Originally Posted by
super_hunt54
Sometimes the hunter is in the way and the animal is going to clear a path one way or the other. That in itself does not negate the fact that it's a charge. You are trying to say that a "charge" is an actual attack when in fact, most "charges" are simply an animal clearing the escape route. There is a difference. Actual attacks are rare, you are correct in that fact but they do happen.
WRONG again. Those are not charges. An animal in flight mode or on a death run is not charging. It is merely going in the direction it is facing. Most the time they don't even know a hunter is there. They are just fleeing the place they got hurt and they have no intention of mixing it up with what hurt them or scared them. Here's an example:
About 15 years ago I was in the thorn brush along the Limpopo River which is the border between South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana. We were hunting a herd of blue wildebeest and while in heavy brush got between a mating pair of white rhino. The brush was so thick we didn't even know they were there. The cow went straight away from us and the bull came straight at us. He finally veered off at about 10 or 12 steps. I was lined up on him with a 375 H&H and my buddy who was the PH was lined up on him with a 450 Rigby. Neither of us fired because dropping a rhino is a serious thing and the trophy fee alone can run over $50K so you don't want to shoot one just because it got a little close to you. While this was a little hairy, this simply wasn't a charge. The animal was merely going in the same direction his nose had been pointed when he got spooked. He had his head up and wasn't carrying it low to try and hook us with that front horn which is what a charging rhino does. So, he got to go back to his lady.
I had basically the same thing happen with lion in Cameroon too. Not charging, merely trying to get out of the area of perceived threat in a big hurry. 2 went one way and the 3rd came at us and flanked to the left when it realized we were there. Lion was on open license in Cameroon and I've kicked myself for not taking that cat for the cost of the trophy fee. But the past is the past. Bottom line, a charge is when an animal is going after the hunter to do damage to the hunter. A flight path is not a charge and I don't care if it is a hog, a rhino or a rabbit. Actual charges are very, very rare and this video is not a charge. That hog was in flight mode after a very poor first shot which looked to me like it was about 2 inches too low.