Tiggs

Expected to be disgusted (and was with the yanks) but the Africans came across and pretty switched on about the whole thing....Louis should have gone after the hunters with his questions and not the guys running the show who had a sensible response to all his probing.

sti-04!!

Yeah i agree. He seemed to ask the same questions all the time.
Its evolution. 20/30yrs ago the gamekeepers were cattle farmers but as they said there is no money in that anymore so they had to evolve into what they are now.
I didnt like the shooting of the zebra & them lions ...... wow they would have ate you alive if they had the chance.

dpb

theyd actually lick you to death theyre fed that well -ffs theyre almost pets

Simon C

To me that wasn't hunting, that was a shooting fish in a barrel.

I wonder how they (the "hunters") would get on in the UK hunting scene, say with deer.


As for the canned hunting as they put it, whats the point apart from blood lust. Hunting for food, I have no problems with ad participate myself, but just because you can, isn't good enough.

SetoN

Yeah the guys running the place seemed pretty switched on and were aware that 'hunting' is a more live target practice, but had no problem with letting the yanks pay them to shoot what they wanted. Money is Money.

Louis should have shot that boar though, just out of respect to the hunters. He seemed to upset the hunter after he refused.

Simon C

I wouldn't say upset, more annoyed at the waste of time.

The guille would have been more than aware that the trip might not end in a kill. Not everyone can do the deed.

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

I'm pro-hunting; but I don't consider that hunting. I certainly wouldn't enjoy it, and I think the Americans in the show (although there are more nationalities than Americans who do it) who considered that to be hunting are a bit of an embarrassment really. I'm sure many *real* hunters have a pretty derogatory view of them as well. Hunting is a skill, and shooting an animal at point blank range from a pre-built hide requires no skill at all. The thrill and enjoyment comes from the difficulty of it all; the only difference between those Americans and some yobs killing some pet dog in the street is that they can afford to fly to Africa to do it.

I was a bit disappointed really that Louis didn't hit the Americans with the tough questions - yet asked the game keepers/farmers all the awkward questions. I did laugh out loud at the South African chap at the end who lost his temper a bit - "Africa is f**ked!" & "I hate f**king elephants, they just kill all the good trees!". I think that is something that many people miss - many of those animals simply wouldn't be alive at all were it not for the money canned hunts bring in - there would be no reason to protect or breed them.

Its a hard thing for some people to get their heads around but the simple fact is that without controlled game keeping and hunting, those animals would be extinct. That said - I still have a pretty dim view of those that want to do it.

Diesel

I though Theroux was quite weak in this - almost scared of them. He handed them a massive piece of PR for something fundamentally morally wrong. This was particularly so when he refused to shoot the pig - "I'll eat it but wont kill it" hypocrisy handed to them on a plate (so to speak). The organisers did themselves proud in a a sick sick business.

D

D

al4x1

Canned hunting is in the minority out there and I think they chose it to be more emotive and it back fired when they worked out what it was doing to conserve animals. Shooting and conservation do go hand in hand, both in the UK and in particular out there. If the animals are worth money to the locals and economy then they won't poach them or kill them for eating their crops. There is a big ruck going on over there at the moment about Elephants in National parks they desperately need a cull because of the damage being done but firstly they have opposition to a cull and if it happens should they sell the cull animals. It brings in a huge amount of money and if they need to be culled then it makes sense but then sets a precedent.
If you look on a few of the yank forums about big game hunting none advocate going canned hunting and usually people that have gone have come back unimpressed.

On the same note you can go canned hunting certainly in France and many other parts of Europe if you want to. Most don't but there must be customers for it.

j4ckos mate

i dont know how anybody could shoot anythying at all.
its hardly a fair fight is it.

al4x1

take it you're a vegan in that case

lem6

couldn't agree more, hunting is for rednecks,and idiots..somebody should shoot them.

dpb

Plenty reserves in Zimbabwe making money if you can see thro the bad publicity.....

Tiggs

Its interesting that there is debate at all parts of the issue....even the hunters debate between canned V real hunting - yet i doubt the animal is too fussed as to whether he's shot by a rich yank from 3 ft at a feeding station where he's feed everyday or he's tracked for 4 weeks by a "real" hunter.

In fact - the "canned" animals seem to have a much better lifestyle up to the point they are wacked by bob and tracey on vacation from Detroit!

Diesel

Well I'd rather a free range pork chop from a pig/boar that bit the bullet in the field rather than one from a factory farm that causes permanent planned lifelong suffering. D

SetoN

Humans have not always been able to get their food from tesco.

Hunting is in our human blood. It's what we were designed as preditors to do. Becasue we dont have to anymore does not make it wrong to do so.

I have never been hunting. However i can see the apeal when its done the old fasioned way; i.e tracking, baiting, staying down wind etc etc. It could be very rewarding 'if' you manage to find an amimal without it smelling you before you even see it

Im sure most of us would struggle

SetoN

Simon C

Some of us prefer to get our own meat, know where its come from and how it died. Not to mention, not covered in all that plastic waste.

rob878

I have to agree, i watched this expecting to hate the program and disagree with all the points. How wrong i was, the owner who eventually lost his rag with Louis put across some very good points for the existence of these places. Coupled with the bloke who took Louis out to shot a pig, i ended up agreeing with the points they raised.

The culture over is very different to what I grew up in, and i dare say most of us who are used to not thinking about where are food comes from and not be bothered with the gruesome bit of producing meat for the table. As the guy said we tend to put human feelings on these animals, and think of deer as Bambi.

I enjoyed the program, perhaps not as wry as some of his earlier ones but good.

On another note Kudu is delicious anyone going to Cape Town try Mama Africas, it's a winner

Simon C

Kudu is delicious, I'd agree, I'd put it up there with vension. Impala by all accounts is another nice 1. A friend swears blind, a fresh impala steak doused in red wine cooked on a hot plate can't be beaten.

dpb

Had dried kudu the other week as a nibble.

Beef with peri-peri my favourite

Prasius

iTrader: (1)

It's also very true what he said regarding the death of a hunted animal. Even the first time woman with the crossbow got a strike that would have killed the animal very quickly. Almost certainly quicker and less distressing for the animal than what happens in a slaughter house.

The Zohan

Is it on agian? missed it

rob878

Here you go:

BBC iPlayer - Louis Theroux's African Hunting Holiday

Diesel

I've popped the full prog up here for you: BBC iPlayer - Louis Theroux's African Hunting Holiday



D

David Lock

Well I found it very upsetting to see those animals shot in those circumstances. Especially that American woman getting off on shooting something for the first time. Made me spit. About as sporty as those fairground stalls when you had a row of ducks to shoot at with an air gun. dl

Dr.No

Got some kudo biltong in the fridge now... might go and cut a bit... hmmmm..

Off to Jo'burg at the weekend for a couple of days and will be replenishing the standard beef biltong supply on my return, as supplies in the freezer are running very low.

I did comment a while ago, when with some SA colleagues in Jo'burg that I'd quite like to find the time to go to a game park and shoot some of the animals.... they said "Blimey, no you can't do that!"... to which I replied, "Oh, I was planning on bringing my trusty Canon dSLR and 100-400 zoom lens!"

Great things to see in the wild (saw a dusty looking Zebra once, that looked more like a donkey), very nice to eat - but it'd have to be farmed correctly and not just had pot-shots taken at it by some gung-ho Yank. That seemed purely cruel.... "Oh great shot, straight through the lungs!" - Yeah, brilliant as it suffocates on its own blood. Captive bolt through the head anyday...

DN

dpb

Seems rather unlikley .....

Simon C

I am willing to bet that an animal is less stessed when being taken by a good hunter than a slaughter house.

dpb

Well i guess its more natural anyway ( not those yank 'trophy' gatherers tho )
and is supposed to taste better after the chase , 'happy meat' ??

Tiggs

and 100 times happier than be chased down by a lion and ripped to bits or getting sick and dying of starvation because it cant find food....the "wild" way an animal should die in S.A