[fabsroman]

"God knows there are already enough of the hunting shows where the story line is far removed from what actually happened on the hunt."

I'll whole heartedly agree with that statement, and I was glad to see that they aired an unsuccessful hunt.

As far as the muzzle control is concerned, I would hate for a trigger to get caught on "a couple of wait-a-bit thorns" as the muzzle is pointed at my backside.

Regarding the use of a sling, to hold the guns, there are ways to use one so that the sling won't get too much in the way. The first way that comes to mind is by slinging the gun in front of you with the muzzle pointed to the bottom left and the butt up to your right shoulder. If these guys are "professional hunters" they should be able to deal with the sling or they should be conditioned enough to carry a big rifle all day long or they should just not hunt when they cannot carry the rifle properly.

As far as comparing the miltary to these "professional hunters", there is no comparison. Military personnel do not have the luxury of staying home because they do not feel like carrying their gear. They HAVE to go into life threatening situations, regardless of how much their arms hurt or not.

If I were to go on a dangerous game safari, I would prefer to get mauled by whatever I am hunting, because that is a choice one makes when they decide to hunt dangerous game, instead of getting a .416 Rigby in my back because the "professional hunter's" gun got caught on "a couple of wait-a-bit thorns."

As far as the movies are concerned, yeah, they exhibit horrible muzzle control, but something tells me that muzzle control isn't on the producer's mind (i.e., most of the people in Hollywood do not even know the rules of proper firearms safety). These OLN shows are hunter related and I would hope that OLN is trying to promote the sport and educate people about the sport.

With all that said, I am sorry to hear about your friend. That really does suck and hearing about that kind of stuff makes me re--think going to Africa on a dangerous game hunt and/or hunting grizzly here in the USA.