The short answer is NO! and NO!

My wife, though not a hunter nor sees any fun in it, has only make one request of me about hunting trophies!

I booked a hunt once that had HIPPO on license, and she asked, with a frown on her face, "Are you going to put a hippo face on our wall?" To which I answered NO the tusks will do! She didn't care that I was hunting it, she just didn't want it on our wall.

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

Every little deception erodes the purpose of being married. Much better to argue over the truth.

Up until she asks you if a dress or pants make her ass look fat. At that point you are sunk not matter what your intentions.

Perhaps you should sit her down and come clean. Explain to her that you've been pained about how to tell her the truth that you're going to hunt and elephant since many year's ago, she asked you to not bring one home. Tell her that elephant hunting has been a long time dream of yours, and that you found a way to accomodate her wish while also getting to experience an adventure you've longed to do for many years, and that you found a NON-exportable elephant hunt. Tell her all the good that comes to the village from you shooting this elephant that they'll get someone to shoot whether you do it or not and that this way you'll have gotten to experience elephant hunting while also honoring her wish for you to not bring it home.

I think that posting on here about it is one of the dumber things I've ever seen one of our brethren do, and it may land you in the hottest of waters. If/when that happens, I can only suggest three options. #1, a BIG diamond; #2 a good attorney; #3 consult Ivan Carter about maneaters, because you'll rather be in that pot than in her sights.

I thought this was a thread about Obama, that was accidently posted here instead of the Political Forum??? Oh well, still true I guess?

Larry Sellers
SCI Life Member

I must be in the minority but my wife of 31 years and I agreed long ago that being married was not about telling each other what they were or were not allowed to do. We each do what we want and stay together because we want to. Not because one holds control over the other. With that comes the respect to conduct ourselves in a way we would desire to be treated. Lying would not fit that description. My elephant hunting and her antique purchases do.

Just wondering if No. 6 is your lucky number?

so the consensus seems to be that most folks tell their wife about EVERYTHING they do or buy?? i am amazed but i think i will stick with a "don't ask- don't tell" policy. thanks for the input, though.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
Every little deception erodes the purpose of being married. Much better to argue over the truth.

Up until she asks you if a dress or pants make her ass look fat. At that point you are sunk not matter what your intentions.

You are truly wise.

My 2cents that may be worth 1 cent is sell the hunt to someone who has no issues with it. Tell the wife you want to hunt elephant. If you decide that she can live with you hunting elephant than another will come up and you can have the satisfaction of hunting elephant and no loss of conscience. Sleeping next to a stranger is saddening. The only harm right now is being tempted to do something you have not done yet. Shooting the elephant as is would be shooting yourself in the foot. It's easy to cast judgement on others and 99.9% of us cannot cast the first stone. I'd be curious on what you decide. It's none of our business but you asked the question. It's easy to justify but hard to explain.

quote:

Originally posted by Bwana Bunduki:
Sounds to me that you need to grow a pair. Good God.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
so the consensus seems to be that most folks tell their wife about EVERYTHING they do or buy?? i am amazed but i think i will stick with a "don't ask- don't tell" policy. thanks for the input, though.

I don't know about "most folks" but my wife and I do. She's my best friend. Why wouldn't I want to share everything exciting or sad with her?

I wish I had this problem.

I have been told by the boss, that Elephants and polor bear are a no-no. I agreed as I thought as you did when would I ever be able to afford those hunts, but I will tell her, as she is very easy going with my hunting, but sometimes I see her in my office adding up the money I spent in her mind, that's when I get nervous, no wonder she keeps telling me no to buying a 3rd pair of binos.

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Clark:
I have been told by the boss, that Elephants and polar bear are a no-no.

Brian - Come on man, that there is the problem! When did your wife, become your boss?

If I hear anymore of that talk, you will not be invited back to eastern, CO.

I wouldn't lie to her. I also wouldn't let her tell me what I could or cold not hunt .

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
My 2cents that may be worth 1 cent is sell the hunt to someone who has no issues with it. Tell the wife you want to hunt elephant. If you decide that she can live with you hunting elephant than another will come up and you can have the satisfaction of hunting elephant and no loss of conscience. Sleeping next to a stranger is saddening. The only harm right now is being tempted to do something you have not done yet. Shooting the elephant as is would be shooting yourself in the foot. It's easy to cast judgement on others and 99.9% of us cannot cast the first stone. I'd be curious on what you decide. It's none of our business but you asked the question. It's easy to justify but hard to explain.

for the pittance i paid for this hunt, i think i'll keep it and take my chances on blowing my foot off. wouldn't be the first time i have done that either- i am surprised i stll have 2 feet and can walk. from the replies, i thought i was posting at a saints convention. i will certainly never qualify for sainthood as most here already have all the admission slots sown up. also i never realized my balls were inadequat as several have said. at age 64, it's a little late to grow another pair- maybe some of the people with that suggestion can loan me 1 of their HUGE pair. perfection must be a real cross to bear on Easter. also as an FYI, my wife simply told me she didn't want me to shoot an elephant- she never ORDERED ME NOT TO!!!!! BIG DIFFERENCE.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
My 2cents that may be worth 1 cent is sell the hunt to someone who has no issues with it. Tell the wife you want to hunt elephant. If you decide that she can live with you hunting elephant than another will come up and you can have the satisfaction of hunting elephant and no loss of conscience. Sleeping next to a stranger is saddening. The only harm right now is being tempted to do something you have not done yet. Shooting the elephant as is would be shooting yourself in the foot. It's easy to cast judgement on others and 99.9% of us cannot cast the first stone. I'd be curious on what you decide. It's none of our business but you asked the question. It's easy to justify but hard to explain.

for the pittance i paid for this hunt, i think i'll keep it and take my chances on blowing my foot off. wouldn't be the first time i have done that either- i am surprised i stll have 2 feet and can walk. from the replies, i thought i was posting at a saints convention. i will certainly never qualify for sainthood as most here already have all the admission slots sown up. also i never realized my balls were inadequat as several have said. at age 64, it's a little late to grow another pair- maybe some of the people with that suggestion can loan me 1 of their HUGE pair. perfection must be a real cross to bear on Easter. also as an FYI, my wife simply told me she didn't want me to shoot an elephant- she never ORDERED ME NOT TO!!!!! BIG DIFFERENCE.

This is the last sentence of your opening post on a thread you started.....

"I am the only one who has ever kept their significant other in the dark about what they actually hunt in Africa( or how much it actually cost)??"

My posts were simply an answer to that question. I remember a statement in a movie about lawyers that went something like.....never ask a question you don't really want the answer to.....

No saint here. Just a regular guy with an open truthful relationship with his wife. Nothing more nothing less. I'm sorry if you took any of my posts as judgmental because they weren't meant to be. we all live by our own definitions and life has a way of delivering on those definitions.

You Sir, are older than me so I will defer to your advanced age and wisdom.

Good luck and I wish you well with your choices.

Seems you have chosen your path.
Go out in a blaze of glory and good shooting.
You can post the pics here. Just blur out your face

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
My 2cents that may be worth 1 cent is sell the hunt to someone who has no issues with it. Tell the wife you want to hunt elephant. If you decide that she can live with you hunting elephant than another will come up and you can have the satisfaction of hunting elephant and no loss of conscience. Sleeping next to a stranger is saddening. The only harm right now is being tempted to do something you have not done yet. Shooting the elephant as is would be shooting yourself in the foot. It's easy to cast judgement on others and 99.9% of us cannot cast the first stone. I'd be curious on what you decide. It's none of our business but you asked the question. It's easy to justify but hard to explain.

for the pittance i paid for this hunt, i think i'll keep it and take my chances on blowing my foot off. wouldn't be the first time i have done that either- i am surprised i stll have 2 feet and can walk. from the replies, i thought i was posting at a saints convention. i will certainly never qualify for sainthood as most here already have all the admission slots sown up. also i never realized my balls were inadequat as several have said. at age 64, it's a little late to grow another pair- maybe some of the people with that suggestion can loan me 1 of their HUGE pair. perfection must be a real cross to bear on Easter. also as an FYI, my wife simply told me she didn't want me to shoot an elephant- she never ORDERED ME NOT TO!!!!! BIG DIFFERENCE.

This is the last sentence of your opening post on a thread you started.....

"I am the only one who has ever kept their significant other in the dark about what they actually hunt in Africa( or how much it actually cost)??"

My posts were simply an answer to that question. I remember a statement in a movie about lawyers that went something like.....never ask a question you don't really want the answer to.....

No saint here. Just a regular guy with an open truthful relationship with his wife. Nothing more nothing less. I'm sorry if you took any of my posts as judgmental because they weren't meant to be. we all live by our own definitions and life has a way of delivering on those definitions.

You Sir, are older than me so I will defer to your advanced age and wisdom.

Good luck and I wish you well with your choices.

I appreciate your thoughtful reply/suggestion and you were definitely NOT one of several who suggested i grow a new set of balls. i suppose some here are married to a spouse who simply says "yes, Master" or "no, Master" when they lay down the law, but i am not one of them. i figure a lie to spare my wife's feelings is better than an order for her to take it or leave it. guess my balls really aren't big enough but its too late for a new pair. oh well, that's life.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

My posts were simply an answer to that question. I remember a statement in a movie about lawyers that went something like.....never ask a question you don't really want the answer to.....

I believe the Lawyer's mantra is "Never ask a question you don't KNOW the answer to". In other words, never inject uncertainty into a trail or witness questioning because it might bite you in the ass.

quote:

No saint here. Just a regular guy with an open truthful relationship with his wife. Nothing more nothing less. I'm sorry if you took any of my posts as judgmental because they weren't meant to be...Good luck and I wish you well with your choices.

OK, I'll play the ass hole here. Let's be honest and let's be judgemental in a straight up way as I suspect many of us might want to be. None of this is really about "being a weenie" or the wife having her husband's balls in a jar. I personally think part of being a man is either not doing what you say you won't do or being honest and saying "Hey, the world has changed and I am doing this and not what I said before". At the very least, one should probably come home after the fact and say "Look, I did this and don't feel bad about it for these reasons". Slinking back home trying to conceal a lighter bank balance and with carefully hidden trophy photos that you can NEVER hang in the house or openly share with friends just sounds really shitty.

Further, on a more philosophical level, the above also sounds like a real bummer of a backdrop against which an elephant will die. At the very least I think a game animal deserves to have his picture openly displayed and not hidden away in shame because of your deception.

Sorry to be so blunt.

Well, it seems anglo saxxon men are quite different than latin men.

Down here there is a non written law about not being neccesary to tell everything to your wife, and NEVER ever admit you have lied if you ever got cought, not even with a gun in your chest !!

For example, a friend of mine bought a mauser in 8x68, before arriving home he realize that telling his wife that he has spent 2k on that rifle was not a good idea, so he told her that the rifle cost him only 300 bucks.

After a looong silence a very angry wife shout: "what !!! You spent THAT money in a rifle!!"

So as I said, better learn to keep some secrets than be beaten to death by an angry latin wife

Down here, THEY rule, that thing about the latin macho man is just a stupid myth, we always end our argues with a wise "yes Darling, you are right" and then we spend whatever we want at the gunshops.

We are tough men....

L

SOMEHOW I really DOUBT the elephant will care one way or the other. and i have no pictures in my house of previous trophies( although my trophy room is completely jam assed full with absolutely NO room for anything else- hence the earlier statement that i bring nothing home but memories and pictures). the pictures are all on my computer for my personal enjoyment. my wife has her computer for her stuff. i can assure you i won't slink home. also my wife knows EXACTLY what the hunt costs and the deal is she spends the same any way she wants to spend it. as far as you being an asshole- well..... i recall somehting abou shoes fitting. as an aside Lorenzo, my wife is 1/2 Puerto Rican and i can certainly underdstand the Latin temperament.

quote:

Originally posted by Aaron Neilson:

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Clark:
I have been told by the boss, that Elephants and polar bear are a no-no.

Brian - Come on man, that there is the problem! When did your wife, become your boss?

If I hear anymore of that talk, you will not be invited back to eastern, CO.

Sorry Boss, I mean the boos of my house.

i guess i am lucky too my wife will let me hunt anything has long has we can afford it. lee

JDollar
Let me tell you my friend, you are screwed now. Karl is going to find out your predicament and blackmail you. Be sure to take large amounts of amber colored liquid with you to camp. Apply above mentioned liquid to Karl and maybe he won't remember.
PS. Don't mention the last night we were in Reno last year. I guess it won't matter, he doesn't remember that either.

i have known Karl for several years through a common friend( Walter Enslin, Kwan Safaris) but have never hunted with him. i have however shared a few adult beverages with him in Dallas and Reno. we both favor the amber stuff and hopefully he remembers that when stocking the bar prior to my arrival. i appreciate the input here but i think i will pass on the anatomical impossibilty of growing more body parts.. sometimes i wish i had a wife that just kept her mouth shut when i dictated exactly what i intended to do with no consideration for her feelings but such thoughts last about 10 seconds. then i realize i am lucky to have a wife who puts up with my extended trips to far flung venues.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
Every little deception erodes the purpose of being married. Much better to argue over the truth.

+1

Plead stupidity now. It's not too late......

Brett

PS. What's your capacity to pay for safaris with HALF????

Sounds like you have a wonderful marriage.

i do- works for both of us( took several failures to get here).

There is probably more ignorance about elephant hunting among the general population than any other animal! Why not sit her down and educate her as to the benefits of elephant hunting. If she supports hunting generally it is probably as you said before that she has an opinion formed from past mis-information.

As to my wife; she very much supports hunting but just claims that I do too much of it. As to cost I tell her that she doesn't want to know and she just shakes her head and smiles!

This a.m. my wife told me she didn't want me to ever hunt an elephant.
I think Disney & and an animal nutt friend of ours have effected her thinking. Plus maybe a little fear for my safety.
I told her if I ever got the chance I would take it.
That seemed to have settled it. (she knows I can't afford it right now anyway) I don't always win that easily.
Different relationships require different techniques I guess.
I can't throw rocks at jdollar, my wife doesn't know half the guns I own, she thinks I only need 1.

quote:

Originally posted by bwana cecil:
I can't throw rocks at jdollar, my wife doesn't know half the guns I own, she thinks I only need 1.

Had a friend that called himself a "gun runner". He'd wait for his wife to leave the house and then he would run into the house with his new gun and put it in the safe before she saw it.

quote:

Originally posted by hunt99:
There is probably more ignorance about elephant hunting among the general population than any other animal! Why not sit her down and educate her as to the benefits of elephant hunting. If she supports hunting generally it is probably as you said before that she has an opinion formed from past mis-information.

Mine is well informed and still does not wish to be any part of the hunting of an Elephant. She'll sit in a Leopard or Lion blind, go on a stalk of Buffalo, and will be shooting some bait this June but she can't get past the Elephant thing and fully admits it makes no sense to her why.

As I said earlier in the thread she watches TAA and video with Elephants dropping like flies and has no problem with that. She just doesn't want to be there in person.

To judge from some of the responses to the OP, I am curious if a fair number of our non-hunting spouses are lurking around this forum to check up on their partners; if so, I should re-think my less-than-clever moniker. Ignoring that possibility, I have a question for the group: am I to deduce from the high-moraled comments leveled at JDollar that each of you frequently engage your spouse in a complete audit of the contents of your safe? And in doing so, present cost basis, improvements, and current value of all of items therein. Surely you also jointly agree to a forward-looking budget for purchases for the periods ahead. If so, good on you.

I, and I don’t think I am alone, believe a little “home embezzlement” with respect to firearms inventory, a turn of phrase favored by one of my hunting buddies, makes for a happier home. Of course turnabout is fair play and I know my wife makes little effort to apprise me on many of her own purchases. My attitude toward this: As long as she pulls from our discretionary funds, I would truly rather not know how much money she spends on clothing, shoes, and various sundry items.

I guess I am just weird like that...

Seriously bad idea, nothing to do with a lack of any particular bodily parts, more with a lack of respect for your wife. Frequently it's the coverup rather than the crime that creates the most damage, and, at least with my wife, this would be the case here.
My 2 cents

terry

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Marguglio:
To judge from some of the responses to the OP, I am curious if a fair number of our non-hunting spouses are lurking around this forum to check up on their partners; if so, I should re-think my less-than-clever moniker. Ignoring that possibility, I have a question for the group: am I to deduce from the high-moraled comments leveled at JDollar that each of you frequently engage your spouse in a complete audit of the contents of your safe? And in doing so, present cost basis, improvements, and current value of all of items therein. Surely you also jointly agree to a forward-looking budget for purchases for the periods ahead. If so, good on you.

I, and I don’t think I am alone, believe a little “home embezzlement” with respect to firearms inventory, a turn of phrase favored by one of my hunting buddies, makes for a happier home. Of course turnabout is fair play and I know my wife makes little effort to apprise me on many of her own purchases. My attitude toward this: As long as she pulls from our discretionary funds, I would truly rather not know how much money she spends on clothing, shoes, and various sundry items.

I guess I am just weird like that...

We have enjoyed co-mingled funds for 38 years so there is no "hiding" anything. We support, and mostly take part in, each others interests.

Just lucky I guess.

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
...i realize i am lucky to have a wife who puts up with my extended trips to far flung venues.

Perhaps she's keeping her own secrets....just to save you from any hurt feelings.

Post a pic of your wife and give us the dates you'll be on safari.

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
...i realize i am lucky to have a wife who puts up with my extended trips to far flung venues.

Perhaps she's keeping her own secrets....just to save you from any hurt feelings.

Post a pic of your wife and give us the dates you'll be on safari.

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

quote:

Originally posted by DJ Marguglio:
To judge from some of the responses to the OP, I am curious if a fair number of our non-hunting spouses are lurking around this forum to check up on their partners; if so, I should re-think my less-than-clever moniker. Ignoring that possibility, I have a question for the group: am I to deduce from the high-moraled comments leveled at JDollar that each of you frequently engage your spouse in a complete audit of the contents of your safe? And in doing so, present cost basis, improvements, and current value of all of items therein. Surely you also jointly agree to a forward-looking budget for purchases for the periods ahead. If so, good on you.

I, and I don’t think I am alone, believe a little “home embezzlement” with respect to firearms inventory, a turn of phrase favored by one of my hunting buddies, makes for a happier home. Of course turnabout is fair play and I know my wife makes little effort to apprise me on many of her own purchases. My attitude toward this: As long as she pulls from our discretionary funds, I would truly rather not know how much money she spends on clothing, shoes, and various sundry items.

I guess I am just weird like that...

We have enjoyed co-mingled funds for 38 years so there is no "hiding" anything. We support, and mostly take part in, each others interests.

Just lucky I guess.

effing lucky as Johnny would say

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:

As I said earlier in the thread she watches TAA and video with Elephants dropping like flies and has no problem with that. She just doesn't want to be there in person.[/QUOTE]

...YET!!!!!

I'm working on her!

Best regards, D. Nelson

quote:

Originally posted by D. Nelson:

quote:

Originally posted by Frostbit:


As I said earlier in the thread she watches TAA and video with Elephants dropping like flies and has no problem with that. She just doesn't want to be there in person.

...YET!!!!!

I'm working on her!

Best regards, D. Nelson

I said Elephant NOT Lion.