I'm not a bow hunter, there, that's my disclaimer!
The first thing I thought of when this posting first went up was would a person bow hunt DG without ANY backup? No PH, no one, just the hunter and the animal or animals. Lion, rhino, even leopard, miles from camp, with no backup.
That's where my mind went.
Been there, done that. I was on a water buffalo hunt and when we find the water buffalo after looking for him for quite some time, I grab my bow in one hand and the door handle in the other to get out and start stalking. My guide informs me he left his rifle at the lodge and just tells me to shoot him from the truck. I inform him that he is on crack if he thinks I am going to shoot a buffalo from inside a pickup. Said guide then tells me not to stray too far and he will be in the truck if I need him. I tell my daugher, who is with me to film the hunt, to not step foot out of the truck, then make my way off to stalk and shoot the buffalo knowing I have no rifle to back me up. Needless to say, I will never hunt anything with that outfit again. I would not want to hunt DG without some form of backup. Either a PH with a rifle or at the minimum a handgun. Sadly, in California we cannot bow hunt and carry a pistol, even with a CCW.
A resume? What will people think of next? Maybe we ought to get a Bachelor’s degree with a diploma in hunting! That idea is as bad as the direction some lefties are going when suggesting extensive training, insurance and clearance by a doctor prior to gun ownership. Too funny. Hunt with what you want, there are guides that will take you. Of course it’s appropriate to be proficient. But if your not, tell your guide and agree they will back you up. If your willing to pay a guide as a newbie they should offer their services . Of course it’s their prerogative to deny you, but find one that won’t deny a newbie(or lack of experience with a bow on dangerous game). For crying out loud, what the heck is this world coming to? Lol
Try and get a permit for a legit rhino hunt. You will need a resume. I have applied twice. The first time, I had a 23-page application. I was trying to get a bow permit for rhino and was denied. The second time, my permit application was up to 27 pages. Still waiting to hear back on it. If they keep denying it, my application will grow until I finally just have to mail them a novel. I expect I might need to send it to a guide for my elephant hunt just to get him some peace of mind when that time comes around, but having a hunting resume probably isn't that bad an idea. You can learn a lot about a person from a proper one and it will help the guide know your capabilities, what you have done and what you are looking to do, as well as how you prefer to hunt. It is in writing so there is no misunderstanding.
I learned long ago that most disappointment in relationships come from undeclared expectations not being met. That goes beyond just marriages. Make sure your expectations are declared. Then, there are no misunderstandings.
I let my guides know that their job aside from driving me around and advising is to keep me and the rest of the people in the party safe. If in their professional opinion they have to shoot to stop a charging animal from hurting somebody, I won't be mad at anybody other than myself for creating such a situation. That said, they do not otherwise shoot my animal unless I ask them to. I already had that happen once and don't want to go through that again (PH shot an animal with a mortal arrow wound when it started running because he thought it could have run a long distance before it dropped). In my mind, when the rifle fires, I have already lost my trophy. For the record, that incident was on an animal (giraffe) that you cannot even put into a record book, so it isn't about chasing entries into the books.
www.africahunting.com
