Belize: Organized Big Game Hunting Returns
(posted September 15, 2010)
Correspondent Tom McIntyre tells The Hunting Report that big game hunters will again be able to hunt in the Central American country of Belize. Technically, it was never "closed." Here is a teaser to the story McIntyre has for the October issue of The Hunting Report:
"Wedged between Mexico and Guatemala on the western Caribbean coast, Belize, or as it was then called, 'British Honduras,' was a well-known jaguar-hunting destination from colonial days in the late 1940s up through its name change and independence in 1981 and for a time afterward. But the "endangered" status of the jaguar, and total protection of the big cat in Belize, dried up the market for big-game hunting in the country, and for the better part of a quarter of a century Belize has remained almost exclusively a top fishing destination for bonefish and other flats and river species. But that may be about to change.
"Even though hunting has remained open over the years, commercial guiding and outfitting operations have been virtually non-existent. Now, a local fishing-, diving-, wildlife-, and adventure-tour operator and a California-based agent are planning to offer organized big-game hunting in the spring of 2011. Certain stipulations will apply to the hunting: The only hunting firearms allowed in Belize are shotguns, but the outfitters are also planning to offer bow hunting; and all harvested meat will be donated to the needy through local missions. Although jaguar won't be available, the list of indigenous big game they plan to offer looks impressive, and includes brocket deer, white-lipped peccary, ocellated turkey, and a kicker (literally) that certainly caught my attention-feral water buffalo.
"Look for my full report on this newest big-game opportunity in the October issue of The Hunting Report." - Tom McIntyre, Hunting Report Correspondent.