Althouse: Big game hunter dies...

May 22, 2017

Big game hunter dies...

... when an elephant that had been shot falls on top of him.

98 comments:

Original Mike said...: Oh well. Shit happens.; 5/22/17, 2:46 PM
L Day said...: That's why elephants are considered "dangerous game".; 5/22/17, 2:48 PM
Quaestor said...: One of the hunters shot the elephant after she lifted Botha with her trunk.The elephant then collapsed on top of Mr. Botha, who has five children with his wife Carike Botha.

Just in case Abby Someone shows up to weep for the elephants and denounce Botha as getting what he deserved.; 5/22/17, 2:49 PM
L Day said...: When she picked him up with her trunk he was as good as dead. Know that, the client did the right thing, it just didn't turn out so well.; 5/22/17, 2:50 PM
L Day said...: Knowing that.; 5/22/17, 2:51 PM
Gahrie said...: Personally I'd prefer to go out flying a wingsuit.........; 5/22/17, 2:51 PM
n.n said...: For some people, it was an apple.; 5/22/17, 2:56 PM
Anonymous said...: OM,
Such a callous response! Don't you weep for Botha? Where is your humanity?; 5/22/17, 3:01 PM
Fernandinande said...: Ha ha.

"He pioneered traditional European Style Driven Monteria hunts in South Africa."

Trying to figger out what "Driven Monteria hunt" means...

The videos at his site (above) are quite obscure, as are the videos here, but as near as I can tell it consists of having dogs chase the 'game' animal toward you, you take a wild shot as it runs, then the dogs finish it off because the wild shot probably didn't result in a clean kill.; 5/22/17, 3:02 PM
Fen said...: Larry, I'm not disagreeing, im just ignorant. Can you go into more detail as to why that's a tell?

Also, I really hope people resist mocking this guy just because they have an ignorant hatred of hunters. Think about how his loved ones

I know, I'm often accused here of being too kind gentle and sentimental. But this was a real; 5/22/17, 3:06 PM
Fernandinande said...: Quaestor said...
Just in case Abby Someone shows up to weep for the elephants and denounce Botha as getting what he deserved.

I think he got what he deserved.; 5/22/17, 3:07 PM
Fen said...: Love how autocorrect randomly deletes words. Smartphone thinks I'm longwinded or; 5/22/17, 3:08 PM
Brookzene said...: "The elephant then collapsed on top of Mr. Botha, who has five children with his wife Carike Botha."

Very sad. Any one know how many children the elephant had?; 5/22/17, 3:15 PM
Original Mike said...: "Such a callous response! Don't you weep for Botha? Where is your humanity?"

Sometimes you get the elephant. Sometimes the elephant gets you. Seems fair to me.; 5/22/17, 3:20 PM
Anonymous said...: Quaestor must think you are just an awful human being OM, you too Ferandinande.

What about his widow and 5 children? Maybe it would've been better had he stayed at home with his family and watched safari movies.; 5/22/17, 3:30 PM
Expat(ish) said...: Cost of an elephant shooting safari: $37,500 (http://www.africanskyhunting.co.za/packages/10dayelephant.html)

Average income in South Africa: $3,600

For blacks in South Africa that number is $2,300.

For "services" industries based black South Africans that number is $1,300.

https://businesstech.co.za/news/wealth/131524/this-is-the-average-salary-in-south-africa-by-race-and-industry/

So hunting is a big deal in rural South Africa.

-XC

PS - $68K to stuff, mount, and ship an elephant back to the US. Wow.; 5/22/17, 3:48 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/22/17, 3:52 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: I am not a fan of big game hunting.

I am sorry for his wife and children, however. Of course, Inga doesn't give a shit. They aren't her kids so big whoop.

brookzene wrote:

Very sad. Any one know how many children the elephant had?

5/22/17, 3:15 PM

Right. Because there is no difference whatsoever between human beings and elephants.

Someone really took "Bambi" to heart. You'd be really traumatized in northern Wisconsin in the fall.; 5/22/17, 3:53 PM
Original Mike said...: I don't think he "deserved it". But I do think the result was "fair". If he's out to kill the elephant, why can't the elephant do the same?; 5/22/17, 3:54 PM
Anonymous said...: OM, I agree. It's survival of the fittest and sometimes the elephant gets to be the fittest. That's fitting.; 5/22/17, 3:59 PM
Earnest Prole said...: Mr. Hunter, may I introduce you to Mr. Karma? I'm sure you two will have a lot to talk about.; 5/22/17, 4:15 PM
Richard said...: The obligatory Groucho Marx's quote:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfN_gcjGoJo; 5/22/17, 4:18 PM
The Godfather said...: Anybody know how much money big game hunting provides to the economies of poor African countries?; 5/22/17, 4:21 PM
Brookzene said...: "Right. Because there is no difference whatsoever between human beings and elephants."

Yes there is. There's not enough elephants.; 5/22/17, 4:29 PM
Original Mike said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/22/17, 4:38 PM
Original Mike said...: I grew up in a deer hunting family and throughly enjoyed it until I gave it up in college for lack of time. Always expected to take it up again when I retired, and still may, but so far I've been too busy with other pursuits. Deer aren't much of a risk to you, but being in the Wisconsin woods in November is not without it's hazards. I always figured if it happened, I was the one who enjoyed the benefits and took the risks. Same with this guy.; 5/22/17, 4:39 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/22/17, 4:59 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Brookzene said...
"Right. Because there is no difference whatsoever between human beings and elephants."

Yes there is. There's not enough elephants.

5/22/17, 4:29 PM

I agree that you, Inga and 99% of liberals take up too much space on this earth - space that would certainly be better filled by more useful and intelligent creatures - like King Charles spaniels, for instance.; 5/22/17, 5:01 PM
Brookzene said...: "I agree that you, Inga and 99% of liberals take up too much space on this earth"

You're so precious. You can't bear to share a space with people who have different opinions. S-N-O-W-F-L-A-K-E.; 5/22/17, 5:04 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Of course, liberal abortion rates keep their numbers down, but clearly, if they really cared for Gaia, they'd just hang themselves with biodegradable rope rather than wishing others dead.

Just another example of Fen's law.; 5/22/17, 5:04 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: I'm not the one who is gleeful over someone else's death or would be happy if a significant number of people on earth did not exist. You're the one who brought it up.

I'm just holding you to your own standards. Think there are too many people on earth?

Start with yourself, snowflake. Population reduction begins at home.; 5/22/17, 5:07 PM
Brookzene said...: "if they really cared for Gaia, they'd just hang themselves"

And all this imagery of well-adjusted people. Nothing to see here. Just another violent sounding loon.; 5/22/17, 5:07 PM
Brookzene said...: "I'm not the one who is gleeful over someone else's death"
"if they really cared for Gaia, they'd just hang themselves"; 5/22/17, 5:09 PM
Anonymous said...: "I agree that you, Inga and 99% of liberals take up too much space on this earth - space that would certainly be better filled by more useful and intelligent creatures - like King Charles spaniels, for instance."

Someone is having visions of a Liberal Holocaust. I can see now why no one ever married her.; 5/22/17, 5:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Also good thing she never reproduced.; 5/22/17, 5:10 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "Someone is having visions of a Liberal Holocaust. I can see now why no one ever married her."

Since your only accomplishment in life was getting knocked up by a doctor, I can see why you're proud of it.; 5/22/17, 5:16 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: If it wasn't for that, you'd still be emptying bedpans. No wonder you identify so strongly with your twat. It's done so much for you.; 5/22/17, 5:19 PM
Anonymous said...: Knocked up four times to be precise! And married for many years too. Don't be bitter or jealous.; 5/22/17, 5:19 PM
Anonymous said...: At least I never ripped the head off of my "doll".; 5/22/17, 5:20 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Ah, our so-called feminist admits she would be nothing at all without a man and looks down on women who aren't married. She can't believe that someone would choose differently, because deep down inside her "feminism" is as phony as everything else about her.; 5/22/17, 5:25 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Poor Inga. All twat, no brain.; 5/22/17, 5:26 PM
Anonymous said...: Not at all Hexiled. I'm just pointing out your sweet personality. I worked many years and respect professional and working women a great deal. I'm yanking your chain because you come across as a snarling dog, now I'm done addressing you because you are one poisonaous older woman. Toxic.; 5/22/17, 5:29 PM
Lloyd W. Robertson said...: Surely one can see irony without being pro-Botha or anti-Botha. We make wild animals serve our purposes, we might pay a price.

Chuckles the Clown on the Mary Tyler Moore show:

One of the most remembered episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show was "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (October 25, 1975), written by David Lloyd, which involved the death of Chuckles and in which Chuckles, as usual, is never seen on camera. In that episode, Chuckles is hired as the grand marshal for a circus parade (after news anchor Ted Baxter is told to decline). At the parade, he dressed as a popular character, Peter Peanut. Tragedy struck when "...a rogue elephant tried to shell him...," and he died from his injuries.; 5/22/17, 5:39 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: brookzene, you brought up the topic. You're the one who thinks there are too many people on earth. I'm just holding you to your own words. Now go run and get your smelling salts, dear. I know you're delicate.

Inga said...
At least I never ripped the head off of my "doll".

No, you prefer when it's done to actual babies.; 5/22/17, 5:39 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Snarling? No, my dear Inga, you induce laughter in me. I can't wait to see what your Idiocy du Joir is going to be.

Walker will get indicted any day now!!!!!

April and I are still laughing about that.; 5/22/17, 5:42 PM
Humperdink said...: Brookzene asked: "Any one know how many children the elephant had?"

Actually none, they were all aborted so it's all good.; 5/22/17, 5:58 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Lloyd W. Robertson said...
Surely one can see irony without being pro-Botha or anti-Botha. We make wild animals serve our purposes, we might pay a price."

True enough. I personally dislike the whole idea of big game trophy hunting. But I do feel for his family, especially since they will be subjected to the over-the-top virtue signaling from gloating animal rights activists.; 5/22/17, 6:03 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I love elephants. Animals cannot shoot back. I'm glad that a-hole was crushed.; 5/22/17, 6:08 PM
Anonymous said...: Uh oh April, now you're in trouble. You might get bit by Hexiled.; 5/22/17, 6:10 PM
readering said...: Now, had he been killed by a charging rabbit . . . .; 5/22/17, 6:18 PM
L Day said...: Fen said...
"Larry, I'm not disagreeing, im just ignorant. Can you go into more detail as to why that's a tell?"

Not sure I understand your question, Fen, but I once read an account of an elephant grabbing a hunter with it's trunk, kneeling on him and tearing his limbs off, one by one I've also read that in the old days they hunted elephants at a somewhat safe distance in open country. Elephants changed their habits in response and now it's a close range affair in heavy cover. They say an elephant can be completely hidden in the bush only a few feet from the hunter. Very dangerous.; 5/22/17, 6:23 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Elephants mourn their dead. and they don't have fingers, to shoot back.

Trophy hunters should not breed, or have families. They should be crushed by elephants, chewed slowly by a lion's pride, & swallowed whole by a giant snake.; 5/22/17, 6:27 PM
Anonymous said...: You tell her, April, I'm with you sister!; 5/22/17, 6:29 PM
Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...: The elephant then collapsed on top of Mr. Botha, who has five children with his wife Carike Botha.

Why were these two thoughts forced to occupy the same sentence?; 5/22/17, 6:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Be careful Hammond, Quaester will send you into the cornfield.; 5/22/17, 6:33 PM
Jaq said...: I read a story about a guy who knicked himself with his poisoned spear point while smoking some kef, waiting for the elephant he had jabbed to die.
Villagers had a feast and a laugh when they found them both.; 5/22/17, 6:35 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Once the snake fully digests the trophy hunter, the snake poop should be burned. Just in case.; 5/22/17, 6:36 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Inga said...
Uh oh April, now you're in trouble. You might get bit by Hexiled."

Why? Did I say I liked big game hunting? I said I felt sorry for his family.

Your "sisterly" feelings toward April will last - until the next Trump thread.; 5/22/17, 6:45 PM
Gahrie said...: The elephant then collapsed on top of Mr. Botha, who has five children with his wife Carike Botha.

Why were these two thoughts forced to occupy the same sentence

I know..can't Carike get a break...she's tried Weight Watchers and Atkins.....; 5/22/17, 6:55 PM
Gahrie said...: Very sad. Any one know how many children the elephant had?

None...it was an elephant and elephants don't have children, they have baby elephants.; 5/22/17, 6:57 PM
twgin said...: James Howard Williams, also know as "Elephant Bill"...

I stumbled across a recent so so biography of him and ended up finding some of his own works at the library. A timber harvester in Burma and India before and during WWII, and also an accomplished expert in the care and management of elephants. Some of the things he has to say about the intelligence, emotions and memory of elephants are amazing.

I don't think I could do the big game hunting thing... I do think there's a difference between shooting a deer and shooting an elephant (or a dolphin ?) although I cannot in any way quantify the difference.

The hunter screwed up and it killed him, happens all the time in dangerous professions.; 5/22/17, 6:57 PM
Gahrie said...: "Right. Because there is no difference whatsoever between human beings and elephants."

Yes there is. There's not enough elephants.

What's the right number of elephants? How do you know that?

What's the right number of people? How do you know that?

You people on the Left who value animals more than humans are sick.; 5/22/17, 6:59 PM
Gahrie said...: I love elephants. Animals cannot shoot back. I'm glad that a-hole was crushed.

My cat killed a gopher today. The trial was short, she was literally caught red-mouthed. The question now is...do I hang her or electrocute her?; 5/22/17, 7:02 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: readering said...
Now, had he been killed by a charging rabbit . . . .

5/22/17, 6:18 PM

That almost happened to Jimmy Carter.; 5/22/17, 7:03 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: "Animals cannot shoot back."

Do you have any problems with deer hunting, April?

I don't like elephant hunting either. It doesn't bother me a bit that deer and elk can't shoot back, because people eat venison and elk meat.; 5/22/17, 7:08 PM
Original Mike said...: "I do think there's a difference between shooting a deer and shooting an elephant (or a dolphin ?) although I cannot in any way quantify the difference."

But you did, in your preceding paragraph.; 5/22/17, 7:10 PM
Fen said...: Thanks Larry. And yes, I was asking why grabbing a man with its trunk was considered and act of aggression that warranted lethal force.; 5/22/17, 7:11 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: I wish more conservatives liked animals and bike paths.; 5/22/17, 7:15 PM
Gahrie said...: I wish more conservatives liked animals and bike paths.

I love animals. I've owned pets all my life. I just don't romanticize them.

As for bike paths, I wouldn't give a shit if you guys paid for them by taxing bikers instead of motorists. I pay registration and gasoline taxes to maintain the roads for cars, not bikes. (and not for mass transit either); 5/22/17, 7:21 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Exiled..

The best meal I've ever eaten in my life was venison. It was probably killed by a local hunter in Switzerland. (where I happened to dine on the divine tasting creature. Thank you divine tasting creature.)

I'm not against all hunting, but I do think some hunters are more ethical than others. I know bowhunters here in CO - and they are outstanding hunters. Fair hunters. The guys who plop down money to shoot something in a corralled pen - that's lame and cowardly.; 5/22/17, 7:21 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Rene Saunce said...
I wish more conservatives liked animals and bike paths.

5/22/17, 7:15 PM

I like animals and bike paths. I don't hunt. But I'm not a vegetarian and I don't see how eating beef and chicken you buy in a store is morally superior somehow to eating venison from a deer someone has shot themselves. Obviously, it's morally reprehensible to wound a deer and then lose it in the woods so it suffers more than it has to. But wild animals generally do not die peacefully of old age. They starve to death or are hit by cars or are preyed upon by other animals.; 5/22/17, 7:22 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: The guys who plop down money to shoot something in a corralled pen - that's lame and cowardly.

5/22/17, 7:21 PM

You answered my question. I agree with you about shooting animals in a corral.; 5/22/17, 7:23 PM
Original Mike said...: I love animals (except the god damn rabbits).; 5/22/17, 7:24 PM
Gahrie said...: You want more elephants?

Come up with a tasty, relatively cheap, recipe that requires elephant meat. Open a restaurant in New York...get a positive review in The Times, and before you know it there will be millions of elephants on farms all over the world.; 5/22/17, 7:25 PM
Original Mike said...: And shooting something in a cage is not hunting.; 5/22/17, 7:25 PM
Fen said...: I wonder why he went to Africa on a big game hunt, what about it appealed to him?

Unlike a few here, I don't judge him based on some ignorant stereotype fed to me by some Hollywood movie like Jurassic Park. Because as a conservative I'm smarter than that.; 5/22/17, 7:27 PM
Fen said...: Ah, he was a native who often led leopard and lion hunts. One of those who takes money from wealthy American hunters to fund the preserves that keep elephants and big cats from being hunted to extinction.

What an evil person...; 5/22/17, 7:36 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: We used to massacre birds so ladies could wear hats adorned with beautiful feathers. Now whole North American bird species are gone, forever.

Killing something for food, and nourishment, in a respectful sustainable manner, should be the norm. I say that about hunting, and about animal farms and slaughter houses.; 5/22/17, 7:43 PM
Quaestor said...: Inga wrote: It's survival of the fittest and sometimes the elephant gets to be the fittest. That's fitting.

Nah, just kidding. It's fitting, and I'm certain that Botha knew and appreciated the dangers of his profession. The personal risk is part of the adventure. If it wasn't a vengeful elephant, it could have been a testosterone-hepped lion or a black mamba or a randy Cape buffalo. The veldt is full of death.; 5/22/17, 7:48 PM
Gahrie said...: We used to massacre birds so ladies could wear hats adorned with beautiful feathers. Now whole North American bird species are gone, forever.

My cat massacres birds so that she can play with them before they die.

North American sabretooths are gone for ever..as are the mammoths.....

Extinction is natural, and by far the vast majority of life on this planet has become extinct.; 5/22/17, 7:48 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Exiled...

I know a bunch of hunters. Some of them are outstanding and ethical, some of them are jerks. (like the guy who entered a bear's den and shot a hibernating bear, for a trophy)

I have a client who is in the beef slaughtering business. He told me that we kill 700,000 head of cattle a week. (is that right? that's nuts?)
He uses the Temple Grandin method to keep cattle calm as they round the corner to their pending doom. Still miserable, but less so.; 5/22/17, 7:51 PM
Gahrie said...: He told me that we kill 700,000 head of cattle a week.

It would take an awful lot of kale to feed 300 million people.....; 5/22/17, 7:55 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Kale lives matter#

**I was trying to remember if he said 700,000/ week or 700,000 per month. I think he told me "week".
Not something we think about. Lotta people eat a lot of meat. I have no problem with vegans and vegetarians spreading their religion. Like it will make a dent? please.; 5/22/17, 7:58 PM
Quaestor said...: Killing something for food, and nourishment, in a respectful sustainable manner, should be the norm. I say that about hunting, and about animal farms and slaughter houses.

Elephants and other big game hunted legally in South Africa are hunted for food, if indirectly. The sad fact is that the only way elephants are going to survive outside captivity involves managed hunting of this kind.; 5/22/17, 7:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Nothing better than a delicious Porterhouse, done medium. Just can't eat it rare, all that blood...; 5/22/17, 8:01 PM
Rusty said...: Rene Saunce said...
I wish more conservatives liked animals and bike paths.

I love animals and I'm a conservative. I like bike paths too. It gives me an open area between the trees to get a good shot.; 5/22/17, 8:06 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Rene Saunce said...
We used to massacre birds so ladies could wear hats adorned with beautiful feathers. Now whole North American bird species are gone, forever."

Did you ever read "Beautiful Joe" when you were a kid? Oh, God, cried my head off for days - it was one long "stop cruelty to animals" plea, written in the early 20th century.

My mom had one of those bizarre 50's boas which consisted of a bunch of dead foxes, heads, tails, little paws and all. It looked like something Fred Flintstone would give to Wilma to wear. I was mad at her for about a week after I read that book.

Much later in life, I sold it to a drag queen in Dupont Circle for $50.; 5/22/17, 8:07 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: Inga said...
Nothing better than a delicious Porterhouse, done medium. Just can't eat it rare, all that blood..."

Medium rare, with the emphasis on rare. Or, as my father disapprovingly said, "My god, it's still mooing!"; 5/22/17, 8:10 PM
Rusty said...: Rene Saunce said...
"Elephants mourn their dead. and they don't have fingers, to shoot back.

Trophy hunters should not breed, or have families. They should be crushed by elephants, chewed slowly by a lion's pride, & swallowed whole by a giant snake."

You want more elephants? Then sell more elephant hunting licenses. Hunters and fisherfolk have done more for conservation than all the environmentalists. You want to save habitat? Buy a hunting or fishing licenese.; 5/22/17, 8:10 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Queastor, you can apply all sorts of truth and logic - it won't matter. That hunter got some animal kingdom comeuppance.; 5/22/17, 8:11 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: Inga said...
Nothing better than a delicious Porterhouse, done medium. Just can't eat it rare, all that blood..."

Exiled said...
Medium rare, with the emphasis on rare. Or, as my father disapprovingly said, "My god, it's still mooing!"

My grandfather liked it rare.. "Just chase it around the pasture."; 5/22/17, 8:14 PM
Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...: "Beautiful Joe" - Missed it.

Much later in life, I sold it to a drag queen in Dupont Circle for $50.

ha!; 5/22/17, 8:16 PM
Gahrie said...: I was trying to remember if he said 700,000/ week or 700,000 per month. I think he told me "week".

It is why i always recommend coming up with a tasty recipe when endangered species come up.

Cows and pigs aren't endangered because they taste good.; 5/22/17, 8:20 PM
Fernandinande said...: Rene Saunce said...
Killing something for food, and nourishment, in a respectful sustainable manner, should be the norm.

As near as I can figure out from the 'news', they're arresting local "poachers"(in 2008, anyway) who are going after non-game food animals in the same area this guy brought in tourists to hunt for trophies. ("Good Luck Farm/Ranch"); 5/22/17, 9:36 PM
L Day said...: You want to save elephants, then hunt them. The following is not an exact quote, but it's the essence of what they're saying. "The biggest threat to elephants is poaching. Poachers kill 12,000 elephants a year in Africa. Hunting reduces poverty which reduces poaching." -- World Wildlife Fund
http://www.dw.com/en/wwf-defends-elephant-hunts-for-conservation/a-15891067; 5/22/17, 9:36 PM
madAsHell said...: I'm acquainted with big game hunters in East Africa. In the wild, they usually follow a herd of elephants for several days before determining the one closest to death.

This happened at the Good Luck Farm. It's private property, and likely fenced. The elephants are animals of habit. They go where they know they can find water. I just don't understand how the hunter "accidentally" walked into a herd.

The dead guy here messed up.

To be sure, I don't hunt, and my weapon of choice is a 35mm DSLR.; 5/22/17, 10:49 PM
Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...: Poetic justice. More like this.; 5/23/17, 12:39 AM
L Day said...: I think you're right, madAsHell, he messed up.; 5/23/17, 6:06 AM