Species you wouldn't hunt

MJ75

Well-Known Member
Please try and keep this one on topic and don't be critical of those who choose animals you wouldn't... :D

But what species of animals would you not hunt and why? Personally I could not hunt big cats. Most are only just about managing to maintain viable populations and I'd feel guilty bagging an asiatic lion or cougar. I just simply couldn't do it. The fact that they're great looking magnificent animals would also stop me.

What about everyone else?
 
Nothing that general consensus has as at risk, & certainly nothing "Canned", maybe the types that arrange those things could be added to the list that can be hunted!:D
 
Does anyone remember the dolphin thread :rolleyes:....

no interest in bears or wolves, they are amazing creatures I would only shoot with a camera but knowing my luck I'd end up lunch :(
 
Does anyone remember the dolphin thread :rolleyes:....

Oh Yes!!!

I have heard that Salmon farm get authority to shoot seals, don't know if I could do that, also shooting Monkeys in Africa, Baboons.....Wouldn't want to do that either.

Everything else, I think I would have a go at, obviously, you ain't going to pay to shoot a cull species and then not pull the trigger.

TJ
 
i wouldnt want to shoot any sort of cat or bear or monkeys except baboons hate them
 
Please try and keep this one on topic and don't be critical of those who choose animals you wouldn't... :D

But what species of animals would you not hunt and why? Personally I could not hunt big cats. Most are only just about managing to maintain viable populations and I'd feel guilty bagging an asiatic lion or cougar. I just simply couldn't do it. The fact that they're great looking magnificent animals would also stop me.

What about everyone else?
I had a chance to go on an Elephant cull,after a long hard think about it I decided it wasnt for me,also had a chance to shoot Cheeta it was in Namiba we came upon a family of them which is quite rare to see,I gave up the opertunity and watch them run away with there cubs,as hunters we all have a line we wont cross
 
...what species of animals would you not hunt and why?

I'm glad you used the word hunt, MJ, because that neatly sums up my own feelings on the subject.

Hunters, by my definition, kill only to eat or protect. That it has become seen as sport is only secondary to the main purpose. Killing to protect is the harder to define but even so is not beyond the wit of the average thinking stalker.

Would I choose to shoot a tiger? Simply for sport, most certainly not, nor any other cat or similar predator. However, if such a predator posed a threat to my own or my community's safety then yes, I would have no reservations in hunting the animal down. Likewise elephants hold no attraction to me as a hunter, but if I lived in a village that was troubled by a marauding beast then, again, I would have no difficulty in pulling the trigger.

In general terms and given the above qualification I would like to think I adhere to the principle that if you can't eat it why kill it. I also agree with finnbear's views on 'canned' hunts where the principle of fair chase is compromied.
 
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If it's not going to taste good on the plate, or keep me alive, why bother. If it's going to taste good and provide a nice set of antlers for the wall, then I consider this a bonus. I'm not bothered by the idea of trophy hunting, or shooting for the sake of shooting. Why shoot a big cat unless it's about to maul you?
 
If it's not going to taste good on the plate, or keep me alive, why bother. If it's going to taste good and provide a nice set of antlers for the wall, then I consider this a bonus. I'm not bothered by the idea of trophy hunting, or shooting for the sake of shooting. Why shoot a big cat unless it's about to maul you?
so you only shoot to provide meat for the table ?? you dont shoot for sport
 
Well I would shoot most big cats, zebra or most african game including baboons etc, But wouldn't consider elephant, rhino, buffalo, or tiger/cheetha.Funny really I don't know why.
Would also shoot bear, wolf, moose and most things really.
Think I have a hatred for cats and fox like things from keepering and see some big cats and wolf, coyote type animals not to different from what i'm used to.
 
Big cats are not an option for me. I couldn't bring myself to hunt any big predator, bears and wolves included. I've spent a lot of time in the canadian rockies out looking for them. It always saddens me to read the reports of how the numbers in the national parks are in decline due to vehicle collisions and being shot when they stray outside of the parks boundaries (Leave a protected area). It just seems such a compete waste as these animals take years before they reproduce and even then, they have very low fecundity.

Anythink rare or endangered is out of the question.

Elephants are a tough one. There was a time when I'd have been disgusted at the idea. Now I'm aware that their large numbers affect other species in certain areas. With huge herds damaging the bio diversity in some places due to the hige amount of food the herds consume. I think an element of "species at a particular time, in a particular area" should play a huge part in deciding if you're hunt is ethical or not.

I agree that self defence cancels out everything I've written above. But I think it's extremely unlikely, to say the least I'll ever be in a position where I need to kill an animal as it may kill me or someone close by.
 
I wouldn't hunt leopard or cheetah but would lion not sure why but i just wouldn't. I would hunt elephant under the right circumstances (a proper cull) but would never shoot a rhino. I would also never shoot a monkey/baboon they are far to human like. Wouldn't shoot a wolf or bear though but would love the chance of a buff.

George
 
My own ethics are i will not hunt other predators, I have never shot even a fox. There are plenty of other dangerous game which are not predatory including my favourite, the buffalo. It would be tempting to go on an fair chase lion or elephant hunt however.
Matt
 
I honestly think I could bring myself to shoot anything. I would need to make a few provisos though. The animal would have to be part of a shootable surplus, or a managed cull, or in the case of big cats/elephants etc, a threat to a community.
Even the animals I shoot in UK are all part of what I see as a shootable surplus.
 
My view on this has changed over the years, there was a time when I'd would have happily gone after rhino, elephant, bear, lion, tiger, leopard, cougar and anything similar provided that they were not a threatened species. These days I would not want to hunt any of these for sport as it just wouldn't do anything for me now and some are far too threatened to support any cull. I don't have any problem with others who want to shoot these species and where the animal isn't internationally or locally threatened but it's not for me any more. I also have a slight problem with people who want to shoot animals like baboons which have no value as a game species and I can't see the point in shooting them.
 
I also have a slight problem with people who want to shoot animals like baboons which have no value as a game species and I can't see the point in shooting them.

Rats and foxes have no value as a game species either but they are still shot by the thousand every year.
Baboons are seen as vermin/pests in many parts of Africa and are controlled accordingly.
 
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