So did Leon Trotskey. So do the *Red ink* journalists.
Bozhe moy, u meenya tapor v golove!
Posted on 08/15/2002 12:00:35 PM PDT by Blood of Tyrants
So did Leon Trotskey. So do the *Red ink* journalists.
Bozhe moy, u meenya tapor v golove!
I had essentially the same problem. But you can make do with a reworked Siamese Mauser or Number 3 Mark 1 *Pattern 14* Enfield. I've had one P.14 built up into a .338 Lapua magnum rifle, suitable for most anything short of African *big 5* game, for which a double-rifle based on a over/under shotgun action and barrel block might be my answer. Even a .450 or .45-70 is worth consideration, and with proper ammunition, a 460G&A should handle anything you'd encounter if placed well. Of course, that's the trick, isn't it.
And for the lighter sport, up to elephant, I'm thinking of one of these in .275 Rigby, also very usable for American whitetail deer and elk, and possibly bear and moose, if need be.
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The nature of lion hunting has changed from colonial days. Faster vehicles and high powered rifles have further reduced the already bad odds against the animals. On top of that, the idea of three week hunts deep into the bush in the hope, but not necessarily the expectation, of bagging something big have given way to the concept of a sure kill.
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"There's no other reason to shoot a lion other than ego. As a hunter you want to feel great so you can hang it on the wall and your mates say: 'Wow, what a man'," Mr Joubert said.
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Exact numbers of lions are notoriously difficult to measure but there is broad consensus among conservationists and governments that the population in Africa has fallen from about 50,000 to less than 15,000 over the past decade.
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"We've also seen some bizarre situations arising. Hunters target the primary males. When they disappear the male cubs don't leave the pride, they're not chased out. So we've seen these young males breeding with their sisters and their mothers because the trophy males have been killed."
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Many of the lions are bred in captivity solely as bait for hunters and then hardly pursued at all. They are released into what are no more than fields surrounded by fences and "hunted". They have no chance of escape.
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On one occasion captured on video a lioness was separated from her cubs and shot just yards away. Last year a pride of problem lions - they had been eating livestock - in the state-owned Kruger National Park was sold to a hunting tour operator for delivery to his clients.
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Tales of horrendous suffering by the animals abound. Some supposed hunters are so inexpert with guns that they take a dozen shots to kill a lion.
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Very sad...poor lions..they don't seem to have a chance.
I don't know...sounds like tha argument for legalizing drugs...But...it is legal here to hunt cougars, etc...and they are practically extinct. I can understand your logic...but I don't think it always preserves the species...
It is legal, yes. But it is not profitable. For lions, we're talking about $30K charged to hunt them, on land that's too arid to profitably farm. For cougars, the land owner gets no meaningful $$$ for giving permission to hunt, yet may incur costs from cougars going after his livestock
That's the difference.
No, I realize the free market is not a panacea for all of human ills or a guarantor of desired outcomes. But the record of free market capitalism versus the control of government wizards is clear enough to me.
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