Not sure what you're having trouble reconciling. Hunting is hunting wherever the hunter is hunting. I don't high five or fist pump or whoop it up or smoke cigars here or in Africa. I have the same respect for the animals I harvest here as the ones I harvest in Montana or Africa. Why is that so hard to understand? Your supposed lack of reconciliation seems to be much ado about nothing.
Isn’t a mount a celebration? Maybe you should be like the story I heard the other day from my brother. His brother-in-law Morgan was talking to an old guy that he knows that lives in Missoula. I think it happened two years ago. The old man told Morgan he killed a buck the day before, but had left the head because it was too heavy and he’s only after meat. He had taken a picture and he showed him. His jaw dropped and he told the old man they could hike in the next day and he’d pack it out for him. I never saw a picture, but my brother did. He said it was an easy Booner buck. Apparently the old man was never impressed. Isn’t that the beauty of our country? We have a chance to decide what a trophy is and how we celebrate it.
Pay by the head hunting isn’t fist pumping worthy anyway.. maybe beer drinking cigar smoking worthy..
I am a public land DIY kinda guy. A working man hunter (I came into my fortune rather late in life). Unfortunately, pay by the head is the only way it's done over there. Personally, I agree that generally it's not terribly fist pumping. However, a few animals can be very challenging. It's why I'm going after a second buffalo and kudu this year. Stalking a thousand pound animal meaner than hell in thick cover is a much different experience than tracking moose or elk in knee deep snow. More so because there's almost always never just one buffalo ready to stomp and gore you into hamburger. I'll never forget our tracker suddenly motioning ahead "There!" And then my PH pointing to our left where another dark hulk was moving in the shadows forty yards away. Then the other PH pointing to a calf and cow that just materialized to our right. We were right in the middle of a herd of forty man killers on it's late afternoon walkabout. Time to retreat ... quietly. Kudu are considered plains game but rarely found on the plains. They're usually in rough country with thick cover. A lot like hunting the Missouri Breaks but thicker. And kudu are not stupid muleys. VERY spooky critters. They are also free roaming. Unlike most of the other antelope, no fence can keep them in. Hard to pin down which property will have kudu trophies at any given moment. If you can go, kudu should definitely be at the top of your list. Mostly I go back to Africa because the country is different and interesting. And there is SO much game to see. I'm experiencing the other side of the world and doing it one on one with a great young fella ... instead of a busload of noisy tourists.
You're the best!
You make assumptions based on stereotypes. If you follow my posts, you would know I don't fit into stereotypes. I hate them. Let's see ... I live in a simple one bedroom home built in 1929. Less than 800 sq ft plus finished basement. The one 10'x10' former bedroom on the main floor is now my daughter's (our?) taxidermy business showroom. It has two shoulder mounts (whitetail and pronghorn) and two full body mounts (cougar and fox), none of which were shot by me. Several cap mounts and euros are mine, including two 350s elk, a couple of muleys and one whitetail (+ my dad's from 1955). Kudu and gemsbuck euros are hanging in a corner of the trophy room. Springbuck, impala, wildebeest, blesbuck, and warthog euros are in the approx 13'×13' living room (also the two whitetail caps and one rainbow trout). Buffalo euro is in kitchen entrance. Three cap mount moose racks are stored in the garage. In the basement office/rec room there's a spectacular recently restored whitetail deadhead (an interesting and challenging project), wildebeest hide on the wall (something my daughter wanted and then decided she didn't want), and a couple of client fish projects waiting to be picked up. And there's this almost finished pedestal muley, the only fur and glass eye mount trophy in the house that was taken by me. Nothing special but my daughter wanted to have a pedestal mount to practice on before doing them for clients. Good thing. We learned a lot. Now where do I put the damn thing?
Quite the faceplant! Must have been a heart shot. They run like hell till they run over themselves.
