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A couple of days ago I watched an episode of Tracks Across Africa with Ivan Carter. The hunt was for female elephants in Zimbabwe (I live in Canada, and we ususally get these shows much later than when they originally aired in the US, so it may have been an older episode). In any event, as the hunt developed, Carter identified a female elephant to be taken, but rather than trying for a shot before she became aware of the hunters, he told the hunter they would come up behind her, follow her, and that at some point she would become aware of them, turn around, and charge. And then the hunter was to shoot her. And that's exactly how it played out. Very dramatic, and I'm sure an adreneline rush for the hunter.
I've seen (on video) Carter do this many times with elephant. Often these are mock charges, and I have no doubt he knows elephants well - I have his video with Boddington - but that's not the point. At times he does this even when he has no intention of shooting the elephant. When he is actually hunting, he seems to intentionally induce a charge, and then has the hunter take the shot - with him backing up of course.
My first question is, what are the ethics of inducing charges, mock or otherwise, for a camera? I've always thought my best shots were when the animal had no idea I was there - down and out without knowing what hit it. Does that make me old fashioned? In fact, I thought this was actually illegal in some African countries?
If you compare how Carter hunts elephant to how someone like Buzz Charlton hunts elephant (and I'm only going by their videos here), there's a big difference.
My fsecond question is this: how is this different from what Mark Sullivan does (or did) in his videos?
Just asking.
I've seen (on video) Carter do this many times with elephant. Often these are mock charges, and I have no doubt he knows elephants well - I have his video with Boddington - but that's not the point. At times he does this even when he has no intention of shooting the elephant. When he is actually hunting, he seems to intentionally induce a charge, and then has the hunter take the shot - with him backing up of course.
My first question is, what are the ethics of inducing charges, mock or otherwise, for a camera? I've always thought my best shots were when the animal had no idea I was there - down and out without knowing what hit it. Does that make me old fashioned? In fact, I thought this was actually illegal in some African countries?
If you compare how Carter hunts elephant to how someone like Buzz Charlton hunts elephant (and I'm only going by their videos here), there's a big difference.
My fsecond question is this: how is this different from what Mark Sullivan does (or did) in his videos?
Just asking.