The Cheetah thread got me to thinking about animals that I never have had any interest in shooting. Between trophy hunting, culling, PAC, and meat hunting I have shot a lot of African game over 28+ years of hunting and shooting there. Some PAC animals I truly hated shooting with ele at the top of the list. In addition to a trophy bull and Cheetah, I can add Honey Badger, Duiker, Caracal, Serval, Civets, Giraffe, Damara Dik-Dik, and Steenbok to the list of Will Not Shoot.

Any on your list?

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Some PAC animals I truly hated shooting with ele at the top of the list.

just out of interest why did you then?......

Had to be done and it was on my watch.

Giraffe, nothing against it, just not for me.

Giraffe and ostrich.

I have passed on a lot of animals that walked by over the years.

You never get the big one by shooting the first one that walks by...

What one passes on today may in the future become your target...

Nothing I wouldn't shoot for the right reasons but there are some I have no interest in. I kill animals daily for my job but still have a soft spot for red fox and beavers. I still kill them though if there is a reason and the price is right.

My father wasn't interested in hunting predators. I personally think hunting coyotes, baboons and the like is the best thing you can do with your clothes on.

I wouldn't berate someone for taking an interest in something I wasn't interested in.

An ostrich just doesn't look like a game animal to me. A giraffe I'd take if it were the only ready lion bait but not otherwise. A red fox is too beautiful alive to shoot but I'd shoot every jackal or coyote I could. Go figure! Baboons? No they look too much like my relatives.

Mark

No not any but animals that I don't consider classic game animals and animals of opportunity I somewhat try not to shoot and pay the bill.

Cheetah, brown heyna (I am under the impression that unlike spotted hyena they are harmless) and maybe cow tuskless elephant.

I say maybe tuskless elephant for few reasons: 1) with the raise in poaching and every cow elephant being either with a calf or carrying should we be killing cows, 2) I never bought into the undesirable or genetic inferior arguemement of tuskless cows, and where most cow elephant hunting is done is Zinbanwe and while I am convinced the ivory ban in the face of
CITIES is wrong can we really trust Zimbabwe to tell us a rational number of elephants in the country. Killing bull does not have a dramatic effect on population, but culling cows carrying the next round of caves does.

Please note I said maybe as I do not know if I am right about any of this. It is just some thoughts I need to resolve to make a decision.

The one animal I will not kill locally is a fox; particularly red. I do not care for if you put a
1k bounty on them. I use to see and kill red fox from the Cumberland Plateau to the heart of the bluegrass as vermin. Now seeing a red fox is like seeing a white buffalo. There just are not any. Cannot eat them. I personally blame their decline on coyotes.

I have turned down taking animals because I ran out of money, but the ones I just have no interest in shooting would be giraffe, baboons (look too much like little people), Canada goose, fox.

I would love to take all the spiral horns, but most of the other antelope species bore me. I am pretty indifferent to lechwe, reed buck, duikers, etc.

Elephant, ostrich, hippo, honey badger, none of the "mini" antelope, none of the genetically altered stuff like golden wildebeest, etc.

Hyrax....just too cute!

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Originally posted by Opus1:
The Cheetah thread got me to thinking about animals that I never have had any interest in shooting. Between trophy hunting, culling, PAC, and meat hunting I have shot a lot of African game over 28+ years of hunting and shooting there. Some PAC animals I truly hated shooting with ele at the top of the list. In addition to a trophy bull and Cheetah, I can add Honey Badger, Duiker, Caracal, Serval, Civets, Giraffe, Damara Dik-Dik, and Steenbok to the list of Will Not Shoot.

Any on your list?

Interesting question Opus.

I was in Zambia on my Wife's first actual hunting safari, in 2011 (I think).

She finished up about four days early. The PH I was hunting with received a call from a game farm owner and friend of his. He had a game farm with pigs and cattle all in separate paddocks.

He had tired of fighting the local poachers coming into his property and killing the game at will.

He decided to eliminate the game and increase his cattle herd. He had hired a professional game capture company. They got mostly everything but Shawn wanted EVERYTHING gone.

So, the PH asked if I was interested. It sounded like good fun and I had brought my .22 Hornet along on that trip.

Myself and two PH's had one long day to eliminate all animals. We had one Cruiser, and lots of ammo.

The farmer had hired a professional processing company to come in, he had a long refer trailer and there were about 4-5 guys.

We would go out and start shooting every living thing we saw. We were taking turns, shooting, driving and spotting. It was my turn to shoot, there stood a female bushbuck and her young fawn. I popped the female in the ear, the PH then said "and the little one." I shot it because that was the deal.

It was then I learned I am not one whom enjoys gratuitous killing simply for the sake of killing. There needs to be more to it than that for me. We wound up killing 40-45 animals in total.

I did not enjoy it, but completed the task anyway.

There is no fun in culling. It's work and nothing more. That why you get paid to do it.

Some that I have no desire to shoot are Ostrich and cow elephant. I also don't want to shoot young animals very much, but have done it when I had to.

I used to say no interest in Baboon, but have come to enjoy shooting those nasty little buggers. I guess what I find enjoyable changes over time.

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Originally posted by Opus1:
There is no fun in culling. It's work and nothing more. That why you get paid to do it.

Agree. But, what is Trophy Hunting without a Trophy?

Not Africa, never been there, but in North America I have never desired to kill a brown or grizzly bear and that is about it.

Were I ever to have gone to Africa the list of what I would shoot is easier to do than what I would not shoot. In fact the only things I have ever consider going to Africa to hunt are Cape Buffalo/Eland/Greater Kudu and Gemsbok, end of story.

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Originally posted by Opus1:
There is no fun in culling. It's work and nothing more. That why you get paid to do it.

Seems to me that there are more than a few hunts offered that are cull shoots that folks are willing to pay for.

I guess it's really work when it's something you would rather not do.

Some people enjoy going out and shooting things, that is in large part what prairie dog shooting is. I know more than a few guys who would gladly go and cull impala and pay for the privilege, just not pay that much...

Me think, giraffe, ostrich, some tiny antelopes , rhino and that's about it

Ostrich, Rock Dassies, Spring Hares.

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Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

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Originally posted by Opus1:
There is no fun in culling. It's work and nothing more. That why you get paid to do it.

Agree. But, what is Trophy Hunting without a Trophy?

Hunting

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Originally posted by crbutler:

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Originally posted by Opus1:
There is no fun in culling. It's work and nothing more. That why you get paid to do it.

Seems to me that there are more than a few hunts offered that are cull shoots that folks are willing to pay for.

I guess it's really work when it's something you would rather not do.

Some people enjoy going out and shooting things, that is in large part what prairie dog shooting is. I know more than a few guys who would gladly go and cull impala and pay for the privilege, just not pay that much...

Culling sounds like fun until you have to go out and process 120 Springbok in five days, 100 Impala, or 30 Zebra, or 50 Blesbok. Shooting them is the relatively easy part by the way. After 10 or so years of culling, it starts to be not so much fun...

Very interesting topic and replies.
I'm particularly surprised by the number of ostrich comments. I guess I just see it as another bird.
I would answer that I would not shoot a giraffe or honey badger. I love seeing giraffes in Africa more than any other animal. I have no idea why I feel that way, I just do. I suppose that is how some people feel about ostriches.
In NA I would not shoot a wolverine, polar bear or an otter.

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Originally posted by MikeBurke:

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Originally posted by Steve Ahrenberg:

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
There is no fun in culling. It's work and nothing more. That why you get paid to do it.

Agree. But, what is Trophy Hunting without a Trophy?

Hunting

And to what end?

For me it's Giraffe and the tiny antelope. For some reason duikers and steenbok just don't do anything for me.

I struggle to pull the trigger on any elephant. I have been up to 20' from a couple and they are more than I want to shoot....

I am not keen on dassies, spring hares or bat eared foxes.

I have not shot a croc but would shoot a dozen if they were cheaper.

Now, baboons - yep, I would shoot as many as allowed. Nothing other than eland are as much fun.

There literally thousands of species of animals I have no interest in killing. Unless something is a trophy animal that I want, or is an animal I kill for meat, I don't want to kill it.

That said, I would kill anything and everything that becomes a threat to me or my family. Whether the threat is directly (i.e. having a bear approach) or indirectly (mice carrying disease-bearing fleas, etc), I will kill as many as I think it takes.

I have never had the desire to kill such "game animals" as vervet monkeys, giraffes, hippos, zebras, etc. I prefer deer, elk, bear, and african dangerous game to include buffalo (my favorite), lion, leopard, and elephant. Perhaps a black rhino if I could shoot one that needed shooting (problem animal) at a really cheap price.

Then again, if I got hungry enough, there is not much I wouldn't kill for sustenance.


BH63

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Originally posted by sheephunterab:
Hyrax....just too cute!

I killed a stack of those things, the bushmen told me they were good eating.

Twigs and rocks are good eating to a bushman. The stuff they eat is beyond description. A nice cold glass of Chicha in the morning will get you going - fermented milk, rice and goat parts.

We were asked if we wanted to help cull a couple hundred impala on our last trip and we declined. I get the reasoning behind it and have no problem with it but it just wasn't for us. I guess I don't want my African experience to become nothing more than a shooting experience. Just shooting animals out of the truck wasn't what we wanted to remember about Africa.

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Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:

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Originally posted by sheephunterab:
Hyrax....just too cute!

I killed a stack of those things, the bushmen told me they were good eating.

Everything is good eating in Africa...haha They may be...I don't know. Did you happen to try them?

Interesting thread and question Opus...
At one time I would have said animals such as Zebra, Giraffe, Ostrich...but later did and enjoyed it...(wouldn't shoot another Giraffe or Ostrich)
As a rookie Safari hunter I didn't really appreciate Eland at first.. now I love hunting a Eland.
Same with Tiny Ten....
I think there's one thing in common.... you truly come to appreciate certain animals once you spend time in their habitat. Once you realize a Zebra is not just " a Horse with Stripes" or other misperceptions.
I still will never shoot a Rhino or certain other animals ( you know...like the Galapagos Tortoise or the Three Toed Sloth...Florida Manatee come to mind )

If someone else is paying the bill, there is not a legal game animal I wouldn't consider shooting.

Rhinos and giraffes are about the only species I WON'T shoot. Some species, like lion, leopard, elephant, crocodile, sable and roan are just out of my price range. Eland have become my #1 target animal I'm going for in April 2017 in Namibia.

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Originally posted by Poyntman:

I still will never shoot a Rhino or certain other animals ( you know...like the Galapagos Tortoise or the Three Toed Sloth...Florida Manatee come to mind )

If you'd ever tasted manatee you might change your mind

It isn't so much what I won't shoot. It is where I won't shoot them. The tame camp bushbuck for example.

If it is not going to be eaten, I am not going to shoot it.

Gotta agree with JBoutfishn, If it isn't going to be eaten, I can't justify shooting it. I have no interest in shooting elephant, hippo, Rhino, Lion, Giraffe, tiny antelopes, or any small horned antelopes. I also have no interest in shooting another Nyala, as one is enough for me. However, I could gladly spend the rest of my hunting life chasing Kudu, Mountain Nyala, Lord Derby's Eland, Sitatunga, Sable, etc.