LRNut
Well-Known Member
Here is the difference: if the owner buys a 45" sable and releases it, you know it is there - somewhere. There is little doubt as to the actual outcome. The animals are raised and bought at auction based on horn size - I know, because a friend of mine has done it. If you see a 44" sable in Kigosi, you shoot it. You see one in a fenced area in RSA, and your PH will tell you if there are bigger ones or not.
The game population inside the fence is drastically different than outside of it. Another difference: when there is drought or other stressful conditions, they cannot leave. I have hunted twice on a ranch of Namibia that wasn't high fenced; the first time there were gemsbok all over the place. The second time, they were gone due to a drought - they left for higher elevation areas.
I have hunted inside high fenced areas. The first was 20,000 acres but with 70,000 unfenced. I shot red hartebeest, kudu and gemsbok on the unfenced area and springbok, blesbok, and zebra in the fenced. No contest. Shot the three animals inside the fenced in one day. I have also hunted a million acre high fenced area in Zim. I will admit, that size didn't matter, but the difference is the animals there naturally reproduce - it was not a put and take like so many RSA ranch hunts. Additionally, there are vast sections of fence beaten down by elephants.
Look at the lion hunting industry in RSA: to the best of my knowledge, it has been eliminated, but to compare hunting a released lion in an enclosed area with a lion hunt in Tanzania is ridiculous. Same goes for a huge sable in Tanz or Zambia vs RSA.
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