I'd jump at the chance to hunt Africa, if I could do it next year. I'm jumping up and down to go hunting again this year. I don't think of them as 'multispecies' hunts, but that's what they are here in the west. It has been the exception that I've only had one tag when a season started. I've hunted three states over the last 32 years in the west. It is in my blood, my bones to roam around mountains, enduring what has to be, and digging all the rest. I feel grateful, not because I get to do what others can't, but because I get to. I don't know how much longer that will be the case, as the health issues mount more rapidly than I'd have imagined.
Some locals out here do it hard and do it right, but most just go out to shoot the first thing they can legally take. At popular elk crossings along roads, it's not uncommon to see a couple dozen elk 'hunters' sitting in their trucks drinking coffee. I couldn't do that, because that isn't why I do it. I do my share of road hunting, but not for elk, because I haven't seen elk near a road in years. There are lots of ways to hunt elk, and some are far less sporting than an African ranch hunt.
I've enjoyed this thread. I've not hunted anywhere beyond the western states, and I appreciate more perspectives than mine. It seems like to deep truth for all of us here is that we enjoy hunting, and the where, what, and how much are just new things to reach for, to dream about.
Please, come West. Hire guides, or not. Don't either/or Africa or Elk. Do both. There is a beauty here that is unspeakable, game or not. Some of you know all about it.
