This'll make your blood boil!!

What a bunch of clowns!! GREAT promotion for green hunting and hunting in general!!

Who are the actual PH's there in the background?? They should be ashamed of themselves to be involved in such a deal.

That Dawie guy needs his butt kicked too - I'm sure a lot of what he said was taken out of context.. but still - that guy doesnt deserve to have any guns!!

The look on the veterinarians face was priceless, while they were chasing the poor old lion around and around in circles..

As if the image of safari hunting wasnt bad enough - if this is the FUTURE I want out!!

Green Hunting

There are pluses and minuses to Green Hunting.I agree that chasing the lion from a helicopter did cause the lion too much stress. On the other hand, it received the medical treatment it needed at no cost to the outfitter. The Rhino and elephant were well-cared for.

I don't have all the answers. I do know that there are some benefits to this approach that exceed the costs. I'd be open to other people green hunting even if it is not for me at this time.

I think I'll stick with bullets and killing for my hunting. Besides, I'd hate to see my taxidermist go out of business.

I'm not sure, but isn't "Green Hunting" anything that doesn't hurt the animal; darting,shooting them with paint ball guns, or taking pictures? When I hear the term, I think about darting rhinos. What exactly is "Green Hunting"?

Green Hunting=Shoot and release.

Not my game.

What is called "green hunting" or "rhino darting" is the most rediculous thing that has happened to our sport.

It is the ultimate in hypocracy as far as hunting is concerned.

One either goes hunting in a normal way, or one takes photoes of animals.

There is nothing in between.

Anyone who tells you the animals that are darted are not stressed so badly is lying.

Plus One on Saeed's observation.

Having worked at a major U.S. zoo for 25 years, I can testify to the stress and trauma that captive animals in a controlled environment undergo, and how many of them die, as the result of a botched darting by trained veterinary staff.

There is a dark side to the zoo field that most involved in it do not like to discuss.

The thought of doing the same thing in an uncontrolled situation, with no realistic concept of possible mortality of the animals involved is stupid beyond belief.

One of the other aspects I have learned over the years, is that the people doing it, only discuss their successes, and don't talk about the failures.

CrazyHorse brings up a good point. I could of sworn reading a story in SCI where the author tries to introduce his wife to hunting through a rhino dart hunt. The rhino ended up falling in a manner that caused it to suffocate and die. Didn't Disney World also kill a bunch of animals prior to the opening of the "Animal Kingdom?"

quote:

Originally posted by Sevens:
CrazyHorse brings up a good point. I could of sworn reading a story in SCI where the author tries to introduce his wife to hunting through a rhino dart hunt. The rhino ended up falling in a manner that caused it to suffocate and die. Didn't Disney World also kill a bunch of animals prior to the opening of the "Animal Kingdom?"

I also recall reading somewhere about the animals that died prior to the opening of Animal Kingdom, but don't remember the details.

All those worries voiced are valid but the essence of the process involves managers of places like this who need to anesthetise an animal so it can be treated, moved etc. If this would be done anyway, why not let a 'green hunter' do the job and pay for the privilege? If it funds anti poaching patrols and makes a few useful dollars why not?

Does not appeal to me but on balance I don't see a big problem with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Small Bore:
All those worries voiced are valid but the essence of the process involves managers of places like this who need to anesthetise an animal so it can be treated, moved etc. If this would be done anyway, why not let a 'green hunter' do the job and pay for the privilege? If it funds anti poaching patrols and makes a few useful dollars why not?

Does not appeal to me but on balance I don't see a big problem with it.

...and bad-mouth true hunters in the process?? ...no thanks...

During my personal quest to take as many African species as my budget would allow I've thought I might consider a darted rhino hunt until I witnessed one.

The hunter was running out of time and couldn't close the deal by stalking the rhino in the bush so a helicopter was enlisted for the hunt. I actually watched the copter chase this poor rhino around until they finally got dart in it. We were able to drive the vehicle right up to where the rhino went down. The rhino was quivering like it was having a fit which actually made me a litte sick. I couldn't even get out of the vehicle to look over the rhino. I found the whole thing a litte disgusting and
there was no doubt that the rhino experienced what appeared to be a great deal of stress. They did do a health check on the rhino and it was determined that he could be darted again in the future.

I'm saying no thanks to this one personally and be happy with the rhino pix I have.

Mark

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

quote:

Originally posted by Small Bore:
All those worries voiced are valid but the essence of the process involves managers of places like this who need to anesthetise an animal so it can be treated, moved etc. If this would be done anyway, why not let a 'green hunter' do the job and pay for the privilege? If it funds anti poaching patrols and makes a few useful dollars why not?

Does not appeal to me but on balance I don't see a big problem with it.

...and bad-mouth true hunters in the process?? ...no thanks...

Guys - In my opinion, the real problem here was the CLOWNS running this show, not the concept! I have personally darted a Rhino, and have been with 2 clients doing it as well. All went completely fine, we did it ALL on foot, and very professional in my opinion. I enjoyed it much more so than I would have if I was shooting it with a gun. Funny thing how often folks make comments about something they have never done.

Besides guys, lets don't confuse shooting a Rhino with hunting, its not even close!! Its simply shooting an over-grown yard cow. Darting one at least took a little effort.

One of the problems I see with the whole "Green Hunting" issue, is that some folks will inevitably come to the conclusion, that the Anti-Hunting elements in society, will "accept" "Green Hunting".

That is a gross and mis-guided concept.

From my xperiences, I have heard fishermen that started doing nothing but Catch & Release fishing, claim, that when the Anti's get their way, they will still be able to enjoy their sport, since they are not killing the fish they catch.

Nothing could be further from the truth, whether it is C&R fishing or Green Hunting, the anti's want ALL human contact with animals, STOPPED, and that includes pet ownership and raising livestock for any purpose.

Anyone that has not done it, really needs to obtain and read the literature put out by HSUS and PETA.

If a person wants to do a "Green Hunt", by all means go ahead.

Everyone contemplating such an undertaking needs to remain aware of the fact, that even the best professionals involved in such an event, make mistakes and have things go tragically wrong.

When that happens, the animal involved is going to be just as dead as if it had been brained with a slug from a 375 H&H, except not as quick.

The various drugs used for sedating animals can produce odd results at times simply due to under estimates of an animals weight, the amount of stress the animal was under at the time of the darting, the weather conditions, air temperature, age of animal, all of the same things that face a gun hunter, except, the gun hunter knows going in what the results are going to be when the trigger is pulled, darting crews, even in the rigidly controlled environs of modern zoos don't.

I have seen plenty of healthy critters die from being sedated, simply because the vet staff wanted to give the animal a check up.

Again, from personal experience, people sedating animals on a regular basis also have a habit of becoming complacent after a certain number of successful knock downs, and that is usually when things go wrong.

Darting does not appeal to me on several levels, the main one is the false sense that can develope, that the anti's will not be concerned nor try and get it stopped, and that is not realistic thinking.

This is all JMO.