Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Ethical or not? 1376 yard elk by a 12 year old

Ethics is defined by you for you, and by me for myself.

What I have is none of your business. And what you prefer to do is none of mine.

Some of us will gravitate to each other obviously because we think along the same lines.

Others only toss stones when its not their way.

My instructors book from teaching hunter education backs this up and always has.

And if your ethics don't change as you age, then you may have a problem in progression according to what normally happens.

LOL...

What does it say specifically, your instructor's book?

kingston,

My question is, what does ethics have to do with hunting? My concern is guys who act like Democrats and try to get others to do it their way. I remember a guy here in Oregon at one of the meetings wanted the state to make it illegal to use anything smaller than 6.5mm for elk. The group didn't like it. If he doesn't want to use a .257, don't. If you don't like long range hunting, where ever that starts, don't participate.

Ringman, many of our hunting regs are based on fair chase and ethics. Like bans on spotlighting and aerial gunning.

Any person who asks the question that Ringman just asked really shouldn't be hunting, IMHO.

Of course, the level of epic stupidity inherent in many of his questions and posts almost defies the law of exponential growth of human ignorance, so that that for what it's worth.

smokepole,



I agree. They are based on what some in authority think are fair chase and what some in authority consider ethical. I agree with them on some things and disagree with them on other things. Until things change I will obey the laws on the books. When the laws change I will obey the new laws. For me ethics have nothing to do with hunting; except the ethics of obeying the laws.

Ringman, fair chase is a conceptual framework through which the ethics of sport hunting is explored. Fair chase is not a rule. Likewise, ethics are not rules. Your limited personal definitions of many terms integral to this discussion prevent you from participating in a meaningful way.

kingston,



"Fair chase is not a rule." Tell that to the Boone & Crockett folks.

"Likewise, ethics are not rules." That is your concept, not mine and many others. My ethics demand I obey God's Word and the laws of the land. My folkways demand I open doors for folks in wheelchairs or crutches or even women.

In my instructor's book it says ethics are "what you do when no one is watching". That's verbatim.

I also believe a man's character has much to do with that decision as well. I question the ethics of the father in the OPs original post. The kid is just doing what dad tells him...unfortunately, he's also learning from that experience.

Legal does not equal ethical, and vice versa. You can do things that are illegal but ethical, and legal but unethical.

I agree. It seems some (more than 1) don't understand that.

Also - I don't know that I'd call it honoring an animal altho I understand the attitude, I do think we should 'regard' or 'appreciate' the animals that we shoot, harvest, kill. I think blatant disregard of wildlife opens the door to things we would not call good.

Jerry

That's a scary statement. Ethics is about morality. It's hard to imagine a man that takes the scripture so seriously but can put his morals in a box and say when they apply and when they don't.

So we have made it clear we all have our own set of values. I think OP's original statement applies to the customs and values of the group as a whole. For example, it's customary to hunt lions with dogs, it's customary to hunt coyotes with long range gear, it's customary to snag paddlefish, trap foxes, etc. So as a group it's up to us to decide what is acceptable or not for elk hunting. I'd like to hear some ideas on what that looks like....

For me it's fairly simple. Not taking a shot that I have no business taking because it's just as likely I'll wound the elk and lose it as kill it. A lot more goes into that than shot selection, including lots of practice, having an accurate weapon, good ammunition (or arrows) and being proficient enough to know the difference between a high percentage shot and a risky one.

That's one reason I defend LR hunters in these debates--they tend to take shooting seriously and put a lot of effort into it. Unlike some detractors (not aimed at anyone here) who still have the same box of ammo they bought three years ago. Lack of effort in becoming proficient is unethical in my opinion.

One of the problems in these debates is that people confuse a "personal ethic" with "ethical/unethical." A personal ethic is just how someone chooses to approach something. If a guy only wants to kill bulls he calls into bow range that's his personal ethic. But if he wants to put out a pile of corn to draw them in, it's pretty much universally agreed that is unethical, and it's illegal because of that universal agreement. I don't think we're anywhere near universal agreement that LR hunting is unethical.

Ringman will never catch on to the level of hypocrisy he's just exhibited, nor will he understand why it's hypocritical.

Absolutely mind blowing hilarity coming from you. You cover these forums with your version of what's moral preaching to the rest of the mere mortals and then you say that?

You just can't make this stuff up...

I never understood the username, now I see that what he meant to call himself was "Circularargumentman".

Well said Smoke.

wildcat33,



Recently I posted on this subject and included Obeying God's Word and the laws of the land. There are people who think using the Bible as your standard is unethical. The idea of ethics presupposes morality which presupposes an Ultimate Standard. There is only One. He has given His standard in His Word, the Bible.

seems there is more to morality than what the bible teaches.