I was having a conversation with a friend about thrill seeking and other adventures activities. My buddy is getting ready to go sky diving in the near future. He has always had a fascination with flying but has never got into hunting or really understood why anyone would want to do it. When he asked me what I’d like to do adventurous I mentioned hunting African dangerous game and he seemed puzzled as to where the adventure is in that.

So that brings me to my question. If individuals engage in certain activities to get a “rush†it is because the activity is potentially dangerous, no? I know that all game animals are potentially dangerous (I once had a Fox Squirrel try to chew my thumb off. “It’s the dead ones that kill yaâ€). So how dangerous (statistically speaking) is hunting the “Big Five†compared to other thrill seeking activities (sky diving, mountain climbing, etc.)?

Thanks for any thoughts or replies…….

Matt V.

Just my view, but I do not consider hunting to be a "thrill seeking activity". Those that do are in it for all the wrong reasons.

It is low enough that we don't suffer increased insurance premiums by virtue of being hunters.

I don't hunt for a "rush," but because it is part of being engaged in living life. I could go to Africa and be a tourist; however, I would be a "couch potato" on the go, an observer and not a player. I have enjoyed every hunt that I have been on not only because of the hunting experience but because of the people I've met, the places I've seen, and the non-game animals I've observed and photographed.

It is the participation in life that I feel called to. Kudude

MattV,

I have often wondered the same thing, that is, how relatively dangerous is dangerous game hunting as compared with other risky activities, such as mountain climbing, sky-diving, deep sea diving, etc.

I don't think the data exist for accurate comparisons to be made, however.

Your comment is interesting in that some sports that are perceived as dangerous aren't very, and some that aren't perceived as dangerous are very dangerous. A case in point: you mentioned two sports in your post, skydiving and mountain climbing. I'll bet that you didn't know that, statistically speaking, mountain climbing is 10 times more dangerous than sky diving. Sky diving is actually quite safe, while mountain climbing is insanely dangerous.

Perception and reality are two different things.

The following link has some interesting statistics.
http://www.rockclimbing.com/cgi-bin/forum/gforum.cgi?post=697651#697651

analog is quite right. Skydiving, I have been, is way safer than say riding a motorcycle on the street. Hunting DG has an element of danger but is safe as long as you don't screw it up. I'ld rather hunt buffalo thna hang glide.

Matt V, I never understood why anyone would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane Tried mountain climbing a number of times for Elk and Bear: I agree, it was dangerous. As you mentioned, "It's the dead one's that get you." And I might add the little mistakes. What amazes me when watching DG charges at close range is more Hunters aren't killed by friendly fire. Now that's dangerous!
In the end, the Hunter hunts himself.....

Matt,

To me hunting is a thrill but it is not an adrenaline sport like bungie jumpimg etc. Hunting can get very dangerous and thrilling because every confrontation with an animal has the potential to go bad but it is not like a free fall from an airplane. If you are looking for that "In your face" experience big game hunting as conducted by most hunters is not the right thing for you. If sneaking up on an animal that could just vanish or as easily turn to be on you is of interest DG hunting may be your thing. Some of the thrill of hunting is implementing your stalk so it is not dangerous.

Mark

You can make DG hunting what you want it to be and what your PH will let, maybe encourage, you make it. The hunt is great, no matter how it turns out, shot or not, success or not. A great stalk to a blown opportunity when the wind shifts is still a great stalk.

Nothing wrong with adding a little rush to it either. If you're happy closing to, say, 20yds, then that is great. If I persist to, say 10yds, that is my and only my desicion to make, in conjunction with my PH.

The difference between pushing your situation with DG and, say, sky diving is that you can work to master your emotions, reactions, etc when with DG; nothing masters gravity. So for me at least, getting very close to DG is an exercise in self control and will power; jumping out of a working plane is just casting your lot to chance.

I don't take chances, but I love risks.

JPK

Night catapult launches with no moon and no horzon. That's the easy part no try landing but add a pitching deck. Skydiving? nope, too scary. I don't jump out of airplanes

I consider hunting more etherial. I never felt so alive as when hunting buffalo. I'm only sorry I'll never get to hunt lion. That has to be the epitomy. jorge

Jorge,

We are control freaks seeking to control ourselves. What's the point of taking a chance on the luck of the draw if you can have no impact on the luck?

Like I said, I don't take chances but I love risks.

JPK

PS, there is hope for the lion.

Most African DG hunting isn't dangerous unless you wound one. Then it can get much more dangerous than you want it to be. Hunting cow herds or bulls in cow herds is about as dangerous a hunt as you can find.

465H&H

I expect everyone has a different " thrill" level. A night jump over open water is alot differant then a controlled daytime jump. I remember talking to a fellow AR member, a Capt Jack. As army rangers, combat was the ultimate " rush", hunting animals pales to that. If your friend wants a bigtime thrill, go to Iraq.

Apart from the pleasure of being in the bush, I get a major rush when I test my skills against an animal. It does not matter what it is and whether I shoot it or not, getting as close as possible is a big thrill to me.

Dangerous games or activoities can be devided in two groups, the one where you can get yourself ot of trouble with skills and the ones where you die if you screw up or something goes wrong. Things lke DG hunting, Scuba diving even bunji jumping will fall in the first category. I prefer to stay away from the second group. Hey I cannot grow wings if the chute does not open

I gotta think that if a fellow has held up in combat he can hold his own in any stressful situation. I have no military, let alone combat, experience and hold those who do have combat experience in the highest regard.

On the topic is a short story by Conrad, I think, called "The Most Dangerous Game". The short version of the tale is two experienced dangerous game hunters who hunt each other. Fantastic read as I recall.

JPK

I think Winston Churchill said it best; "nothing in life is more exhilirating than to be shot at...and missed!" In our case here I would change "charged at and missed!"

I can't but pity the billions of people out there who go through life without experiencing the thrill of the hunt in whatever form we prefer or thrust upon us by circumstance. jorge

Joseph Conrad wrote "Heart of Darkness" (one of my favorites) and "Lord Jim" (also very good).

"The Most Dangerous Game" was written by Richard Connell.

No offense intended. I have a couple degrees in English Lit. and I couldn't resist the urge to clarify.

quote:

Originally posted by trophyhunter5000:
I was having a conversation with a friend about thrill seeking and other adventures activities...If individuals engage in certain activities to get a “rush†it is because the activity is potentially dangerous, no?

Not always dangerous, some people just like it. As for hunting DG, the only way to understand it is to do it. 1,000 people can give you a response here, but until you do it, you cannot understand it. As for the danger element, it is just as easy to get hit by a bus as it is a charging buffalo. People who wish to be safe should never leave their houses, never get out of bed...

Brian

Dangerous is getting on airplane in Warri, Nigeria or flying the local airlines in Kazakhstan. I was less worried about buff when I was hunting as I felt that between the PH and myself, we were safe enough. In Nigeria, I did not trust the animals in customs or in police uniforms.

I have static line jumped lower than was good for me and done free falls from higher than was ever necessary. I have been the first to jump from the then highest free standing bungee jump platform in the USA. I did a bit of hang gliding with about 15 minutes of ground instruction I have done a lot of free climbing and have rappled every way a human can do so from as long a rope as was ever deployed. I have driven a motorcycle at well over 100 miles per hour on a state highway and had the controls of a small plane a number of times. Hell I even ran with scissor and swam just minutes after eating a PB&J sandwich. So I do have a few points of reference. NOTHING I have done compares to the thrill of hunting and killing an dangerous game up close. I suspect hunting man and hearing shots fired in anger would trump anything though.

Perry

Have you ever topped timber ,, Fell big sitka spruce snags off a rock wall.....How about going up Deadman,s Reach in a 14' skiff in March in a 60 knot northerly ....Getting stalked by a bear at almost dark in brush so thick that you can,t see beyond 10 feet,and there is no one else for sevral miles ,,or just about any other charge situation ....Is right up there with slipping on a wet and snowy metal roof with no saftey line when its 30 feet to the doniquers below.....If you want to scare yourself just come to Alaska..There are more ways to get killed up here than any one would want...Just try flying thru Merril Pass when the wx is closeing down,,, Yee Haww!!!!,,, Or Bering Sea Crabbing or long lineing... But the thrill of sneaking up REAL close to live , wild ,unwounded , Big game , is different than wondering if there will be time to pray befor my life stops..... I don,t think hunting big game or dangerous game is the same kind of jolt as say Bomb desposal.........JMO..

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
Matt,

To me hunting is a thrill but it is not an adrenaline sport like bungie jumpimg etc. Hunting can get very dangerous and thrilling because every confrontation with an animal has the potential to go bad but it is not like a free fall from an airplane. If you are looking for that "In your face" experience big game hunting as conducted by most hunters is not the right thing for you. If sneaking up on an animal that could just vanish or as easily turn to be on you is of interest DG hunting may be your thing. Some of the thrill of hunting is implementing your stalk so it is not dangerous.

Mark

Maybe true for most hunting. Although I would think a grizzly that decides to chew on you for a while, or a cape buffalo pounding you a few times and then tossing you into some very long thorns, or a mother elephant who doesn't want you around and is pissed off about something anyway and decides she wants to make you a part of the landscape would be to me considered an "in your face" experience as you call it about as much as anything else would be.

Thanks for the responses…….

But just so ya don’t get the wrong impression……

I probably shouldn’t have used the word “rushâ€. I don’t equate the killing of an animal to some euphoric quick fix sensation. I’ve killed animals and I’ve hunted animals and I know the difference in how I’ve felt afterwards.

But I do not deny that “hunting†is very exciting to me! My pulse quickens no matter what I’m stalking and if I’m successful all the better. My question was an attempt to relate the sense of danger/risk (real or perceived) between different experiences. I’ve never hunted anything considered dangerous and can only imagine what that element would add to the experience. But like you guys said I’ll never know till I try!

I’m at a stage in my life that is going to let me take one good adventure in the near future. I have no desire to jump out of any plane climb any mountains or swim across any oceans. I do believe Africa will hold what I’m looking for…..so I’ll be bugging you all for advice………

Thanks again for your thoughts……

Matt V.

quote:

Originally posted by trophyhunter5000:
Thanks for the responses…….

But just so ya don’t get the wrong impression……

I probably shouldn’t have used the word “rushâ€. I don’t equate the killing of an animal to some euphoric quick fix sensation. I’ve killed animals and I’ve hunted animals and I know the difference in how I’ve felt afterwards.

But I do not deny that “hunting†is very exciting to me! My pulse quickens no matter what I’m stalking and if I’m successful all the better. My question was an attempt to relate the sense of danger/risk (real or perceived) between different experiences. I’ve never hunted anything considered dangerous and can only imagine what that element would add to the experience. But like you guys said I’ll never know till I try!

Oh, I don't know. I'm sure a lot of guys who post here own the "Adrenaline Rush" series of DG videos.

All hunting is exciting, or how else can we explain Buck Fever?

I think it's just fundamental to human nature. Watch little kids when they see a deer in the wild for the first time. They'll be excited and curious. Just like a cat or a bird dog when they see a bird for the first time. It's almost the same look in the eyes.

If we weren't hunters deep down, we'd see a deer and be about as excited as a wildebeest looking at a zebra.

The activities that go with hunting, like charter flights, can be dangerous. I've hunted and taken many animals, some of them dangerous, but the closest I have come to meeting my Maker was a charter flight. It made me glad that I was right with my Lord and had an estate plan in place.

Yes, there is danger involved with hunting any animal (ask VP Chaney's bird hunting companion!), but it isn't such that you would avoid the experience. You are at greater risk traveling than hunting. However, you should check at see what "dangers" exist in the invironment that you are about to enter. BE SITUATIONALLY AWARE. Joburg isn't a friendly environment. Be careful.

We talk so much about the size of a stopping rifle, but avoiding charter risks or making appropriate arrangements for a "meet and greet" probably enhance our safety more. Kudude

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kudude:
It is low enough that we don't suffer increased insurance premiums by virtue of being hunters.

I cannot agree with you on this. When I was do a lot of hunting, I had several companies completely refuse coverage because of African hunting. Not just an up charge, coverage refused. Ohio National was the only one I never had a problem with.

Those who say hunting isn't thrill seeking or a rush don't understand that "buck fever" is the exact same adrenaline rush that a sky diver craves.

Hunting dangerous game IS a rush. Dangerous game does NOT have to be wounded to be dangerous.

The pursuit of any "risky" or "dangerous" endeavor is try and take the risk out to the greatest extent possible, which for the most part means good planning and the exercise of sound judgment. If those are present, the goal we seek from engaging in those activities is the tremendous satisfaction one feels from having challenged oneself and having faced the danger or risk with a successful outcome. This is much different from simply having a wish to "feel the rush". I fly and have spent hundreds of hours flying in the Idaho backcountry, I was a logger during the summers when in college (set chokers, skinned cat, bumped knots, fell and bucked over the course of five summers) and it was the only activity I've ever engaged in where in the morning I said a prayer that I got through the day alive. I've hunted dangerous game and hunted non-dangerous game (sheep, goats and elk) in dangerous situations and weather (in my mind it is much scarier trying to scale a cliff or come down a chute with a loaded pack, knowing that a slip is your ass, than going on a buff or elephant hunt). The problem with all these activities is that they are only really satisfying when you have gained the experience necessary to have the ability to do the planning and exercise the judgment necessary to make "risky business" as safe and satisfying as possible. Of the three times when I came the closest to "buying it" two were when I didn't know any better and one when I had the dumb luck to make the right decision, but got stuck with an idiot.

The first day I was in the woods setting chokers I was riding on a D-8 skid cat with a crazy cat skinner, when he got hung up on some crossed logs on a sloope and put the Cat up on one tread. Let's see (30 tons about to tip and I'm looking straight down at the ground). It was only at lunch when I heard him talking to another skinner at the landing about "almost losing it", that I got ill.

My first cross country plane flight was from New Mexico to California with the salesman who sold me my first plane, the day before I was due to start my "official" flying lessons. We were landing in Concord at 1:30 in the morning when over Mt. Diablo the engine quit (we had run out of gas). Luckily he knew we were stretching it (I didn't) and he was at 10,000 feet and we made the airport and had to push the plane to the tiedown.

The last time was when I thought I had made the right decision (bad weather in the backcountry) fly to camp in the Chaberlain with a well known and very experienced backcountry pilot. Only to end up with one of his other pilots (low time backcountry and no judgment) and almost ended up a bug on the side of a Mt. in the Middle Fork. My fault for flying with someone I didn't know.

Moral of it all. It's the times when we don't have the experience and are totally dependent on others to make the right choices that we are likely to get bit. So either have a lot of experience yourself or due your homework on the folks you are going to be relying on, or situations we engage in can really be "dangerous". The good news is you probably won't know they are, until the end...

You have defined the difference between risk and chance.

Risk - you have the ability to affect the outcome, one way ot another.

Chance - you don't.

I hate chance but love risk!

JPK

You get answers for this question you need to actually ask people that have done all three or at least two of them.

How many people answering have hunted dangerous game AND skydived AND rock climbed? I sense from the answers some have done two or more so don't get offended.

I have done two of the three.

Skydiving is an unnatural activity for a human being. Humans were not meant to fly, let alone free fall. It is an adrenalin rush. Jump three or more times in a single day and you feel it.

It is relatively safe due to regulations, experience levels required etc. However talk to very experience jumpers and find out how many bones they have broken. A single "lets try it" parachute jump especially the modern tandem jumps tell one f@ck all about skydiving.

Hunting IS A NATURAL HUMAN ACTIVITY. It is natural to hunt and dangerous game is part of hunting. Completely different to skydiving. However adrenalin when it occurs has the same effects. Most dangerous game hunting for clients is more hype than reality. Hype sells hunts. If all you do is stalk up to an animal and shoot it, and it falls over or runs away, why is it different from shooting a deer other than in one's own mind. If you get up to 15 yards and it comes for you, whole different story.

Never rock climbed. I'd fall off, I'm afraid of heights.

Dangerous game hunting is not dangerous if a guy shoots his buffalo at 150 yards. Or even at 40 yards for that matter.

I don't think I would do anything just because it was dangerous. I hunt dangerous game because it is fun! I tried the backpacking, mountain climbing route for a while, but it was because I enjoyed the outdoors, not because I wanted to tempt fate. I got quite a thrill from shooting a buffalo at 12 yds, but I didn't do it for the danger! You should hunt because you like to hunt.

Winning a firefight is absolutely the most profoundly ecstatic experience on this earth, and this includes the best orgasm you ever had. Hunting dangerous game within touching distance comes close, but no cigar.

Clifton Clowers,

Are you a combat veteran?

I am not. I find close range elephant hunting similar to how you describe surviving a firefight.

I'm lucky that I already had a great wife and wonderful children prior to taking up elephant hunting or I might have foregone all of that and more to pursue elephants.

JPK

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Dangerous game hunting is not dangerous if a guy shoots his buffalo at 150 yards. Or even at 40 yards for that matter.

It can become dangerous awfully fast if that long shot goes astray..

I have done the jumping, in every condition you can think of, including into live fire,and not with the sissy para's you would use comercially, hunted DG, rock climbed and more. Walking point into enemy AO takes the cake for feeling alive right down to your last nerves.
Although, having PWN375 chase me with a pair of shears would be a close second I think.

L David Keith: it's called jump pay!
Hell, I can remember when sex was safe and scuba diving was dangerous

I think there are many people that just want the T-shirt. To be able to stand in a group and brag that they've done "some thing" soothes their ego. That is why people that have their tongue pierced can't resist letting you know how "special" they are.

People want to be recognized. There are too many ways that life makes us "invisible". I admire people that can do something "dangerous" but not have the uncontrolable urge to manipulate a conversation around to where they get the opportunity to tell us about it.

quote:

Originally posted by trophyhunter5000:
I was having a conversation with a friend about thrill seeking and other adventures activities. My buddy is getting ready to go sky diving in the near future. He has always had a fascination with flying but has never got into hunting or really understood why anyone would want to do it. When he asked me what I’d like to do adventurous I mentioned hunting African dangerous game and he seemed puzzled as to where the adventure is in that.

So that brings me to my question. If individuals engage in certain activities to get a “rush†it is because the activity is potentially dangerous, no? I know that all game animals are potentially dangerous (I once had a Fox Squirrel try to chew my thumb off. “It’s the dead ones that kill yaâ€). So how dangerous (statistically speaking) is hunting the “Big Five†compared to other thrill seeking activities (sky diving, mountain climbing, etc.)?

Thanks for any thoughts or replies…….

Matt V.

Just for Kensco's benefit.