There are several other reasons that hunting lions with dogs is superior to other methods. The ability to sex a lion is difficult to come by - they don't have antlers or large hangin down things between thier legs. Sometimes it can take a mighty good bit of looking to know whether you've got a male of female - this is important when the area you are hunting has a quota favoring males over female being taken. Obviously shooting a lion that's come to your call (you're only going to see the front of them, maybe the side as they move, but not the tell-tale black spot under and behind) or that've you've spotted a brief flash of one along some deserted trail you're hiking, or even over a pile of fishgut "bait" you've laid out, will not allow a hunter to select with certainty the sex of lion that will most help the lion conservation effort in his state.
(Uh, case ya didn't know - males are to be shot in preference to females to preserve breeding stock)
Also dogs can tree a lion for the hunter who can then choose whether to shot or not to shoot in the first place for any other reason - wants a bigger one, having too much fun lets find another, that doesn't look like the monster that ate Fi Fi, Hey Joe I just called the quota hotline and it's full - the season's over... And there is nothing wrong with hunting for pictures if you love lions like I do - Catch and Release big game style!!!
Problem lions can also be tracked and caught with dogs for removal by G&F agents using tranquilizers or just to run them back up into the hills out of the suburbs. They'll get the hint that everytime they come down for a little Fi Fi snack, them crazy dogs show up - lets get back up into the hills and hunt deer again.
And if ya don't think it's sporting - come on out. I'll take ya, you'll learn. Bring a bunch a cash - I'm not spending my money on gas to find your lion, feel lucky I'm donating my time, dogs, truck, and experience. (guides cost lots o' money to boot, but I'm just a hobby hunter
) Be ready to hike on slopes that require all four limbs to ascend - it may not actually be a 12 mile hike, but you're gonna feel like it was. Don't plan on being back in a few hours - it's probably gonna take a few days to cut the fresh tracks once we locate a lion's territory - so pack a lunch and dinner each day we're gonna be gone. (At least you can eat breakfast 'fore we head out.) And no - I'm not gonna let my dogs sit around waiting for you to get up to them in the morning - cat's do maul dogs often and sometimes severely. So be ready to move if we get lucky. It isn't legal to shoot lions with a .22 here, so don't bring a li'l gun - it's gotta be larger than a .357 mag. Wear good boots and warm closes - something you'd want to have on if you had to run a marathon in a blizzard, eh?
Tongue in cheek aside - lion hunting isn't easy unless you pay some outfitter a mint to lead you by the hand (carry ya on his back?) and pamper ya all the way in, out, and home AND he has all the tools, equipment, transportation, talented dogs, and experience to make the most of it all. I don't care for pampering hunts regardless of the species, I'm too much of a do-it-yourselfer. Some folks do though - good for them - they're still hunting the only way they know how and as long as it's done as part of a management program, it's still beneficial.
