I was in the pub some weeks back and a good PH and friend remarked that we will be the last of the Lion hunters. There were a dozen or so of us hunters around the bar and for some moments there was silence.

Many nights I have sat around a fire in the gloom listening to the dull boom of Lions. With a good glass of whiskey in hand it surely is one of the worlds great experiences. I questioned whether I would be able to hunt this magnificent beast again and it would sadden me if I was denied this sport.

This year Zambia put Lion back on a very limited quota and under very strict conditions for us hunters. In three years I had almost forgotten what it takes to hunt this beast and the fear and fluttering emotion of walking him up in his lair.

To be in close proximity of a Lion that you are going to shoot is an indescribable privilege and if you can afford it then I strongly suggest you consider doing it now. Maybe politics dictate you cannot bring your trophy home but if done right do not deny yourself the finest of sports.

I will be in my element for once again I get to walk in trepidation towards the dull reverberating boom of Lion and I am most grateful to those who have offered me the opportunity to share this experience with them.

Andrew;

Well said!!!!!

Best regards, D. Nelson

Andrew,

Yes! Well said. Lion hunting to me is the most special of special hunts. Nothing quite compares for me.

Mark

I will third your motion Andrew. I certainly haven't hunted all the world's game, but a wild lion is #1 to me, and alway a privilege to be in their presence. I can remember the incredible thrill the first time I heard one roar, the adrenaline rush every time I saw one the 2 times I hunted them, and the respect and honor I felt to kneel over the one old boy I was blessed to shoot. They are special, and if hunting them ends, the world will be an emptier place to inhabit.

Great post Andrew.

Lot of nostalgic undertones there. reminds me of my dad being the last generation of tiger hunters - his last tiger hunt was around 1967 I think.

Unquestionably there is no experience like hunting lion...none. Wonderful memories.

Let us hope we are wrong and it continues for the indefinite future!

I really want to try again someday for Lion.

Well said Andrew.

Has anyone heard of any lions taken in Zambia this year? I have seen several photos/reports of leopard and buffalo but no lion as yet.

Can't explain it, but lion hunting has never appealed to me. Maybe I just never dreamed big enough, who knows.
But I would truly hate to see those that dream of going being denied the opportunity.
We hunters also know what happens to game that has no value to the local communities.
Praying for better days.

At this stage of my life, I would have been very unhappy if I had not hunted a lion. It was absolutely my finest experience hunting.

Our Lion hunt felt like it had it all. A close (7 foot) blind experience, a long tracking attempt across open land from patch of cover to patch of cover. The feeling of going on high alert at every patch of cover is indescribable. The chess game of hanging baits, moving baits replenishing baits and then finally shooting a Lion face to face in the open not on bait and needing to follow the limited spoor deep into cover.

Priceless!!

I've had the privilege of hunting lions twice, for a total of 37 days over safaris in Zimbabwe and Botswana. I was fortunate to take one lion on the 22nd day of a 24 day safari, and it will always be one of the very finest hunting experiences of my life.

While it is extremely unlikely, I'd love to be able to do it once more to share a lion hunt with my son.

Andrew,
We are indeed the last and I truly believe that.
To share a campfire , a fine whisky and to hunt these magnificent animals with you was an absolute privilege.
As you say though , the ultimate privilege was walking him up in his lair.

Meeting your family again was awesome and you should be proud of your boys.
Tom grew up allot on our safari.

Good luck for the rest of the season.
Looking forward to the reports.

See you soon mate.
Cheers
Steve

Just yesterday my 10 year old son got taken out of class of a private summer school for drawing a picture of his rifle and telling his class mates about shooting deer. Our hunting culture is ending at a much faster pace than I imagined.

You're quite the poet bugger !!
Very true and well stated Andrew.
It is so frustrating to see the great open spaces we love so much being killed by ignorance and misinformation, by people who think they are meaning well, but unfortunately they are responsible for the destruction of more wildlife and wildlife habitat than any hunter ever will be.
Warm regards

quote:

Originally posted by Capt. Purvis:
Just yesterday my 10 year old son got taken out of class of a private summer school for drawing a picture of his rifle and telling his class mates about shooting deer. Our hunting culture is ending at a much faster pace than I imagined.

Report your teacher for discrimination. I suppose drawing a syringe and a couple of sachets of crack is much more acceptable?

There was a time when every kid carried a .22 and a fishing pole and the woods were safe.

And an age when rifles and shotguns mounted on the back window of a truck parked at high school/secondary school were normal in Texas.

One of two brothers who pay me a visit now and again.

I've not hunted African lion but still remember the thrill I had at seeing two big males lions at close range and stood looking at them looking back at us while tracking a group of bachelor buffalo bulls in the Luangwa valley some years ago.
I was offered to go back the next year with Charley Goldenburg and Simon Eldredge on a lion hunt where charley was going to take a male, and would allow me to take an old lioness. I didn't go and have always regretted not going!

Too late now I fear, not only because of a changing wind on lion hunting, but age and health as well!
......................................................................

Well said Andrew.
I'm certainly glad to have experienced the hunt.

Hear Hear Andrew!

Andrew! Day by day and inch by inch, the mental midgets of the world work endlessly to stop all hunting. When at last we lose the remaining lone hunt, the reality of this action will set in with the last roar of the lonely Lion.

Andrew

wonderful

i have been lucky enough to hunt lion once-20 12- i said then that the chance might never come again, Sadly I might be correct.

quote:

but if done right

How many things we love would exist ad infinitum if we only did them right?

quote:

Originally posted by fairgame:
One of two brothers who pay me a visit now and again.

Perhaps one of these two gentlemen?