It is easy to speak about “killing defenseless animals”, until you find yourself facing an animal that is far from defenseless. Predators, that often specialize in preying on humans, and big critters that may stomp you to death, raise your emotions to sky-high levels, and are a watershed between people who can keep a cool head in an emergency and those who can’t. How dangerous can dangerous hunting be, if you’re armed with a modern high-power rifle and typically accompanied by a PH or professional guide? If everything goes right, the risk is minimal; the problem is, things don’t always go as planned. One little mistake and the PH and you are both in mortal danger. The best-known representatives of “Dangerous Game” are the African “Big 5”: elephant, rhino, lion, leopard and buffalo. Recently there’s been a new “Dangerous 7” classification that also includes crocodile and hippo. Crocodiles are notorious man-killers, and hippo is not the big, kind giant from the zoo: when hunted on dry land, as it should be, it is remarkably agile and mean-tempered, not to mention hard to stop due to its sheer mass. However, you don’t have to go to Africa to find the game that will shoot back at you. A very dangerous quarry in the Northern Hemisphere is the brown bear. It is big, bigger than a lion, it is remarkably agile and intelligent, and it is a skilled and competent predator. Game like black bear, mountain lion, wolf and lynx should not be treated nonchalantly either. In the Southern Hemisphere, most notably Australia and Argentina, the water buffalo is a worthy match to the Cape buff, every bit as tough and bad-tempered as its African cousin. How to hunt dangerous game depends on the species. Ungulates such as Cape buffalo and elephant are usually hunted by a combination of tracking and stalking, while lion and leopard are in most cases hunted over bait. Ways of hunting brown bear depend on the area, and range from baiting to spot-and-stalk.