JPK
My point was to avoid the trial by internet thing (esp) whilst one party is away and unable to respond....... it could well be, and my guess is that none of it was his fault at all and the blame lies elsewhere.
The problem with doing it in public is that the world and his dog, many of whom don't know which way is up all get involved and raise temperatures needlessly with comments and opinions that have no bearing on anything. - Better, fairer and safer to wait till Mark is back and then sort it out in private and then the members involved can post the outcome if they so wish.
Anyway, just a personal opinion!
Shakiri,
No doubt that reporting results of a hunt, good or bad, are best done after the fact - which in this and other cases might include a workout plan for a hunt gone wrong, or in the case of even a great hunt some trouble with paperwork or whatever at the end...
Here, the whole topic came up sideways, and not as an attack. And I think that, at least so far, no internet trail situation is causing undue emotions or whatever to take hold. In fact one of the guys who had the misreable experience has mentioned that he is awaiting Safarimans's return from vacation. Its pretty clear though that this hunt was FUBAR from the outset and ammends need to be made.
So far as libel and other issues you raise in your earlier post, truth is an affirmative and absolute defense to libel and no one should ever hesitate to post a truthful hunt report, even the worst. Reports, truthful reports, on poor hunts and disasters should be made regularly for all's benefit, including the booking agent or outfitter who avoids them or makes things as right as possible after the fact.
We do all need to keep in mind that hunting is hunting and not livestock buying, so not all hunts will be resounding successes from the trophy point of view, but that is very different from the reports given in this matter.
For an example of a hunt report where the results of the hunt from the perspective of the trophies taken are disapointing, and an issue or two during the hunt needed to be dealt with, but the hunt was still first rate and the outfitter, PH, etc, weren't improperly or without warrant skewered, take a look at my recent report from my very difficult and not all together successful report on my May elephant hunt. (EDIT: Which report went largely unnoticed here.)
JPK
