Trophy hunting,
My definition.
Day 1-3 of a 7 day hunt Looking for Mr. Macho manly bull elk.
Day 4-5 Looking for a little less Macho Manly bull elk
Day 6 Settling for a legal bull
Day 7 praying to see a legal bull
In any case any elk or any other species I'm hunting is used consumed and processed wether it's a 412 bull or a spike. That is trophy hunting. And the added bonus is that if it is 412 bull I'll process the cape and antlers and probably have it mounted this process does not ruin the meat....
Rileys problem is that he's been led to believe that trophy hunting means that you shoot something and leave the meat in the field so that you can take the head??
Trophy hunting=Poaching. Interchangeable. Now H&H went to Africa, at great expense no doubt, and killed several big, dangerous exotic animals. I assume the heads will be shipped back to him in Colorado, where he will mount them on his wall(s). There are apparently mitigating factors, in that the meat will be consumed by dirt poor Africans? The hides presumably have value, correct? The fees H&H paid are somehow used to promote conservation and education in that part of the world? Am I close? Educate me.
Trophy hunting pays the bill to stop poaching..Period. Trophy hunting assigns value to animals that would otherwise be poached off because they are a pest. You may think the elephant is the most noble animal in the world the "dirt poor African" considers him a pain in the ass because he eats his crops and has been known to kill his family members. having elepahnts around becomes much more agreeable when the "dirt poor African" can make some money because elephants are around and it's also comforting to know that if Mr elephant gets a little to cheeky he will be taken care of and the "dirt poor African" still makes money off the deal.
After Mr. cheeky elephant is killed at great expense by H&H the meat goes to feed the "dirt poor Africans" the hides are given to the comunal land trust association and sold along with the bones feet etc. The fees that H&H put out also go to the tribal trust and are then used to build schools, hospitals and land improvment projects. That was the contractual agreement that the safari company entered into when securing the rights to hunt on this land also known as the CAMPFIRE program.
The safari company who H&H hunted with joins into a land use agreement with the tribal trust. They pay the communal trust a fee every year which allows them to hunt on the land. In exchange an agreement is reached in which the land is to remain wildlife friendly and also pays for the anti poaching units.
Now pay attention Riley here's the really important part..
If people like H&H don't go to Africa and pay to hunt these animals. Then no one pays the tribal land trusts. The native "dirt poor Africans" have no choice but to start killing off the animals and eating them and selling their ivory on the black market at highly reduced rates from what they would recieve from a big bad "trophy hunter". because they can't go to wild oats market and buy their food. That option is not available to them. Now the animals that the big bad "trophy hunters" payed to hunt have no monatary value to the locals therefore are no longer protected. And the local "dirt poor Africans" no longer are gainfully employed by the Safari company and now they don't have ANY money. You see the Safari industry is the #1 source of income to many rural African natives. Many of the natives in the comunal trust land areas are employed by the safrai firm in fashion or another. It is literally the only source of income available to these people. A tracker at a major Safari firm makes about 500% percapita income of the other "dirt poor Africans" outside of hunting areas. Many of the trackers I know have cars, houses and send their children to private schools not to mention enough money left over to buy cattle and land. And that my friend is a major step up from the average Joe in the bush
The next thing that happens and has happened time and again in Africa is the trees get cleared away for low yield farming in which plots of land are farmed for a year or two untill the soil is depleted then the people move on to the next plot. The animals that aren't killed off from snaring and ivory poaching move out of the area into continually shrinking habitat. Soon there is no Habitat left for them accept small land masses called parks which are operated at great expense to the already financially strapped countries in which they exist. These vast tracks of land that were once habitat healthy and game rich hunting concessions become desolate waste lands void of game. The parks become overpopulated with elephants who have the nasty habit of striping an eco system bare in short order when that system is beyond it's carrying capacity.
The park is forced to quietly begin culling elephants at incredible expense to the country (they do it quietly because they can't afford the bad publicity they'd get from the anti hunter types who are partially responsible for this in the first place) . That means shooting whole family groups at one time usually from a helicopter cows, bulls calfs, young and old. Thousands in a year sometimes otherwise the carrying capacity of the park will fail entirely and a mass starvation will occur. What used to be a highly profitable bussiness now becomes a major financial drain.
All of the SNAGG's (Sensitive new age guys & gals) in Berkley can now sit around at their shockra crystal therapy meeting and congratualt each other on making the world a better place by stopping us big bad ego driven trophy hunters from hunting those poor exotic beatifull animals in Africa and everywhere else too!
When in reality the end reult is A massive population and habitat decline. And a major revnue and income source for the "dirt poor African's" has now been removed.
But hey somehow the the fuzzy legged tatooed city dwellers feel that this is a better option for the animals and people of Africa.
Go figure.......
Gee maybe even the same people who feel better off when you're disarmed. Because it's sure as hell the same type of fuzzy logic that premitts the anti gunners to draw the conclusions that they do.
And just by the way what is exotic to you as a city dwelling American National Geographic subscriber is as common as dirt in the bush of Africa. Don't think that because it doesn't live in your back yard that it's rare.. A common misconception among strangers to Africa.
Sincerly
H&H Damn Proud to be a HUNTER!!!
When you take the emotion out of it it's really a prety simple picture. No hunting funds no animals outside of parks in Africa period. I don't expect you to go get a double rifle and start chasing buffalo but I would appreciate it if you'd at least try and learn some facts before making these sweeping unture statements.
WTH is that all about? 
This is not a wilderness area, it is rural, but with small towns.
