What About Rhino

[Ragnarok Forge]

To the original poster, if you want to hunt rhino and it is legal where you plan to do so.  More power to you.  The governments that control the populations of rhino in their country determine if there are enough to allow limited hunting or not.  I personally will not critize anyone who chooses to hunt legally.  It is their right to do so.  

Let just say, I value and protect my rights, and don't like it when other people try and step on them because they don't like how I practice those rights.  

I will say that there are options that are equally challenging to and in somes peoples views better than hunting to kill a rhino in Africa.  First would be the tranquilize and study / tagging method mentioned earlier.  Personally that is the choice I would make.  Costs less, lets the animal live, you can get a replicated trophy, and science gets info.  Sounds like a win / win to me.  

Another option would be to research and look at a hunt in the US.  A big part of the recovery of endangered african game is that US ranches have agreements where they breed and raise various endangered african game on their lands and a certain percentage are returned to Africa to be released.  These game ranches offer hunts for a limited number of rhino every year.  These animals are not endangered, and many of them roam on huge ranches that can be considered fair chase due to the size of the property.  

In my state we get to shoot one deer and one elk a year.  Is the guy in Arkansa, or Alabama who can shoot 7 to 100 deer a year unethical.  NOPE!  His states game laws say you can shoot that many.  What about hunting wood chuck on the east coast versus Idaho wolves?  Not a bit of difference in my book.  Each State says theres enough to hunt. Each State says its legal.  

Lots of people are wound up about hunting the wolves in Idaho.  Frankly it is none of their business.  Unless of course they live in Idaho.  Idaho Citizens can vote and impact the states decisions thru their vote, attend meetings, voice their opinions, etc....  That is our process and that is how it is meant to work.

So I say go for it.  Look at all you options, practice hard with a heavy bow.  Put together some heavy UEFOC arrows and shoot for the boiler room.  And for your own sake, dont hit it in the shoulder blade!  A rhino will stomp you into the dirt, making a small reddish mud puddle.

[PZee]

What Gibbo80 says is true. I used to work for a Ecotourism Game Farm in South Africa that offered what they called a green hunt. You shoot the rhino with a tranquiliser, and they get to do the research and stick the microchip in the horn. You get the photos of the hunt and the rhino gets to run away. All in a win-win situation. I believe you wouldn't be able to take the head for mounting, as rhino are a protected species and taking the horn is illegal. When a rhino dies in South Africa, Nature Conservation take the horn, thus the reason for the micro chip. Besides rhino are seriously expensive now, reaching R300k at auction at the game sales now, and not many owners want to part with their prized rhino. I see this post started in 2004, but I know that the white rhino is more plentiful than the black rhino now. Also, the post that says you'll need to shoot a rhino in a cage isn't true. Before you can buy a rhino in southern africa, your farm is inspected by nature conservation and if it's not big enough, you can't buy a rhino, I'm talking over 4000-5000hec. So it won't be a canned hunt. So I don't know if you'll actually get a rhino anymore.

[Tom Leemans]

I spoke with Ted Nugent years ago about his Rhino hunt. He used an alum arrow inside another alum arrow and a heavy head. His arrow burried to the fletch at the shot. HOWEVER, what it really did was deflect off a rib bone and tunnel along the animal's side. He said they dispatched it a couple of hard tracking days later with a .375 H&H mag, because once he arrowed it, he was paying for it anyway. They did some test shots after it was dead. The tricky part, according to him, was getting the arrow in between the ribs.

[Smallwood]

Gary Bogner has killed rhino and the other big six with a bow (compound) .

[Grizzly Bear]

Yes Gary bogner has killed a rhino with his compound bow and you can watch it on his first african video.  The only two guys that I know of that have killed a rhino with a trad bow was Bill Negely with a 100# bear recurve and Dr. Ed Ashby with what I belive wa a 160# longbow he made himself.  So it can be done good luck to you.

[calgarychef]

I've heard that you can also do a cast of the rino horn while it's unconscious (sp)and have a replica made. just like they do with elephants because of difficulty in importing ivory.

Frankly I wouldn't want to do a green hunt like that, I do know someone who has though and he seemed to have fun.  I think it crosses a line, in cheesiness where a camera would be better used to take pics of it on its feet.  I wouldn't put anyone down for doing it though if thats what trips your trigger go for it.

the chef