Gents:
I just read this and find the debate lively. I understand Chip's philosophy and he has a magnificent trophy room and his trophies are his memories and legacy. We all do it differently but we all like to hunt. I've been severely hammered for my posts on fair chase vs. high fenced hunting and for my personal love of vintage English double rifles and my choice to own and hunt with them exclusively. The bottom line is what is right is what is right for each of us individually. We get hell at times for expressing our opinion but our opinion is only right for the opinion's owner. At the end of the day we are all the target of the antis and Chip has a good point in the numbers of hunters in Africa, the (approximate) number of those taking elephant and lion, the the number of US citizens and why politicians won't champion our cause. I never put it in that perspective but it is a powerful lesson. In the long run we all all fighting a losing battle. Look at our losses in both hunting and gun rights over the past 1-2-3-4-5 decades. I think we best agree to disagree as gentlemen because we are in the same boat. It does not matter if we spend a fortune on taxidermy for whatever reason, leave our trophies in the field, hunt with a double rifle or a modern whiz bang magnum. The ship is sinking and we are too busy fighting amongst ourselves and not bailing water in unison to keep us afloat. And l before you get on my case, I have done it all: taxidermy, European mounts, leaving the trophy in the field, donating taxidermy, etc., I've even made the excuse I am feeding the Africans by killing the game there (which I have and did, but that is not the reason I've hunted anywhere--it is a sideline to my endeavor). I read Ortega's words years ago and have also read many who think he was in error.
I trust and hope you all have a pleasant day and a great next hunt--no matter what you hunt with, what you do with the trophy, or your rationale for doing so.
Cheers,
Cal
PS. I've often wondered if we would be as rude to one another if everyone knew our real names or if we were standing face to face.