American hunter black giraffe hunt

I believe that you can have a social media account like FB and post the pictures there, you just have to be aware of what might happen. You can also go into you account and make your pictures private where only your friends can see them. But that isn't what a lot of people want. They want to broadcast to the world what they have accomplished and in a way I don't blame them.

I remember years go every truck leaving Colorado had elk and deer antlers all over them, they were broadcasting to the world what they had accomplished. Now the game and fish departments of most all states want us to keep all these things under cover so that we don't offend anyone.

It is just a sign of the times.

Here's the thing about social media. If you don't want to participate, don't. Whether you hunt or not shouldn't have anything to do with it.

BUT, don't think for a second that we don't put ourselves at a disadvantage of we don't use it. The antis LOVE hearing that a hunter doesn't use it. It puts them at a tactical advantage. Cecil doesn't even exist without social media.

LivingTheDream said:

@Big5 not old or out of touch. I gave up on Facebook a long time ago, when I was in my 20s. Too much BS, too much ego, too much drama. I really don't have that much time would rather be hunting.

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Yup, same here. Once they opened it up to more than just college students, I got a request from my aunt and grandmother. I decided that I probably didn't want them see what I was doing in my free time during college Not to mention all the "look at me" drama

Royal27 said:

Here's the thing about social media. If you don't want to participate, don't. Whether you hunt or not shouldn't have anything to do with it.

BUT, don't think for a second that we don't put ourselves at a disadvantage of we don't use it. The antis LOVE hearing that a hunter doesn't use it. It puts them at a tactical advantage. Cecil doesn't even exist without social media.

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I agree that Cecil does not happen without social media. But as the vast minority, will we ever be able to win in this arena? No matter what we post, things will be taken out of context and facts will be replaced with whatever rhetoric they choose to recite.

cagkt3 said:

agree that Cecil does not happen without social media. But as the vast minority, will we ever be able to win in this arena? No matter what we post, things will be taken out of context and facts will be replaced with whatever rhetoric they choose to recite.

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I can tell you this much. You can't win if you don't play the game.

It's up to us to SMARTLY control the conversation with the general public. To make the rhetoric exactly that, rhetoric.

And numbers aren't the important part. The message and being vocal (politely) are. There are less antis than there are hunters, but you sure wouldn't think that from social media. Most people are non hunters, not antis, but the antis do a great job with propaganda and even get many hunters to believe antis hold the superior numbers.

I am also upset that Tess killed Bubba the Giraffe. Was hoping to bag him myself.......................the best analogy I can think of is religion. If someone points out several logical errors in your religion, at the end of the discussion, you still believe.....because you "know" you're right...............so it is with the Animal Crackers....they know they are right and it is pointless to try to educate them..........FWIW.....I think posting pics of animals on FB is a bad idea............FWB

Royal27 said:

I can tell you this much. You can't win if you don't play the game.

It's up to us to SMARTLY control the conversation with the general public. To make the rhetoric exactly that, rhetoric.

And numbers aren't the important part. The message and being vocal (politely) are. There are less antis than there are hunters, but you sure wouldn't think that from social media. Most people are non hunters, not antis, but the antis do a great job with propaganda and even get many hunters to believe antis hold the superior numbers.

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I think you are half right, I think engaging with people and seeing the passion you have for wildlife and hunting will help them understand and relate to why we do it. I think that gets lost in social media and trophy/hero shots as they don't depicit the hard work and dedication that goes into that moment. I think talking with people,at least reasonable people, helps control the narrative and gives them a feeling of what it is all about.

The anti's will not accept any argument that goes against their agenda, no hunting, period, for any reason. They are not only ignorant but unreasonable and unreachable, simply gone, no coming back. Posting hunting pics on FB seems like asking for trouble. Why? Refer to the above. I don't Facebook, never have, never will.

Had an interesting chat just now at work, a guy tried the emotive card and i levelled him out with fact. I suggested some reading for him to gain a bit of knowledge but he said i don't have time or interest in that. His argument became 'you can't prove there's no better way than hunting to manage wildlife therefore your facts about what hunting does for wildlife is invalid'. Went around all the examples to show what happens when people try to manage without hunting and he kept saying 'yeah but your biased to facts that suit you and your argument is based on me being ignorant which isn't a defense for hunting' i argued facts aren't biased their just facts but i ended up just shaking my head and walking away as it was going nowhere.

This is what we're dealing with.

JPbowhunter said:

I know guys that if facebook shutdown tomorrow would give up hunting as they'd no longer get the attention they're craving but that's another topic.

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Funny you mention this. We spoke about it the other day. The purpose of hunting for so many people is not quite time in the bush any longer. Its to get pictures out on social media before the animal is even skinned. With a list of all the fancy specs of your equipment.

I’m sorry this girl had to endure the nonsense she did. Social media has certainly given all the liberals a voice that leads to very little if any good

Big5 said:

I'll go a bit further, and surely step on a few toes here, to say that I simply do not see the attraction to social media sites such as Facebook. Why the need to say "I have a new car", "Lookee what I'm having for supper" or "wanna see my dirty skivvies", let alone to post sport hunting stories and photos.

It is unfortunate that the young lady was attacked but she must have anticipated the barrage of criticism coming her way if she posted a hunting photo for the entire world to see. AH is a common interest group site so I can understand wanting to post hunting stories and photos here. But Facebook?

Yes, I am old and out of touch.

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Exactly! People without a real life posting pictures of what they had for dinner or what restaurant they went to??? Who gives a damn!

LivingTheDream said:

I think you are half right, I think engaging with people and seeing the passion you have for wildlife and hunting will help them understand and relate to why we do it. I think that gets lost in social media and trophy/hero shots as they don't depicit the hard work and dedication that goes into that moment. I think talking with people,at least reasonable people, helps control the narrative and gives them a feeling of what it is all about.

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In theory, I'm in total agreement with you. Talking directly with people face to face is always best.

BUT (there's always a but...), talking face to face doesn't reach the numbers we need to reach, and that's where social media comes in. That's why politicians use it. It's effective. Look at Trump and his use of twitter. Although other politicians have criticized him they are all beginning to use it more and more. Why? Because it has worked for Trump. That's why. We should use social media for the same reason, because it works.

Now again, we have to SMARTLY control the message. Hero shot with foot on chest of bloody animal isn't doing that. But in my opinion saying we shouldn't post any trophy pic or tell any story on social media is a long term recipe for disaster. No different than a politician who says he will only "get out the vote" using face to face interaction. That politician will lose....


Like it or not, social media is here to stay, so we better learn how to use it, and everyone here engages in it, everyone. This is a war. In war you use every weapon at your disposal in order to defeat the enemy. You don't just pick up the one weapon you like best Do you want to fight in a war with a beautiful Holland and Hollad, or a beat up ugly AK-47?Sometimes, you have to accept the "collateral damage" caused by the weapon....

Perhaps this won't be the most popular opinion here, but I think a lot may share in my broader message.

I gave Dr. Palmer the benefit of the doubt in his fiasco. This lady here though is right up there with the Jimmy John's guy who laid naked spooning with a shark. All I needed to see was the pic of her pointing to the sky thanking the Lord for the giraffe she shot 30 minutes ago. That is an inappropriate picture to take and when she got home she liked it so much she shared it with everyone. Stupid behavior results in complete lack of credibility even if you present conservation facts.

Giraffe hunting is a controversial thing, even among hunters. With any hunt, take a couple good respectful pictures to keep and move on with your day. Hunters have the responsibility to present ourselves as people who respect animals. You are not going to sway anti-hunting activists, but you don't need to. All you have to do is not piss off the 90% of the population that has no strong opinion one way or the other.

This crap made it onto my local news this morning. Just another lion story. Amazing

VonJager said:

But I have not taken any “endangered” animals so...

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Giraffe are not endangered. But in South Africa at least they likely will be if not supported by paying hunters.

ActionBob said:

Giraffe are not endangered. But in South Africa at least they likely will be if not supported by paying hunters.

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They are declining in numbers everywhere that they AREN'T hunted.... Giraffe is one of the best and clearest examples of hunting helping with conservation that there is.

I won't share much of my personal opinion on this matter. My question is are we, as hunters and conservationists, fighting a losing battle?
I agree that the stubborn anti's won't change their mind easily but those that have no opinion need the unbiased facts from both sides but are they really getting that or are they flooded by the anti's message so much so that they lean that way because it's going with the crowd?

We believe and have seen evidence, i.e. the small news report recently of the Lions (can't recall if 1 or more) that were poisoned. We know this happens in Africa and they are considered pests and we believe that hunting gives them an economic value and hence a financial insentive to keep them around and thriving. I don't feel like that banner is being raised though, or is it?

Hard for me to defend much better than Steven Rinella did.

Gotta love and respect Steve Rinella... A TV guy who actually walks the walk and practices what he preaches.

cagkt3 said:

I agree that Cecil does not happen without social media. But as the vast minority, will we ever be able to win in this arena? No matter what we post, things will be taken out of context and facts will be replaced with whatever rhetoric they choose to recite.

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The trick is moving from being in the minority to being in the majority. Vegans were not in the majority. Anti-hunters were not in the majority. Animals Right activists were not in the minority, but if you give somebody 100% supremacy in the airwaves, they will take over.

Unfortunately, we have so many hunters who want to post a photo of them with an animal. The "trophy shot" so to speak. We hunters are not offended by that, but it is fodder for the antis who then run around portraying us as sickos who lust to kill. Compare that to a photo like this:


What we actually see is the conservation side - the feeding of locals. You will find the ARA crowd gets just as triggered, but the people who are not hard core see nothing wrong with this. They suddenly find themselves in the middle of an ARA/Hunting fight and they are not on the side of the ARA but the hunters. This is a good thing for us. We need the average person to see the differences between them and the animal rights people and what they have in common with hunters.

Also, photos like this dispel the myth that the ARA pushes - that trophy hunters just lop the head off the animal and leave the carcass to rot. We need to post photos of the meat we eat and the food we give to locals. Neither of those can be accomplished with photo safaris. They love to talk about how little money gets to the locals (even though it is more than from photo safaris) but this is not money being given to them. It is food - something those who want to replace hunting with photo safaris cannot provide.

I actually had an animal rights site take my photos and try and use them against me and it was this very picture. It blew up in their face when half the people on the animal rights site sided with the hunter. This wasn't on general Facebook but an animal rights page and they couldn't get majority support against it.

I do have the "trophy pictures" but I only show those in person with people when I am there to discuss hunting or to show other hunters. They do not go on my Facebook page. But the food being given away shots? I can never have enough of those.

The biggest thing that grabbed me is what Steven Rinella said about teeth, we have canines! Humans are meant to eat meat or at the very least be an omnivore like a bear!

I don’t apologize for raising beef cattle, and I am not going to apologize for hunting. Period.
Animal rights activists weren’t up at 3 am with there arms completely in a cows uterus trying to correct a breach birth, nor were they feeding a calf every 4 hours Gatorade that has scours.
They weren’t in sitting in a stand in the freezing rain waiting for a break when the deer would move either.