Hunting of Leopard at night with artificial light

[Hank2211]

Jerome, the problem is that Bureaucrats that only hunt maybe once or twice a year are running the organisation...
Anyone who actually hunts leopards seriously and for a living will know that:
1) a lot of cats are shot just before the end of legal time, and does not drop dead under the tree. This frequently results in a follow up after dark, which frequently are abandoned for the night due to the danger factor, which frequently results in a follow up the next morning, with a "STIFF" dead cat as the result.
2) as above, a lot of cats are shot just before the end of legal time, and by the time the car and the cameras has come closer, it is really dark, so a LOT of clients opt for photos the next morning when they can have decent light for their trophy photos. (Remember that a photograph is as much of a trophy as the actual skull and skin/ mounted animal, especially in recent yeasr where some animals may not be exported to all countries.)
3) a few cats are shot early morning, where you actually wait with a vibrating stopwatch for "legal time", and a pic taken under the tree of a dropped right there cat with a cell phone (now apparently illegal in Namibia, but untested...) may look like its darker than it is. Remember the law states that legal hours are 30 min before sun up to 30 min after sun down. Do yourself a favor and go and take a pic 1 min into or before the end of legal time, especially with a cell, and see how that pic turns out. Especially if in heavy cover....
4) there is too much of a hidden agenda with some of the members of NAPHA, why even listen to hearsay stories???? Maybe jealousy?

I shot a leopard at last light in a national parks area in Zimbabwe a few years ago (Matetsi). As noted in this post, by the time we recovered the leopard, it was pitch black. But we had a game scout who could attest to the shooting time (I know they can sometimes be bought, but didn't have to here), so the pictures - taken in the dark were not a problem. I have to believe this scenario is much more common than shooting and recovering a leopard in daylight. But my understanding in that in Namibia, if the pictures are taken in the dark, you have a big problem.

If Namibia is serious about hunting - as they claim and generally (but not always) act - they can be reasonable and solve this problem.

 

[ndumo HUNTING SAFARIS]

My post above drew very strong support and very strong opposition from NAPHA members and non members in the Namibian hunting industry, so allow me to clarify:
First off, I stand by what I said, and if NAPHA or anyone else wants tontake me on on that, they are welcome.
Second, I know the current president and some of the exco members personally, and generally have a very high regard and respect for MOST of them, they are doing a job very few people are wiling to do, and I thank you for that. I also think that NAPHA has more "teeth" than MET, simply because MET just dont have the funds to run as effectively as they should. That is one of the reasons that I encourage the PHs working for me, to be members, and why I will always recxommend that potential clients only book with NAPHA members as their outfitters.
But, a knee jerk reaction like the "banning of advertising on internet", and the support of it, I cannot and will not join.
I do agree that we need to be very sensitive on what material we post on the internet, or send via social media messages, having been burned by something like this before. Like any population, if you test the feelings of the general public on the topic of hunting (trophy/conservation/ meat/ culling), you will end up with a bell curve, with a small percentage pro hunting and a small percentage anti hunting, and the vast majority in between and sort of undecided. I believe that the material we post should be of such a nature that we do not "turn" or antagonise this middle group of neutral people, to become more anti hunting. For this reason, I have always tried to take trophy pics that has the minimum amount of blood, shows utmost respect for the animal, and with the hunter behind or secondary to the trophy, and not on top of it. It also helps taking and posting photos of the general "feel" of a safari, distrubution of meat, etc.
We have two major enemies to hunting today, the antis and ourselfs. So if MET or NAPHA wants to regulate the photo/ video / advertising that reaches social media, rather come up with a reasonable regulation than to try and ban everytjing. One suggestion is to only allow outfitters that are vetted by MET to have websites and Facebook pages advertising hunting in Namibia, and maybe have a committe that come up with a set of rules for any photo to be posted of a trophy hunt in Namibia. I know of people advertising hunts and areas they dont even have or know, but this seems OK, as long as we, the legitimate outfitters does not advertise.

 

[AfricaHunting.com]

Karl I am truly sorry that you got heat from your honest comments and for your, in my opinion, correct analysis of this situation. It is truly a sad time when hunters are turning against each other in this way!

If Namibia does decide to continue with these ridiculous ideas to try to ban or regulate internet advertising and control every outfitter in Namibia, their presence on the internet and their entire advertising it will do several VERY negative things. I really don't think they realize that they are playing with fire...

First it will be a PR nightmare for hunting in Namibia far worse than the noise making antis (and that is all that they are) could ever create for the hunting industry in Namibia.

Second disallowing advertising on the internet will result in losing out on business for your outfitters and becoming uncompetitive in this GLOBAL MARKETPLACE. Namibia does not exist in a vacuum, it is not alone, it competes everyday with every other country in Africa and worldwide for business.

Third it will be a bureaucratic nightmare to decide upon what is allowed and how to enforce it and who will take on that massive job? I have more to say on this in a post I have been working on.

Fourth it will alienate NAPHA members and hunters (potential clients) alike. No one likes powermongers who overstep and try to control people's basic rights. Hunters in particular tend to be very freedom loving individuals and this type of censorship will not fly well at all.

Fifth it would be a major win to antis, a screaming noisy minority who will not stop taking ground and will never be satisfied until hunting no longer exists. This will only encourage them to try to make this happen in other countries, starting a chain reaction. Has anyone thought of the repercussions? More of what I see as the real problem will also be covered in my future post.

Lastly, trying to control the freedom of the internet is truly impossible! Look at China, they can't even do it and they have real programming experts and resources. Banning is no solution, it's just an over reaction, the results of which will harm Namibia and NAPHA more than anything else.

If it is legal it should be able to be marketed and sold worldwide whether it is a magazine, a hunting convention, FB, google ads, a website, the internet, a video, a tv show, a tv commercial. a brochure, a podcast, a radio show, a chapter meeting, an auction or my brothers basement. Who gets to dictate which of these avenues is right or not right and why?

This is a competitive business a really hard business to do properly. This will hamstring your members and I am horrified that the answer that MET and NAPHA have come up with is to try and hyper control the industry into oblivion. Have antis infiltrated the ranks as they have done at F&W in the US?

This is such a waste of time! We should be focused on moving forward into the future which has been undeniably changed by the freedom of information that the internet has brought us.

We need leaders not powermongers:
A leader inspires followers to be better people, to live civilized lives. A leader respects the God-given rights of all people, even those who choose not to follow. A leader doesn’t coerce, but rather persuades, informs, and leads by example. A leader is selfless, thinking of the good of others.

 

[Hank2211]

Well said Jerome.

Some people seem to think that if we pretend - in public - that hunting doesn't exist, the anti's will go away.

I am of the other school. If you are engaged in a legal activity, you should not act as if you have something to hide. If you do, the world will think you are in fact trying to hide something, and it will not go well for you.

I am not embarrassed about what I do, and I will not hide, or be made to hide, by government or anyone else.

 

[cagkt3]

We need leaders not powermongers:
A leader inspires followers to be better people, to live civilized lives. A leader respects the God-given rights of all people, even those who choose not to follow. A leader doesn’t coerce, but rather persuades, informs, and leads by example. A leader is selfless, thinking of the good of others.

Amen Jerome!

 

[tigris115]

So could someone give me a short explanation of what's going on here?

 

[BRICKBURN]

...........
But, a knee jerk reaction like the "banning of advertising on internet", and the support of it, I cannot and will not join. ..............
......

No doubt Karl. I'm not a citizen and I'm pissed off.

I have such high hopes for Namibia to become and remain LEADER. I am so disappointed because of my attachment to Namibia and hunting Namibia. If these are the kind of reactive and thoughtless policies being imposed I can't even fathom the damage that will be done.

All of these suggestions are CENSORSHIP.

Anyone recall this guys (1933-1945) theories?
"The chief function of propaganda is to convince the masses, whose slowness of understanding needs to be given time so they may absorb information; and only constant repetition will finally succeed in imprinting an idea on their mind."

Their view of censorship during that period:
All media—literature, music, newspapers, and public events—were censored. Attempts were also made to censor private communications, such as mail and even private conversation, with mixed results.

It ended May 8, 1945 with an unconditional surrender!


Being reasonable and respectful with your images is basic common sense. No regulation required.

Educate the masses. Repeat OUR positive story. Namibia fought through the Black Rhino controversy with education and conservation. What happened?

Protect the RIGHTS of the CITIZENS of Namibia to express themselves!

 

[Michael Dean]

The notion of trying to control the internet is laughable at best; the reality is it's not laughable because all the government is doing is adding fuel to the anti's in their quest to ban all hunting. They need to take a step back and reanalyze what is taking place. First and foremost, in my personal opinion, hunting with hounds is by far the most competitive sport. Regulate it, monitor it and allow it to happen. Second, accept the reality that most hunts take place at night. This nonsense of claiming the animal was shot in the waning minutes of light is a farce. Leopards are all too often shot at night, period.

Personally speaking, I have no interest in shooting a Leopard at night. Surprising an animal in a tree at night with a floodlight is not what I consider challenging It reminds me of hunting raccoons years ago, it just seemed anticlamatic to shoot the animal after you've chased them down in the middle of the night and blinded them with floodlights . Again, this is my personal opinion, what others find rewarding is their own business.

At the end of the day, hunters and PH's are going to get their act together, decide what they think is best for the sport and put forward a strong unified front. For better or worse, we need to move forward as one unified voice or the anti movement will divide and conquer. It can be an exciting and rewarding sport, we need to speak in one voice and demand to be heard.

 

[JES Adventures]

Jerome, the problem is that Bureaucrats that only hunt maybe once or twice a year are running the organisation...
Anyone who actually hunts leopards seriously and for a living will know that:
1) a lot of cats are shot just before the end of legal time, and does not drop dead under the tree. This frequently results in a follow up after dark, which frequently are abandoned for the night due to the danger factor, which frequently results in a follow up the next morning, with a "STIFF" dead cat as the result.
2) as above, a lot of cats are shot just before the end of legal time, and by the time the car and the cameras has come closer, it is really dark, so a LOT of clients opt for photos the next morning when they can have decent light for their trophy photos. (Remember that a photograph is as much of a trophy as the actual skull and skin/ mounted animal, especially in recent yeasr where some animals may not be exported to all countries.)
3) a few cats are shot early morning, where you actually wait with a vibrating stopwatch for "legal time", and a pic taken under the tree of a dropped right there cat with a cell phone (now apparently illegal in Namibia, but untested...) may look like its darker than it is. Remember the law states that legal hours are 30 min before sun up to 30 min after sun down. Do yourself a favor and go and take a pic 1 min into or before the end of legal time, especially with a cell, and see how that pic turns out. Especially if in heavy cover....
4) there is too much of a hidden agenda with some of the members of NAPHA, why even listen to hearsay stories???? Maybe jealousy?

Well stated Karl, I have hunted three leopards, the first in Zim on private land at shortly after midnight with a light - perfectly legal. The next in Zambia at the end of the day, by the time the driver got to the hide it was dark so we took pictures the next morning. The last in Tanzania, once again at last light and the leopard ran a fair bit with a 375 through the engine room so we had pictures with a flash - not so great. Due to temperatures they skinned the cat that night.

The Leopard is an iconic trophy and most hunters want to pay it respect by recording the event with the best photo possible, thus the morning after photo shoot.

 

[enysse]

Very good posts from people that have a strong passion for Namibia. Karl and Jerome are spot on with their thoughts and concerns.

My thoughts are to manage the population with permits based on the population but to be flexible on the methods on how the leopards are hunted. And, yes I fully support outfitters not be regulated on how they advertise their hunts. The anti-hunters are not going away and we should not stop advertising hunts to make they feel better.