Killing your dream animal?

Always try to hunt your dream animal, especially if you can afford it!!! Things change, life happens and opportunities dry up! Seize the day and go for it!

huntinlabs said:

(the big 5 honestly doesn't interest me)

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just out of interest why dont they interest you? you will be missing out on some amazing hunting experiences......

spike.t said:

just out of interest why dont they interest you? you will be missing out on some amazing hunting experiences......

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one is the price tag lol the other things are yea the more I think about it the cooler it would be to kill a lion or a buff but for some reason I just don't get the itch to kill any of the others. Its like the kudu I think they are beautiful trophies and cool critters but for some reason im just not drawn to them.

huntinlabs said:

.............. Its like the kudu I think they are beautiful trophies and cool critters but for some reason im just not drawn to them.

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Wait until you see one fade into a clearing out of the bush. Captivating.

I don't think anyone can truly tell you how you will feel until that time after the kill comes. I always feel some remorse for taking a life but also grateful I had the opportunity to do so. I RESPECT all animals and that says a lot for hunters as I believe most of us do feel that way. I currently have 53 trophies in my home and I can say without question I feel no remorse. Just last week I hung 2 more trophies and stepped back to take a look around. I started to remember each hunt as I looked, and still can not believe I had the opportunity to do each hunt. Just go and enjoy every second of the hunt and feel whatever you must after the kill. It's ok to feel it no matter what it is.

huntinlabs said:

one is the price tag lol the other things are yea the more I think about it the cooler it would be to kill a lion or a buff but for some reason I just don't get the itch to kill any of the others. Its like the kudu I think they are beautiful trophies and cool critters but for some reason im just not drawn to them.

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yup the price tag does get expensive, but picking buff or ele tracks up early morning in wild zambian , zimbabwean etc bush, and following for hours and if you are lucky enough ending up very close to the animal is an experience you will never forget....even if the animal isnt big enough, or not the trophy you were looking for and you dont take it, or just cant get into position, and then have to go do it all over again day after day.....cant beat it

I think you will change your mind about kudu, they are majestic beyond words. I love them, right next to the bushbuck which is always a favorite.

No one can resist a kudu!

I'm still second guessing not taking the big kudu we saw last month in Mozambique. I let the budget get in the way quite honestly - and I had taken 6 animals already.

thi9elsp said:

I'm still second guessing not taking the big kudu we saw last month in Mozambique. I let the budget get in the way quite honestly - and I had taken 6 animals already.

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Totally understand

Here is what I think will happen if you take your giraffe or not. You will have many new favorite animals after Pieter has you out hunting and you see the other animals out in the bush. The big picture always changes after your out hunting and seeing these animals out in the wild.

I literally have dreams about hunting Kudu. I can feel the horn in my hand. I cannot await the day that I have the opportunity to actually drop the hammer on one.

When asking myself the same question, I come back to a famous quote by Fred Bear,
"I have always tempered my killing with respect for the game pursued. I see the animal not only as a target but as a living creature with more freedom than I will ever have. I take that life if I can, with regret as well as joy, and with the sure knowledge that nature's ways of fang and claw or exposure and starvation are a far crueler fate than I bestow."

The gritty bowmen love to use this quote, and I believe we can all relate as hunters. As a hunter, I believe you'll find your real dream is to just hunt, and the result of taking a favorite animal (giraffe), will be the joy of success as well as some slight regret for the taking of the life.

But, that said, I'm guessing you would return again to take another giraffe even if you are successful this time. No different than hunting at home and taking a great deer or elk. We go back out every year because we're hunters.

I always feel a touch or remorse when I shoot an animal. Three times I have botched shots over the last fifty years, and those absolutely haunt me when I allow them to do so. But that really wasn't your question.

My dream hunt was to go to Africa. My two most desired animals were the kudu (I am a passionate Hemingway fan) and the Cape buffalo ( because you can't read a lot of Africana without dreaming about those big black things). Upon making that first African hunt and subsequent ones, that dream has become a passion. I have had the good fortune to take two very large kudu, and in October I head back to Moz for a third buffalo. I suppose I am equally passionate about whitetail, and I took the first of those long ago (very long ago!).

One other thought. The conditions of a hunt can mitigate passion to some degree. My son, a very experienced hunter, dreamed for the longest time about taking a fallow deer stag. Not sure why, other than he is something of a European history buff. In any case, soon after moving to Texas, I bought him an exotic hunt on a large fenced ranch in the Hill Country. He and his quide drove around quite a bit and the fallow deer were as docile as sheep - staring phlegmatically at them from a few yards away (a behavior which I had witnessed in Germany decades before). He got some great photography, but decided actually executing one wasn't really necessary after all.

When you get to Africa, to the extent your budget allows, let the hunt guide your selection of animals. As you creep along behind your PH it may well be your dream animal doesn't fulfill your hunting passion nearly as much as trying to get steady enough to take an oryx or zebra that refuse to let you get closer than the next ridge - or the kudu that you aren't sure you really saw at all as he evaporated into the brush.

Have a great trip.

As @Lrntolive said

"As a hunter, I believe you'll find your real dream is to just hunt, and the result of taking a favorite animal (giraffe), will be the joy of success as well as some slight regret for the taking of the life. But, that said, I'm guessing you would return again to take another giraffe even if you are successful this time. No different than hunting at home and taking a great deer or elk. We go back out every year because we're hunters."

Well said, totally agree!

I shot the animal of my dreams last year, everything was better than i had thought, thunder in the distance, rain falling in the valley below, slight mist on the mountain top, could almost hear the beating drums. I shot, i panicked when it ran down the slope and we lost site of it, i shed a tear when i walked up on him.

Sure am glad i did it and sure am happier i plan to repeat and while i might not get that same first time feeling, i bet its damn close

Ummmmmmm?
I think its time you changed your drink!
Seriously though ,I had the same thoughts about hunting Zebra .
To much bloody NG on tv .
Once I got there and realized they are a very cunning adversary , i fell in love with hunting them .
When im back in Namibia hartmans are the first on my list .!
The passion grows stronger the older I get .
Live life to the full brother , take every chance life gives you .
To many of my friends are not here anymore .
Cheers Dory .

A dream animal is always one you should hunt, but one you should be particularly careful to hunt "properly."

What I mean by that is that you should make sure that the hunt is conducted in such a way that you will remember the entire experience with pride. I can think of no better way to destroy a "dream" than to approach it the wrong way. For example, say your dream animal is a cape buffalo, and you go and hunt one in a small enclosure from the back of a truck. My guess is that your dream will die a minute or two after you pull the trigger. But chase buffalo around a large area, track them on foot over a period of days, get busted a few times, and finally get up close and personal and seal the deal - that's a dream animal that will live in those dreams forever.

You mentioned giraffe. I've shot a number (I seem to enjoy it, for reasons which escape me and most certainly escape my wife). Some hunts have been so easy that they weren't any fun at all (other than maybe as a marksmanship exercise), while others have been challenging and interesting. You can't always determine how the hunt will go - sometimes a giraffe comes easy, other times it comes hard, but whatever the case, make sure you've done it properly. On foot. In a large area. Sneaking up on the animal. Trust me, it's not easy if done properly - a giraffe sees you coming from a long ways away. You should try to get close - like you would for a dangerous animal - certainly within a hundred yards, and ideally within 50 yards. It will take some time, and you may not get it on the first try, but when you do, you will have a trophy worth of those dreams.

Hank2211 said:

A dream animal is always one you should hunt, but one you should be particularly careful to hunt "properly."

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Top of my list is Sable. I went to South Africa in 2016, and they had Sable. But it wouldn't have been "proper." My next trip will be for Sable specifically, and will be "proper" and I will not hesitate to pull the trigger.

huntinlabs said:

So I am going on my first safari with @Pawprint Safaris. I don't know why but ever since I was a young teen a giraffe has always been my dream animal to kill. Now I have the opportunity to make that dream come true. However I was watching giraffe hunting videos last night to try to help with the anticipation of going (that's not helping by the way) and it hit me. Would I really be able to pull the trigger? I say I would but what about the feelings after? I believe we should live life to its fullest potential but should something's be left a dream? I am worried that I would get shooters remorse after letting the hammer down and the mood would be killed by regret of taking my dream and wondering what would come next. Have any of you let a dream animal walk just so you could keep the dream alive?

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I always feel a sense of sadness for the animals I've just killed. If that ever stops then I'll give up hunting completely.

No problems hunting my dream animal, but there are a few species I wouldn't hunt for various reasons. This is just a personal choice and I don't disprove of anyone else doing what ever they want to do but I'd never hunt species I believe are too easy etc. I'd leave them alone because I'd feel no sense of achievement and so I'd have wasted my time and money.

All I can say to you is to make sure you think you'll be able to pull the trigger before spending a lot of money on travel etc. A PH friend of mine has had people not pull the trigger when needed due to having second thoughts. This is very rare though.