Exotics

[marmot]

What is your stance on hunting exotics like elephants and zebras?

[NightTrain]

I tried hunting Zebras here in Ontario. But came up "empty handed". I did pass on a elephant though

[bj]

What is your stance on hunting exotics like elephants and zebras?

i hunt basically for a few reasons:

- i like the time in the woods and this time reserves itself as a "somewhat tranquil vacation"
- i like to take whatever we harvest and have it done in an asortment of cuts and or spiced meats
- i also enjoy the thrill of the hunt

so, i don't believe i would be spending a lot of time in the woods chasing after an exotic, and i'm not so sure the terrain that these critters are hunted in really turns my crank - i don't suppose i'd ever have a hind quarter of zebra done up the way i like to do some meats - and i just can't get charged up about sliding an arrow thru the ribs of a zebra at the local watering hole, or embedding one in an animal as huge, and i want to say as majestic as an elephant...

to each their own !!!
sorry, i'll leave the exotic hunting to the "video catchers"

Wayne

[marmot]

BJ, that is exactly how I feel about African exotics.

[Partikle]

Well said BJ. I also totally agree.

[TYE]

What is your stance on hunting exotics like elephants and zebras?

i hunt basically for a few reasons:

- i like the time in the woods and this time reserves itself as a "somewhat tranquil vacation"
- i like to take whatever we harvest and have it done in an asortment of cuts and or spiced meats
- i also enjoy the thrill of the hunt

so, i don't believe i would be spending a lot of time in the woods chasing after an exotic, and i'm not so sure the terrain that these critters are hunted in really turns my crank - i don't suppose i'd ever have a hind quarter of zebra done up the way i like to do some meats - and i just can't get charged up about sliding an arrow thru the ribs of a zebra at the local watering hole, or embedding one in an animal as huge, and i want to say as majestic as an elephant...

to each their own !!!
sorry, i'll leave the exotic hunting to the "video catchers"

Wayne

I'm with you on this one BJ.

[wabi]

My personal view is that I have no desire to hunt imported animals in a fenced enclosure.
However it is considered hunting by many, and I support all legal forms of hunting, as we hunters need to stick together!

[terry-1]

I doubt I can ever afford to travel and hunt a big exotic so I guess I am out, but if I had the money to go overseas and hunt I am sure I would enjoy it. Seeing new animals and new land for the first time would be a thrill alone much less adding the fact I could also hunt. On a fenced deal that would depend alot on the size of the place that was fenced. A 15,000+ acre high fence texas ranch is pretty much the same as hunting free roaming animals as many animals would never cover that amount of land in there lifetime it just allows the owners to manage the land better. A 100 acre pen you could not pay me to go hunt in. In the end I doubt a hunt overseas or a high fenced area as cost is out of my budget.

[LV2HNT]

I love hunting so I am sure I would realy enjoy hunting exotics. I would have to have some rules to do it though.

1. I would have to hunt the animal on it's own turf and in it's own country. Not on some exotic game ranch in texas or anything like that.
2. I would have to hunt alone or with friends. No guide except for maybe scouting so he could help teach me about the dangers and strategies for hunting that type of terrain and animal.
3. The meat would have to be edible (unless it was a nusence species that was endangering some other species) and I would have to have a way to get it home. Or there would have to be some village or tribe nearby who would gladly accept the meat.
4. The animal hunted would have to be plentifull and not even close to being endangered.

If I could meet those requirements, I would love to do it. I will probably never be rich enough though. Instead I would try to hunt the animals on this continent that I can't or don't hunt in Virginia like elk, moose, grizzly, mule deer, bison, hogs, etc. I am sure I could fill a lifetime doing that. I am not picky though. I can be perfectly happy just chasing whitetails for the rest of my days.

[bait pile willie]

looks like a few of you have changed your tune. you were all excited about mr. &mrs. bill t. african adventures.what gives I GUESS FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

[Partikle]

looks like a few of you have changed your tune. you were all excited about mr. &mrs. bill t. african adventures.what gives I GUESS FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

Divided we are conquered, hunters have to stick together. While an exotic hunt is something I would never do, I won’t condone someone else for doing it. That is like the same thing as regular bow hunters who bad mouth crossbow hunters.

[patmax]

I guess since no one wants to hunt exotics - those of us who have them will have to put them on birth control pills like the zoos are doing so we don't have so many.

Careful, boys, that's what the animal rights people like PETA want to do with our beloved deer as well - put them on birth control pills. As some of you know - I raise mouflon sheep (an exotic). I believe in fair chase. Now let's define fair chase - this will take a while. Do you believe in gun hunting? Really doesn't seem like much of a chase to me. Many times the chase is in the eyes of the beholder and changes with experience. People have to learn how to hunt - just like cats. We've all seen pictures of a mother cheetah catch a baby Thompson gazalle to train her kittens with. Actually it's not pretty but it is nature. Not every hunter makes the perfect kill while learning - but it's part of learning - the important this is we stive to learn to hunt and to kill cleanly as we can. Yes, kill, hunting is about killing. You do not catch and release with guns or bows. I personally want to make a clean kill because I don't like having to deal with a messy one and I've had my share of those.

You don't want to hunt exotics - don't do it.

patmax

[marmot]

Now let's define fair chase

My definition is simple. The animal must be truly wild (i.e., It must be completely untouched by human hands). The animal must free to roam as it pleases and not be contained in any way (i.e., the animal must not be someone's property). The food on which the animal feeds must be natural or “crop damage” (i.e., no feeders, food plots, or other food-based baiting techniques).

[crazyfarmer]

I love hunting so I am sure I would realy enjoy hunting exotics. I would have to have some rules to do it though.

1. I would have to hunt the animal on it's own turf and in it's own country. Not on some exotic game ranch in texas or anything like that.
2. I would have to hunt alone or with friends. No guide except for maybe scouting so he could help teach me about the dangers and strategies for hunting that type of terrain and animal.
3. The meat would have to be edible (unless it was a nusence species that was endangering some other species) and I would have to have a way to get it home. Or there would have to be some village or tribe nearby who would gladly accept the meat.
4. The animal hunted would have to be plentifull and not even close to being endangered.

If I could meet those requirements, I would love to do it. I will probably never be rich enough though. Instead I would try to hunt the animals on this continent that I can't or don't hunt in Virginia like elk, moose, grizzly, mule deer, bison, hogs, etc. I am sure I could fill a lifetime doing that. I am not picky though. I can be perfectly happy just chasing whitetails for the rest of my days.

same here.. those would be the ONLY conditions. In other words, they would have to be like whitetails and etc.. plenty of them, 100% wild, and on land you can actaully hunt like your backyard. I watched Spirt of the wild no knowing they were zebra hunting.. im like, thats ok I guess, then I saw the damn watering hole and they werent 10yards from it. No way I could do something like that. To me its just totally different. Zebras, lions, elephants, and etc have always been majestic animals to me and I couldnt shoot one if I had the chance. Now if one was trying to kill me, it would be different lol

Mar: good defintion.. everyones differs but thats the same as mine. 100% wild, no fences, natural food like acorns, grass, hay, beans, and etc that farmers plant or grows wild. No feeders, bait, water tanks, and etc

[Tom]

My take on hunting is trying to take an animal that is, like others have said, totally wild and not raised by people for hunting. No fences that have the purpose to contain the animals.

I also hunt only for the meat. I do not kill just to be able to say that I have killed one. If I shoot it, I eat it. There are a few exceptions but they would be in self defence or to help a farmer protect his livelyhood.

Wood I hunt exotics, not to just say that I have killed one. BUT and that is a large but, if I was ever in the situation that I was there and was offered the chance to kill an animal that the local village wanted or needed for food, I believe that I would do that. My dad is very good friends with a man that spent many years in Africa as a missionary and has on more than one ocassion had done just that to help out the local village. He also told me that these people do not waste anything on the animal, that the vultures would have trouble living on what is left over when they are finished. Some of these villages also sell hunts where the hunter will get the head and cape but the hide and meat stays with the tribe. If I remember correctly the there would be a great meal after the hunt (from the animal) and the hunter might get to take some of the meat home, already preserved but most do not because of the difficulties getting the meat home.

Some on here have said that they would not hunt over food plots or feeders, or would not hunt over the water hole like they did in the TV show. That is ok, that is your opinion and your choice, but my question to you is what is a food plot. Would a farmers crop be included as a food plot. I have seen pictures of food plots that are larger then the farmers field that I currently hunt. About hunting the watering hole, to a true wild animal, the watering hole is their most dangerous location to be. Most of their preditors lie in wait there for the chance to get their meal. So then we as humans would only be joining the natural food chain if we hunted the watering holw would we not. I do not hunt over a watering hole, but I do hunt a trail that leads to the water, would that count as hunting over the hole.

Again, everyone has their own opinions and they do have their right to excerize what they believe. If it is legal and if there is no waste of the animal I believe that it would be ok to do.