Thread: HuntingHQ.com

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

I agree with you, that NZ outfitters are effectively selling a wild animal. That is the issue that I have questions about. Are those outfitters selling an animal that they dont have legal title to when they charge a trophy fee ?. The charge for guiding is one thing but the trophy fee is another ( on free range wild animals ). What would be the legal position if someone paid for access, shot half a dozen deer and refused to pay a headage fee when they left ?

Not exactly sure but how does a trophy fee work in British Columbia on public land and public animals? Surely at the least the have only been given access with conditions breaching the conditions would mean they are now trespassing and poaching. They don't own the animals but do have the right to say what people can do on their property. Also the trophy fee is viewed as a negative but realistically it is there just as much to allow for costs to still be covered in the case of a unsuccessful trip. Outfitters in BC/elsewhere often do this on low success hunts etc like Grizzly. I would hazard a guess they treat the trophy fee as a bonus for performance vs the actual animal fee. So you pay your outfitter a bonus depending on how well they have done similar to many businesses giving sales bonuses etc?