Addicts and Addiction

[CZDiesel]

So there are many forms of the title! There is alcohol to drugs to gambling to gaming to collecting firearms, and yes hunting!

I just had an interesting talk with my PH…

I had told him I was grateful to have someone of his experience to keep everything under control and everyone safe on a Cow Elephant and Buffalo hunt! And that I was amazed that he could have both the blessing and curse in working in such a dangerous field!
He then told me that he “loved it!” And that “if I could hunt Buff and Elephant Cow every day I would!”, he said “you will see! It gets in your blood!”

So I’m a rookie going over!!! And I’ve had the fever for 20+ years but it’s now finally going to happen!

For those of you that have been across the pond and have seen, smelt, taken in the African stars at night, and hunted the most dangerous game in the world! Does it leave a hook in you? Does it make you want more and make you try to figure out how?
Does the first and the last adventure to Africa tugg at you for one more every day?

 

[Altitude sickness]

it’s actually more than a chemical addiction to many.

It’s in a hunters DNA. It’s an inexplicable pull that does not go away. You can ignore it and keep it at bay. But it does not go away.

 

[CBH Australia]

So there are many forms of the title! There is alcohol to drugs to gambling to gaming to collecting firearms, and yes hunting!

I just had an interesting talk with my PH…

I had told him I was grateful to have someone of his experience to keep everything under control and everyone safe on a Cow Elephant and Buffalo hunt! And that I was amazed that he could have both the blessing and curse in working in such a dangerous field!
He then told me that he “loved it!” And that “if I could hunt Buff and Elephant Cow every day I would!”, he said “you will see! It gets in your blood!”

So I’m a rookie going over!!! And I’ve had the fever for 20+ years but it’s now finally going to happen!

For those of you that have been across the pond and have seen, smelt, taken in the African stars at night, and hunted the most dangerous game in the world! Does it leave a hook in you? Does it make you want more and make you try to figure out how?
Does the first and the last adventure to Africa tugg at you for one more every day?

Yeah and no.
It’s in part who we are and what we do and hunting is one of the better addictions or habits.
The government should really look at the revenue or return as opposed to the other issues.
I will shut up now and have a beer in the comfort of my home until I can get out dispatching pests after paying tax on furl, ammo and other hardware or consumable's used in my pursuit of happiness.

 

[VertigoBE]

There is nothing quite like hunting dangerous game. The inherent challenges, the locations, the cameraderie in the team, the tools used. This is the Wimbledon of hunting. I cannot wait to go do it all over again and again, for as long as I can finance it and I’m able bodied.

 

[deewayne2003]

There is nothing quite like hunting dangerous game. The inherent challenges, the locations, the cameraderie in the team, the tools used. This is the Wimbledon of hunting. I cannot wait to go do it all over again and again, for as long as I can finance it and I’m able bodied.

Well said sir!

I completed my first dangerous game hunt less than 2 weeks ago and I'm afraid I'll be chasing this dragon in perpetuity.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Africa is different and a great experience. But I have long been addicted to hunting and fishing solo. Can't do that in Africa so it's been a "step down" for me.

I am now riding towards the final roundup and learning (finally!) to accept the limitations and changes aging imposes. It seems the hardest part about having lived the dream is accepting it's over. So, for me, Africa has been a distraction, albeit an unexpectedly pleasant one. But it will never replace my addiction of being in the wild alone.

 

[Firebird]

I could hunt plains game forever and be completely happy. The variety, the selectivity and the anticipation are soul stirring.
The hunters dna was mentioned. I think the nights around a fire are the purest ancestral form of intoxication. A geoup of hunters and guests sharing and reliving again and again around the comfort and safety of a camps fire. You will soon see what I am talking about-best of luck, safety and success to you!

 

[Ridge Runner]

So there are many forms of the title! There is alcohol to drugs to gambling to gaming to collecting firearms, and yes hunting!

I just had an interesting talk with my PH…

I had told him I was grateful to have someone of his experience to keep everything under control and everyone safe on a Cow Elephant and Buffalo hunt! And that I was amazed that he could have both the blessing and curse in working in such a dangerous field!
He then told me that he “loved it!” And that “if I could hunt Buff and Elephant Cow every day I would!”, he said “you will see! It gets in your blood!”

So I’m a rookie going over!!! And I’ve had the fever for 20+ years but it’s now finally going to happen!

For those of you that have been across the pond and have seen, smelt, taken in the African stars at night, and hunted the most dangerous game in the world! Does it leave a hook in you? Does it make you want more and make you try to figure out how?
Does the first and the last adventure to Africa tugg at you for one more every day?

Does it leave a hook in you? Does it make you want more and make you try to figure out how?

Welll...I don't know....maybe, I guess. Let's just say my first trip was 7 hunting days and I felt a bit rushed. My second was 10 hunting days with 2 days reserved for shopping and a photo safari. Quite comfortable easy-going. My 3rd trip was 28 days: 14 hunting days each in 2 different African counties. DG In Zimbabwe the plan was to have 2 days of sightseeing and photographing but that didn't happen. However I was able to spend 2 of the 14 PG hunting days sightseeing, shopping, and photographing in RSA.

My next trip is ~35(?) +/- days total, still working on my itinerary, 4 different outfitters, 3 different RSA providences/states, with at least 1 day at each location spent sightseeing and photographing.

Where others go to Africa for a week or two once or multiple times a year I tend to to be a bit more ..."conservative".... As I logically look at it: I may not go as often as the others; But..why spend money on multiple long, boring, flights when I can better spend that (airfare) money on more days, more animals, and more time in Africa. Ok,... maybe not conservative, but IMO a lot more relaxing and enjoyable.

Africa is a hunter's and overall outdoorsperson's paradise.

 

[VertigoBE]

There is nothing quite like hunting dangerous game. The inherent challenges, the locations, the cameraderie in the team, the tools used. This is the Wimbledon of hunting. I cannot wait to go do it all over again and again, for as long as I can finance it and I’m able bodied.

And I should really have added:
I’m very much looking forward to sharing a camp with my daughters once they are of age, and see them as excited about hunting as I currently am.