The girl got game

[TxD]

Pardon the bad pun.

From the article:
"The first animal I ever shot was a White Rhino with a .416 Remington!!' the teen writes on her Facebook page."

More here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... faris.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Abraham]

Unless you're being attacked, why shoot these critters?

But then, I'm not a fan of shooting animals just for the heck of it, like Crows, Prairiedogs, or even Coyote's unless you have some use for the hides or they're killing livestock.

I've been a hunter all my life and continue to be one, but I don't shoot critters unless there's a need...

[budroux2w]

I don't hunt for trophies - never have and doubt I ever will, but I don't judge those who enjoy it and here's why.

In Africa there's a saying - "If the game pays, it stays". Game farms and ranches are businesses - land there is certainly NOT free, and the owners don't pay millions of dollars on setting up an infrastructure on tens of thousands of hectares (it has to be huge so the animals can roam freely) out of the goodness of their hearts so that animals can "have a place to live" and let people take photographs. If nobody was willing to pay for the privilege of hunting, those game farms would be out of business which would mean the animals would have no place to live and slide towards extinction.

Let's take elephant hunts - if it's an old bull who has lived a long productive life and has passed along his genetic material to the herd through breeding, it's very practical and sensible to make full use of his hastening end - what a waste it would be to just let a pack of hyenas or jackals take him down and slowly eat him alive. It's much more humane to give him a quick and respectful send-off with a single bullet to the brain (paid for by a trophy hunter at an expensive price commensurate with the scarcity of that resource), whereafter the products of his body are used to feed local villagers as well as be used by many industries which provide employment, profit AND give the locals a stake in the continuing welfare of the animals.

Similarly, the finite resources of that game farm can only hold so many animals; there's only so much grazing available on that land, so either the animals are harvested legally (by paying hunters) or the herds have to be culled (a very brutal event) so that the rest can live and thrive.

In Africa, it is the hunter whose money is helping conserve wildlife - not the whiny shrub-hugging bunny botherers we have here.

[MeMelYup]

I don't hunt for trophies - never have and doubt I ever will, but I don't judge those who enjoy it and here's why.

In Africa there's a saying - "If the game pays, it stays". Game farms and ranches are businesses - land there is certainly NOT free, and the owners don't pay millions of dollars on setting up an infrastructure on tens of thousands of hectares (it has to be huge so the animals can roam freely) out of the goodness of their hearts so that animals can "have a place to live" and let people take photographs. If nobody was willing to pay for the privilege of hunting, those game farms would be out of business which would mean the animals would have no place to live and slide towards extinction.

Let's take elephant hunts - if it's an old bull who has lived a long productive life and has passed along his genetic material to the herd through breeding, it's very practical and sensible to make full use of his hastening end - what a waste it would be to just let a pack of hyenas or jackals take him down and slowly eat him alive. It's much more humane to give him a quick and respectful send-off with a single bullet to the brain (paid for by a trophy hunter at an expensive price commensurate with the scarcity of that resource), whereafter the products of his body are used to feed local villagers as well as be used by many industries which provide employment, profit AND give the locals a stake in the continuing welfare of the animals.

Similarly, the finite resources of that game farm can only hold so many animals; there's only so much grazing available on that land, so either the animals are harvested legally (by paying hunters) or the herds have to be culled (a very brutal event) so that the rest can live and thrive.

In Africa, it is the hunter whose money is helping conserve wildlife - not the whiny shrub-hugging bunny botherers we have here.

In the U.S. it's the sportsman not the tree huger that supports wildlife conservation also. I haven't looked it up in a few years through the tax (which they requested) and donations do more for wildlife than all the tree huger organizations ever have.
I am not an avid hinterland myself but I do support hunting as a valid part of game management.

[Abraham]

AndyC,

The African outline you presented is one I've always agreed with.

I was educated about this by reading Peter Hathaway Capstick many moons ago. (whose chauffeur in Houston I met and who immensely admired Mr. Capstick.) I've read every one of his great books.

What I'm referencing isn't in the ball park with what you're pointing out.

The simple slaughter of animals that aren't in the equation of African situation.

I don't think shooting crows, prariedogs, etc. in the same league.

I'm no peta type either.

Nor am I trying to start an argument with you.

Year before last, I killed a feral hog in my back yard and ate it.

I've been an avid deer/duck/dove/quail hunter, but I don't needlessly slaughter.

Am I being judgemental about needless slaughter?

Well, yeah...

I eat what I shoot and I ain't eating no crow, etc.

Does that philosophy make me "holier than thou"?

Nah, I just don't kill for the heck of it or too prove my shooting prowess.

[Abraham]

AndyC,

Thanks for the great response.

From some of my friends who go to game dinners: Lion is very good eating.

Perhaps, as a one time bird guide and amateur naturalist, I've a certain affinity for critters who seem to get whacked without anything more to offer to the shooter than they live and offer themselves as a target...

Perhaps also, I cycle 25 (minimum miles, as I often go further....) every other day in the country. I see so much road kill, baby possums, raccoons, dogs, cats, fill in the blank, my emotion for the needless slaughter of innocent critters is affecting me...

[Selina Kyle]

I heard about this at work yesterday. I don't understand the mentality behind removing someone's FB page just because the material is "offensive" to some folks. I don't care for everything that I see on Facebook, but I choose not to follow such pages. Or if one of my friends repeatedly posts annoying or offensive marital, it is super easy to hide them from my feed.

I personally do not find this girl's page offensive. After being married to a hunter for nearly 9 years, I have a thorough understanding about hunting and wildlife conservation. I am a HUGE animal lover, so I am asked quite frequently why I "allow" hubs to hunt. Besides the fact that I honor him as his wife and wouldn't tell him what he can and cannot do, I'm certainly not a vegetarian! One of my favorite animals, the mountain lion, hunts for his/her dinner! It's a part of nature.

Didn't mean to rant, but this sort of thing just rubs me the wrong way.

[psijac]

Anti Gun folk need to destroy her. An attractive young girl being successful at hunting, could open the door to others young impressionable girls wanting to hunt. It's their worst nightmare

[MeMelYup]

Her Facebook page for some likes. https://www.facebook.com/kendalltakeswild" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Selina Kyle]

I liked her page.

[budroux2w]

I just watched a totally licensed and legal elephant hunt on TV and the host made some very good points very similar to Andy's. The guides that took them our are very well trained at what they do, they grew up hunting these animals because they NEEDED to. The meat from the elephant harvested was enough to feed the village for a year. The hunters are also there and able to locate signs of poaching including highly unethical snare traps. If the hunting were outlawed, then these guides would have to go back to their roots and start hunting to support their families instead of relying on the income, and meat, that the paid hunters provide.

The bull they shot was old, solitary and not contributing to the gene pool any longer. Removing him from he herd not only provided much needed food for the locals, but also freed up resources for the remaining herd with a very ethical one shot kill vs a leg snare that poachers use that could catch a very young (or old) animal and cause them to suffer with no benefit to the locals or herd.

[graham cracker]

More hate for huntresses. http://nypost.com/2014/07/11/world-cup-fan-loses-modeling-contract-over-hunting-photo/

The Belgian beauty who scored a L’Oreal modeling deal after her World Cup photos went viral earlier this week has been released from her contract.

The decision comes after 17-year-old Axelle Despiegelaere sparked outrage on Facebook with a picture showing her posing with a dead oryx gazelle she had hunted in Africa, The Independent reports.

[mamabearCali]

She will be ok on that acct. She is a smart girl and there are other fish in the sea. What I am concerned for her over is the horses posterior that has offered 100k for nude pics if her. A perv might decide for that kind of $$ he might get them forcibly. From what I understand he was the democrat that wanted to run against Cantor. He has put her very life in danger.