You guys must be kidding you would take offense to the PH turning your power setting with DG hell I would leave your ass 20 yards behind if you wanted to be a dick and not get with the program, just think how many know nothings they have to deal with every year and they only have a day to get to know you and keep you safe along with everyone else.

Ever wonder why the military use hand signs vs talking GEE.

quote:

Originally posted by US1:
You guys must be kidding you would take offense to the PH turning your power setting with DG hell I would leave your ass 20 yards behind if you wanted to be a dick and not get with the program, just think how many know nothings they have to deal with every year and they only have a day to get to know you and keep you safe along with everyone else.

Ever wonder why the military use hand signs vs talking GEE.

What are you going to achieve with my fixed 2.5X by touching it besides annoy me?

For what it's worth, if I'm going to spend more than 20 hours on an aircraft or three to get there, I'm not there for one day, I'm there for many weeks. I might not even hunt the first two or three days I'm there. One of the problems with a lot of "tourist hunters" is that they don't plan on spending enough time hunting so they're in a hurry and aren't over being jetlagged and cramped in aircraft for a day or two and are trying to shoot a buff the minute they get to the hunting area.

I had a PH want me to go out one day about 3 weeks into a hunt and I had a cough that day and I pointed out that coughing wasn't going to be very useful as far as getting close to animals. He grumbled a bit, because every PH lives somewhat by hoping every day earns a trophy fee, but I was paying him $800US a day anyway. I got all the animals I wanted on that trip before I went home and I did it at a nice relaxing schedule that suited me, being as I WAS PAYING.

Ever think of that? GEE!

I'm a hunter, not Delta Force. I'm not required to go three days with no sleep and enter combat spending a couple hours on the ground and many more hours in aircraft on extraction.

quote:

I'm a hunter, not Delta Force. I'm not required to go three days with no sleep and enter combat spending a couple hours on the ground and many more hours in aircraft on extraction.

Yeah, that's why I take two or three days at a hotel prior to the hunt dates to let my nervous system and digestive tract partially recover from 26 hours of airline abuse, and to let my stuff catch up with me, if necessary. It takes on the average a day in a new time zone per each hour of time difference to acclimate to the time change, and more if you're older than the average bear, which I am.

Don't touch me or my things is the theme from one of my favorite movie bits, from Stripes:


Lighten Up Francis!

I find especially with European first time hunters that their magnification on the scopes is set way too high. They are use to wait and spot fox and roedeer at low light and when the animals do show themselves they have a lot of time to take the shot.

So before we fire a shot at the range we advise not too have the magnification set higher than x6 at all times. It is not so easy to convince someone who has shot most of his game at x10 to go down lower than x6 but we try. But sometimes we dont have time to pick up things like that and when the sticks are up and you concentrate on the animal making sure your client has the correct one you do not see that the magnification is back to x10.

Most of the times it works out but this season a client wounded an impala, gut shot. The scope was on x10 and I didnt know we followed him and found him again jumping from high grass 15 yards infront of us. The client picked up the rifle and aimed as I waited for the shot, the shot was never fired as the impala went over the small ridge 30 yards from us. Asking the hunter why he dint shoot I could see why, before he answered the scope was set on x10. After that the scope was set and kept on x3 for the rest of the trip and we finsihed off the impala on x3. At least he got a lesson with a cheap impala and not an expensive trophy that could have been lost.

Sometimes people only learn from own experience.

Now we are getting to it. It is all about time and money. I dont care if you want to help me this is not appropriate. Talk to me before or after. I dont care about touching my rifle or me that is not the point. The point is it is my hunt. If I screw it up there is no one to blame but me. It is about the the hunting not the killing. I am of course talking about a non dangerous situation where someone else could get hurt. Too much of hunting in Africa today is geared toward putting too much emphasis on putting something on the ground. It should instead be on the quality of the hunt. The ph's job is to keep the client safe first and foremost. You are there to guide them and help them but not do it for them.

quote:

Originally posted by Jefffive:
Seems to me that if a hunter has gotten that far with his scope still set inappropriately he clearly needs a higher level of babysitting, and a failure on the part of the PH to provide it would mainly demonstrate that the PH wasn't paying attention.

There's also a silly phobia on display here about nobody touches my rifle like the PH was fondling your dick for no reason.

A large part of what you are paying a PH for, seems to me, is his judgement. Would be a shame to pay for it and not get full use of it.

Should anybody reading this ever in future find yourself acting as my PH, which I fervently hope will happen, please note: If you see me about to do something stupid please feel free to intervene, as long as it doesn't involve literally grabbing my dick. Unless you see me about to do something stupid with my dick...

This post is almost completely correct,IMO! However I think you are missing one point. IMO, the PH has an obligation to tell his client that his scope is set too high, and request it be turned down while carrying,but not to take the rifle in hand and make ANY adjustment without asking first. Then to explain to the client the reason is because one never knows what may pop out of the weeds at very close range, and a high power setting will negate his getting on target in time to make the shot, or to stop a potentual disaster in the case of dangerous game.

That should go without saying, but this, and how he wants the rifle loaded, and carried, as well, is something a real PH takes care of at sight in on the first day. To wait till the client is on target to do this is, IMO, a lack of judgement, and poor comunications skill,on the part of the PH! I don't care if the PH touches my rifle, what I meant by "touching" in my first post is, makeing ANY adjustment on my rifle, without asking first! If you think that sounds like a Phobia to you, that is your opinion, but it has nothing to do with my dick, that is the thought that came from your mind, not mine!

A large part of what I'm paying a PH for is simply his judgement, with suggestions on changes he thinks are needed,and tell me, not to be my gunsmith!

I had a PH once who wanted me to change my scope adjustment to be zeroed, dead on, at 100 yds. I refused. because, as I told him, I shoot that rifle zeroed 2" high at 100 yds, and at 25 yds it is dead on, and again dead on 200 yds, and not more than 2" high at any point between, and was only 4.5" low at 250 yds. These settings are etched in my mind, from yrs of hunting with that rifle, and if I had changed to what he wanted, I fear there would be some wounded animals to chase all over the countryside, and maybe lost! I took six animals on that hunt, and with no after shot tracking at all!

PHs are men not Gods, and they simply are not always right, no matter how much you are paying them. To this point, I have never had a problem with a PH,nor have they with me, and all are long time friends who understand me, and I them! There are PHs I will not hunt with, simply because of their contrary attitude, but that was evident when talking to them before booking,and things I heard them say about past clients,and other PHs,that I knew, so I didn't book with them.