Out of my price range...not that I would hunt them. I might try a sheep hunt someday but wouldn't be spending 50K on it.

Supply vs. Demand.

If these hunts were $500 per head, then everyone and his brother would be up for it and then either:

(1) No game left,
or
(2) Impossible waiting lists for a chance someday.... sorta, maybe.

The premier huntingworldwide hasconsistently been the venue of the affluent. In many case the "exorbitant fees" paid by these clients underwrites a local economy that a $500 hunter would not benefit in any substantive way, especially in the more third worldsorts ofareas including the Inuit lands, Africa, and Asia. Obviously the owners get their share (simple capitalism) however there are underlings involvedthat rely heavily on this "connection" for sustanance, again, especially in 3rd world caliber areas).

Much outfitter bashing to come I am sure.

Afford it, sure you can. Just do a re-fi on your house and it is possible. I know someone who did it by doing just that. It wasn't a polar bear hunt but it was several high priced hunts in a package deal. Some people have the $$$$$ and some have the determination to go out an get it at any cost.Its all about how bad you want it.

They are endangered. Why would anyone want to kill one?

yeah since the ice burgs are melting there jacking the polor bear hunt way up. there was one on ebay for $60,000.

Give it 5-10 years, and theability to hunt polar bear might not even be there. $40K is a lot, but figuring it may not be around for much longer... it's worth the price for some people.

Dan has nailed the prices correct.

Clint, polar bears are not extinct, and are not going extinct. Don't believe everything you see on the news or read in your monthly WWF magazine.

I don't know if any of you caught the special last week on NBC for earth day. It featured some major propaganda about the worlds wildlife populations. Grant it about 10% of what they said was true but the rest was giving to them by the WWF and complete hog wash! It was great when they did the intervue from one of the news people while they were in South Africa. They kept saying hunters had depleted the wildlife population to near extinction levels. Okay, maybe that was true 50 years ago by the native hunters (not non-res hunters as they made it seem) They boasted about Krueger Nat park and its efforts to create a balenced habitat for animals was true. But then the corrospondent went on to say that the trend in wildlife managmentwas catching on! Then said there are a thousand plus game ranches setup in South Africa to preserve animals and habitate. That is until she started calling them GAME animals......LOL the dufuss didn't even know what she was saying. She also kept name dropping the WWF. I can bet the raches she was referring to was hunting preserves that all over S. Africa. Then when she started using the term Game animals and the WWF in the same sentence I couldn't help but laugh! What morons! But she was correct in the fact that the "game ranches" in fact due protect the overall animal populations from over hunting but they failed to tell you that there main business in hunting.

Last time I saw the price for African Lion, it was $50,000 too!