I used to do Wade Boggs pest control. When he killed his lion, it was a similar scenario. He said that is the most scared he's ever been
For what it's worth, the PH in that clip is Johan Calitz. He's one of the very best over there. Mostly he hunts Botswana and Zimbabwe. He does a little in South Africa for plains game and rhino, but not much. He is considered one of the very best on dangerous game and is really well known for producing some of the best elephant being taken. He's the real deal.
But, you have to be carful with clips of this nature. A lot of them showing lion are filmed in South Africa and all of them are frauds. There are no truly wild free ranging lions being taken in South Africa. The lion there were nearly shot out during the farming and ranching years. The only viable wild population left is in Kruger National Park and they don't hunt them in the park. Once in awhile, one leaves the park and can be taken on license, or crosses the borders of Zimbabwe or Mozanbique, but it doesn't happen often. And you have to be in the country ready to hunt when it does. So, it's kind like being in the right place at the right time. Not really something you can plan on.
Almost all the lion being shot in South Africa are frauds. What they do is buy a cat from a breeder, cut off food and water for a few days and then just before the "hunter" gets there, they turn it loose in an area with a known water source. Because the cat is hungry and thirsty, it will head to water and then lay up in the shade. So, they begin casting around for tracks, go after it and execute it. If it is done right, the "hunter" never even knows he/she has shot what is basically a domestic animal. This type of thing is kown as "canned" hunting and they are trying to utlaw it, but it brings in a lot of $$$.
If you see a picture of someone standing over a really big lion, with a really full mane and they tell you it is from South Africa, then it is from a canned hunt. Lions that come from areas with a lot of heavy brush simply do not grow big manes because they break the hairs off going through the brush. And, most hunting in South Africa is in pretty brushy areas. Only in large expanses of grasslands do lions get the really big manes, and the only places you're going to hunt the grasslands are in Tanzania, Botswansa, Northern Zimbabwe and Ethiopia. Kenya has a lot of this type of terrain,but there has been no legal hunting there since 1977.
Looking at the brush and terrain in the clip, I'm guessing this was shot in either northern Zimbabwe in an area known as the Matetsi or in the southern parts of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. Lion has been an on and off again situation in Botswana for the last couple years, so the odds are it is Zimbabwe.
Cheers :cowboy
I never understood the need to hunt hi-fence or canned hunts.I understand like you said sometimes the hunter never knows the difference,but some of these t.v. shows I've seen lately you can plainly see the tags in the ears of ther deer or elk. I guess some men have no other way of showing off their machoness unless they can kill an animal with an overpriced,overpowered rifle,film it to show thier machoness,then put it's head on the wall to prove their machoness.There was a fellow on here awhile back showing off all his canned hog hunt kills,then I seen him showing off a bunch of exotics on another forum,all hi-fence kills,all macho,all day long.
I never understood the need to hunt hi-fence or canned hunts.I understand like you said sometimes the hunter never knows the difference,but some of these t.v. shows I've seen lately you can plainly see the tags in the ears of ther deer or elk. I guess some men have no other way of showing off their machoness unless they can kill an animal with an overpriced,overpowered rifle,film it to show thier machoness,then put it's head on the wall to prove their machoness.There was a fellow on here awhile back showing off all his canned hog hunt kills,then I seen him showing off a bunch of exotics on another forum,all hi-fence kills,all macho,all day long.
its for lazy people.. who just want to pay, kill, and put a good mount over their fireplace to look like they are something to talk about.
canned or not that lion was a hairs width away from F'ng that guy up, looks like he nailed him right in the head with a good hip shot. they didn't show how they managed to wound him though.
