Opinions On..........

[Lawdog]

Nitro Express Safaris
Featuring
Mark Sullivan ~ Professional Hunter

More than anything. it demonstrates my manner and method of hunting dangerous game. Rather than shooting the great and noble beast into oblivion from a safe distance, my clients and I choose instead to walk up and give the animal a choice of how he is to die in battle.

Go to http://clashradio.com/DVD/sullivan-video/ or
http://clashradio.com/DVD/sullivan-video/nitro.mpg to view a short clip of his ad.  My questions are for any that know or heard of him.  Is this guy for real?  Would you book a hunt with him?  Has he ever got anyone hurt?  Opinions Please.  Lawdog
 

[Don Fischer]

That first bull was definitely wounded, blood coming out of the nose at the charge. I believe I saw one of this guy's videos a Nosler's pro shop a number of years ago. It was sicking! It appeared that animals were wounded on purpose for the sake of making the video. In the one I saw, a buffalo was shot several time's at fairly close range, all bad shot's. You could see the point of impact at each shot. Then with the buffalo on the ground, the white hunter by passed a couple good killing shot's to get into position to encougage a charge, it was obviously not necessary.

I watched one more on that tape. A lion laying on the ground was brutalized with bad shot's. unfortunately for  the white hunter, one shot, about the 4th, killed the lion.

This guy say's he gives the animal the choice of how it want's to die but I really don't see that. I believe that death should be dignified and humane. I saw neither in the video I watched at Nosler. In this one, I'ed like to see the shot's that lead to wounded animal's. If he is wounding them on purpose for the sake of video footage, he's a scum bag!!!!

[AfricanHandgunner]

Lawdog, sure go ahead and book a hunt with MS.  I hope you don't mind him shooting your trophy.  This guy is a joke.

[Lawdog]

Lawdog, sure go ahead and book a hunt with MS.  I hope you don't mind him shooting your trophy.  This guy is a joke.

I never said I was thinking about booking with him just wanted opinions of this "nut"(my opinion of anyone that entices an animal into charging just for the thrill of it).  Also wondered if anyone had ever heard of this guy getting a client hurt?  We are already in the process of booking our Tanzania Safari so have no interest with this guy at all.  Lawdog
 

[oso45-70]

From what i can see, I think the man's a nut case and would not book with him for all the tea in china.............Joe.............

[Tom H.]

This guy needs to get over himself right this minute.

Tom

[GEMSBUCK]

Love him or hate him, you've got to hand it to the man. He has found a way to make a few $ out of hunting.
 Would I book with him, sure why not long as he understands I shoot my own game and no bravado from him.
 I'd rather keep the D in DG than snipe away from 150 yds. IF we are up tight on a buff and I shoot his gun better not go boom as long as I have a lethal hit an the buff is not charging us.
 BTW I've seen but 1 or 2 of this videos and in all cases thew clients looked scared stiff as Mark calmly instructed the nimrod on what to do. the exception as I saw it was when game was poorly hit Sullivan opened up...can't blame him for that. If I was the PH I'd do the same thimg.

[Yukon Jack]

His not allowing the client to finish a wounded animal with the first opportunity rubs me the wrong way.  For him to make or agitate the animal into charging him, passing up opportunities to finish the animal sooner, just doesn't suit my sense of ethics.  The guy is an ego maniac.  From what I've seen of his videos, if your Buff or whatever doesn't go down and he's given the opportunity to make it charge, he will shoot it for you and wear the hero crest on his chest.

I just don't think we'd get along at all.

[GEMSBUCK]

Yukon: How many of the clients in his films do you know? Could it be they agree to this "style" of hunting knowing Mr. sullivan is filming the shoot? could they have gotten a rate at less than his normal daily rate while the filming is going on? I do not know, but I also doubt you do either!
 As for his not finishing the game animal at the very first chance...whom knows what actually lies on the editing room floor???
 do you think John Wayne walked into a Holliwood set boom boom dropped the bad guys and stopped filming in 3 minutes??? Naw I don't either. Gemsbuck

[Yukon Jack]

I did speak with him last year at SCI and that is exactly the impression he gave me.  That is the impression he wants to portray, true or not.  If an animal is wounded, he said he always gives it the opportunity to choose how it dies.  Period.  That means he has to confront it and provoke it into a charge.  Not my style, nor anyone style's that truely cares about the animals they hunt.

I have met and spoke with him in person, what about you?

[Tom H.]

I have not met Sullivan, but it's obvious that the video isn't about the shooter or the game, it's about him.
I would hope that on a trip to Africa with the expenses involved, the safari should be centered on the animals and the person paying the freight.  I know that there are certainly some people who are attracted to someone like this,  I'm not.
 JMHO.

Tom

[msorenso]

Yukon Jack what is sci??  Thanks

[GEMSBUCK]

YJ: several times

Msorenso:
SCI= Safari Club International

[Minkman]

Yukon,

I have met and spoke with him in person, what about you?[/quote]

Having said this, do you feel the guy is whacky?

On another forum, one member hunted with him and stood up to all kinds of abuse that he wasn't the commercial MS on his hunts, plus he didn't shoot his game out from under him.

Still there is something about his eyes, his letting a buff drag itself around on it's front legs while waiting for the camera angles to be right.

The stalks and hunt setup parts aren't bad, but I can only watch so much of the stalled finishing shots.

Anyway, Tanzania hasn't yanked his license, animal rights hasn't used his footage, and he is still selling tapes at 30-50USD. I feel fortunate in getting mine from Westley Richards for $19 each.

What would the Alaskan Guide Assn or licensing board do with a similar type of guide doing this with Brownies?

Thanks

Jerry

[AfricanHandgunner]

Tom H- Very well said.  You hit the nail on the head in describing this guy.

[GEMSBUCK]

that's why they build Ford trucks and Kias what one guy sees as a piece of crap another adores.
 I highly doubt more than .01% of the posters whom bad mouth Sullivan have ever hunted with him or with anyone else in Africa for DG.

[warf73]

I've seen several of Mr. Sullivan’s tapes; I have never met him or hunted DG.

But have any of you been on a filmed HUNT? Very few if any have.

I can tell you that what is on film (seen on Tapes or TV) is nothing like what happened.
My father helped put on guided hunt for Canadian Goose 3 years ago.
The hunt was aired on the Outdoor Channel. What was aired on TV was nothing like what happened in the field.
Other than the geese coming out of the sky the rest of the hunt was edited in.
The shooting scenes nope nota weren’t real.
The dog retrieving the geese nope nota weren't real.

There were over 2 boxes of shells (50 shot shells) wasted on the shooting scenes. Yup that’s right 50 shells shot into the air to get the different angles they wanted.

The dog retrieving the geese. The geese were placed out in the decoys and the dog was sent out to retrieve them. Over hour spent on filming the dog retrieving dead geese.

So for a 30min. show on the Outdoor channel it took 2 days of filming about 8 hours total in the field. The actual hunt as in shooting the geese was less than 1 hour each day.

So I don't know how they film DG but if it’s anything like Goose its very long and drawn out.

Warf

[GEMSBUCK]

warf: few years ago I was invited to join Dave watson for the filming of a caribou hunt in northern Quebec for Bushnell's Secrets of the Hunt Tv show. It was an archery hunt, you are correct while the rest of us hunted and got filmed shooting 'bou with our bows Watson hunted with a rifle. Then pivked up his bow and posed for pictures with the largest bull killed out of 22 hunters that week. I know I killed that bou.
 When the show aired  anyone watching it would swear Watson killed that animal...even had good footage of him drawing his bow on it, etc.
  20 minutes of that 30 minute show was about hunting Quebec/caribou of that 19 minutes were staged.....the entire trip was a joke. I have been contacted since to do other films with Watson....I NEVER even reply to his emails!!!!!!