this August. Over the years I have met hundreds of Afican outfitters, Professional Hunters, and clients who hunt lions as well as all the rest of the big African game. I can assure you that no ethical hunter or outfitter would participate in a so-called "canned hunt" like this woman implies. I have seen dozens of lions taken while in camp and I have been lucky enough to have been a guest on 3 lion hunts. Every lion we ever pursued was spot & stalked on foot with no protection of fences or a vehicle. These lions may have been bred ultimately for trophy hunting purposes, but they are hunted on massive hunting conscessions spanning thousands of acres. These lions are as wild and dangerous as any other predator. I can assure you that they did not grow up in a zoo being bottle fed as this video would suggest. All game in Africa is managed in one way or another for commercial hunting either for meat, sport or both. It happens to generate hundreds of thousands of jobs and millions in revenue for the government. Much of that revenue goes back into regulation and conservation for these animals...

These groups put out this propoganda crap hoping to play on the sympathy and naivity of those who don't know the facts. Unfortunately it works. The biggest irony is the fact that the sport hunting value of the lion is the very thing that has kept them from erradication in many of these African countries. The demand for these animals is what keeps them valuable as a natural resource which affords them all of the regulation and protection that they get. This video fails to mention that with formal big game regulation being practiced in South Africa the lion population has quadrupled in the last 20 years. For every lion harvested, there are 4 more born to live out their exisitences and make more baby lions until they die of natural causes.
 
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Thunder Head

Gone but not forgotten
If you see a show filmed in south africa its mostly in a fenced area. Some are huge some are not.
There has been alot of shows lately that depict alot of drama about hunting lions in south africa. Most are for all intense and purposes "canned hunts" with a pen rasied lion being released shortly before the hunts starts.
Its waayyy cheaper than a free range lion hunt so there is a market for them.
 

firehuntfish

Senior Member
Thunder Head,

I'm sure your opinions on South African Lion hunting are well intended, but with all due respect. They are inaccurate....

There is an organization called PHASA. It stands for Professional Hunters Association of South Africa. The vast majority of Professional Hunters and Outfitters in South Africa are extremely ethical, dedicated hunters and conservationists committed not only to the integrity of their industry but to the conservation and preservation of all natural resources including the wildlife. The overwhelming majority of legitimate licensed outfitters & PH's in Africa are PHASA members. One of the organizations proudest accomplishments in the last 2 decades was to denounce and practically erradicate "canned hunts" of any kind within the RSA. Lions are indeed being bred and raised within South Africa for the ultimate purpose of being hunted and harvested. It's called game management conservation and it's the very reason lions and scores of other African game species are thriving and being hunted as extrememly stable populations. It's no different than what any of us whitetail hunters do here... We plant crops, we provide supplimental feed and minerals, we protect habitat, and we regulate our deer numbers ultimately to be able to have a healthy sustainable deer population that yields mature trophy bucks...

You commented that South African lion hunts are way cheaper than free range hunts. There is some truth to that, but not in the way you imply it.... South Africa offers more competitive prices and opportunity to hunt lions in Africa simply becasue they have the highest lion populations due to their management practices. Most African countries cannot offer competitive hunts becasue they simply don't have the lions. They have been unprotected, mismanaged, overhunted, poached, or all of the above...There are very few places left in Africa to hunt "truly wild" becasue of the factors stated above.

The video clip that GT-40 Guy posted is not the only one of it's kind. I'm sure you could do a web search and find dozens of these propoganda anti-hunting videos that seem to originate from the hunters themselves or neutral third parties. We as hunters have to be extremely wary and skeptical with media like this. It becomes extremely dangerous when these anti's plant these seeds within the hunters' minds and get them to second guess each other. Divide and conquer is the their strategy... When we see and hear media like this we all need to make sure we get our information from fact based-research, and not from random groups out to take our hunting rights away from us...
 
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Thunder Head

Gone but not forgotten
I have lived and breathed Africa hunting for the last 5 years. When I was there in 2009 I was part of a conversation were a lion "breeder" was complaining about the governments new restrictions were ruining his business. I quote "we (lion breeders) are screwed I cannot afford to feed my lions if I cant sell them". This man was not a PH and did not sell hunts. If you watch the Africa hunting shows it becomes completely clear when something is just not right. These hunts are always in RSA. Just look up "drivens" buff & lion hunt from last season. Canned lion hunt if I ever saw one.
I completely confident in my conclusions of lion hunting in south Africa. You are entitled to your opinion, I don't buy it.
 

AMBWANA

Senior Member
I'd like to know how you been on four safaris and seen dozens of lion killed.i need to book a hunt with one of those outfitters.
 

AMBWANA

Senior Member
Thunderhead you have it right. There are very few free range lion hunts in rsa. A few up around kruger most lion hunts in rsa are inside a fence.
 

firehuntfish

Senior Member
Ambwana,

I worked for 20 years running sport fishing boats. One of my last jobs was running a private boat for a very wealthy gentleman. In his employ, I was fortunate enough to have hunted and fished all over the Carribbean, Central & South America, the Azores, And West Africa. I was also afforded the opportunity to accompany him on many hunting trips. Several of these trips where African safaris where I was able to spend several weeks to months at a time afield. I was invited to run a video camera for my boss and his guests during their hunts. So to answer your sarcastic question, yes I have seen dozens of lions taken as well as many other of the Big 5 during my time there... Please let me know if you need me to provide more details to prove to you that I know what I'm talking about. I can also recommend several excellent outfitters.

I think we are digressing and getting away from the point...I'm not making this commentary to justify my lion hunting expereince with either of you... The point I'm trying to make, and that you are obviously failing to see, is that there are facts about all kinds of hunting that are being misreperented by anti- hunting groups.... I'm glad that Gt-40 Guy posted that video because it was a perfect example of the subtle tactics these anti's use to turn different kinds of hunters against one another.

And please don't make the mistake of assuming that all high fence hunting is canned hunting. Almost all of the gameland in RSA is either privately or government owned. High fences are primarily erected to control poaching and help manage the game herds. It has to be that way or they would have no game left. To put this in perspective, a small bowhunting consession might be 5,000 acres while an average rifle hunting consession may be 10,000 to 100,000 or more. If you think hunting inside 10 square miles is a "canned hunt" then hunting in the RSA is not for you. I'm sure we could start a whole new thread on that philisophical debate which I'm not interested in doing...

Thunderhead,
Why do you "live & breathe" Africa if you think it's all canned hunting? Don't answer..It's a rhetorical question. I'm not interesting in debating anyone... I'm just trying to educate you on the facts. Don't believe everything you see on the internet as Gospel...Best regards....
 
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firehuntfish

Senior Member
Just a quick addition to the ongoing thread to any of those following along who are actually interested in hearing the facts..
I did some research on the SanWild Wildlife Trust. This is the "sancuary" featured in the lion video. The woman who founded an runs this organization is a hard-core, anti-hunting activist in the RSA and internationally. She has been a missionary for GreenPeace, and she is an active member of PETA. These are easy facts to uncover. You can do a google search under her name or simply go to the SanWild website. She proudly and openly acknowledges her affiliations and commitment to her causes. www.sanwild.org.

However, I'm sure she is the most reilable source for drawing conclusions about hunting in Africa....There are a couple more videos in the internet featuring SanWild and this Joubert woman, however I cannot post them here because of the profanity she uses. I especially like the one where she is in a F-bomb rage screaming at the game wardens who came to inspect her property. Then there's another one where she says she would rather kill all of the animals she protects than see them killed by hunters....
 
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AMBWANA

Senior Member
Firehuntfish i wasn't meaning to sound sarcastic, thats just alot of lions. I m also a life member of sci and past president of the ga chapter so i know what you are talking about. I've taken several lions and all of the big five several times over, your dead on with people trying to ruin hunting with lies. Work on your math a little 100,000 acres is 156sq miles not 10. Good hunting
 
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