Shoot a dentist for sport

[Lord Jim]

I don t think that I d send him to Mugabe, but if they had caught him, before he left, I don t think that I d go get him either.....

That's a valid point...

Had he not left Zimbabwe, that would be one thing...

But Meade has a valid point...

As appalling as this fellow's behavior has been, (and frankly, I'm all for horse whipping in this particular case...)

It would establish a really bad precedent if we were to start extraditing Americans to Robert Mugabe's hell hole that is known as Zimbabwe.....

It is not in the best interest of the United States, (or any other Western country) to treat Mugabe's brutal fiefdom as though it were a normal, law based society...

Which it manifestly is not...

It would not be even minimally civilized to do such a thing...

Even when dealing with an obnoxious punk like this dentist...as viscerally satisfying as it might be in this case, one must look at the larger picture...

Like the old saying goes,

Hard cases make bad law....

[MajGenl.Meade]

[BoSoxGal]

I based my opinion on reading an article that quoted a Zimbabwean legal scholar. So I'm not sure how much stock to put into this new article; perhaps it's akin to the whole Zimmerman fiasco. As a matter of law he probably should never have been charged given the lack of evidence supporting the charges - and ultimately the charges were an overreach, which is why he was acquitted. Wondering if this situation isn't another where the charging decision is being made not on the law and evidence, but for political reasons.

From what I understand the dentist always hunts with a crossbow so that's hardly evidence of poaching.

[oldr_n_wsr]

From what I understand the dentist always hunts with a crossbow so that's hardly evidence of poaching.

Hunting with a crossbow is illegal in many states. But I'm not sure what Zimbabwean laws are regarding crossbows.

I hunt and I would never think of using a crossbow against a lion (not that I would ever hunt a lion). Not a very good chance of a "kill shot" which should be the goal of any hunter.

[liberty]

From what I understand the dentist always hunts with a crossbow so that's hardly evidence of poaching.

Hunting with a crossbow is illegal in many states. But I'm not sure what Zimbabwean laws are regarding crossbows.

I hunt and I would never think of using a crossbow against a lion (not that I would ever hunt a lion). Not a very good chance of a "kill shot" which should be the goal of any hunter.

I agree older, hunting a lion with a bow sounds like a good way to get killed, even If the guide serves as a back up. I would never hunt a lion. Considering the population growth of Africa I think all of the large animal are doomed to extinction. I don’t see any reason to make it worse. I could be wrong perhaps if the animals where manage well and hunted at a sustainable level and the local people made money out of it, it might work, but Africa is not known for management skills.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Wrong again, bucko. Several countries in Africa have a considerable "canned lion" industry. Lions are raised in captivity and then turned loose in hunting reserves so that alleged humans can have the thrill of killing one of these (relatively) tame animals.

[Big RR]

Sure, but the people who choose the "hunt" that way are not the same people who choose to hunt wild lions or other big game, I'd guess. somehow, I couldn't see Hemingway or Teddy Roosevelt hunting a drugged lion just let out of a cage. I'm no fan of hunting, but what you describe is just execution of animals for their pelts by Walter Mitty types. I think Liberty is saying countries with wild game could use hunters to cull the herds (which are encroached upon as civilization expands, and generate revenue.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Well, speaking for what I knew of South Africa, there were many hunters among my friends and acquaintances. They went after kudu, blesbok, etc. much as hunters in the U.S. go after deer, elk, caribou. None shot for the thrill alone - all took the meat, gave the hides and horns to the locals who appreciated them for crafts etc. Biltong is a big business. But really, no-one from the USA went all the way to SA to shoot a kudu.

What the foreign hunters want* = lions, elephant, rhino, buffalo - the big game. South Africa doesn't have a surplus of those; all are protected in places like the Kruger. That's true of most of the other African countries - big game requires protection. The dentist might have shot a different lion than Cyril (or whoever it was) and he'd still be in trouble in Zim where permits are carefully counted. In some places, elephant can be culled - that's true.

Canned lions are not set out of a cage in front of a hunter. They are released into fenced reserves and left to get on with life - killing their food and so on. However, they are not versed in survival in the "wild" and are not cautious around humans and vehicles. Experienced big game hunters would indeed sneer at that kind of hunt - but the yoyos who fly in from Baltimore and Beijing are keen.

*...and oh yes, they'll blast down a few bokkies if nothing else offers

[liberty]

I would have no respect for a big game hunter that would go on a canned hunt; if the animal is not dangerous what is the point. One might as well gone down to the local slaughter house and shoot a few cows in a pen.

As the population of Africa continues to grow big game animals and the people will come into more and more conflict. I can’t blame the poor African herdsman that kills the lion that threatens his cattle. Those cattle are his livelihood and he has a family to feed.

[Lord Jim]

I don't personally see the appeal of big game trophy hunting, (particularly when you're talking about what essentially amounts to "cow hunting") but it's a more complicated issue than is being portrayed by many...

It's my understanding that in some countries in Africa where it is controlled and regulated that it actually makes a significant contribution to preserving the animal species involved; because the substantial amount charged goes largely into paying for breeding and other programs, habitat preservation, and cracking down on illegal hunting....

[MajGenl.Meade]

That is the case, LJ. Or at least, the argument put forward by the government licensing agencies. One thing that seems true of all of them is that they are fully aware that the animals are a resource and unfettered hunting will remove that resource forever. Conserve is the watch-word