Anyone considered female African lion

[Don Cherry]

I have been looking into Africa and would like to get a lion with a bow but a male with a big mane are few and far between and have a price tag of 45000\65000 alittle out of my price range but a female is more reasonable has anyone consitered it or hunted one

[Sledhead71]

The wife tipped over a nine year old female when we were there a couple years ago.. Looked into the male and chose to hunt the female for a few reasons.

Good luck, dangerous game is top notch !

[Don Cherry]

What outfitter did you go with and what was the price

[Bound2Fish]

And why did you choose to go after a female over a male?

[whitetail Junkie]

Originally Posted by Don Cherry

I have been looking into Africa and would like to get a lion with a bow but a male with a big mane are few and far between and have a price tag of 45000\65000 alittle out of my price range but a female is more reasonable has anyone consitered it or hunted one

$45,000 to $65,000 for a male lion? That is some big bucks...

If you do go for lioness with the bow,make sure you got a real weapon for back up

[saltwater cowboy]

HOLY CRAP whitetail, what a video !!!!!!!
I'll be there in 2 months and I hope I don't have to make that shot !!!
Salty

[Sledhead71]

Our group actually harvested two females, one was to be with a bow and the wifes with a rifle. The archery hunt was called off as the lioness was very agressive and mock charges us twice, man they are quick and can cover ground.. The archery hunt, we caught her in the open grass, really no where for her to go, so the fight instinct kicked in and it got intense really fast.. Our two PH's called this hunt off at 40 yards as the next charge would have been serious.. We piled into the jeep and this cat chased our group for at least 150 yards before she backed off.. Came back with a rifle and finished the hunt.

Wifes hunt was intense as well, we tracked her cat for a couple hours, the PH and guide argued a bit as this one actually started to circle and track us... We actually walked with-in 12 yards of her before we seen she was in the bush waiting for us to pass, rush for sure... We back off and circled her when the wife was presented with a shot at 25 yards, she took it.. Amazing experience and we captured both hunts on film...

I have pictures of both these hunts I can load from home later tonight, have great shots of the mock charges as well... Our lioness was restored as a full body mount that is the centre of our trophy room..

Cheers !

[calgarychef]

I think they make a nice trophy. If it's from South Africa it's a pen raised animal and you need to make some personal ethical decisions in that event.

[ShawnM]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

If you do go for lioness with the bow,make sure you got a real weapon for back up

Good God!!! That guy was probably looking for his clean shorts after that one...

[jimbo1]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

Our group actually harvested two females, one was to be with a bow and the wifes with a rifle. The archery hunt was called off as the lioness was very agressive and mock charges us twice, man they are quick and can cover ground.. The archery hunt, we caught her in the open grass, really no where for her to go, so the fight instinct kicked in and it got intense really fast.. Our two PH's called this hunt off at 40 yards as the next charge would have been serious.. We piled into the jeep and this cat chased our group for at least 150 yards before she backed off.. Came back with a rifle and finished the hunt.

Wifes hunt was intense as well, we tracked her cat for a couple hours, the PH and guide argued a bit as this one actually started to circle and track us... We actually walked with-in 12 yards of her before we seen she was in the bush waiting for us to pass, rush for sure... We back off and circled her when the wife was presented with a shot at 25 yards, she took it.. Amazing experience and we captured both hunts on film...

I have pictures of both these hunts I can load from home later tonight, have great shots of the mock charges as well... Our lioness was restored as a full body mount that is the centre of our trophy room..

Cheers !

i cannot wait to see these pics!

[Sledhead71]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

I think they make a nice trophy. If it's from South Africa it's a pen raised animal and you need to make some personal ethical decisions in that event.

Please no ethics police, due to these style of comments, I usually do not share our adventures here.

[schian]

Originally Posted by whitetail Junkie

$45,000 to $65,000 for a male lion? That is some big bucks...

If you do go for lioness with the bow,make sure you got a real weapon for back up

umm, wow!

i would be curious to see this video at full speed

[walking buffalo]

Originally Posted by schian

umm, wow!

i would be curious to see this video at full speed

Right here. Stalk and shot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tbSuGINWic

[Bound2Fish]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

Our group actually harvested two females, one was to be with a bow and the wifes with a rifle. The archery hunt was called off as the lioness was very agressive and mock charges us twice, man they are quick and can cover ground.. The archery hunt, we caught her in the open grass, really no where for her to go, so the fight instinct kicked in and it got intense really fast.. Our two PH's called this hunt off at 40 yards as the next charge would have been serious.. We piled into the jeep and this cat chased our group for at least 150 yards before she backed off.. Came back with a rifle and finished the hunt.

Wifes hunt was intense as well, we tracked her cat for a couple hours, the PH and guide argued a bit as this one actually started to circle and track us... We actually walked with-in 12 yards of her before we seen she was in the bush waiting for us to pass, rush for sure... We back off and circled her when the wife was presented with a shot at 25 yards, she took it.. Amazing experience and we captured both hunts on film...

I have pictures of both these hunts I can load from home later tonight, have great shots of the mock charges as well... Our lioness was restored as a full body mount that is the centre of our trophy room..

Cheers !

I would be interested to see the pictures and video. I think that would be neat to see.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

I think they make a nice trophy. If it's from South Africa it's a pen raised animal and you need to make some personal ethical decisions in that event.

There is no public land in most of Southern Africa (not just South Africa). If you mean pen-raised as in minimum 4000 ac pens then, yes, it is pen raised. Outside of the national parks (and you could view these as pens, too) there are probably not too many non-pen raised lions south of Tanzania. Fortunately, many of those pens are also much larger than the aforementioned one.

[calgarychef]

There's a big difference between a pen and an enclosed area. A pen raised animal is let loose into an enclosure a short while before it's hunted. Some enclosures are big some are small. That's the way it happens so people need to know this. You can tell the difference in the trophy pictures, a wild lion is scarred from fighting and the mane is rough looking. If you see a "pretty lion" it's most likely shot pretty close to the feed pail.

I'm not saying not to do that kind of trip, some people aren't aware of these things before they go. Wouldn't want anyone to be dissapointed if they chose a spot and later learned it wasn't what they thought it would be. I'd never want to shoot a pen raised animal but it does take the pressure off the wild population so do what you want. Also SA is probably going to ban the practise in the near future so you'd better hurry if you're interested in going.

[Erik]

Originally Posted by calgarychef

There's a big difference between a pen and an enclosed area. A pen raised animal is let loose into an enclosure a short while before it's hunted. Some enclosures are big some are small. That's the way it happens so people need to know this. You can tell the difference in the trophy pictures, a wild lion is scarred from fighting and the mane is rough looking. If you see a "pretty lion" it's most likely shot pretty close to the feed pail.

I'm not saying not to do that kind of trip, some people aren't aware of these things before they go. Wouldn't want anyone to be dissapointed if they chose a spot and later learned it wasn't what they thought it would be. I'd never want to shoot a pen raised animal but it does take the pressure off the wild population so do what you want. Also SA is probably going to ban the practise in the near future so you'd better hurry if you're interested in going.

Funny, when I hunted South Africa just over a year ago the sort of activity you described is widely discouraged and is limited to a very small portion of the clientele. If you have a reputable outfitter than all of this info should be upfront anyway. If your trophy is not battle scarred it is likely the result of the lack of challenging prides on smaller properties than being a captive, tame, or solitary lion, unless specifically ordered as such.

I don't think there is much lion hunting South Africa for no other reason than the properties are usually too small to support that type of game. Most lion properties in SA are usually dedicated to photo-safari and no hunting is supported. I wouldn't hunt cats in South Africa only because there are larger more interesting properties in neighboring countries and trophy fees are much less. South Africa, for me is a plains game destination and I think the fees and property structure support that. To me, lion speaks Zimbabwe, or Botswana on a double header with a Cape Buf.

[NIKON]

Originally Posted by schian

umm, wow!

i would be curious to see this video at full speed

Does it look like someone shot the hind leg first before they dropped it?

[Erik]

there is also a very good forum on African hunting that has a section on deals. Sometimes you can swing some good last minute deals on cancellations or other deals. But beware of unscrupulous characters. Do your research and insist on references. If you need the URL, PM me and I can provide it.

[huntinstuff]

Lioness

That would be an awesome trophy.

[depopulator]

My buddy took a lioness with his bow a few years back. I fell out of my seat when I opened the photo in my email. Heck of a trophy IMO.

[A-zone]

Originally Posted by Sledhead71

The wife tipped over a nine year old female when we were there a couple years ago.. Looked into the male and chose to hunt the female for a few reasons.

Good luck, dangerous game is top notch !

Where in Africa were you hunting? (and who did your video?)

A friend and I are booked for lioness in 2013 (in Zim). They have relatively high numbers and, so, are pretty affordable. Also, the carrying capacity of the conservancy (all 850,000 acres of it) is finite, so the big predators have to be kept in check.

Had an amazing hunt there in 2011. A truly amazing step back into time. (Far different than RSA)

We had our hunt professionally recorded. Dark Continent Video Productions produced a wonderful video that documented the safari and did a great job capturing the spirit of the whole hunt. It was worth every penny.

[waterninja]

incredible video. i cant even upload a picture from my i-phone. thanks for sharing.

[C Taylor]

We just had a PH at our place and his prices were considerably cheaper. I think the most expensive male was 32000. Still alot of money but half what your talking.

[depopulator]

From what I have researched, prices vary, as do the source of the lions. Most long maned lions are bottle-raised and are released for shooting; these lions can go as cheap as 16K I've heard. Easy to recognize wild vs pen-raised lions. That lion in the video post looks like a pen-raised lion with its circus-like, long flowing mane. Wild lions have scraggly, short manes, typically. Noslers website shows a beauty lion, but the mane indicates it's pen-raised - what a proud hunter! Do your research, 'cause they breed them for release on fenced ranches, just like many animals these days. A true wild lion is hard to come by these days at any price, from what I've been told. An old male lion is on my bucket list, but doubt it'll ever happen. A lioness though, much more likely.

[TIMWOLF]

I have a lioness hunt booked for this coming August in Namibia. This hunt is actually a "Huntingmoon" for the wife and I. Originally we had planned on hunting strictly plainsgame but the outfitter approached me about the lioness. His concession is a little top heavy on the lions right now and needed to balance it out. At a fraction of the price of a male I think its going to be quite the experience in itself.

PM me if you would like more details.

[scruffy]

I have hunted both male and female lions long ago. (Actually I tried to get in on a problem lioness hunt when I was in Namibia in 2011 but the cats went back into the park) Of all of the hunting that I have done in my lifetime .. if I could repeat anything .. it would be the lion hunting ! (It cost me $29,000 in 1980 !!!!) That was certainly in a league of its own. The lioness hunt in Zimbabwe in 1994 was fabulous .... Done honorably (not out of a bakkie) it is worth every penny. And normally they are much more dangerous than the males. (Both Roger Whittal and John Coleman .. men with more experience than a person can even imagine on dangerous game were both mauled by wounded lionesses ...) A canned lion can certainly kill you .. but the hunt is not the same ... Also, lion hunting is no longer permitted in Botswana. I talked to a PH last year who told me that he was charging $100,000 for a lion hunt near the end of the lion hunting in that country .. and was getting it .. and some guys were getting skunked !!!I do know that if I had never shot a lion .. I'd be hunting one this year !!! I guarantee it !

[huntinstuff]

Originally Posted by A-zone

Where in Africa were you hunting? (and who did your video?)

A friend and I are booked for lioness in 2013 (in Zim). They have relatively high numbers and, so, are pretty affordable. Also, the carrying capacity of the conservancy (all 850,000 acres of it) is finite, so the big predators have to be kept in check.

Had an amazing hunt there in 2011. A truly amazing step back into time. (Far different than RSA)

We had our hunt professionally recorded. Dark Continent Video Productions produced a wonderful video that documented the safari and did a great job capturing the spirit of the whole hunt. It was worth every penny.

Your hunt and video was absolutely amazing. Getting to see that video was a Christmas present for me. Thanks again

[calgarychef]

Scruffy, if you would sell more of those fantastic books you write you could go on more lion hunts. I believe you'd sell your house and live in a box in order to go on another hunt....a good idea in my books!

[scruffy]

If it didn't get so darn cold here in the winter I would have done just that very thing years ago !!