quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
My philosophy is generally to say nothing in cases like this.

But it's getting pretty deep around here.

If only for the sake of education, someone has to speak the hard truth.

I find it amazing that, for all but a very few of us, the bottom line in this matter seems to be roughly as follows:

Nice buff.

Why?

Because he's wide. Who cares if he's young and soft, and at least three years away from being an excellent trophy bull?

In that kind of thinking, inches matter more than age.

And that kind of thinking is 180 degrees wrong as far as Cape buffalo hunting is concerned.

What of conservation? What ever happened to taking only the old bulls?

Then, after McKay pointed it out, and others, including me, chimed in, it is admitted that this bull was young and soft.

But - we are led to believe that we don't know the whole story. It's implied that there were exigent circumstances.

I'm sorry to have to say it, but it's a lame excuse for the hunter to claim that he was somehow or other forced to shoot in haste under the conditions he described.

He wasn't being charged. He was apparently more than 100 yards away.

Under those conditions, it's okay to shoot before knowing for certain that the buff is a mature animal?

It's okay to take the shot, after a second's deliberation, instead of deciding to hold off, get closer and make sure that the bull is mature before blasting away?

Not in my book. That's nothing more than a mistake posing as a justification.

This young bull was just coming into his own. He should have been left to breed, and pass along his excellent genes to later generations.

In a few years down the road, he would have made a great trophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Degas:

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
My philosophy is generally to say nothing in cases like this.

But it's getting pretty deep around here.

If only for the sake of education, someone has to speak the hard truth.

I find it amazing that, for all but a very few of us, the bottom line in this matter seems to be roughly as follows:

Nice buff.

Why?

Because he's wide. Who cares if he's young and soft, and at least three years away from being an excellent trophy bull?

In that kind of thinking, inches matter more than age.

And that kind of thinking is 180 degrees wrong as far as Cape buffalo hunting is concerned.

What of conservation? What ever happened to taking only the old bulls?

Then, after McKay pointed it out, and others, including me, chimed in, it is admitted that this bull was young and soft.

But - we are led to believe that we don't know the whole story. It's implied that there were exigent circumstances.

I'm sorry to have to say it, but it's a lame excuse for the hunter to claim that he was somehow or other forced to shoot in haste under the conditions he described.

He wasn't being charged. He was apparently more than 100 yards away.

Under those conditions, it's okay to shoot before knowing for certain that the buff is a mature animal?

It's okay to take the shot, after a second's deliberation, instead of deciding to hold off, get closer and make sure that the bull is mature before blasting away?

Not in my book. That's nothing more than a mistake posing as a justification.

This young bull was just coming into his own. He should have been left to breed, and pass along his excellent genes to later generations.

In a few years down the road, he would have made a great trophy.

You would have better off not to make a comment than to opine this crap. It was the hunter's dime not yours, be a man and congradulate him on his first buff otherwise you look like an ass!

quote:

My philosophy is generally to say nothing in cases like this.

But it's getting pretty deep around here.

If only for the sake of education, someone has to speak the hard truth.

I find it amazing that, for all but a very few of us, the bottom line in this matter seems to be roughly as follows:

Nice buff.

Why?

Because he's wide. Who cares if he's young and soft, and at least three years away from being an excellent trophy bull?

In that kind of thinking, inches matter more than age.

And that kind of thinking is 180 degrees wrong as far as Cape buffalo hunting is concerned.

What of conservation? What ever happened to taking only the old bulls?

Then, after McKay pointed it out, and others, including me, chimed in, it is admitted that this bull was young and soft.

But - we are led to believe that we don't know the whole story. It's implied that there were exigent circumstances.

I'm sorry to have to say it, but it's a lame excuse for the hunter to claim that he was somehow or other forced to shoot in haste under the conditions he described.

He wasn't being charged. He was apparently more than 100 yards away.

Under those conditions, it's okay to shoot before knowing for certain that the buff is a mature animal?

It's okay to take the shot, after a second's deliberation, instead of deciding to hold off, get closer and make sure that the bull is mature before blasting away?

Not in my book. That's nothing more than a mistake posing as a justification.

This young bull was just coming into his own. He should have been left to breed, and pass along his excellent genes to later generations.

In a few years down the road, he would have made a great trophy.

Mike

An ounce of experience is worth a pound of theory.