Trad Gang
Main Boards => Dangerous Game => Topic started by: mmgrode on December 21, 2006, 11:54:00 AM
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Hey fellas,
what is it that attracts you to dangerous game hunting? Is it the rush from the danger present or a certain calm and peace while hunting these animals? Next year I plan on hog hunting for the first time and black bear hunting in a couple years when I can get a permit. I think I will get a lot out of this type of hunt. I'd like to see why you guys do it. Thanks fellas, Matt
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Though black bear hunting and hog hunting topics often get posted on this forum, I think that most of us who have hunted these species extensively would agree that neither is particularly dangerous, at least not to the extent that we would categorize them as "dangerous game." Still, it is fun to hunt animals that have some potential to get rowdy. I have never hunted game that I would consider dangerous (grizzly/brown bear, cape buffalo, asiatic buffalo, leopards, etc), but I can imagine that the thrill of the surging adrenaline is tough to beat. I hope to experience it for myself one day in the future. Until then, "rowdy game" will have to do. Brady
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I can speak with a bit of experience and I am confident to say that I do not know. I guess its the same reason that headshrinker types cannot define exactly why people hunt, just that some need to. I've guide quite a few people on dangerous game and I am sure that they were not all their for the same reason and I am very sure that some of them were having serious second thoughts about the whole thing. Some no doubt are doing it solely out of ego, to impress others, but the ones I enjoy hunting with the most are only doing it to prove something to themselves.
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New Zealands Feral cattle.
In a nut shell,proving to myself it could be done,and I could actualy do it.
We live lives were we can control most things or choose to avoid what we can't.
A feral bull is a challenge you don't have much control over,an that's one of the things that make them atractive.
It's like hunting the mountains alone,probably not the smartest thing to do,but the satisfaction is huge.
Some guys climb Mt Everest,feral cattle are my Mt Everest.
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Did not think there was any wild bulls in NZ mate. Plenty over here though.
In Oz, al
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In the Ruakumara area on our East cape, there a still quite a few an it's these I've hunted.
There's another herd in the whanganui river area but their access is very limited to hunters.
Both these herds result from farmers walking off back country farms after WW1.
Cheers,
John.
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I like to hunt dangerous animals (grizzly bears, brown bears, and mountain goats) because these animals interest me and I admire them. It's just like hunting any other animal. If they are legal to hunt, I will chase them. I like the variety of different animals, and the terrain they acquire in. It's just too bad the polar bear is off the list for an Alaskan resident.
Chuck
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Chuck;
Polar is the only animal that hunts man on purpose. That for sure would be a thrill. 1,000 plus pounds of white fur closing quickly. Focus, pick a spot, yeah right....
Hogs and Black bear are not particularly Dangerous Game, there is some "rowdiness" as mentioned above. Hogs can get rowdy if you don't hit them were you should.
Michael
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In various places in the world, cougars, black bears, wolves, jaguars and saltwater crocs, in addition to the animals already mentioned have all at times purposely stalked, killed and eaten people. Oddly enough polar bears have NEVER been know to eat people and most if not all of the cases of them killing people have been attributed to mistaken identity, ie an indigenous person dressed entirely in seal skins is easy to mistake for a seal.
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I think you're thinking of sharks Rick, not Polar bears. Check out this link: http://www.bowsite.com/BOWSITE/features/LIVEHUNTS/polarbear2006/notgood.cfm
I don't know any seals that live in tents! Take care, Matt
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I think the urban legend of Polar bears stalking man on purpose came about because they tend to follow trails in the snow.
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Was that guy "eaten" or just "mauled"? There is a difference but I'm not sure THAT guy cared.
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Polar bears ONLY eat blubber, although they have killed quite a few people, they haven't eaten any that I've heard of. Eyewitness's say that the bears just look sorta confused after they kill a human and can't find any fat on them.
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Rick- why would Polar bears only eat blubber? that doesn't make much sense to me. A polar bear also needs proteins. I can see how the fat can be so important, true, and how they go after seals because of this fact, but that can't be the only part they eat!! They also eat reindeer, seabirds and their eggs, carion, and human garbage if available. It might be true, but just doesn't seem to make sense to me. Let me know if you find anything on it. Any way- they sure have the potential to kill you!!!
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You only need to experience the adrenaline rush of being spitting distance from a brownie 1 time to be hooked... The best drug you'll ever take!
Rick, thats why fat guys don't hunt polar bears.
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In a year with abundant salmon, fishing brown bears will only eat the skin and the roe, not the fillets.
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im going to have to disagree about the polarbears, my wife grew up in a small village on the north slope, she told me of when people would spend weeks inside because thier would be a bear hooked on humans. and black bears can be as dangerous as any when wounded,
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Polar bears will often eat blubber so that they can provide there babies with milk. Considering there milk is about 90% fat or so if i remember correctly. Polar bears may attack mostly when they feel there young ones are threatened like most species of bear. But i suppose if they need the fat that badly they'll eat just about anything to keep there young ones alive. The reason for such fat filled mild is simply to keep the cubs warm since it has to build a layer of fat. ;)
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I never said polar bears didn't KILL people, in fact I said the opposite, I just said they don't normally EAT people. However if they are starving, they are like any other creature and will eat anything. Black bears on the other hand rarely kill people, but they often eat them when they do. Brown bears eat the skin and roe of salmon, because those parts are the richest in fat, so they can take in the most calories, the same with polar bears and blubber, of course with the skin and blubber are protein and other nutrients in addition to the fat.
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Black bears kill more people than Brown/Grizzly and Polar bears combined. This is due to the fact that there are far more black bears than the above and they live in much closer proximity to populated areas. Unlike all dangerous game (only exception being lions)a polar bear will hunt you down on the ice pack and kill you if you have no means of defense. Most people in polar bear country are kept safe by dogs and firearms. Without those there would be alot more missing. My friend was with the group that took those polar bear pictures and killed that bear. He speaks of many many close calls each year but the dogs come to the rescue 99% of the time.
Now on to the mans question:
For me it's the adrenaline rush that comes from being close to dangerous game in their environment. Several times over the years I've had to duck into bushes and remain very very still as a herd of cape buffalo go around me. The scare and adrenaline factor combined is one heck of a high, thats all I can say. I've hunted lots of black bear and even had them climb up a tree I was in but the rush is not the same. One must always respect the black bear, if it wants you your in deep schnitt! I've hunted lots of hogs and there is nothing dangerous about hogs as far as I'm concerned. Yes they can charge when wounded but so can a racoon!
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"Rick, thats why fat guys don't hunt polar bears. "
lol now that's funny
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As to the original question: my answer is: I don't really know. The question of what really counts as "dangerous game" is more complicated. Let's face it: any large wild animal is potentially dangerous. People have been killed by whitetail deer and moose. I've spent so much time close to black bears, hogs, and cougars that I don't really consider them "dangerous game" even though I know their capabilities (and the statistics) full well. When brown bears are on the salmon streams in Alaska, I bounce off so many of them I get complacent about them too (with some justification: Timothy Treadwell was the only known bear fatality in the history of Katmai National Park, and he pretty much asked for it). Of course, those are the same bears I carry heavy back up for when I'm guiding there at other times of the year. So maybe this leads us back to the original question: dangerous game animals are those that scare you when you're around them. That response is part instinct, part personal experience, and part common sense. Don
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"It's just too bad the polar bear is off the list for an Alaskan resident" Tuttu
But its not to bad for at least the one polar bear that would have died by arrow wound if Tuttu had a permit! Tuttu is White Death to bears and most anything else he has a permit for!
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I am now officially in the Dangerous Game club!
That said, I have been within 40 yards of probably 20 brown bears and 5 or 6 about 15ish yards or under.
I have had only javelina and caribou square up to me in agression, never a brown bear. Both had been laced with an arrow before doing so however.
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pigs i have a lot off respect for them, iv had a few have a go at me and cut up some of our dogs real bad, but always when wounded. i however do not consider them "Dangerous game"
i really can't point out exactly what the drive is, like the others on here when it comes to Dangerous game.
for me when it comes to plains game it is more of a challenge of wit's, but with Dangerous game its more a challenge of focus and guts. you have a different mindset, different emotions because death is now shadowing the equation
staring down the barrel of a backup rifle with a big ol Water buff meters away finger on the trigger ready to squeeze if it explodes at you, fear is not on your mind...for me, more like a deep focus of energy and anger as at that moment you and the bulls flaring eyes meet and an age old instinct of battle between man and beast is in full circulation between the two of you, both you and the bull know there are 2 outcomes, you can see it in their eyes either you both back down or one of you is going to Die.
even a African Lion will do the same, and in my experience most of the time will take the option of backing down if you present it by doing the same. Luckily i have never met an animal that that has made the decision to take option 2. thats not counting wounded game they are in a different mind set!
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Questions like this I find a bit irritating. Most game is hunted for the sake of the unique experience each species provides, not for the thrill of the potential danger. I personally wouldn't want to be anywhere near someone who thought that way. Besides if someone really wanted to go on a hunt that may maim or kill you, take up mountain goat hunting. Statistically it's right up there.
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Well, the odds have to be even, right?
Bears have huge fangs well placed on bonecrushing jaws, and huge paws that will bash your head in. We have bows and arrows ;)
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Originally posted by Longbowz:
Most game is hunted for the sake of the unique experience each species provides, not for the thrill of the potential danger.
:confused:
with Dangerous game "thrill of the potential danger" is one of the unique experience's it provides
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Tradtusker,
Yes I agree. I wanted to modify my statement to: "not JUST for the thrill of the potential danger." But the edit function is not available right now.
Hopefully there is more to hunting then thrill seeking. :)
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Yip forgot the edit function was off for now.
and i agree there is a Lot more to hunting, and those that do it just for the danger are missing out a lot.
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Hunting dangerous game with a traditional bow and arrows ,forces the hunter into a situation of danger often greater than the game they pursue,it is the ultimate in respect to the quarry and the greatest challenge to the hunter, to perform in a life and possible death encounter. Thus being the ultimate Hunt! John Frick
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I think polar bears will eat just about anything that doesn't eat them first. They raid garbage dumps and houses and they'll grab a dog if they get a chance. Blubber is just one more thing on their menus.
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It is interesting to hear that brown bears are more dangerous than black bears being repeated here. Black bears kill and attack far more people in the US every year than brown bears. This is simple federal and state statistics that are documented every year. Anyone who thinks Black bears are not dangerous game needs to join me for a ground hunt and have a big boar start stamping his feet, huffing, and popping his jaws as he moves in on your position after a predator calling series. 300 + lbs of black bear can ruin your day.
I think people over exagerate the grizzly due to its large size. And they underestimate the black bear for the same reason. Both are very dangerous in the wrong situation. Every brown bear I have seen on trips to Alaska has been either running or starts running once they know your human. Same in Montana and Wyoming.
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For me it would be taking an apex predator, but doing it with just a stick and string and no gadgets!