Some of the comments on another thread got me to wondering, what type of dangerous game hunting do folks feel is the most overrated. Let's be clear. By overrated, I mean the type of hunt that you simply find to be tedious, not particularly enjoyable, less engaging than other types of dangerous game hunting, etc. I am not referring to the relative degree of perceived dangerousness between the animals.

For me, it would have to be cat hunting. I find hunting leopard and lion to be extremely tedious. Hanging and checking baits, driving the bait run, watching baits rot in the tree without being hit, building blinds, getting up early and going to bed late, I just find the overall experience to be less "fun" and more "work" and not very satisfying work at that. On the other hand, tracking buffalo or elephant and trying to stalk in close, I find to be very rewarding. So for me, I would have to put elephant at the top of the list and probably leopard at the bottom of the list. I have intentionally left off hippo, croc and rhino. Regarding rhino, just not enough of a data set to comment on. Hippo and croc are more about marksmanship than anything else.

Not trying to pick fights, everyone play nice. This is just about each person's personal opinion.

Question:
What dangerous game do you feel is the most overrated in terms of the overall experience? Why?

Choices:
Elephant
Buffalo
Lion
Leopard

 

I'm with you on this one, Mike. Many miles checking baits and I shot my Leopard when not in the blind. I don't think I will ever hunt Leopard again, but a spot and stock lion has my interest. I wouldn't hunt lion though if I had to sit in a blind.

As far as actual hunt goes, I agree. My leopard hunt was by far the most tedious and boring.

Hunting eles and cat hunting with hounds are IMO the the game where shit can go wrong fast and bad most fun to hunt also Baiting is a another story.

Interesting thread Mike got my attention for certain

Mike I think your experience is only Zimbabwe?

Best hunts I have experienced have been Lion on foot. The very best hunts are wounded Lion on foot.

It boils down to circumstance and quality of experience. Note the chaps here who complain about their mundane Buffalo hunts have hunted in Zimbabwe in fairly depleted areas where as you walk for flipping miles and shoot the first bull you come across.

Suppose you get what you pay for In Zim?

quote:

Suppose you get what you pay for In Zim?

At $1200 a day plus $4K+ for a trophy fee? I don't think you do get what you pay for anymore in Zimbabwe! Not a bargain by any means.

For me it was buffalo. Maybe it was the fact that the area(Makuti) was crawling with buffalo, or that at the time of the year(Oct) the grass was gone and visibility gas good, but for some reason both buffalo I took seemed "easy".

Also, they died without much coaxing.

Lion was a different story. The excitement level was through the roof. Following-up a wounded lion while its roars shook the earth was the only time I have broken into a cold sweat. Pretty heady stuff!

Elephant was on an entirely different level. Tracking bulls into the failing twilight and finally catching them only to realize that it was too dark to see your hand in front of your face. Walking into a heard of sleeping cows at mid-day and having to sneak off without waking them. Miles an miles of on foot before you finally find "your" bull. Nothing compares.

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
Note the chaps here who complain about their mundane Buffalo hunts have hunted in Zimbabwe in fairly depleted areas where as you walk for flipping miles and shoot the first bull you come across.

I would guess it has more to do with the fact that far more hunters here on AR have taken their buffalo in Zim. I would think that Zim accounts for twice as many buffalo as Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique and SA combined(amoung AR members).

The area I hunted in Zim had an unbelievable number of buffalo.

One thing about Zim; buffalo are often not the main goal of the safari. When buffalo is second or third on your wish list behind say an elephant bull and a lion or a tuskless and a leopard it is sure to take some of the luster off the buffalo portion of the safari.

Elephants rates best for me

Bait and blind for leopard is about like fishing for catfish with a doughball or chicken liver on a hook, IMHO.
I have no desire to do either one at all, never did, never will. I would certainly never pay to do either one.
Leopard by tracking with hounds or simply as an incident of opportunity: OK

My leopard hunt was with hounds. We still baited and checked the baits before sunrise and well after sunset. Long boring days culminating in an exciting few minutes when the hounds finally treed a tom.

My lion hunt in Zimbabwe was more exciting. We baited, and once lions had hit the bait we followed them up on foot. We encountered and walked up several lions. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
For me it was buffalo. Maybe it was the fact that the area(Makuti) was crawling with buffalo, or that at the time of the year(Oct) the grass was gone and visibility gas good, but for some reason both buffalo I took seemed "easy".

Also, they died without much coaxing.

Lion was a different story. The excitement level was through the roof. Following-up a wounded lion while its roars shook the earth was the only time I have broken into a cold sweat. Pretty heady stuff!

Elephant was on an entirely different level. Tracking bulls into the failing twilight and finally catching them only to realize that it was too dark to see your hand in front of your face. Walking into a heard of sleeping cows at mid-day and having to sneak off without waking them. Miles an miles of on foot before you finally find "your" bull. Nothing compares.

Good analogy and sounds like you have hunted proper. I have stood feet from enraged Buffalo and Elephant but my fear was always with Lion. My closest shaves have been with hippo which has been purely from circumstance.

There are those here how want to hunt tuskless purely because of the supposed danger. Me I would rather hunt a lone wicked horned buffalo than a young toothless female from a breeding herd. Hunting is hunting but ultimately it is your PH who dictates your hunt and how close you will be.

Exciting is when you ask the PH to push the boundaries. Alternatively go on one of those self guided hunts in West Africa and get gored in the middle of nowhere and that will be an experience your kids will never forget.

well i don't know about over rated, but the most under rater is beating a fat woman to the sale at wally world

IMO,all those animals listed could make for a great hunt.There are many factors that determine the quality of the hunt experience and one cannot have complete control over them.A buff can be as easy and uneventful to get as a leopard or ele.

I voted for Leopard especially over bait as long as the shots are placed properly! , and it wasn’t asked but I consider the elephant to be the most dangerous.

Of course once wounded and in tight jess any of them can be as bad as it gets! IMO, once wounded and a follow-up is indicated in tight bush, I think the cats, especially the lion are about as dangerous as it gets!

My preference is tracking buffalo on foot to get in close as is possible in n tight bush for the pucker factor. I would bet cow elephant in the same bush would be even more pucker with her sisters and babies around.

I think the animal in Africa that scares hell out of me is the big African lion, and if wounded even more so! Certainly not boring at all!

……………………………………………………...............

The most important part of a DG hunt is the quality of the area or the wildness of it.Once you get this then it is a question of luck and the will to hunt hard and find a good trophy animal.
Also if the PH does not love hunting and does not feel like hunting then even the best area can make a crappy hunt(this goes for the client too).
If the client is not in shape then what kind of hunt does he expect to have?
One thing about Zim is that you stand more of a chance of coming across a hunting passionate PH than you would in another country.

I suppose I really dislike Buffalo because it is consistently ,no matter what forum, the single most overhyped hunt people speak about. I suppose it probably goes back to Ruarke's writing about it along with his famous quote about how a Buffalo looks at you. I'm sure it can be a dangerous animal when wounded and luckily I didn't wound mine but actually killed it with the first and only shot I fired. In fact I put one shot broadside from about 30/40 yards and this sound like a hunting tale but it reared up on it's hind legs and continued over till it fell on it's back with four feet straight up. I actually have pictures somewhere of it's final position. This of course was in Zimbabwe which is the only African country I was lucky enough to hunt in. All 8 of my safari's having been done there. All in all I would say the most totally disappointing hunt I made and I think primarily because I had been led to believe some 'magic' would take place by the mere hunting of what is without doubt an inspiring trophy.

I have never hunted in Africa, so I'm reluctant to chime in, but if I ever went there, Leopard is what I'd be most interested in. Why? From reading here it appears to me Leopard comes closest to the "kind" of hunt I could really get into.

It seems more a "chess game" or game of trying to outsmart the opponent. Or trying to entice it or trick or decoy it into position. And I can be very patient and would enjoy just the sitting and waiting while taking in the jungle setting and sights and sounds. I guess that comes from spending so many hundreds of hours in deer stands and ground blinds.

It's that arriving in the deep woods before dawn, settling in, and watching as hints of light appear. And seeing the night slowly giving up its secrets. And listening intently for that faint footfall in the dry leaves. And the excitement building as it nears. I find all that highly meaningful.

Anyway, back when the Jaguar game was still being played in Central America I wanted bad to go, but the opportunity was never right. I think to me, it was as close as I could come to Leopard.

And when I was a little kid in the woods with a .22, I used to play pretend that big red fox squirrel high up on a limb was in fact, yes, you guessed it.

Also I could have a whole Leopard mounted.

Those other African animals would be more of a "chase" or "stalk", from what I gather. I see them as a different kind of game.

I would say any hunt where my involvement with actual hunting, is nonexistent in fact.

For example: Any "hunt" where my job is to sit on my ass, and from a dead rest, hit a paint can size vital area at maybe 50 yards in the open. I'd rather mow my yard then experience this type of Dangerous Game.

Based on volume and hype near to a level of whitetail hunting, I would say there is no question that Buffalo is the most overrated, simply on the volume of marketing and competitive nature of its fans.

I put down Elephant, because mainly, I'm not a good enough elephant hunter to tell the trophy quality on my own. Walk forever, and then have the PH declare not good enough, and then do it again.

With Buffalo, I am finally getting good enough that I can tell good from average, so it makes the unsuccessful stalks a lot more fun.

Lion and leopard are chess matches with the animal and the penalty for poor shooting is huge, the adrenalin surge is huge for me.

Truth be told, I enjoy all of them enough to spend the money to do them again, but if I had to choose one that is the "least fun" its elephant, at least at this time.

Huuuum - Thought the thread was supposed to be about "most overrated" dangerous game hunt, not what is the most dangerous game hunt or most dangerous game animal on the list?? Seems some must have missed the intent? Or maybe I just read it wrong?

Elephant is the "most overrated hunt" in my book.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member
Sabatti 'trash' Double Shooter
R8 Blaser
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
Huuuum - Thought the thread was supposed to be about "most overrated" dangerous game hunt, not what is the most dangerous game hunt or most dangerous game animal on the list?? Seems some must have missed the intent? Or maybe I just read it wrong?

Elephant is the "most overrated hunt" in my book.

Larry Sellers
SCI(International)Life Member
Sabatti 'trash' Double Shooter
R8 Blaser
DRSS

I find elephant most exciting and all cat hunts to be a grind. Shoot bait, hang bait, check bait.

Of course, I have had the pleasure of tip toeing around a LOT of elephants.

Jeff

I think that allot of guys have read too many books when they describe their Cape buffalo hunts and the danger factor is way overrated.

Saeed has killed a few hundred buffalo and has never faced a charge if I remember correctly.

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Sellers:
Huuuum - Thought the thread was supposed to be about "most overrated" dangerous game hunt, not what is the most dangerous game hunt or most dangerous game animal on the list?? Seems some must have missed the intent? Or maybe I just read it wrong?

As far as I can tell only one persons reply twisted this back to "____ is the most dangerous." Also(again, no offense intended) he was the only one who mentioned "getting in close in the thick stuff".

Sometimes the buffalo guys start to sound like a broken record: "get in close, looks at you like you..., antiquated weaponry, soaks up lead like a sponge......"

All the animals mentioned above can kill you if the tables are turned.

Actually, one can get killed by ANY of the animals we hunt.

I have known someone getting seriously hurt by a bushbuck.

Another one almost lost his life because of an attack by a wildebeest.

I have shot quite a number of elephants, lots of buffalo and a few lions and leopards.

We were very lucky, as w3e never had any close calls at all.

We have had a few scares, but never anything that put us in any danger that we could not sort out.

In todays hunting environment, one has to be extremely stupid in his own actions, or extremely unlucky to get hurt.

On the surface, leopards offer the least danger of the above animals because of the way they are generally hunted on bait.

But, there have been instances where things do go wrong, and they can be very dangerous to follow.

So back to the original question.

All the above are extremely over rated for the danger they offer to a modern day hunter.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
So back to the original question.

All the above are extremely over rated for the danger they offer to a modern day hunter.

Saeed, you missed the point! It has nothing to do with danger. The original question was:

quote:

What dangerous game do you feel is the most overrated in terms of the overall experience? Why?

In other words: which of the big 4 is the most boring?

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
So back to the original question.

All the above are extremely over rated for the danger they offer to a modern day hunter.

Saeed, you missed the point! It has nothing to do with danger. The original question was:

quote:

What dangerous game do you feel is the most overrated in terms of the overall experience? Why?

In other words: which of the big 4 is the most boring?

Bingo. I much more succinct statement of the poll question.

Haven't hunted Elephant or Leopard yet, so I can't comment until 2015 on that. Out of Lion and Buffalo I would rate Buffalo as the more boring.

I saw comments about the "blind" experience being boring. Perhaps if the "blind" is actually a machan far up in a tree I could see how the potential removal of the unexpected (other than falling out of the tree) might raise the "boring bar" a bit.

Our Lion blind experience in Zambia with Andrew was far from boring by about 7 feet.

http://youtu.be/FqnxRZxYL_Q

I also believe anything shot from a blind is a tedious activity!

In my opinion, the excitement is getting in as close as you can to assure shot placement. Actually IMO, getting close is LESS dangerous because of the better chance of a killing shot negating a very dangerous follow-up.

I agree with Mike the question was what is the most boring. That question is the reason so many here have mentioned the things that are more dangerous because of the way they are normally hunted. As I said before they are all dangerous, and though the cats are normally hunted on bait, if you screw up the shot, they become a very UN boring animal when you have to go into the weeds with them not knowing if they are dead or simply waiting for you to show up for an ass kicking!

..................................................................

From a hunting point of view, then it must be leopard.

I have shot a few, and I hope to shoot a few more. As I don't just go to hunt one species. I enjoy hunting in all its facets.

That include shooting the bait and sitting in the blind. I have seen some wonderful birds and animals from the leopard blind.

I have enjoyed listening to the first bird calls early in the morning as dawn breaks.

quote:

Originally posted by Shack:
From reading here it appears to me Leopard comes closest to the "kind" of hunt I could really get into.

It seems more a "chess game" or game of trying to outsmart the opponent. Or trying to entice it or trick or decoy it into position. And I could be very patient and enjoy just the sitting and waiting while taking in the jungle setting and sights and sounds.

Shack:

You summed it up pretty well.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
So back to the original question.

All the above are extremely over rated for the danger they offer to a modern day hunter.

Saeed, you missed the point! It has nothing to do with danger. The original question was:

quote:

What dangerous game do you feel is the most overrated in terms of the overall experience? Why?

In other words: which of the big 4 is the most boring?

I don't think Saeed misses the point, why even include the word dangerous when in reality Mike should have asked "what type of African big game hunting do folks feel is most overrated?". Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals, after all isn't that what attracts many/most to want to hunt Africa? Saeed's answer was perfect, in reality today with modern rifles, good bullets and a PH or two standing at your shoulder, most of any danger is gone.

I will get to Africa and it will be big, dirty, ugly and potential for a foul temper buffalo for me. Then I could knock it over at close range with one shot without any drama, but the stalk and the location will be the reward.

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:


I don't think Saeed misses the point, why even include the word dangerous when in reality Mike should have asked "what type of African big game hunting do folks feel is most overrated?". Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals, after all isn't that what attracts many/most to want to hunt Africa? Saeed's answer was perfect, in reality today with modern rifles, good bullets and a PH or two standing at your shoulder, most of any danger is gone.

Eagle27, are you kidding? If you believe that you need to go back and reread, I mean that in the nicest way. You need to go back and READ WHAT MIKE ORIGINALLY POSTED. Mike and Saeed seem to concur with me that Saeed missed the point.

Here is what Mike posted:

quote:

what type of dangerous game hunting do folks feel is the most overrated. Let's be clear. By overrated, I mean the type of hunt that you simply find to be tedious, not particularly enjoyable, less engaging than other types of dangerous game hunting, etc. I am not referring to the relative degree of perceived dangerousness between the animals.

Mike included the word "dangerous" because that is what most of us call the big 4 "dangerous game". He even included an explanation that this poll has noting to do with the relative "danger" of each animal, but rather with the actual "overratedness" of the hunt for each animal.


After all the discussion and explanation of what was meant I can't see how you are having trouble understanding the poll.

Christ man, when I read this I wonder if you are reading this through a translator:

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
why even include the word dangerous when in reality Mike should have asked "what type of African big game hunting do folks feel is most overrated?". Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals

Shoot, if he had said that people would have been posting things like "Impala is the most overrated" and what would that have told us about comparisons between the big 4?

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals

That sounds great except that Mike EXPLICITLY STATED THAT HE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THE RELATIVE DANGER BETWEEN THESE ANIMALS.

What more could Mike possibly do to make himself understood? By chance, are you related to Gatogordo and Shootaway?

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:


I don't think Saeed misses the point, why even include the word dangerous when in reality Mike should have asked "what type of African big game hunting do folks feel is most overrated?". Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals, after all isn't that what attracts many/most to want to hunt Africa? Saeed's answer was perfect, in reality today with modern rifles, good bullets and a PH or two standing at your shoulder, most of any danger is gone.

Eagle27, are you kidding? If you believe that you need to go back and reread, I mean that in the nicest way. You need to go back and READ WHAT MIKE ORIGINALLY POSTED. Mike and Saeed seem to concur with me that Saeed missed the point.

Here is what Mike posted:

quote:

what type of dangerous game hunting do folks feel is the most overrated. Let's be clear. By overrated, I mean the type of hunt that you simply find to be tedious, not particularly enjoyable, less engaging than other types of dangerous game hunting, etc. I am not referring to the relative degree of perceived dangerousness between the animals.

Mike included the word "dangerous" because that is what most of us call the big 4 "dangerous game". He even included an explanation that this poll has noting to do with the relative "danger" of each animal, but rather with the actual "overratedness" of the hunt for each animal.


After all the discussion and explanation of what was meant I can't see how you are having trouble understanding the poll.

Christ man, when I read this I wonder if you are reading this through a translator:

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
why even include the word dangerous when in reality Mike should have asked "what type of African big game hunting do folks feel is most overrated?". Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals

Shoot, if he had said that people would have been posting things like "Impala is the most overrated" and what would that have told us about comparisons between the big 4?

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals

That sounds great except that Mike EXPLICITLY STATED THAT HE WAS NOT INTERESTED IN THE RELATIVE DANGER BETWEEN THESE ANIMALS.

What more could Mike possibly do to make himself understood? By chance, are you related to Gatogordo and Shootaway?

Jason, in the nicest possible way I did read what Mike wrote and perfectly understood what he was getting at, and I'm sure Saeed did too, and yes Mike made it explicitly clear he was not wanting the danger factor brought in, but then why did everyone get into a bit of a tizz when posters started comparing the 'dangers' of the various animals. My point was as soon as danger was mentioned in the original post and the fact that many would, or could, not separate that factor out of their hunting experience it was bound to influence the choice of many. Note I did say African big game and I think in most of our minds this does cover the dangerous kind as opposed to any of the hoofed variety which we would generally call plains game.

Mike did actually say 'dangerous game hunting" not the big 4 although he list only four animals but as always others will get brought into the discussion. Why is hippo left off as from what I see they are still big and can be dangerous. Marksmanship? Couldn't that be said of any of the animals.

I perceived Saeed's post as in response to those that brought the danger factor into the discussion nothing more. He did then go on to post that he found hunting Leopard to be overrated although qualified this that he in fact enjoys all facets of the hunt.

My choice, of buffalo, was made on uniqueness of size and brutishness, not danger, although there may be some there under some circumstances but I happen to concur with Saeed's post on that.

A couple of hunts by others that I envied the most where leopard hunts with the same PH in the same area.
If going 14 days in a wonderful area without having a leopard show up until the last day and a beautiful leopard at that is not one of the best hunting experiences then some need to rethink.

quote:

By chance, are you related to Gatogordo and Shootaway?
nilly


Jason

Jason could well be Shootaway, I have shot a few buffalo cows (deliberately)

best

A mate of mine shot 3 buff in Moz and reckoned it was boring as hell.......like shooting bloody cattle.

He said he'd rather go chase a huge kudu for the money..........

I'd like to shoot a leopard but we can't import them into Oz.

And for the money, I'd rather have a Lord Derby Eland than elephant etc.

Most over rated DG hunt for me - ELEPHANT! Simple to approach, easy to shoot/kill! The "hunt" is the walk, but that too is easy - its just time consuming/sometimes boring. Regardless, I do enjoy elephant hunting.

Best DG hunt for me - TRACKING WILD LION! Although I've tracked lions a few times, they were not really a "tracking hunt". I did one true "lion on foot" hunt in Botswana, in 2007. It was the best DG hunt I have ever done in Africa, by far!!!

Most enjoyable DG hunt for me - BUFFALO! Easy to track (generally), high success, you get to see plenty (generally) and the element of danger is always there. Great fun!

quote:

Originally posted by eagle27:
I don't think Saeed misses the point, why even include the word dangerous when in reality Mike should have asked "what type of African big game hunting do folks feel is most overrated?". Soon as the word dangerous is included then of course you can expect comparisons of danger from the different animals, after all isn't that what attracts many/most to want to hunt Africa? <<<SNIP

SNIP >>>I will get to Africa and it will be big, dirty, ugly and potential for a foul temper buffalo for me. Then I could knock it over at close range with one shot without any drama, but the stalk and the location will be the reward.

I think you missed the point! Mike's question was,IMO, asking about the big five! They are not called the big five because they are all BIG, they are called the big five because they are considered to be dangerous to the hunter if he screws up! In the case of the cats over bait they are simply not dangerous if the shot is made properly. The others are dangerous because you are going after them on foot, and if you bump into them, and get into their fight rather than flight area at close range they are dangerous whether you shoot them or not!

In the case of cape buffalo they are rarely taken down with only one shot, so because of the way they are normally hunted they are far more dangerous than an animal shot over bait, and so are less boring than a cat over bait, IMO!

Maybe I misunderstood his meaning, but it seems he was talking about the big five!..........NO?