JJ:
Great though provoking question/observation! Too add to that, and only to stimulate more thought/conversation, people may want to think about: Why would anyone go to Africa to hunt plains game when nearly every African plains game species is available somewhere in Texas?
For me, I only did the Texas thing once a few years ago when USF&W took away (temporarily thankfully) the exemption status of symitar horned oryx and the ranches had DEEPLY discounted the fees to get them gone before the ban took effect. Booked a 4-day shoot and took two cull animals just for the meat.
It was...OK but...not my personal cup of tea. Only real up side was being able to bring the meat home and do oryx steaks on my own "braai". Still wasn't the same as "being there". For me personally, the true "trophy" is the entire experience and the horns/hides are just ways to remember/relive the experience.
One of the requirements for passing the PH exams was memorizing the SCI and Rowland Ward minimum sizes for various PG species. I had a bit of an ongoing and good natured argument with the Director/Instructor and refused to memorize the tables. Every night after dinner, we'd have a little time to relax and have a drink or two before hitting the books. He had a big "great room" in the main complex building full of mounts he had taken over his 70 yrs of life. I'd always ask him, "Ian, tell me the story behind that________". His eyes would light up and tell the story as if it was just yesterday, even if it happened 30, 40 or 50 years ago. You could see him relive it in his memory through his eyes.
Every morning before breakfast, we'd have our first "academic period" which usually included a pop quiz. After about the third week of instruction, this mornings pop quiz was to fill out the SCI and RW tables from memory. I signed my name and passed it in. He wasn't any too happy and told me it was going to on the final written exams and I needed to memorize them. I said, "Ian, in the past few weeks when I'd ask you to tell the story behind a particular trophy in the "Big Room", did I ever ONCE ask you about the size or weight"? Long pause, "No, but you still have to memorize the tables for the exam".
End of story, when the Parks Department came and administered the final exam, sure enough the tables where there as promised. I didn't fill them in and I still passed.
Second "story" - my wife and I were coming back from a trip and while waiting in the US Customs line, there was a couple just in front of us, obviously had been hunting. Struck up a conversation. Said they had been to RSA on a buffalo hunt. Asked if they were successful. "Oh yes", the wife said. "And here is a picture"! Expecting a camera or similar such, she pulls out what looked like a high end, glossy print magazine of maybe 30-40 pages. As she was flipping through it, I could see there were photos of individual animals by species, with a price quote embedded in the upper right corner of the photo. She stops on a particular buffalo and says, "This is the one he (husband) shot", flips a few more pages, "and this is the one I shot".
Different strokes for different folks. May not be my personal way of doing things, but on the other hand, the money they spent (big bucks) still in the end help support and sustain the overall survival of the species and income for the operator and the hired workers/staff and their families.
