I have found multiple deer on my property that were killed by bow hunters. They were well within my property. Obviously they had to travel, maybe at least a mile, before they dropped.
You make some very good points, and no, you’ll never convince the detractors.
I’m no fan of trophy hunting either, I see no point in it. I don’t care a thing about ahead on my wall, if I hunt at all it’s for food in the freezer. I got fed up with it and haven’t hunted in 15 years or so but I might start this winter again, squirrels and rabbits are wiping out my peaches, pears, pecans and garden.
From what I’ve read so far, this guy didn’t know his guides were deceiving him, if they did, and didn’t know this was a collared lion that was the subject of research. As some have already said, when you bait a spot, you have no idea which animal will take the bait. It could have been any one individual in the area.
Bow hunting is not easy, and you have to get very close, I’ve known plenty bow hunters who have had to track deer for long distances if they don’t get a great shot. I’ve shot rabbits with a .22 rifle that ran off and had to be shot again, and a deer that ran at least 200 yards before dropping, with a gun. A deer my uncle shot was shot again and killed by another hunter, who we knew, a mile away.
It’s actually pretty common for animals in a hunt to not drop in their tracks. Even a deer shot through the heart can run 100 yards before oxygen and adrenaline run out. That’s not much distance for a deer...they cover 50 yards in 5 or 6 hops in an emergency situation. I’ve seen them clear 15 feet in one hop plenty times. A scared and injured lion is no different.
I’m not defending the “big game hunter”, I have no use for trophy hunting, just trying to get people to understand a little about what actually happens, and also to realize we don’t actually have all the facts still.
The locals were surprised by all the uproar here. To them it’s just another lion. Their villages are attacked by lions from time to time, their attitude was “what’s all the fuss about”?
As far as I’ve been able to find out, he wasn’t aware that the lion was a “celebrity” at least to tourists, or that it was collared at all, which can be easily hidden by the mane. He was involved in a legal hunt, baiting is apparently a common tactic, he didn’t know they were baiting a lion from a reserve. And any lion could have taken the bait, it’s impossible to target a specific animal.
I guess my main point is it’s not our responsibility to decide this case, that’s up to the courts and we don’t have all the evidence to make any decision. Same as in Ferguson last summer, the police officer was convicted in public opinion long before we had enough evidence to even think about making a decision. Protests and riots were well underway the same night, long before anyone knew for sure Michael Brown was resisting arrest, attacked the officer, and did not have his hands up, that was an outright lie.
Same here, we don’t have all the info, all we have is what the liberal media tells us. How much of the drivel they spew forth do you really think you can believe?