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One of Us |
I'll play devil's advocate a little here... I believe that many PH's do it because they love it. But when you are forced to deal with wholly unprepared clients, it can make things less enjoyable. And when this is done by people year after year I imagine that it can wear on a PH. Who here in thier profession likes dealing with people who make the same mistakes over and over again? It gets old. It gets frustrating. The potential to get stomped is part of a PH's life - I'm sure they all know the score and accept the risks. But when one of thier own gets killed following up a wounded buffalo, shot by yet another unprepared client - it comes as no suprise to me that they might vent thier frustrations just a little. They are trying to make a living at a profession that they love, in third world countries run by unstable and corrupt governments. Under those conditions, one may not have the luxury of turning away a particular paying customer if you want to keep doing what you love. Also many PH's work for companies and have no say in who is booked for them. They have to take the bad along with the good. And if every now and then things get a little much, and they bitch about the bad ones... I say so what. They've earned the right. . | ||
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One of Us |
for me (not a PH) the worst client would be a "know it all" person. A client lets say a young kid or wife with no experience would for me be a fun thing to try to learn your best skills etc ?! | |||
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one of us |
Excellent post. Whilst the vast majority of clients are great guys and excellent hunters, it cannot be denied that a small percentage are biting off more than they can chew....... If they're not fit then the PH can accommodate that without a problem but some other things such as lack of shooting ability or self control or eyesight so bad, they literally can't see the scope in front of their eyes is a lot harder to deal with no matter how good the PH is. There's a very, very few who are considerably worse than mentioned above and it doesn't surprise me in the least that some people in the business might struggle a bit when it comes to them. | |||
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| Administrator |
There are some individuals who have no business going hunting. Imagine a client arriving with one box of ammo. He has never fired his rifle, as the "gunsmith" has already sighted in. He fires several shots to sight his rifle, and never even manages to hit the carboard box the target is pasted on. The PH sights the rifle, and off they go hunting. They find a herd of kudu, with a good bull. The PH puts the shooting sticks up, and tells him to shoot the kudu. The client fires, and a kudu cow several yards to the side of the bull drops dead. The bull was untouched. | |||
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| One of Us |
Don't judge these fella's too harshly. They just buried one of their own.... | |||
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one of us |
Damn, you guys are excellent shots, never miss, never wound. On the internet anyway. Do we know what happened in the Lewis buff killing. Or is it just more speculation ... "the rest of those clients are piss-poor shots and I could never get a PH killed." Are the client, appy, and trackers 100% reliable sources of the actual facts? If you have never wounded an animal you haven't hunted much. Get off this self-righteous podium. ------------------------------- Will / Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun. --------------------------------------- and, God Bless John Wayne. NRA Benefactor, GOA, NAGR _________________________ "Elephant and Elephant Guns" $99 shipped. “Hunting Africa's Dangerous Game" $20 shipped. red.dirt.elephant@gmail.com _________________________ If anything be of note, let it be he was once an elephant hunter, hoping to wind up where elephant hunters go. | |||
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+1 Will ; Everyone's fallible... | |||
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Maybe too soon guys | |||
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You're not referring to Walter in any way are you?  | |||
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| One of Us |
They knew it was gonna be that way when they started--its been so for ever. So they need to stop complaining or stop taking the money. SSR | |||
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| One of Us |
Guides/PH's whatever you choose to call them hire themselves out to perform a service. The hunt is not theirs, the hunt belongs to the person footing the bill, if they cannot accept that they need to quit the business. On the flip side of that coin however are clients that show up in camp believing that the guifde/PH is some sort of God. So the whole system has problems due to attitudes and egos, and that is not going to change. Even the rocks don't last forever. | |||
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Nope! | |||
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| One of Us |
Who told you about me? They missed that I was high on alcohol and prescription drugs all the time and talked on my sat phone when we were trying to get close enough for a shot. While you are setting up the sticks I have to get this call. Complained about the food, accommodations, and transportation. Bill Member DSC,DRSS,NRA,TSRA A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. -Mark Twain There ought to be one day - just one – when there is open season on Congressmen. ~Will Rogers~ | |||
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Gentlemen, Once you get enough people participating - both PHs and clients - one is bound to get the odd one who turns out to be an utter idiot. Luckily, I have had no personal experience of a bad PHs, but have seen some clients who really have no business hunting at all. | |||
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| One of Us |
I feel for the guide/ph/etc sometimes. I have hunted with a fella that is one of the "should never hunt" type and it was everyone elses fault etc and he was the worldest greatest shot/hunter. I have also hunted with a "guide" who was in a hurry for us to shoot anything so he could go back to his ranch work. I feel for the people who are paired up with either type. | |||
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Hum - "and it was everyone elses fault". Remind you of anyone here in our Govt? Having guided and outfitted elk hunters here in New Mexico have had my share of good and bad, comes with the game I guess? Larry Sellers SCI Life Member | |||
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I don't disagree with you TwoZero. I posted "An Eye Opener" hoping we would all take a second look at ourselves. The majority of PH"s do a great job. If I didn't believe that I wouldn"t have gone back 9 times. They do a tough dangerous job, and I can appreciate their frustration when a client comes over unprepaired. I think I as a client need to be in as good a shape as I can be, and be practiced with my firearms. However I am not 40 years old. I can"t run as fast, see as well, and shoot as well as I once could. But I will give you everything I have. | |||
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One of Us |
let me just say from my perspective and i have had a few people who were completely unprepared and painful to deal with , but a PHs work is 80% PR if you are not good at PR no matter how good you are at having people kill stuff there are a lot of people who you will rub .. The best ph is a great hunter with a high degree of professionalism and excellent PR skills ... the more PR and professionalism you have the less people will piss you off ...not a job is the world is fun every day , but you always should show up with your "game face" on !!!!! "The greatest threat to our wildlife is the thought that someone else will save it” www.facebook.com/ivancartersafrica www.ivancarterwca.org www.ivancarter.com ivan@ivancarter.com | |||
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I have been 17 times to Africa. I have had one PH that I would never go back with under any circumstance. Hell, I would not want to spend 5 minutes with this guy under any circumstance. All the others were great. | |||
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| One of Us |
It is a truism that clients and PHs are human beings, therefore they all have faults and most also have some positive attributes. For a client, the trick is finding a PH whose faults are ones that you can live with. The PH that I have experience with that was the easiest to get along with was George Hallamore in Zimbabwe. From what I have seen, the really good PHs will actually go out of their way to see that a client they don't like is successful. 465H&H | |||
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one of us |
As Ivan put it, you must be highly skilled at PR to be successful in this business. It also helps to be able to interpret the reason your client chooses to hunt. In my experience that and their attitude means a lot more than what sort of physical shape they are in or how well they can shoot. Anyone who claims the 30-06 is ineffective has either not tried one, or is unwittingly commenting on their own marksmanship Phil Shoemaker Alaska Master guide FAA Master pilot NRA Benefactor www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.com | |||
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