So you think you need to own a Stopping Rifle...

[mgstucson]

What one needs to do is make an accurate first shot more than anything else in my opinion.

I couldn't agree more. If you cannot hit standing game with a kill shot every time at whatever distance you choose to shoot, with whatever load and rifle you brought for the task, you have no business hunting at all, especially not DG. That is the hunting ethos I grew up with. Maybe take up ping pong instead of hunting.

A 375 H&H in the vitals is preferable to a gut shot with a 500 Jeffery.

Again, I could not agree more. That is a false dichotomy though. There are many cartridges between 375 H&H and 500 Jeff. There are differing degrees of vital kill shots as well. Some kill under 5 minutes, some kill in 5 hours, some in 5 days. Again if you cannot make a quick, reliable, kill shot on standing game with whatever you brought for the job, there is always ping pong.

Personally, I believe it should be law in every country, including the US, that EVERY hunter, EVERY year, should have to pass an accuracy test at distance off sticks and/or off hand, with whatever rifle you use. You can only hunt with cartridges and rifle types you have tested with. No pass/ No hunt. In addition, for ALL who hunt in DG TERRITORY, whether hunting DG or not, that test should include timed hits off hand at 50 yard targets. No Pass/ No hunt. This should have to be verified by independent authority, not the paid PH or paid concessionaire. This would go a long way toward limiting the foolishness of unprepared hunters endangering themselves and others. This of course would not guarantee they could do the same under field conditions, but it should be the minimum required to legally make the attempt.

 

[Tex .416]

….

Personally, I believe it should be law in every country, including the US, that EVERY hunter, EVERY year, should have to pass an accuracy test at distance off sticks and/or off hand, with whatever rifle you brought. You can only hunt with cartridges you have tested with. No pass/ No hunt. In addition, for ALL who hunt in DG territory, whether hunting DG or not, that test should include timed hits off hand at 50 yard targets. No Pass/ No hunt. This should have to be verified by independent authority, not the paid PH or paid concessionaire. This would go a long way toward limiting the foolishness of unprepared hunters endangering themselves and others. This of course would not guarantee they could do the same under field conditions, but it should be the minimum required to make the attempt.

Exactly what we do NOT need, the government having the power to restrict a citizens’ rights. Ask someone in Australia, the EU, especially GB, or even New York how things are working out for them.

 

[hoytcanon]

Personally, I believe it should be law in every country, including the US, that EVERY hunter, EVERY year, should have to pass an accuracy test at distance off sticks and/or off hand, with whatever rifle you brought. You can only hunt with cartridges you have tested with. No pass/ No hunt.

How did a Biden voter sneak on here???

 

[Red Leg]

I couldn't agree more. If you cannot hit standing game with a kill shot every time at whatever distance you choose to shoot, with whatever load and rifle you brought for the task, you have no business hunting at all, especially not DG. That is the hunting ethos I grew up with. Maybe take up ping pong instead of hunting.


Again, I could not agree more. That is a false dichotomy though. There are many cartridges between 375 H&H and 500 Jeff. There are differing degrees of vital kill shots as well. Some kill under 5 minutes, some kill in 5 hours, some in 5 days. Again if you cannot make a quick, reliable, kill shot on standing game with whatever you brought for the job, there is always ping pong.

Personally, I believe it should be law in every country, including the US, that EVERY hunter, EVERY year, should have to pass an accuracy test at distance off sticks and/or off hand, with whatever rifle you use. You can only hunt with cartridges and rifle types you have tested with. No pass/ No hunt. In addition, for ALL who hunt in DG TERRITORY, whether hunting DG or not, that test should include timed hits off hand at 50 yard targets. No Pass/ No hunt. This should have to be verified by independent authority, not the paid PH or paid concessionaire. This would go a long way toward limiting the foolishness of unprepared hunters endangering themselves and others. This of course would not guarantee they could do the same under field conditions, but it should be the minimum required to legally make the attempt.

Uh no.

 

[mark-hunter]

Personally, I believe it should be law in every country, including the US, that EVERY hunter, EVERY year, should have to pass an accuracy test at distance off sticks and/or off hand, with whatever rifle you use.

In some countries this is the rule.
But still, this is unrealistic to expect "globally".

When you have a hunt valued 50k - 100k, or more, I am yet to see the outfitter to decline a client who is a poor shot.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I couldn't agree more. If you cannot hit standing game with a kill shot every time at whatever distance you choose to shoot, with whatever load and rifle you brought for the task, you have no business hunting at all, especially not DG. That is the hunting ethos I grew up with. Maybe take up ping pong instead of hunting.


Again, I could not agree more. That is a false dichotomy though. There are many cartridges between 375 H&H and 500 Jeff. There are differing degrees of vital kill shots as well. Some kill under 5 minutes, some kill in 5 hours, some in 5 days. Again if you cannot make a quick, reliable, kill shot on standing game with whatever you brought for the job, there is always ping pong.

Personally, I believe it should be law in every country, including the US, that EVERY hunter, EVERY year, should have to pass an accuracy test at distance off sticks and/or off hand, with whatever rifle you use. You can only hunt with cartridges and rifle types you have tested with. No pass/ No hunt. In addition, for ALL who hunt in DG TERRITORY, whether hunting DG or not, that test should include timed hits off hand at 50 yard targets. No Pass/ No hunt. This should have to be verified by independent authority, not the paid PH or paid concessionaire. This would go a long way toward limiting the foolishness of unprepared hunters endangering themselves and others. This of course would not guarantee they could do the same under field conditions, but it should be the minimum required to legally make the attempt.

Oh Sir. I must lsynmy.rifle on the ground brgore.you! For surely you are the only.hunter I have ever heard of that has.such great experience in the game field and has never !missed or made a hit that required follow up! Yay, I and the rest of the mere mortals here must surely recognize such flawless ability and surrender our guns!

I've said it before. Anyone who has much experience hunting and claims to have never missed or made a less than perfect shot is a liar.

 

[mark-hunter]

Yay, I and the rest of the mere mortals here must surely recognize such flawless ability and surrender our guns!

Even professional snipers (also common mortals, and human beings) have a shot/hit ratio 6-5.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

Even professional snipers (also common mortals, and human beings) have a shot/hit ratio 6-5.

Yep.

 

[mgstucson]

Bit touchy aren't we?

No one said anything about "government" being involved at all. I said "Independent authority" as opposed to the people making a profit off the hunters, because as Mark-Hunter said, none of those folks are going to turn down a poor shot with 100 grand in his hand. Maybe they shouldn't turn them down, as long as there is a PH to clean up after them. I don't know. It seems disingenuous though, to pretend concern for the health, well-being, and families of courageous and decent PH's caused by incompetent hunters who "gut shoot a Cape Buffalo", then at the same time vigorously oppose ideas that could easily limit the vast majority of such incidents. The "indepedent authority" could be The Association of Retired PH's. That way they would have a vested interest in perpetuating the hunting industry, and PH safety at the same time.

No one said anything about restricting firearm ownership. I count myself very fortunate to live in a country and a state where it is constitutionally protected, unlike those countries named above.

Now that you bring it up though, as far as I know, there is not a country in the world where hunting isn't restricted by government permit or license ALREADY. Financial requirements, age requirements, concessionaire requirements, season requirements, professional hunter/guide requirements and sometimes knowledge of hunting regulation requirements among many others. So let's not stomp the soap box and pretend government regulation isn't already strong and vigorous in the area of hunting universally around the world. In some places it is outlawed entirely. Without it, many, many species all over the world, including the US, would have been hunted to extinction already. Where is all the indignance about the prominent and pervasive existing government INTRUSION into hunting? Adding shooting competency requirement to hunting regulation seems pretty small, benign and reasonable, especially where dangerous game may be encountered, stopping rifles are needed, and escaped wounded animals could become a public safety concern.

The real rub is that a hunter competency requirement would make hunting unavailable to the incompetent wealthy, and so deprive many poor countries, and more importantly hard-working individuals, including PH's, in those countries, of millions in much-needed foreign revenue. For this reason, the present system of requiring PH's be responsible for sorting things out when they go wrong, is probably the best we can hope for, as a practical alternative. Let us not stick our heads in the sand and deny that allowing the incompetent to hunt increases risks to PH's and their families, while at the same time allowing them a way to support themselves and their families. I think this web site that strongly encourages information, ethics, and competence in hunting is a vital piece of the equation. It's complicated.

No one said anything about being perfect. PH all have to pass shooting competency requirements. Are they all deluded into thinking they are perfect? Of course not. Just because I CAN shoot 5 out of 5 in a 12" circle of a target on a practice range under perfect conditions doesn't mean things can't and don't happen in the field. Allowing 12" at 100 yards on a rifle that will shoot under a inch from the bench can make plenty of allowance for shooter error even in the test. However, if you can't put 5 out of 5 in a 12" circle at a hundred yards in 3 tries, there is a serious problem, and maybe ping pong is the game for you after all. The last statement of the post above reads:

"This of course would not guarantee they could do the same under field conditions, but it should be the minimum required to legally make the attempt."

Did you read that? I know English may not be the first language of everyone here, so I apologize for any confusion I may have caused.

The outcry over the mere mention of the idea of hunter competency requirement sure is telling though. There are endless posts in every corner of this forum redundantly and vigorously decrying incompetent hunters, yet when an idea to reduce incompetent hunters comes up, it receives an immediate and visceral reaction. It kind of reminds me of the old saying:

"Everybody wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to get up a trip and go." It's complicated.

Fear mongering and political rhetoric are ALWAYS very poor, but extremely overused, substitutes for substantive, rational ideas or argument. I avoid these forms of speech, but I vigorously defend a person's right to use them, and trust the listener to determine the intrinsic value of each form of speech.

Freedom of speech requires acceptance there will sometime be inane and asinine comments.

Freedom to hunt requires acceptance there will be some incompetent hunters.

Firearms freedom requires acceptance that some will abuse the privilege.

Acceptance that they will exist doesn't mean we don't confront them appropriately when they are encountered.

 

[Flipper Dude]

I can appreciate that you feel the need to defend your position so passionately, but……………………………. No.

Next.