Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    I can't see any other reason to hunt the way they do in Africa,
    other than to hang another head on the wall.
    
    Just my opinion!
    
    Jack

    I also can't see the reason behind "hunting" in Africa.  Most of
    what the media has shown has been what I'd call poaching.  Killing
    an animal just for the ivory is *SICK*.  Whatever you kill, you
    should eat.
    
    Keith R>

    
    
     I agree that what is being done in Africa today is a crime of major 
    proportion. My point in .0 was that they are choosing the wrong person
    and circumstance to depict, if they are truly only concerned about 
    the African elephant becoming extinct. To make a film about a movie
    director who 35 years ago or more went on a safari in order to raise
    conciousness about the situation today is a distortion of the real
    issue. Eastwood and company could have easily made an interesting
    movie about the poaching and anhilation of these majestic animals
    instead of concentrating on a lone hunter.
     I believe Barla's statement at the end of the article says the
    real reason as to why the subject of the film is what it is.
     I personally would not want to hunt Africa either for the simple
    reason that so many of the animals are endangered, but I probably
    would have felt differently 35+ years ago.
     Also, all of us know that there is a black and white difference
    between poaching (especially the slaughter going on in Africa
    today) and sport hunting.
     

    RE:-1  Okay, it seems we were agreeing to the same concept, but
    using different terminology.
    
    Keith R>

    I know people who go on safari every year.  Some are photographers,
    some are trophy hunters, some are !bird! shooters.
    
    It is impossible to legally hunt the endangered species in most
    of Africa today.  However, occasionally permits costing many thousands
    of dollars are available to kill certain species that are overbrousing
    or certain individuals that are diseased or have gone bad and are
    killing people.  A friend of mine has waited 5 years to get an elephant
    permit that will cost him $10k whether he gets the animal or not;
    this is for the permit alone, not the safari - that's another $5-10k.
    
    Last year this particular hunter shot a Cape Buffalo.  These are
    anything but endangered (except in certain areas) and so the harvest
    is comparatively large.  When this animal was shot, the head and
    boss went to the hunter but the nearest village took the meat. 
    Not an ounce was wasted.  This,hunting, plus the economic benefit
    it provides, is one reason there are large game parks in Africa,
    professionally managed which do permit multiple use.  Without this
    support there would be no more elephants, rhino, etc.
    
    The major threats to these magnificent creatures are not the controlled
    sport hunters but the loss of habitat(!) and poachers.  Most of
    these poachers are guerrillas who fund their armies with rhino horn,
    hippo teeth, ivory, etc., for which there is a ready black market.
    Most of these poachers use ASSAULT RIFLES or crude explosive traps
    which merely wound the animals which linger for days in agony. 
    This is not the clean, precise kill that trophy hunters are always
    striving for.
    
    Once again I believe it pays to learn the facts before we concede
    any ground to the anti-hunters.. 
    
    Bill
     
      

    re: .5 A small disagreement. According to a recent National Geographic
    special, most of the poachers in Africa use old muzzle loaders or
    other ancient arms. They usually shoot the animal, and then trail
    it, sometimes for weeks until it finally dies of infection or other
    complications. They showed several elephants that were about to
    die from such wounds.
    	Like most situations, the good guys don't have enough money
    or manpower to be very effective at stopping poaching, even on the
    public preserves. The private preserves, since they make a lot of
    money from their clients, are much more effective.
    
    	George

    re:5,6.  I certainly agree with this info about ancient arms used
    by poachers.
    
    The reason I say assault rifles is that for the most part they are
    AK47's (etc.)full automatic versions, I mean the real thing.
    
    If you go on safari most outfitters prohibit you from wearing camoflage
    clothing because it marks you as a guerrilla, and may get you shot!
    Green or khaki cotton is preferred.
    
    Bill
    

    
    Seems like this is the most appropriate place to put this note......
    
    I rented a movie at the local video store this weekend called "The
    Bear".  It is about a couple of grizzly bear hunters in the late 1800s.
    The story is basically about how one of the hunters got a little
    anxious and took a bad shot, and hit the bear high on the shoulder.
    The bear gets revengeful but the hunter and the bear decide that they
    need to live in harmony so they stop fueding and go their separate
    ways.  All through the movie they show this small cub that was
    orphaned when his mother is killed by an avalanche, and is adopted by
    the big male (I'm sure this happens all the time).  They show the 
    cub chasing butterflies and frogs, and trying to catch the reflection
    of the moon at the edge of a pond.  
    
    In all honesty, I don't think that the movie itself was anti-hunting.
    fairytale-ish but not blatantly anti-hunting.  
    
    The thing that really bothered me was after I watched the whole thing
    and explained everything to my son as we went along, at the end
    of the movie there is a quote from some guy:
    
    	"The thrill is not in the killing, but in letting live"
    
    Then there is a couple of paragraphs starting off with:
    
    	"The American Humane Society is opposed hunting........"
    
    I was p*ssed needless to say!  I am planning on discussing this with
    the video store manager.  If my $2.50 rental fee is going to the
    Humane Society, there's gonna be hell to pay.
    
    This is a newly released movie.  You *may* want to steer clear of it.
    
    Wish I did!

       I also rented the movie - "The Bear".  I found it very propagandish,
    and rediculous.  Someone was dubbing in Human-like sounds of grunting,
    and struggling when ever they showed the bear cub in any form of
    action.  They even went so far as to show the bear cub having
    human-like fantacy dreams about images seen in a reflection of himself
    in the water.
    
      It's just another example of the @#$$%^%$ anti's trying to play
    on the emotions of less knowledgable people into beleiveing that
    animals and people are the same.  Even my kids got tired of the
    non-sense sounds they had this cub making!
    
       SAVE YOUR MONEY !!!!
    
                            << Jeff >>