I don't think anyone is spinning anything...you can't compare what happened 100 years ago to today in relation to hunting. 150 years ago or so American Bison (buffalo) roamed the prairies by the millions. Today not so much. Poachers, unregulated hunting practices, mismanagement...all those things play a part in the numbers of certain animals today as in Roosevelt's day, especially in 3rd world countries that have exotic animals.

 

I think that hunting 100 years ago is related to today. Practices have been put not place to protect animals and while money talks, there must be enough of these animals around to allow the hunting or you would hear more about endangered animals. And while the buffalo are long removed from their numbers of the 1800's, there are plenty of them roaming around.

I know we have strayed from the original thought on this thread. Here are a couple of sites for big game hunting, phirimasafaris.com and safaribwana.com. They both lists prices and the second one lists lions at $100,000, which does back up what I heard on Beck that the trip cost this girl $150,000.

Homer Bailey hunted lions a couple off seasons ago.

Aren't these animals raised on wild life refugees for the very reason to hunt them. I don't understand the problem. Some of the mean and disgusting things said about this girl is shocking. I never understand people who value the lives of animals over the well being of another human being. I find it psychotic some of the comments on the internet about her. If it is legal and you can shoot it. Go for it.

I think that hunting 100 years ago is related to today. Practices have been put not place to protect animals and while money talks, there must be enough of these animals around to allow the hunting or you would hear more about endangered animals. And while the buffalo are long removed from their numbers of the 1800's, there are plenty of them roaming around.

 

I researched this last night...not gonna try to find the links again so just take my word for this...but the buffalo before the mass killing/slaughter in the 19th century, ranged in estimates between 30-100 million head. Several experts believed it was probably around 40-50 million, so lets go with that number. Before the turn of the 20th century, I think it gave the date of around 1889, the estimated number of buffalo left was approximately 750. As in hundred. In just a handful of years, an animal that was proverbially "think as fleas" on the plains of this country were almost eradicated. The ONLY reason they are roaming around today is through great care and management for many many years with what was left of a heard of millions.

 

I know this is off topic a little bit, but lets not pretend that the near extinction of the buffalo was some little thing, because it was just a few hundred from being a complete and utter tragedy.

 

My argument is, without careful oversight and game management, the very same thing can and is happening to some exotic species of animals in these 3rd world countries, many of which are "governed" by strong arm corrupt despots/governments with plenty of poachers and less than concerned hunters dotting the countryside.

My argument is, without careful oversight and game management, the very same thing can and is happening to some exotic species of animals in these 3rd world countries, many of which are "governed" by strong arm corrupt despots/governments with plenty of poachers and less than concerned hunters dotting the countryside.

I don't think people are trusting paying $50-150K to third world thugs to hunt there. Most of the hunting of this sort is highly regulated and monitored by the stable countries in that area. Killing of animals in the countries you are talking about isn't going to be controlled any way and poaching is rampant in most of them.

 

I get what you were saying about the Buffalo but they were hunted unmercifully for many years. If people were having to pay 2+ years wages to hunt them back then, they would be running every where today. The money from these hunts in Africa is used to conserve and protect the other animals. In many cases a specific animal is targeted for a hunt, normally the oldest/sickest in the cases of lions.

I don't think people are trusting paying $50-150K to third world thugs to hunt there. Most of the hunting of this sort is highly regulated and monitored by the stable countries in that area. Killing of animals in the countries you are talking about isn't going to be controlled any way and poaching is rampant in most of them.

 

I get what you were saying about the Buffalo but they were hunted unmercifully for many years. If people were having to pay 2+ years wages to hunt them back then, they would be running every where today. The money from these hunts in Africa is used to conserve and protect the other animals. In many cases a specific animal is targeted for a hunt, normally the oldest/sickest in the cases of lions.

 

I'm not saying some legit hunting doesn't go on, I'm quite sure it does. But there is a ton of illegal stuff/poaching going on that many of those governments...even supposedly "stable" governments can't control. The black rino is down to drastically low numbers for this very reason, just as an example.

 

If the numbers can support hunting, more power to 'em. I just question if SOME of those animals are actually at the numbers to support exotic game hunting.

Aren't these animals raised on wild life refugees for the very reason to hunt them. I don't understand the problem. Some of the mean and disgusting things said about this girl is shocking. I never understand people who value the lives of animals over the well being of another human being. I find it psychotic some of the comments on the internet about her. If it is legal and you can shoot it. Go for it.

If the lives of human beings are to be valued over that of an animal, that $100,000-$150,000 could be put to much better use than the killing of one lion.

If the lives of human beings are to be valued over that of an animal, that $100,000-$150,000 could be put to much better use than the killing of one lion.

 

Maybe we should just take money from people that have too much and give it to the needy.

Maybe we should just take money from people that have too much and give it to the needy.

Where did I say that?

Where did I say that?

 

I didn't say that you did, you were just inferring that the money could have been put to better use and I was giving an Idea on how that could be done. Sounded to me like an idea you'd support.

I wish she would come shoot all the deer that lay all night in my yard and then like to run in front of cars. I'd even take the picture for her.

But is it all the time? Prong horn sheep and gazelles she can shoot a million of and probably not even dent the population and I'm sure that meat would be eaten...but do they eat leopards and lions? I honestly don't know. Even if they do, I still can't agree with killing rare exotic animals just for the kill...and I'm still not sure how some of it is legal...unless legal means giving enough money to the right people to make it legal.

 

As a hunter Doc, what are your thoughts about that?

Well, I don't know about "all the time". But I do know that the meat seldom goes to waste once harvested in many cases. As for shooting trophies only, I'm not a fan. But I won't condemn those who do.

Maybe we should just take money from people that have too much and give it to the needy.

 

I see what you did there