African Hunting - reflections

22 October 2005, 12:48

<BWN300MAG>

I recently accepted a postion with the Tulsa Housing Authority. That is helping the poor and down-trodden find a place to live. As I set up my desk, personal items, trophy photos, etc. I found most of the people there had no clue Ele hunting was even legal much less something someone in their right mind (not necessarily me) would want to do. Given the fact that most of these people are of the female persuasion, I did not think it best to drop the hammer on them with bloody hunting stories. Instead I chose a different approach.
I spoke to them of the people in the area. I had not really concerned myself much with this aspect of the hunt, since I got back in may, until I started in on the soft-hearted women at work to convince them I was in fact not the devil.
I explained the lack of necessities the people dealt with on a daily basis. I explained how the meat they recieved from my kill would provide much needed nourishment for the next month or so. At some point during my discourse, I remembered a little boy who was at the kill site.
I took pictures of the kid. As the work on the elephant began, I noticed him in our dried up riverbed, with a rather aversive look on his face. He could not have been more than 5 or 6 and was dressed in typical African villager style - ragged ill-fitting clothes. He watched us all day as we sat in the shade and held conversations on numerous topics that are of no consequence. But every time I looked up, there he was staring at us, staring at me. Even with the heightened sense of elation I was feeling from my recent victory, his look seemed to cut through me.
Then he was given a chunk of meat. It was almost as big as his head (I am embellishing here just a bit). For the rest of the day I could not shake the little guy. His almost disdainful look transformed into a look of admiration. When I got up and moved, his eyes followed, if I went to far, here he came. Why, I even got a smile or two out of him! I had given him meat! You would have thought he had just won the lottery.
Anyway, the women melted and sang my praises (not often that happens!

) and now hold me in a higher regard. Some are still holding out, but then, you can't make every dog in the pack happy everyday.
But it got me to thinking rarely do we hear stories about how one's hunt affects the people in the area. It just kind of brightened my day when I thought about how glad the people were that I had swwatted the jumbo. Singing and who-haing, the kids playing around the site. It was like a big festival for them. For me it was like a rock concert and I was center stage. damn - what a feeling!

Anybody else?

22 October 2005, 13:05

Will

There was an old gal this year that was trying to be seroius, but just couldn't help hereself from smiling from ear to ear when I looked at her hanging strips of ele from every branch in the area. It was quite comical.

The falacy of communism: They didn't want to start their fires until almost dark for fear others would also come running to the free meat.

I'm not a psychologist, but if there is free stuff there will be a corresponding never-ending line of folks to accept it. Housing and elephant meat?

If the natives had weapons there wouldn't be a single elephant left on the face of the earth.

I'm glad I got mine before it is too late, for me and the elephants.

22 October 2005, 23:07

NitroX

I read a old letter sent back to Europe from one of my ancestors. It contained praises of the new lifestyle and riches of the farms in their new country compared to the old. It contained the line "a meal here is not a meal without meat". Probably compared to the "old country" when meat was a luxury and rarity. The African villagers still live like this and the meat they receive from safari hunting concessionaires would be an added bonus to their diets and tastebuds.

Westerners with their luxurious and lavish lifestyles do not often know the luxuries they enjoy everyday. Choosing to be vegetarian from choice rather than from necessity and forgoing the best in their repetoire and diet.

A meal is not a meal without nyama.

23 October 2005, 01:56

hamdeni

BWN300mag

Very Touching

At the end there is that feeling of satisfaction
that you have helped people

Hamdeni

quote:
Originally posted by BWN300MAG:
I recently accepted a postion with the Tulsa Housing Authority. That is helping the poor and down-trodden find a place to live. As I set up my desk, personal items, trophy photos, etc. I found most of the people there had no clue Ele hunting was even legal much less something someone in their right mind (not necessarily me) would want to do. Given the fact that most of these people are of the female persuasion, I did not think it best to drop the hammer on them with bloody hunting stories. Instead I chose a different approach.
I spoke to them of the people in the area. I had not really concerned myself much with this aspect of the hunt, since I got back in may, until I started in on the soft-hearted women at work to convince them I was in fact not the devil.
I explained the lack of necessities the people dealt with on a daily basis. I explained how the meat they recieved from my kill would provide much needed nourishment for the next month or so. At some point during my discourse, I remembered a little boy who was at the kill site.
I took pictures of the kid. As the work on the elephant began, I noticed him in our dried up riverbed, with a rather aversive look on his face. He could not have been more than 5 or 6 and was dressed in typical African villager style - ragged ill-fitting clothes. He watched us all day as we sat in the shade and held conversations on numerous topics that are of no consequence. But every time I looked up, there he was staring at us, staring at me. Even with the heightened sense of elation I was feeling from my recent victory, his look seemed to cut through me.
Then he was given a chunk of meat. It was almost as big as his head (I am embellishing here just a bit). For the rest of the day I could not shake the little guy. His almost disdainful look transformed into a look of admiration. When I got up and moved, his eyes followed, if I went to far, here he came. Why, I even got a smile or two out of him! I had given him meat! You would have thought he had just won the lottery.
Anyway, the women melted and sang my praises (not often that happens! ) and now hold me in a higher regard. Some are still holding out, but then, you can't make every dog in the pack happy everyday.
But it got me to thinking rarely do we hear stories about how one's hunt affects the people in the area. It just kind of brightened my day when I thought about how glad the people were that I had swwatted the jumbo. Singing and who-haing, the kids playing around the site. It was like a big festival for them. For me it was like a rock concert and I was center stage. damn - what a feeling!

Anybody else?

23 October 2005, 05:32

retreever

Brian,
Great story..I too have people saying you shot an ele!!! I thought you can't...But I explain it was for people's jewelery ele's were being slaughtered and wasted..
I tell how & when my ele was found how all at he village spread the word and they lined up behind me the bwana with the rifle and we walked in..there were over a 100 people following us and all had knives and bags to carry the meat...
The part that got to me was when we walked out to the truck and had a celebration beer and sandwich, this lady came running up to the truck yelling in Shona "stop, I have to give you a present for giving us an elephant... 4 ears of corn, 3 papayas and a quart pot of beans and maize, the staple diet...I had tears in my eyes looking at all that they don't have..
But have to share some of their food with me....WOW..Very humbling..

Mike