This thread has been started by splitting off from another in order that this subject "Sustainable Hunting" can be discussed on its own.
Instead of focusing on one Outfitter have a look, for education purposes, at the whole picture of an industry.
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa ALL have high fence hunting. Don't over generalize and vilify a Game Farming practice that saved many species from extinction.
@BRICKBURN
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Take away points
Instead of focusing on one Outfitter have a look, for education purposes, at the whole picture of an industry.
Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana and South Africa ALL have high fence hunting. Don't over generalize and vilify a Game Farming practice that saved many species from extinction.
@BRICKBURN
.................
Take away points
- "take & put" - It has been discussed what could be valuable questions to ask an outfitter to assess the "take & put" issue. My suggestion, as previously mentioned, is to ask two questions: 1) do you hunt females? 2) do you offer cull hunts? If the answer are no and no, you know that animal quantities are limited. This could be a motivation for "put & take." If the answers are yes and yes, you know that one the outfitter's concerns is to keep pace with natural population growth, hence the financial motivation for "put & take" does not exist.
- "canned hunt" - It has also been discussed what could be valuable questions to ask an outfitter to assess the "canned hunt" issue. My suggestion is that in most cases basic numbers do not lie. Ask for the size of the contiguous hunting area (not the cumulated size of different properties separated by driving on asphalt). The chances of getting a canned hunt on a few thousand acres, never mind a few hundred acres, are geometrically higher than the chances to get a caned hunt on several tens of thousands of acres, not to mention over a hundred thousand acres.
- "breeders animals" - As previously mentioned, diversifying, augmenting and improving the gene pool with selected breeders is good population management. Rims of science, whether in stock management or game management support his statement.
- "high fences" - As previously mentioned, high fencing is a requirement by law in South Africa for outfitters who own enough property to want to manage their animals population and diversify, augment and improve the gene pool.
- "breeding areas" - Outfitters who own enough property to want to manage their animals population and diversify, augment and improve the gene pool have high fenced breeding areas. These are not "pens" but "areas." Outfitters who own enough land have breeding areas of several thousand acres. Those areas can be large enough in themselves to be larger than other outfitters' entire property, or small farms hunted by other outfitters who do not own land.
- "high volume, commercialized operation" - Truth be told, unless a hunter wants to be the only one in camp, or the only one on the property, which can be legitimate asks with outfitters who offer limited accommodations and limited land, the real question is whether each client receives personalized accommodation, personalized service by his PH and hunting team, and can enjoy his/her personal hunt undisturbed. This means that the real question is not a question of absolute quantity but proportion. Two hunters are a crowd in a camp with only one guest room and 3,000 acres to hunt. Five or ten hunters are not a crowd in a camp that can accommodate them individually and that offers 120,000 acres on site.
- "wild animals behavior" - Enough has been posted by other AH members to dispel the notion that wild animals will automatically flee at the first sight of a truck or even man, and that animals that do not flee are therefore automatically "tamed" animals.
- Huntershill offers numerous very low cost cull hunts, especially targeted toward females. They do this not because they relish loosing money, but because all well managed large properties in South Africa struggle to keep up with natural population growth. There is no "take & put" at Huntershill. There is no reason for it. Incidentally, this also offers opportunities for hunters who could never afford Africa otherwise. We believe that this is good.
- Huntershill offers to their hunters 120,000 acres (188 square miles) to hunt. There is no "canned hunt" at Huntershill. There is no need for it.
- There are tagged breeders in the breeding area at Huntershill. They are generally not for hunting or shooting, but as their name implies they are for breeding. This is the reason why they are tagged, so that they are not shot accidentally.
- The high-fenced, as required by law, breeding area located in the plain at Huntershill is by my estimation based on Google Earth around 5,000 acres. I apologize, I do not have the exact number. As mentioned above, it is in itself larger than many outfitters property in South Africa, and large enough for true hunting for people who either:
- suffer from physical limitations, or
- want an animal that only strives in flat plains, or
- insist on breeder quality trophies, as indeed, as previously noted, breeders are not eternal and older males will be expelled by younger males taking over, can be killed in the process, or will simply die of old age.
- Even in the theoretical case of 10 hunters and their spouse being hosted simultaneously at Huntershill, which is a very rare occasion, and generally only happens when large groups are coming together, 10 hunters hunting 120,000 acres would still have in average (for what mathematical averages mean) 12,000 acres each.
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