The Perspective of a Big Game Hunter, Steven Chancellor

I touched a bit on how big game hunting can be compared to poaching or that it is possibly driving certain species towards endangerment or extinction, but i have been able to talk to a source that is highly educated on this subject and involved with it as well. 

First of all, poaching is the illegal taking of wild animals. Big game hunters must acquire specific licensees and pay fees to hunt certain animals in certain areas. Steven Chancellor spoke with me about his collection and provided me with his point of view on hunting these animals and how it can be justified. 

First I would like to provide you with some background information. I know Mr. Chancellor from the horse industry, as we have both been involved in it for a long time and his daughter and I have been competitors, and more recently, teammates on the US World Cup Team. I knew that Mr. Chancellor and his wife, Terri, and daughter, Hunter, had a strong interest and involvement in hunting, but i never truly knew to what extent until I was invited to their home in Evansville, Indiana this summer. In their large beautiful home, there is a private museum which is, on rare occasion, toured by schools or wildlife conservationists. Mr. Chancellor took Team USA on the tour himself and there were many mixed emotions amongst the group. However, with Mr. Chancellor's explanation, I began to understand his perspective. His personal collection is the largest collection of animals in the world, bigger than any collection at any public museum and with more species, all hunted by Mr. Chancellor, himself, or his wife, Terri, or daughter, Hunter. It was all very strange and impressive, however, I was intrigued by  the way they hunt these animals and determine which can be targeted.

Mr. Chancellor addressed questions during the tour and one individual asked how it is possible to kill certain rare species. He explained that besides needed a specific license and only certain areas allow you to hunt certain animals, there is a way that hunters determine which individual animal they choose to track and kill. When hunting exotic animals, like a lion for example, hunters target old males. They do this because male lions contribute to their ecosystem at a younger age. They reproduce and protect until they are too old to do so. As lions get older, there are younger males that become stronger and take over the pride, at this time, an old male lion will leave the pride and live the rest of his life alone. These lions are no longer contributing to their ecosystem and that is why it is the older male lions that are targeted by hunters. 

Hunters are also expert trackers. They are able to determine the size, age, and sex of a lion by its paw print. I remember specifically, him saying that you can tell if the paw print belongs to an older male by the size and how fuzzy the print is due to long fur. Once the hunter has found a print of an older male of a large size, they track that individual lion for weeks until they are able to make a clean shot for the kill. Mr. Chancellor also explained to us about the ethics behind killing these majestic creatures. He explained that old male lions alone in the wild had no easy way to die. Being hunted would be the easiest way for the lion to go, it would be dead before even hearing the gunshot. However, if not hunted, these older male lions would either die slowly from disease, starve if physically unable to hunt it's own food, if injured, male lions risk being eaten alive by a pack of hyenas. This testimonial allowed me understand this particular perspective. 

Steven Chancellor and his family have a love for hunting, but they also have a passion for animals. Mr. Chancellor hosts benefits every year for wildlife conservation and speaks at all sorts of events supporting the protection of wildlife. It's another perspective to explore and think about when trying to figure out where it is you stand on the subject. 

Steven Chancellor