Laymen: what have they asked you?

[mark-hunter]

So, I think that 80% of my friends and acquittances dont have a gun, and have no idea of hunting.
African hunt, they know even less about then zero. For general population, hunting safari is basically unimaginable thing.

So, when the question comes up, like where will you go for holidays next summer, to which I reply, something like I will go to Africa for hunting safari.. (have gun, will travel, correct?)

Moment of silence to digest. Then there is this look with eyes wide open, which has to be followed by smart question.
Moment of silence is a bit longer, if I say something like, going to Africa to kill Eland.

Here is the list of questions that I get in return:

1. Do you have some sex aside there? How are local girls? (top question, unbelievably frequent)
2. Is it legal?
3. Can you actually take a gun in the airplane?
4. Smarter ones will ask, which country will you go to?
5. Is there any safety or security risk? Is it safe?
6. Did you take any vaccination?

Those are that comes to mind.
Number one, is top question. I get it all the time!
Two and 3 fairly frequent.
Last three occasional and rare.

Do you guys have similar experiences?

 

[Aaron N]

So, I think that 80% of my friends and acquittances dont have a gun, and have no idea of hunting.
African hunt, they know even less about then zero. For general population, hunting safari is basically unimaginable thing.

So, when the question comes up, like where will you go for holidays next summer, to which I reply, something like I will go to Africa for hunting safari.. (have gun, will travel, correct?)

Moment of silence to digest. Then there is this look with eyes wide open, which has to be followed by smart question.
Moment of silence is a bit longer, if I say something like, going to Africa to kill Eland.

Here is the list of questions that I get in return:

1. Do you have some sex aside there? How are local girls? (top question, unbelievably frequent)
2. Is it legal?
3. Can you actually take a gun in the airplane?
4. Smarter ones will ask, which country will you go to?
5. Is there any safety or security risk? Is it safe?
6. Did you take any vaccination?

Those are that comes to mind.
Number one, is top question. I get it all the time!
Two and 3 fairly frequent.
Last three occasional and rare.

Do you guys have similar experiences?

I’m curious what your answer is for #1……..

 

[sgt_zim]

on question #1...wow. Do you live in Germany or Netherlands? If so, I guess that explains, to me anyway, the prevalence of that question.

 

[mark-hunter]

I’m curious what your answer is for #1……..

Infront of all the ladies on the forum? oh, man.. You are naughty!

I will tell you one thing, I've been to 63 countries in the World, I dont need to go to rural central Namibia, in sub-Saharan Africa, with rifle, for that!

But I can tell you what is my immediate thought in mind, on such a question:

"Oh, man, couldn't you get any better question than that? I am disappointed."
Then I just let it go, with something like "no time for that".

 

[mdwest]

I think things are very different in the US.. especially in the Southeast and Southwest US where hunting is still fairly common outside of the big cities (and there are still a lot of hunters in the big cities as well), and gun ownership is extremely common..

Since I largely run around with former cops and soldiers (prior careers), and other hunters.. I honestly dont get asked a lot of questions by many people.. there is an occasional person at church or within other social groups that might be inquisitive, but the questions are typically more about what happens to the animal after it is killed, what are the local people like, what is the local food like, etc (really not all that different than the questions I get asked after we take a trip to a less traveled country in Europe or Central America that is off the beaten path for the typical American tourist..

Quite literally almost everyone I know (that I spend any time around at all) is a gun owner.. and the vast majority are at least casual/infrequent hunters if not very avid outdoorsmen (not just hunters.. but also anglers, hikers, campers, climbers, etc..etc..)..

 

[mark-hunter]

Do you live in Germany or Netherlands?

In Germany, Netherlands, and Austria it is daily legal shopping. In red light district in Netherlands even families go as tourists to take pictures on the streets. But I dont live there.

Last time I was passing through Vienna, Austria I ended up in gun shops.
In Netherlands and Germany, my place to visit are local pubs.

(What I can say? I am hopeless, boring average married man)

 

[mdwest]

In red light district in Netherlands even families go as tourists to take pictures on the streets. But I dont live there.

This was something I found sorta weird.. but funny when I passed through Amsterdam the first time..

A buddy of mine and I had a 10 hour layover (8AM-6PM) on a trip.. so we decided to leave the airport, find some breakfast in town, and just sit and people watch.. I had never been to the Netherlands before (have been back a few times since)..

We hopped a train, grabbed some waffles and coffee.. and then just sorta hung out watching people filter in and out of the various weed shops (this was years before some places in the US made marijuana legal and we had weed shops in the US).. and people window shopping for prostitutes all well before noon on a pretty cold morning..

Then I noticed there were families.. people with young kids with them walking around.. looking into the brothel windows, checking out the scantily clad ladies.. and taking pictures (this also pre-dates the iphone.. phones didnt have cameras on them at this point.. they were going there purposefully with their cameras to pose and take pics..

My wife and I then had a long layover in Amsterdam several years later (maybe 10-12 years later)... so we somewhat repeated the process.. more than a decade later the only thing that had changed was now there were many many more people (and families) posing for pictures.. because they all had smart phones with them lol..

 

[flying sailor]

Similar questions, is it safe, what happens to the animals, how is the food? my friends are gun owners, vets and cops also. We don't go off the rails. Was happily married for 40 years.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

In the US, most of my friends and acquaintances are former military and/or hunters. The only time I get asked unusual hunting questions is during wife mandated socialization and in Colombia.

#1 question by far is what is done with all that meat.

#2 question is how much does it cost. Especially from Colombians. I always tell them all hobbies and vacations are expensive. You can google it if you need more information.

Any utterly stupid questions will receive silence or scathing sarcasm.

Safe hunting

 

[SFRanger7GP]

Now the funny questions come from people when they hear we also live in Colombia.

Is it dangerous?

I saw Narcos on Netflix, is it like that?

Are there guerillas everywhere?

They have a dictator, right?

Do they have electricity? Potable water?

Are there places to shop?

Those are a few of my favorites.

Safe travels

 

[Scott CWO]

I have never been asked your #1 question. Most common question I am asked is if I bring home the meat.

We had a French artist and his wife visit our home and she was very interested in all my taxidermy. I told her about the conservation aspects of hunting and how the license dollars in the USA support our wildlife departments. She actually thanked me for supporting wildlife! The next time they visited, she was just as nice and interested in learning more. I’m convinced that she would hunt if given a chance. Once in a while, we win a convert or at least a supporter!

 

[Newboomer]

Now the funny questions come from people when they hear we also live in Colombia.

Is it dangerous?

I saw Narcos on Netflix, is it like that?

Are there guerillas everywhere?

They have a dictator, right?

Do they have electricity? Potable water?

Are there places to shop?

Those are a few of my favorites.

Safe travels

Sometimes I get bewildered stares while it sinks in. Then such questions as Why do I kill innicent animals? What happens with the meat? How do you get a gun on a plane? Is it expensive?
Most people are just curious but some are looking for a fight. The curious ones I can talk to and they seem genuinely interested in population control, habitat restoration and maintenance, poacher control and the economic benefits.
The greenie lefturds can't be reasoned with. They have their own twisted agenda and there is no changing their feeble minds. I just turn and walk away.

 

[Randy F]

I seldom get any meaningful questions, but if i do, it's about what happens with the meat. They are usually satisfied with the answer.
Generally I get the snide "must be nice" comment implying how rich I must be in order to go. I generally ignore it but one in-law pushed me to a response once.
I reminded him that we happily drive ten-year-old vehicles, own an affordable home that fits, and save to do the things we like to do and have zero credit card debt because of it.
When he continued his wisecracks in front of family and friend's, I reminded him that he owns three times the size of house he needs with a matching mortgage, two new vehicles with mortgage type payments, every premium channel and streaming service imaginable to guarantee ass time on the couch, 3 vacations every year, and aside from plane tickets, his elk hunt cost 2/3's of what I spent on Africa and and he put most of that on a credit card to hunt one animal when I had the choice of dozens. (I kept my trap shut about the shipping and taxidermy bill ) I finished him off by proving to him that he basically wastes at least one safari per year.
I doubt he'll ever come at me again on that subject in front of anyone. Sure was fun though.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

So, I think that 80% of my friends and acquittances dont have a gun, and have no idea of hunting.
African hunt, they know even less about then zero. For general population, hunting safari is basically unimaginable thing.

So, when the question comes up, like where will you go for holidays next summer, to which I reply, something like I will go to Africa for hunting safari.. (have gun, will travel, correct?)

Moment of silence to digest. Then there is this look with eyes wide open, which has to be followed by smart question.
Moment of silence is a bit longer, if I say something like, going to Africa to kill Eland.

Here is the list of questions that I get in return:

1. Do you have some sex aside there? How are local girls? (top question, unbelievably frequent)
2. Is it legal?
3. Can you actually take a gun in the airplane?
4. Smarter ones will ask, which country will you go to?
5. Is there any safety or security risk? Is it safe?
6. Did you take any vaccination?

Those are that comes to mind.
Number one, is top question. I get it all the time!
Two and 3 fairly frequent.
Last three occasional and rare.

Do you guys have similar experiences?

I have to ask what kind of crowd do you run with that would put easy fornication at the top of the list? I find that very surprising.

I actually get few questions and nothing stupid as I choose to live only in communities where most folks know what hunting is about. Number one question always is what happens to the meat. Often I receive a frosty reception when I tell them the meat can't be brought back and instead it is sold on the market. "Market hunting! How terrible." Then I explain to them that wild game meat is an affordable source of protein for locals. The land is often marginal and domestic livestock don't do as well on it as wild game. Managing hunting farms is much more labor intensive (particularly fencing!) which provides significant employment. Quite simply it is often the best use of the farmland. Then I add this bit: people who are hungry and unemployed are the ones most likely to listen to crackpot schemes for revolution. Revolution in Africa has never improved the lot of local people. Usually it's made things worse (e.g. Zimbabwe). Therefore the safari business is a win-win for all concerned ... even the animals. How do you think wildlife has fared in Angola? Last I read no one even knows if any of the giant sable native to Angola still exist. Mozambique wildlife suffered terribly during their civil war.

 

[VertigoBE]

Here is the list of questions that I get in return:

1. Do you have some sex aside there? How are local girls? (top question, unbelievably frequent)

As they say, you know a man by the friends he has...

 

[Doug3006]

You say that 80% of your friends don’t own guns, and their most frequently asked question is “how’s the sex?” Perhaps you should branch out and find other friends.

I’ve been asked all of your other common questions…where does the meat go, can you take guns on an airplane, is it expensive. Generally they are just curious and I enjoy filling them in.

 

[VertigoBE]

But on a more serious note, due to most people that I encounter not being hunters, the questions I get the most are:

1. Wide eyed, "Is that legal?" Then asking the question again for most of the iconic species.
2. "What happens with the meat"?
3. "You are not a trophy hunter, are you?"
4. "Can you travel with your gun?"
5. "How many guns do you have?"
6. "How far do they shoot?" Saying any number for any caliber always seems to impress them...

But so far, the truly negative responses have been very limited. 9 out of 10 people that listen to me just show interest and curiosity, with a few follow-up questions.

 

[CJW]

I have been asked if I brought back any meat.

I got the "must be nice" from my supervisor. I explained that basically anybody we worked with could do it but most drink too much, buy too many motorized toys and spend $15-20k more on a vehicle than necessary. Not to mention the credit card debt most probably have.

 

[Doug3006]

I have been asked if I brought back any meat.

I got the "must be nice" from my supervisor. I explained that basically anybody we worked with could do it but most drink too much, buy too many motorized toys and spend $15-20k more on a vehicle than necessary. Not to mention the credit card debt most probably have.

It’s all about priorities in life. I tell such people as your supervisor that if they want to engage in an audit of frivolous spending, let’s review theirs too.

 

[Datchew]

I got this one this year at thanksgiving:

Why Africa? Everything there wants to eat you!