I just saw some jerk "BUCK" something (you go girl) who was all proud of himself for killing an elephant.

anyway..... what would you do with it? how would you remove it from the woods (or wherever it is)? why would you kill an elephant?

i understand deer hunting to thin the herd...... is there an elephant population problem?

do people eat elephant? (looks grey and yucky to me).

i do realize the tusks are worth something, but not worth killing the entire elephant over....or are they?

 

yep, killing the entire elephant for just the ivory is very worth it to poachers, due to their high value on the black market.


when I grow up, I want to hunt POACHERS.

 

The local people get to eat the elephants.
The government gets a large paycheck from the hunter.
The hunter get a picture and get to boast to others about how tough he is for killing a "beast"
the elephant get shafted.

 

Elephant hunting is pretty insane with a gun. Even more insane is hunting them with a bow! I've seen pictures of a 12000 lb bull elephant shot with a bow from 20 yards! I'd be crapping while I was shooting because those things don't exactly fall over and die right away and they can run through/over just about anything...

 

At what? half a mile an hour? or maybe Elephants haul ass.. either way, I depsise hunting, but for some reason I can't see the "sport" in hunting elephants.. chase down a cheetah and take him in arm to arm combat.. now that would be a sport!

 

While we're on the subject of hunting "odd" animals, I heard that It's legal to hunt penguin? Am I right? Coz seriously I would really like to eat me some penguin, bet it tastes pretty damn good.

 

usually archery hunting is..... you shoot the animal with the arrow.... it runs off, you never find it...... 2 days later it finally dies an agonizing death of ganggreen......

I think the hunting thing works if there is an animal control problem (cats included).....but not just to go kill a big pretty animal for the sake of making yourself more manly

 

From what I've heard, elephants are by no means slow animals. Not fast like a cheetah or a horse, but they can definitely run. A friend of mine in college (who grew up in Malawi) said he's been chased by elephants before (he was in a jeep).

 

It sucks, but the worst part is that I think poachers usually cut of the ivory while the elephant is still alive, leaving the elephant, bleeding and defenseless, to die a slow, painful death.

 

I don't think that hunting is unifromly a bad activity. It's not something that I enjoy (I "hunt" with a camera), but it has it's place in many societies, including ours.

Done properly, hunting can be beneficial in an ecological sense. In places where top predators are removed, the thinning of herbivores (like deer) can help keep their populations down and reduce death from undernourishment due to lack of food. Due to their successful management, I know that there is a problem with elephants in some parts of Africa, and hunting can be part of the management toolset.

However, often the most desireable "trophys" are animals in their prime; the 12-point buck or the bull elephant, for example. These individuals are the ones we want to stay in the gene pool.

Also, I think it's a lot more sporting to hunt with bows rather than firearms. It requires greater skill and knowledge of animal's habits since you have to be much closer for an effective shot. The bottom line, however, is that it comes down to the hunter's ability to take the animal down cleanly. An animal wounded by a poorly shot rifle round is just as likely to suffer as one wounded by a poor arrow shot. I know a few very good bow hunters and they will not take a low-risk shot and allow a wounded animal to wander off. The same is true with dedicated hunters using rifles.