What is hunting tourism?

Do you know what it is hunting tourism? It is something difficult to deduce from the name but if I talk about animals and men… are you getting the idea?

Hunting tourism is hunting tourism. It may not be the most popular today or the one with the best press, in fact death is not pleasant, but the reality is that it exists and there are many parts of the world that offer it and live on it.

Hunting tourism

This is the name of tourism that revolves around hunting and moves thousands of people, many of them wealthy, around the globe. It is legal and those who practice it must adhere to the rules and norms that contemplate it.

Of course there are always those who break the law and kill animals that belong to protected species or who do it out of season, but that is already criminal. When tourism is practiced legally even it helps the conservation of species and the survival of the communities in these areas.

Hunting tourism it's all over the world so we found it from the United States, through South America and Spain to Croatia. Maybe you have safaris in Africa more in mind but you will see that sport hunting, which after all that is all about, takes place everywhere.

There is a real hunting tourism infrastructure that takes care of logistics, permits and that everything is in the framework of sustainability and not in danger. The specialists say that hunting is inherent to our condition and that there is a certain elegance and skill in it to leave it in the chest of history so soon.

The World Tourism Organization considers hunting tourism within sports tourism and it emphasizes the sustainability of the environment since, as in other types of tourism, the person is in direct contact with nature.

It is not about walking and buying souvenirs so not everyone has the money that this sport means. Especially if your game is big game hunting and you must travel to Africa… But on a small scale or at a micro level it is a sport that can also be practiced in provinces, rural areas or more isolated countries around the world.

Here the important thing is the presence of the State when it comes to regulations because we know that if he did not mediate, what happened before would happen: the total disappearance of species. With a regulated sport hunting the effect is the opposite and even often used to control the population of certain species that in case of exceeding a certain number they would attack others.

The presence of the State is of course from permits, fixing of hunting seasons, of authorization and control of the companies that offer this hunting tourism service.

Basically hunting tourism is divided into small game, big game and water game. The first two refer to the size of the dams and the second to the environment where it is practiced. Small game includes rabbit, turtle dove or partridge, For example. Big game includes wild boar, deer, and aquatic hunting the webbed and wader waterfowl.

On the other hand we have a market specially set up for the big money tourist, demanding in accommodation and services, another for specialized sport hunters and a third semi-informal.

Specialized sport hunters often move in select groups that travel to select locations in search of select species. The last group does not have as much money or as much demand and many times they do not even hire a tour group and move on their own.

Where hunting tourism is practiced

In Africa, of course. This huge and rich continent is the first destination that comes to mind and with good reason. There are African countries with animal reserves and they themselves organize safaris that may or may not be hunting, more expensive and exclusive, cheaper and simpler. Sometimes they are hunting and other times it is simply bird watching tourism.

I speak of Tanzania, Cameroon, Namibia. I speak of lions, elephants, gazelles, buffalo, crocodiles, antelope. Sometimes it involves practicing the sport and sometimes learning it with specialized guides. Permits must be processed and then stick to the amount that can be hunted or the days set for the hunt itself.

Leaving Africa Argentina In South America, it has become a hunting tourism destination for a while now. The Pampas and southern Patagonia offer their own with wild boars, buffalo, pigeons, ducks, goats, pumas or antelopes. More to the north Mexico offers the hunt of the jaguar and if we continue climbing they are Canada and United States.

Bears, giant moose, wolves, and American bison are favorites in North America and more in Alaska polar bear and small seals are hunted. In fact, Canada authorizes the hunting of more than thirty thousand seal pups and lynxes without moving a hair.

In the Asia Pacific region the beautiful nature of New Zealand and Australia It has also become a destination for hunting tourism and hunters march there looking for local cheetahs or deer.

Hunting tourism in Spain

Hunting has a lot of history since the particularities of its climate and geography form different ecosystems, each with its own species. It is particularly strong in rural areas, areas with less population due to migration to cities.

Some localities have turned to the sustainable tourist hunting and the results have been good as species have been revived that the indiscriminate hunting of previous centuries almost made them disappear. What's more is a source of income, generates more than five thousand direct jobs and moves about 240 million euros, only in Castilla-La Mancha, for example.

There are different types of sport hunting: filats, parany and dog and ferret, counter, silvestrismo, skipping, with bow, round, cowing and spearing Each one reveals a different methodology to hunt and capture the prey (traps in trees, nets or animals such as dogs, ferrets or birds trained for that purpose, shotguns, seedlings).

In short, that's what hunting tourism is all about: a prey, a hunter, a trip, a lodging, adrenaline in the veins and a trophy. Whether sleeping in a simple tent without a bathroom, in a charming country house, in a hotel, an estate or in a luxury camp under the African stars, the ancient hunting spirit is what unites these tourists.