What are your thoughts on culling?

All you guys and gals out there that have read my post on the culling trip to the Kalahari .
What do you think ? Is it ethical ? Should we do this while we are there .?
Read my post and let me know what you think (http://www.africahunting.com/thread...bia-with-ongariwanda.23308/page-4#post-207636).
People here think it was uncool , but man I had a ball .
And I helped the farmer with animal control .
Cheers Dory .

What are they having an issue with?

You shoot them or the Farmer or Cull team will be doing it.
What's the difference?!

I don't see any problems with it. My only thought was how much they charged you per animal. I wouldn't pay much per animal for a cull hunt as you are not taking anything home with you and are actually doing a service for the farmer/outfitter.

You are both right . I paid per animal .
I shot 16 in the end , but could have shot many more if my pocket was bigger .
People down under are starting to believe the shit in the papers. We poison game animals all the time here , but thats okay .
Mention Africa and shooting and it all changes .
Ive been asked if I want to go on a trip and shoot a lot af animals for cull only .

Nothing wrong with cull hunts, as long as you are not paying much, trophy fees to me should be third of full price animals.

I don't see the issue. As long as the price is fair. A lot of times on cull hunts you can take trophy animals as well, no one wants to be cull hunting and find the legendary 65in+ kudu and have to pass. Its just normal hunting to maintain proper animal populations.

I went on a Cull hunt last year,and still took some nice animals just not record book , and will do it again in Namibia in a few years,the only exception will be Gemsbock and Mountain Zebra

Culling is a perfectly valid - and necessary - game management tool. It can also be a lot of fun, and as long as the economics make sense, I heartily encourage and endorse it! In fact, I've taken some cull animals on my last three hunts, and frankly, done properly, it's almost as much fun as chasing trophies.

99% of the animals I shoot in the UK are cull animals, mainly females which have no horns. This is a very important part of the ecosystem's management. When I last went to SA I also shot cull animals. Whats the difference? Both are ecosystems that require a balance, if that cant be achieved naturally then that is where we as hunters fill the gap. I understand that shooting trophy animals bring in the money, and I shot a few in SA myself. However, I often wonder if too many mature animals are shot in their prime rather finding an old boy who's best days are gone?

Both cull hunts I have been involved with were eradication type culls, with entire herds/groups being harvested. It is tough for a hard-core hunter/conservationist like me to shoot entire herds, females, young, etc. I did it because it was necessary, not because I needed to. And no, mine was not pay per animal. I swear after every one I don't want to do it again, then a situation arises when I am asked/needed/cajoled and I do it again. I do enjoy selective harvest of old/dry etc. animals when it is a hunting situation.

I was a part of a cull hunt and see nothing wrong with it. All of the animals were collected and processed to distribute or sell the meat.

Culling as part of an overall management program is useful and necessary. Of course it is ethical.

Would I do it? No. I just don't think it would be that much fun. I'll save my hunting and travel dollars for things I like better.

I'm glad some people do enjoy cull hunts.

As most have said, culling is a conservation tool.

There are cull hunts and there are culls. To me a cull hunt is where you hunt as you would for a trophy animal only the animal taken is of a type that is surplus to requirements for one reason or another or not of a type or standard you want breeding. Your hunting ethics are what they are and shouldn't change just because the animal is considered a cull. A straight out cull is generally not a hunt and as others have stated is a management tool, taking out surplus animals via an efficient method. Someone has to do it and if you enjoy it and are willing to pay to do it everyone's a winner. You ask whether it is ethical? There are a lot of different ethics that come into play. From a hunting ethics point of view I don't think it is. Would you drive around and shoot a trophy from the back of a truck? If not, then from a hunting perspective and by your own standards it would be unethical. I noted you called the cull part of your trip a cull and didn't refer to it as a hunt, actually saying it was shooting and not hunting so I don't think hunting ethics would come into it. I would only see it as unethical if you considered it hunting. From a management point of view it is certainly ethical in that it provides an efficient, effective way to harvest surplus animals which are then processed. I guide Water Buffalo hunts in Australia and have conducted both cull hunts and culls. The cull hunts are a rewarding ethical hunt where hunters can experience the hunt though may not be able to afford the full trophy fees or take several animals for the same price. The culls are just for management and I am happy some people want to pay to do this. But I do not consider it hunting. I hope anyone who reads this can see what I am getting at. Ethics are a personal thing and this is how I see it. I have sat here pondering the question presented for some time and this is probably the best I can come up with.

I just want to add to my post that; the culling I do is not from a vehicle - it is all walk and stalk or from a high seat. Only 1-2 animals are usually taken per outing and as a result I have to spend a lot of my time on the ground to control the population. As mentioned above about culling hundreds at a time from a vehicle, that is not something I do, nor wish to.

Yep I wouldn't call it hunting but rather shooting. I have no problem with it at all. It is a means to control a population and there is nothing wrong wit at all. While in SA if Pieter has cull work available Bryson and I will gladly do our part!

While trophy hunting I have been asked a few times by my PH to shoot an animal for meat or because it was defective. I have done it gladly but never paid for it.

I think it all comes down to what kind of cull hunt you are doing.

Are you walk and stalking as you would for a trophy animal or are you on the back of a truck trying to cull large numbers at a time. If the latter, it is not for me but I see the need for it. A cull hunt on foot is just as much of a challenge as a trophy hunt in many cases, plus you don't pay anywhere near the cost. Its a great way to bulk out a safari if you are only targeting certain trophy animals.

Culling is an absolute necessity in keeping healthy game populations.

If they set a price people are willing to pay i see no problem.

nothing wrong with culling ,a specie once the food ceiling is passed , dory .......
in my book its more kinder to do that than let the species overrun an area ,where as all other species suffer ......
we have been involved in a few over here ,deer and kangaroos.....
there a lot of pressure to thin out samba deer in my home state too , infact there quite a bit of it going on already .....
whether you agree with it or not , its some thing that at times needs to be done ......at times
where we hunt chittel deer up north , they have just knocked about 7000 deer off the properties we have accsess to , so im not sure what its going to look like next time we go for a warm hunt.......
two years ago I was involved in a fallow cull on a property where 316 deer were thinnedout ,in a week end...
whether I'd pay to do that ,im not real sure , but to have an opportunity ,like you and mrs dory ,did in Namibia , I rekon id have a crack at that , no worries , but id expect it to be bloody cheap .......
I will never agree that poisoning is an ethical way to manage wildlife numbers .......
theres just not enough control on what species are actively accounted for with it ...
way too much of the snow ball effect , not to mention the time it takes to work on herbivores (up to 40 hours ), compared to carniviors (3 to 4 hours)
firearms and people are a conservation tool , poison is a genocide tool