@grand veneur @buck wild @sgt_zim @BJH65
You’ve all had countless pleasant exchanges with me over the last four years. And I definitely respect your differences of opinion. And I don’t mind it at all. I always welcome different perspectives.
I will also do my best to address your statements.
On the subject of Mark provoking animal charges
Yes, he’s guilty of this but not in the way some of his critics claim he is. Let me explain. In his life, he has NEVER wounded any Cape animal specifically for the purposes of provoking a charge. Not once. He’s vehemently opposed to the practice. But he does (as per Mark’s own words) “Get in their face and let them know that I’m hunting them”. It’s a question of personal ethics and okay… some of you might find it to be unethical. But it is what is is. In my personal opinion, there are other white hunters too who have carried out this practice. Ivan Carter (to name a few) sometimes waves his .600 Nitro Express Heym Jumbo in front of elephants in order to incite a charge. When we hunt leopard over hounds (for instance, in Botswana), the standard method of hunting is to keep pushing the leopard until he eventually charges.
On the subject of Mark’s personality being off-putting
It’s totally reasonable for people who’s only means of interacting with him being through watching his videos…to find him arrogant & pretentious. I can’t fault you there. When I first saw “Death At My Feet” (his first hunting DVD), I initially thought of him as an overconfident hotshot. But I’m immensely glad that I had the opportunity to interact with him personally & getting to know his inner circles. It let me see him in a completely different light.
On the subject of Mark’s actions putting clients into potential danger
Actually, Mark’s track record here is quite impressive. In a career spanning 35 years (and counting), he’s never actually had even a single client wounded on safari. As a matter of fact, due to his sheer firsthand experience with stopping dangerous game charges (allegations of provoking said charges notwithstanding)… he’s probably the one white hunter whom I’d completely feel safe hunting dangerous game with.
On the subject of Mark never stopping a lion or leopard charge on video
Mark actually has stopped one lion charge on video (that I know of). It was in Zimbabwe and he was a client during that hunt. Mark was armed with his Charles Osborne boxlock extractor in .577 Nitro Express (loaded with 750Gr Barnes TSX all-copper hollow points). Since Mark sold that particular rifle in 2012, this hunt must have occurred before that. I can ask him to send me the video. His book also shows a leopard which he shot in the head (mid-charge) with a Benelli Super Black Eagle in 12 gauge 3.5” Magnum (loaded with Remington 9 Pellet 32 gram 00 Buck shells). But
@BJH65 is spot on when he says that lion & leopard are far faster than Cape buffalo or hippopotamus. As well as presenting smaller targets.
At the end of the day, we (as client hunters) are consumers/customers. If the hunting style of one white hunter doesn’t appeal to us, then we can simply pick another. Many of us here wouldn’t want to hunt with Mark Sullivan. That’s fine, but there are many of us (myself included) who would consider it to be a privilege.
I’ll add another insight from Mark himself. When Mark began his career in the early 1990s, the concept of hunting videos were JUST beginning to catch on. If my memory serves me correctly, they began to gain popularity after Peter Capstick filmed a hunt with Jeff Rann in Botswana. When Mark began his hunting videos, his primary market was towards rich American hunters (many of whom were hunting in Africa for the first time). So in his own words “Looking back, some of my earlier videos were specifically aimed at highlighting how dangerous African game can be”. I was already hunting in Africa for 15 years by then, but I imagine that a lot of aspiring first time client hunters were genuinely drawn towards his videos by seeing all those Cape buffalo and hippopotamus charges. It was a good marketing gimmick at the time when no other African white hunter was making hunting videos (those pre-You Tube days).
Over the years, he’s slowly mellowed out and he’s even publicly stated more than a few times that he hates shooting his client’s game.
I’ll give a final piece of insight. In the last 20 years or so, the model of African hunting has greatly changed. Nowadays, most Cape buffalo hunts present themselves like this: The white hunter gets the client within 100-200 yards of a Cape buffalo. The shooting sticks are set up, out comes the telescopic sighted .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. A 300Gr premium grade expanding bullet is sent to the animal’s boiler room from a broadside position. The creature goes maybe 100 yards and then drops. If this is the standard modern hunting practice, then it’s quite easy for people to make statements like “Cape buffalo never charge under normal circumstances”. I personally have nothing against this style of hunting (I hunt a lot of Cape buffalo this way, as well). But Mark likes a more, shall we say… gladiatorial approach. Getting close. And yes, at relatively close ranges… Cape buffalo charges (while definitely not a regular occurrence) are not all that uncommon.
I do stand by my comment about the hunting community being extremely judgmental, vindictive, hateful, self righteous & jealous though. For instance, Jeff Rann hunted a leopard over hounds a few years back (which got covered on video). A group of anti hunters began falsely bitching that the hunt was illegal. That’s hardly surprising, since they’re, well.. ANTI HUNTERS. But what really appalled me was how fast the international hunting community was quick to socially crucify Jeff and throw him under the bus without even bothering to properly research all of the background facts regarding that particular hunt.
Influencer videos are typically staged and fakey.
