Hunting Ethics Of Taking Female Animals In Africa

[Newboomer]

Happy disabled vet. Was told a year before this hunt that he may never walk again. Rachero's Safari and Magnus Crossberg donated the hunt, I arranged to pay for travel and came along for support.

I have no problem shooting females for management purposes. I've killed a few springbok females in cases of overpopulation. Some were not in the best condition due to drought.
My gemsbok and zebra are females. The gemsbok had a bum leg and was hobbling along alone. Mercy shot. Zebra was an old mare on the edge of the herd.

 

[RR 314]

You folks need to get with the times. There are more than two sexes/genders in the animal kingdom. .

Two trips to Africa, 2 cow buffalo. Yeah, I'm fine with it. They definitely rank as trophies to me.

I have killed a fair number of cow caribou and whitetail does. Some of them I consider trophies. One cow, I camped in an unheated tent in below zero for that hunt, and I rolled her with a running shot at a hundred yards, just ahead of a blizzard, and it was well below zero. Yes, I consider her a trophy and her antlers are on my wall.

About the only whitetail I will shoot these days is an old dry doe that starts blowing and snorting and trying to alert every deer within earshot that something is amiss. Killing them brings me joy. .

 

[Doug Hamilton]

From Day one of my Africa adventures the taking of females and immature males is /was strictly taboo. I now notice some species, Cape Buffalo, hunting companies are offering female Capes for 1/3 the cost of a trophy Bull. It seems the market is there from USA Hunters.
How do you feel about this kind of hunting?
I recently experienced a hunter who shot across a small canyon made a good one shot kill, and now says he has taken a Daggaboy! How do others feel about this?

On my last safari I killed an impale ewe for camp.meat because the property.manager asked me to.on a previous safari so shot a warthog sow. It was during a drought and the warthog was starving. It was an act of kindness. I had no qualms about either, but on the whole I'm not really a fan.of killing females. Would I hunt and kill a tickled cow elephant? Maybe. It would be for the experience and no trophy would be involved.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

On my last safari I killed an impale ewe for camp.meat because the property.manager asked me to.on a previous safari so shot a warthog sow. It was during a drought and the warthog was starving. It was an act of kindness. I had no qualms about either, but on the whole I'm not really a fan.of killing females. Would I hunt and kill a tickled cow elephant? Maybe. It would be for the experience and no trophy would be involved.

How does one tickle a cow elephant? Asking for a friend.

(spellcheck doesn't like tuskless does it?)

 

[Andrew62]

My wife and I have made two trips to South Africa just for cull hunting. Most of the animals we shoot are females. We do it with archery equipment and have a great time. What species we target during our trip is dictated mostly by what the manager (PH) needs to balance the herds inside the fenced property. We have taken broken horned males and old non breeding females of other species as well. Some people would say this is not what they would go to Africa for, but to us, its a great experience and affordable. Just my experience and view on things.

Good for the both of you! What a wonderful way to enjoy Africa together!

 

[NIGHTHAWK]

Cow is not a Dugga Boy. Most everyone that knows this are likely to have a certain feeling or opinion about it. Just like people who ride Harley’s feel when they see their friends riding a Honda…

I’ve taken cow elk for meat, you won’t see any pictures of me with them. I’ve shot several Bull Elk and have a few mounts I really like looking at.

Each their own. If you don’t like what you see in the mirror, you better live in a place without them!

 

[CoElkHunter]

How does one tickle a cow elephant? Asking for a friend.

(spellcheck doesn't like tuskless does it?)

Carefully.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

How does one tickle a cow elephant? Asking for a friend.

(spellcheck doesn't like tuskless does it?)

I guess not. Yes, the word was "tuskless." I hate auto correct!

 

[grand veneur]

Since I am involved with hunting in Africa for decades, terms like Dagga Boy or Tuskless Elephant refer for me to something completely different from what they mean today. A Tuskless Elephant is in classical terminology a bull that does not have tusks. An African elephant cow can have tusks and is therefore not a Tuskless Elephant.

 

[DieJager]

An African elephant cow can have tusks and is therefore not a Tuskless Elephant

A cow with tusk will not be named as a tuskless hunt. The terminology is sound. Tuskless is tuskless.

 

[grand veneur]

A cow with tusk will not be named as a tuskless hunt. The terminology is sound. Tuskless is tuskless.

It was not always like this. I don't quite understand some things. What is being hunted when one speaks of tuskless animals, elephant cow or bull without tusks ? If the cow has tusks, it will not be shot if you have booked a tuskless elephant hunt ? I am an old hunter and was advised about hunting in Africa by hunters who hunted there in the thirties. Something like that shape. Maybe it is better if I stop commenting on all these new terms.

 

[sureshot375]

The idea that it is somehow unethical or immoral to shoot a female is outdated and contrary to best practices for managing healthy wildlife populations.

The beautiful thing about the state if international hunting in Africa is that it has basically no impact on wildlife populations.(well it actually increases populations through habitat preservation and anti poaching, but that’s a separate topic). Take the iconic dagga boy. The animal is past its prime and is no longer contributing to the population in any way. Taking that animal has zero impact on the population. I suppose the same would be true for any old female past breeding age.

Now on the flip side there are many situations where the population needs to be reduced or maintained at capacity. This situation calls for the harvest of females. Elephant are an example of this. Elephant populations are exploding, and the harvest of cows will need to be drastically increased.

In my home state of Georgia each person is allowed to harvest 12 females and 2 male deer per year. Unfortunately, many hunters only want to shoot their buck. As a result our buck to doe ratio is all out of sorts. Each year about the same number of bucks and does are killed. A greater number of does need to be harvested to reduce the population and get back to a more natural buck to doe ratio.

 

[DieJager]

If the cow has tusks, it will not be shot if you have booked a tuskless elephant hunt ?

What I understood, but like you my native tongue is not English, is that a tuskless really means tuskless. If it is a cow with tusk it can be called a tusked cow hunt. Maybe more seasoned native English speakers can chime in.

 

[grand veneur]

To clarify, I have unfortunately done something like this before, as part of an elephant trophy hunt, but I would not pay for it.

Elephant cow with tusks !

 

[DieJager]

To clarify, I have unfortunately done something like this before, as part of an elephant trophy hunt, but I would not pay for it.

Elephant cow with tusks !
View attachment 685646

That seems an interesting story. Tell us more!

 

[grand veneur]

I have reported on this before on the Forum, particularly emphasizing the dangers associated with such a hunt. But that was not the main problem, despite the fact that the matriarch had attacked us and we were close to also shoot it. What bothered me most was the stress I caused before in the herd. The cow fell down dead after one shot in the middle of the herd, but then there were panic reactions from the other cows, who some tried to get their calves to safety while others tried to get the dead cow back up. Many animals looked in our direction, altogether not a very nice spectacle.

 

[Tundra Tiger]

I guess not. Yes, the word was "tuskless." I hate auto correct!

You and me both good sir. Sorry... couldn't help myself on the response.

 

[375Fox]

It was not always like this. I don't quite understand some things. What is being hunted when one speaks of tuskless animals, elephant cow or bull without tusks ? If the cow has tusks, it will not be shot if you have booked a tuskless elephant hunt ? I am an old hunter and was advised about hunting in Africa by hunters who hunted there in the thirties. Something like that shape. Maybe it is better if I stop commenting on all these new terms.

A tuskless hunt usually refers to Zimbabwe. Something like 3% of the cows in Zambezi valley are genetically tuskless. A much smaller percentage of bulls. The quota is for elephants with the tuskless trait either bull or cow, but I only know of 1 tuskless bull taken. Following bulls is unlikely to produce a tuskless. Following multiple herds of cows has a much higher likelihood of finding a tuskless so most tuskless hunts are for cows.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

T

You and me both good sir. Sorry... couldn't help myself on the response.

That's OK. I would have done the same thing.

 

[Flbt]

For me this is logical development of affairs.
Considering the level of pricing of hunt on iconic species, this becomes WESTERN rich man activity.
Working class of EU or USA cannot afford.
But buffalo cow or ele, yes (maybe), and even with this reduced pricing this is only for 1% of world population that can afford.

There is another story to my ethics - believe it or not - I never shot anything even close to medal record score, as per CIC. The question can be turned in a way: is it ethical that only the richest can shoot golden CIC red deer stag?

Right or not hunting like horse racing
Has all ways been a pay to play type activity.

Fl has a lot of public land but hunting is still a expensive pass time.

Even some of the best wma have limited numbers of pass for the weekend.
You have to be able to be off from work and at the wma office Thursday morning before the weekend to get one. If there any left you can get them first come first serve

How many normal employees can be late every Thursday to try and get a permit?