Never been ta Africa.. Have watched several of National Geographic Shows... What are You considering African Big Game ? Do no what endangered means, so figure every one else realized ya meant wiped out...
Like said: i did get a D- in grammer & the next sentance,

Has got me ...
Agree $5,965.00 for 3 animals is no chump change... Why i say was Blessed when a WMA opened up just down the road ... $ 200.00-$250.00 year round lease 1 buck & 24-7-365 hog hunt was Big Bucks...
Didnt realize the HF Game Ranches started back in the 50's...
The question

Every ones definission of Trophy Hunting is Different...

There will never in our lifetime be stable governments or a tax base to sustain any in Africa. And contrary to stating that only here in the US are Hf's used to generate money it is also true in Africa. I doubt very seriously if "conservation" of a species is the main concern of erecting a HF in Africa.

Colt, agree about everyones definition of a trophy. My 18 year old Grandson took an old 8 point on my place last year. It scored about 135 and, according to the local taxidermist, that's about as good an 8 point as you will ever see in Montague County. He is still excited and I had it mounted. However, his best trophy was his first deer at 6 YOA. It was a small forked horn and he did a serious dance around the pasture. He grabbed my cell phone and called everybody he knew.

Don, agree that conservation isn't the main concern. However, until the fencing and resulting breeding happened, there were dang near no game animals left in S. Africa. No idea about other parts of Africa but hungry people are going to get all the protein they can find. Also agree about lack stable governments. Watching TV at the Capetown hotel, it appears to me that corruption is pretty well universal.

Without financial incentives and regulated seasons, there would be a lot less deer and other game in Texas.

Never been tempted to hunt high fences in Texas but I also know that I will never kill a monster whitetail. I hunt my own small property, see monsters on the game cams at night, but never in the daytime.

Try again, internet problems...
congrates ta your grandson...
Never been ta Africa, & hunting in way different than in Minnesota...
As pappy says: the more money ya have, the more Freedom ya have ...

Money won't buy you happiness but it will give you choices!

be happy ta take your salary... i'd have more choices...

You obviously want general opinion to justify what you want....

Sorry, but my opinion is - Hell no!
A case could be made for Calculated Culling, but generally speaking, Big Game Trophy Hunting is part of the problem (in Africa).

Rusty, what would you recommend?

Where did I say that only here are they about money? I didn't. They are always about money. It's just that in many places over there it's the only reason any animals are conserved to hunt. Conservation will always be a byproduct of money over there. Heck, everything is because the whole place is so poor.

Actually just about all hunting is about money. The only exceptions would be the landowners that only themselves hunt their own property. HF-LF leasing or whenever monies are exchanged it is about money. And yes conservation of certain species is a byproduct of it.

That's true here in Texas. Not so much out west where 90+ % of the land is public.

Im very curious as to why you think trophy hunting is the problem?

Until an animal has value above agriculture it won't last in a third world land scape land scape.

If trophy hunting was the problem then wildlife population would be striving in non trophy hunting countries or regions.

A hunter kills one lion, a villager poisons the whole pride.

See what those states are charging for non resident licenses. And you think it is not about money?

One could argue against by simply starting that there is only one place in the US that has " true" subsistence hunting.

Rusty can you explain how the hell is big game hunting part of the problem in Africa. It's the only reason that most areas of Africa have any animals left. So that isn't a problem its a solution.

Oh you meant legally

I didn't see anyone talking about subsistence hunting. I'm not going to get in another weird, useless off-topic fuss.

+1. That sounds like a no-thought PETA response.

How is it weird to point out Alaska resident subsistence hunting? Its relevant to the conversation since it is the only one place in the US where hunting isn't a luxury or is an actual cost effective method to agriculture. Every where else you are paying premium and it's a luxury to "hunt".

Out side of Sheep, Moose and bison success rates for elk and deer are by far majority bought and paid for. Especially since those same western states you agrue about have Gov/auction tags that go to highest bidder and much higher hunting NR license costs then eastern states. Let's not forget the landowner voucher market in addition.

Not everyone thinks of success rates as the be-all-end-all. Hundreds of thousands hunt on OTC/general tags every year. Success rates below 20%. But they are hunting. It's just not trophy hunting in the sense you are discussing. Same with WT deer. Lots of folks still hunt for meat, fellowship, family time. Even in TX. I know a lot of folks who hunt like crazy and don't pay a lease fee.

Trophy hunting doesn't fund any of that. Hunters' $$$ through Pittman/Robertson, license/tag fees, etc., etc., do. Texas deer herd didn't grow to 5 million deer because of trophy hunting. Nor did elk, mule deer, pronghorn herds. They did so because American hunters as a whole committed themselves to bringing them back.

In Africa (where the native populations of people don't have the luxury of being sport hunters), outside $$$ through trophy hunting are the animals' only chance.

Out west OTC tags are a NR revenue source.

Success rates dictate cost. Why else would people pay a premium in PP and application costs to hunt certain units? I would be shocked if you could find a resident that hunted OTC but had no preference points...

We all hunt for lots of reasons, cheaper food source is not one of them. It's a luxury

We wouldn't have 5 million deer in Texas if we're meat hunting. Just look at tag number allocation times the number of hunters hunting licenses. It obvious people are not just shooting brown! So ya trophy hunting brought about an increase in deer numbers. America brought back its native wildlife by not depending on it, and being able to off set its damages also

Concur Africa is done unless private landowner conserve habitat and game. It's native residents don't have the wealth to hunt for luxury or offset agriculture damages. On top of that they are experiencing the highest percentage of habitat loss in the world, due to the highest population growth percentage, hindsight we don't have the Game numbers to support the US population if we didn't have ag and beef either,