Head shot on charging lion saves dudes life

[ST911]

I am not arguing with you, but I would like to use your statement to illustrate a point.

I do not eat snakes, coyotes, prarie dogs, nutria, etc... but would shoot them all with equal zeal.

I do not think that one has to eat his game to justify the hunt.
Sure, I would object to wasting of meat. However, not all game animals are proper table fare, and that fact does not mean that the animal, therefore, cannot be hunted.

I agree with you. (The justification for the yotes, prairie dogs, etc, is to manage hazards to other habitat, game, and livestock.)

[David Thomas]

Nuisance animals that are a harm at their current levels for the most part. Little different than large African game.

Sure the large African game animals are not a nuisance to you here in the US, but you may have a hard time aguing that point with the locals who run into them while herding cattle, washing clothes, hunting plains game for food, etc...

[ZDL]

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[Irish]

WOW!!! Great videos, regardless of your stance on hunting African game.

[David Thomas]

.....seriously?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...n4894945.shtml


"The lion, already down as much as 85 percent in numbers from just 20 years ago, is now in danger of becoming extinct because people are poisoning them with a pesticide to protect their cattle."

Notice this is from a country (Kenya) that has had a 30+ year old ban on hunting and because of that the Lion (and other game) has no value there. They are considered a nuisance and treated as such by the locals.

Do not assume that everyone around the globe shares your values and view points. I could not fathom poisoning the king of beasts like it was a common rat, but the Kenyans see things differently.

another article that may offer additional info:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3756180.stm

"The lion population in Tanzania, it is thought, is the highest in Africa.

This is partly due to the large areas of wilderness lions can roam in but also the Tanzanian government's policy of protecting them and managing them sustainably through controlled hunting."

[ZDL]

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[David Thomas]

...Neither of those articles did anything at all to support you placing African game in the same category as coyotes...

I do not. Perhaps the point I was trying to make was too far off topic to be relevant. The point was that some people do, not that I do. I have the a healthy amount of respect for the Lion and other African game animals.

My apologies for playing devil’s advocate unnecessarily.
My wife says I am “ disagreeable”

Nevertheless, the articles were also intended to point out the differences in areas that allow hunting and those that do not and what happens to the animals, lions in this case, as a result.

[Mjolnir]

I have no issue with Big Cats or any other Predators. In fact, I could *NEVER* go out of my way to hunt any of them. There is something, I dunno, that prevents me from killing them similar to the fact that something prevents me from uneccessarily killing a fellow human being. I see us (i.e., Man) and Predators as "kindred spirits" in that we both serve the same purpose: cull the herds of the ungulates and vegetarians. If it eats meat I won't touch it. No overwhelming scientific reasons (well, they are full of parasites) other than that I've no desire at all to hunt them.

People who trophy hunt/hunt for the thrill of killing have issues (yes, everyone has SOME issue, I understand) that need to be resolved. A firearm gives us an advantage that is obvious. Yes, it still takes some familiarity with the beast you choose to engage but once you understand their behavior it's "no big deal", relatively speaking. I have a close friend who relishes killing. I love him as a brother but I relish a clean shot just like all of us but I find no humor in the manner in which they die. I do respect ALL life - well, I don't like poisonous snakes (but I don't kill them for the Hell of it).

To each his/her own but we need to evolve spiritually as a species.

[ZDL]

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[RyanB]

I find myself comfortably in both the tactical and hunting communities and would like to take the big five. If you do not, it is of no concern to me. My brother cares little for hunting animals, he is in the Army and the smelly hairy things he is training to kill speak Pashto. I respect that.

All said, I think the tactical community does stand to learn a lot from hunting animals. Depending on who you ask, hunting may translate well into fighting skills, or not at all. I hesitate to think that tracking a living animal, looking at it through a scope, or aligning iron sights on it, and killing it with malice aforethought is an experience that would be detrimental to ones ability to defend oneself, or attack our nations enemies. I see in good hunters the same traits I see in good soldiers- confidence, self reliance and DECISIVENESS.