Cecil the Lion

[RobertR]

Was the guide wrong, was the hunter wrong for their actions or did the system fail in Africa or did greed take over and the trophy mean more than the game laws.
I don't think this incident is any different than a legal wolf season and the average joe shooting a collared wolf that is a celebrity because it has been studied to death and has a(collar) to be tracked, and for that matter any collared animal. Until all the facts come out and one reads Africa's game laws I don't think one can make a good judgment. Had this lion not been collared nothing may have been made public. These left wing animal huggers idolize collared celebrity animals.

 

[Corax]

Dragging dead zebras behind vehicles to lure lions to a blind has been done in Africa for as long as there have been vehicles. Robert Ruark describes this being done as a matter of course back around 1950.

 

[Moosie]

All you self righteous Tards talking about you would want to hunt Africa but not THAT way ? Are you going back to the root of the hunting in loin cloths and spears you made by hand ?

Maybe I'm Bias because I killed a giraffe in Africa once.... (legally I think).

ISIS beheading Americans and we give a Chit about a lion ? I will say that if it wasn't for Hunters a lot of African Animals would be extinct.

 

[Ben Lamb]

ISIS beheading Americans and we give a Chit about a lion ? I will say that if it wasn't for Hunters a lot of African Animals would be extinct.

1.) LOVE your outfit. Functional and fashionable have never gone so well together.

2.) We're bombing the living crap out of ISIS. So, not sure that's a good comparison. Should we bomb the lions or...

 

[IdahoDawg]

The good dentist may have broken some laws and he may not have. At this time we do not definitively know. The witch hunt that has ensued prior to knowing all the "real" facts is what I have a problem with. We've seen this time and time again, some hunter posts a picture on facebook of the trophy they recently took legally, and immediately their facebook page is cancelled or they are the focus of a facebook/ twitter bashing. For the local citizens of this Minnesota town to act the way they are acting is the real disgusting part. They are doing everything they can to ruin this man's life and they don't even have the real facts yet. This is the true criminal side of the situation- guilty without trial. If he broke laws prosecute him, but these people don't care if laws were broken or not. they want vengeance for the act of hunting- legal or not. Mark my words- we will all be under some sort of scrutiny before too long.
All that said- A DIY 150 class mule deer buck taken on public land means immensely more to me than a 190 class buck taken on a guided hunt on restricted access land. Long live DIY hunters.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Ivan Carter has a good take on this whole thing:

CECIL THE LION
I have been bombarded with e mails, calls and texts about cecil the lion , I have seen many of the newsreels and I have spoken to several people who are truly in the know …some of the reporting is atrocious – here are the facts as I see them .
1- The lion was killed in an area where there was no lion on quota , which makes it a poaching incident – period .
2- There was an attempt to destroy the collar – why? This would lead me to believe that Palmer knew the facts – indeed he had a previous poaching conviction involving shooting a bear in an area with no permit.
3- In Zimbabwe it is not illegal to shoot a lion with a collar.
4- The property upon which the hunt took place was land that was involved in the Zimbabwe land redistribution….
5- I have no doubt that the landowner and hunting company and Ph knew exactly what was happening and they are directly involved in this POACHING incident.
6- Had this happened in an area with a valid quota , a 13 year old lion would have indeed been the perfect lion to hunt – beyond breeding , this lion at 13 years old was near the end of his life.
My thoughts…
I do not condone poachers , I ABHOR poaching – there is no difference between an incident like this and a rhino poacher in a national park - I believe that hunting when done within the boundaries of good ethics is the most incredible conservation tool – Incidents like these put a terrible light on hunters in general.
There are a lot of examples not just in Africa but all over the world where hunting and more specifically hunters dollars have funded the preservation , protection and enlarging of wildlife areas to the degree that species and wildlife have thrived. Sadly the emotionally motivated opinions and “politically correct” agendas often get in the way of any meaningful dialogue or solutions. Incidents like this fuel the fire, create a social media storm and paint all hunters in a terrible light – making it all the more difficult for good upstanding hunters to be heard and recognized for the good they do ...
A boundary is a boundary , I have no issue at all with a hunter shooting a lion in a bona fide concession where the lion is on quota – even if it is a named individual – UNLESS THE LAW OR ETHICS DICTATE OTHERWISE –
To all the hunters who are reading this , please know we as a body as a group are under the microscope , there has never been a time in history where its more important to do the right thing all the time, to hunt legally and ethically- to be ready and prepared to explain and educate - in this case I am pleased that this incident is being tried - it was ILLEGAL it was POACHING – that said its being given WAAAAY more coverage than it should be.

 

[The Hedgehog]

Had the dentist decapitated and skinned one of his patients - it probably wouldn't have made the national news. Let's remember this is a cat. There's also apparently (CNN) been a half million bucks donated since this for WildCRU that will likely fund lion conservation in that African park for years. They should thank this well-heeled Safari clown for killing this over the hill feline & creating such a crazy stir.

 

[Zach]

Robert Mugabe who?

 

[noharleyyet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzT10MSgKtU

 

[Marshian]

I'm pretty sure this guy killed some lions, and elephants, and other cuddly stuff. Also, he revolutionized the national park system. But that bastard did kill a lion (albeit legally)!

 

[bigskyblueman]

http://www.theonion.com/americanvoices/american-regrets-role-killing-famous-lion-50958

 

[noharleyyet]

http://www.theonion.com/americanvoices/american-regrets-role-killing-famous-lion-50958

Hunttalk should have an Onion sub-section.

...liked the aquarium washer's comment.

 

[Joe Hulburt]

Hunttalk should have an Onion sub-section.

...liked the aquarium washer's comment.

I thought the first one was a lot better!
“Usually it’s the lions you don’t kill that you end up regretting.”

 

[Gerald Martin]

Let's not forget we are not the only ones entitled to an opinion about this situation. After all wasn't there a highly esteemed person who made the observation that "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."?

 

[Elkmagnet]

Life is so good in the US that this is the kind of s*** people spend their lives worrying about.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Cecil's father was Clarence the Cross-eyed Lion.

 

[noharleyyet]

Kendall Jones woman'd a booth at a hunt fest charity event held here yesterday. She refused to be interviewed by our local rag. I don't blame her one bit. This morning's newspaper was quick to point out that she refused.

...from the event's mission statement.

All proceeds for this event will help fund the Adopt-A-Box Program. Adopt-A-Box is a charity designed to provide children in need with basic hygiene items.

 

[Khunter]

The PH is advertising this for a hunt in 2025. Book early or miss out.

 

[charliebravo77]

Undoubtedly due to the drama.

 

[montero ridge]

Canada in question

I posted this in the Canada section but it might be more fitting here -

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cecil...sues-about-trophy-hunting-in-canada-1.3176340

Canada is now being looked at for it's trophy hunting because of Cecil.