@Scott CWO
I’ve read your post thoroughly (and judging by the fact that you “Liked” them, I’m guessing that you also read mine). Your dislike towards Mark appears to mostly stem from three things (if I’m not mistaken):
1) You don’t like the way he talks, which you (and many others) interpret as bragging.
2) You consider that he takes far too much time in between shots to give the game a quick death humanely.
3) You believe that he deliberately shoots his client’s game.
Okay.
In regards to point 1, there’s nothing that I can or should say which can counter this. I myself (in a previous post on this very thread) stated that I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says (that would be the understatement of the year).
In regards to point 2, again there’s nothing which I can or should say which can counter this. A hunter can always look at another hunter’s video and consider that far too much time was wasted between shots. Being subjected to individual morality based scrutiny comes with the territory of making hunting videos.
But in regards to point 3, I’m afraid that my way of looking at things is not the same as yours. Mark’s clients are all wealthy people (many of whom know each other). And they don’t accumulate that kind of money by being stupid. If he was actually making a habit of shooting client’s game in situations where THE CLIENTS THEMSELVES considered it to be unnecessary… then, he soon wouldn’t be able to get new clients the way that he does. Out of ALL of Mark’s actual clients (both current & former) whom I’ve interacted with over the years (and I’m fortunate enough to be close to three of them), not a single one of them ever accused him of unnecessarily shooting their game. Not a single one.
Okay, I’ll share one piece of confidential information about one of the clients (who I unfortunately can’t share the name of for obvious reasons). There was one client (that I know of) who just wanted a hippopotamus. He initially did try to hunt the hippopotamus himself (and recalls that Mark genuinely did try his best to get the client to bag the game by himself). But for certain physical limitations, he just couldn’t . Finally, Mark did shoot that hippopotamus for him (at the client’s consent). Some portions of that hunt appeared in one of Mark’s 1990s videos. That client is actually a member of these forums, although he specifically asked that I leave his name out of this.
You do have many solid reasons for disliking Mark. I can’t deny or disprove that. But I will conclude my post with two points:
1) Like him or hate him, he (as per HIS OWN WORDS) never shot ANY game game animal specifically with the intention to wound them in order to provoke a charge. As his critic, you might not believe his claim.. As his friend, I do. Yes, he provoked a few charges by other means (as per his own admission) and I suppose that you (and several other fellow hunters) might still consider that to be unethical. But he never wounded anything in order to instigate a charge.
2) Regardless of what he SAID/SAYS about provoking bear charges, the fact of the matter is that out of all the bears he’s shot in his life so far (I can get you the exact number if you wish)… only ONE was actually ever shot during a charge. And that one genuinely wasn’t Mark’s fault (as corroborated by a mutual friend of ours who was with him).
Is this enough to get you to develop a less negative opinion of Mark ? Probably not. And I don’t expect it to either. But just like it’s your moral duty to call out potentially unethical sporting behavior by other hunters, it’s also my moral duty to lend any insight regarding Mark which might make his critics see him in a more three dimensional light. Not necessarily a more positive light. But a more three dimensional light.
