The Hunting Racket

The next time when you walk into some fat cat’s home to see the skin of a large antelope on the floor with the head mounted against the wall, complete with a few framed photographs of him posing with a hunting rifle, standing with one foot on the fallen animal, think again. He may have bought all of it.

While some of the people (from local and overseas) coming on a one-week hunting safari are experienced hunters, the majority of them have never hunted in their lives. All that they’re interested is having the trophies with tangible ‘proof’ that they shot the animal. Some of them even believe that hunting large antelopes is a cakewalk after having fired at humans with an automatic assault rifle in a combat situation.

But there is a vast difference between hunting kudu and hunting humans. Unlike humans, who drop to the ground when wounded, the kudu will run off. He’ll return with a wide arc and wait for you somewhere next to his own track. He knows that you will come after him and if you run into him unawares, he will kill you. At a close distance, a rifle is quite useless.

To protect them against their own stupidity, inexperienced hunters are not allowed to hunt alone. They are assigned to a guide who is an experienced hunter. When the rookie aims and fire, the guide shoots as well to make sure the target goes down. And often the carcass only has one bullet hole, guaranteed to have come from the guide and not the ‘hunter’.

All that remains is to take a few photos of the ‘hunter’ posing over his kill, and the next day he goes home while his trophies are being processed and readied for export. And a few months later, when you walk into his house, you can admire the results of his African safari on the floor and against the wall.

I’m not a trophy hunter, but it annoyed me to look on while two American tourists claimed my kills. Aw well, they paid for it and I got the meat, so I should not complain too much.

If this is not a racket, I don’t want my name.


Have a great day!