Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Personal Ethic Debate

So I was on another forum and the topic of shooting at game in a group came up. Most said they would allow the kids, new guys, or less successful hunters have the first shot in a situation like this. Somehow road hunting got brought up also. So I asked the question combining the two circumstances.

If you were in the middle of a long, hard hunting season and were heading back to camp at lunch time. Upon rounding a bend in the road on the National Forest land, you spotted one lone bull/buck crossing a field. There are 4 of you in the truck that all have valid tags. Would you:

A) Stop the truck and take a shot?

B) How would you decide who shoots or not? All or just one?


Got several answers from folks. Some thought it was Bush League.
Some thought it would be unethical for anyone to shoot.

I asked the question because I'm curious. Most of us strive to hunt away from roads and hunt as our mentors taught us. There are some dedicated road hunters, but at the same time you never know where a little luck would appear.

I watch/hear this scene play out in CO all the time during the elk seasons. As many times as I've experienced this, I'd almost wager that 8 out of 10 would take the shot and chalk it up to luck. Some of us might have the ethical standards of not shooting and I too think that is commendable. Just thought it would be fun to see how you guys feel.

Me personally, I hunt hard, and have shot most of my game far from roads over the years. On foot with no horses. On average I'm at least a mile from the road if not farther. Have had a few mulie bucks I thought were going to kill me before I finally got them back to the truck!

However, on public land, on a out of the way forest road, I'd take what lady luck offered me too. Gotta like the stupid ones also.

Just a thought. What say you guys?

It's illegal to shoot from a public road, so that would have to be factored in. Also, many if not most firearms accidents occur in/around vehicles, so IMO from a safety standpoint you have to think long and hard about jumping out of a truck and making a hurried shot, especially with a group. Things like, who are the guys in the truck, how well do you know them, do you trust them with your life, and so on/so forth. Also, I think any time you have to "jump out of the truck" and take a quick shot, there are some questions that you probably can't answer in time to make that shot. Is the game on public land or private? What's the backstop? Are there other hunters in the area or even maybe making a stalk on that game?

For those reasons, IMO, unless you're on a private road on your own property, it's dicey.

I'd agree. Let me add the qualifier of being on 100% Public land on two track forest roads or jeep trails.


Too many questions to answer like you said. Spur of the moment shots at moving game were not intended in this question. Just a critter walking from point a to point b.

Well, it's a fact that animals react much differently to a vehicle than they do a man walking down the road. You've seen it, you're in a truck driving down a logging road and you see a deer or an elk or a turkey and it just watches the truck roll by. But if you stop and get out, and they see a man, they're gone.

So the question is, is using a vehicle to get close to an animal "fair chase?"

For me, not if I intentionally use my vehicle that way. Like I stated in my original post, I've had this happen a handful of times while going to or coming from a hunting area/camp. Most times you are correct and the animal bolts. I've had a couple does not pay any mind to the vehicle and I was lucky to put meat in the freezer. That was a long time ago when I was a teenager and hunted a more accessible area. It is a place where 2 track roads literally carpet over 50 square miles or more of NF land.

Even in our new area, there are many roads and I've watched from way up on high as guys on the road stop, shoot, and kill an animal.


I would not use my vehicle for the sole intent of stalking an animal down. I'm talking about the complete, and utterly blind luck scenario.

I do take my personal ethics seriously. Just so everyone knows.


Just thought it would be a fun little debate.

Some elk/deer come hard,some come easy. I would not presume to dictate who in the truck would take the shot, but certainly there is nothing unetical about shooting as long as you are in compliance with laws and do it safely. What is the differnce in walking down a trail and rounding a bend and you see the game, riding a horse along the trail and getting of and shooting at an animal or riding along in a truck and stopping to shoot at one.

What if you were walking down that same road instead of in a truck and encountered the same situation? Would that qualify it as then being ethical to shoot?

If it occured with me and some butt hole next to me said I couldn't shoot as it was unethical.I would take the unethical stand and kick his arse out of the truck

The few prima donnas taht think that way are the same ones who are probably figuring out a way to shoot and release, like catch and release fishing

As far as road hunting goes, it is quite often that I have to hike several miles back into the bush/mountain/muskeg to find my quarry, often with a pack full of tent/sleeping bag/etc. The way I see it, that gives me the right to take a free gift when it's given to me. I figure I've earned it with all the times I have to hike like crazy before finding what I'm looking for.

When I'm hunting with other people, or guiding more than one person, we discuss before hand that whoever sees the animal first gets the first shot (or refusal). If both people see the animal at the same time, then we flip a coin or draw straws, before the hunt begins, for who gets first shot.

One evening we came out from the trails early, I don't remember why. There were four of us in my pard's SUV. We came around a bend and there were 8-10 elk coming up a draw about 350 yards away. My buddy Doug, who hadn't yet and still has not killed an elk, jumped out and ran the requisite distance off the road, went prone, got on 'em, and was ready to kill anything with horns. No horns.

I, being the junior member of the camp, didn't even load my rifle.

I figure Doug was being ethical (and legal), though it wasn't an elk to be particularly proud of if one had been kilt that day. I figure I was being respectful of my position in the camp.

I'm not a road hunter but that doesn't mean I'm going to pass on an animal I see from the road while driving if I have permission to hunt there. What I generally do is keep driving until I'm out of sight of the animal around a bend or over a hill. If I was the driver I doubt I'd be the shooter, I'd let someone else work back and try to make a stalk on the animal to within shooting range. There really is no need to get in a hurry and if you loose the animal at least you know they are in the area and that always makes me feel better.

I enjoy the hunt more than the killing anyway so if someone else wanted that opportunity then let them have it. I look at it this way if I'm the driver I'll decide who goes after the animal. I'm in control of the vehicle so I'm the one in charge of all the decisions period. I'll then wait at the vehicle for any gunshots. If I hear any I'll then head in that direction to go pick up my hunting buddies.

I hate road hunters as I've had many of pronghorn stalks ruined by guys driving up and not even getting out of the vehicle to make there shots. Especially when I've got a good spot and the animals are moving in my direction. Pronghorn hunters out where I hunt are the worst about hunting illegally. Where I hunt elk the worst offenders are the guys on ATVs.

Pop that one in Oregon, and one may find himself tagged for shooting Scruffy (full body decoy). I'm in no hurry to sacrifice my rights, arms, and ability to teach hunter safety classes. Once I've cleared the right of way though, deer beware.

As an aside, I attended a hunter safety conference this past weekend in central Oregon where the enforcement boys spoke. In a nearby unit, 14% of the deer population is taken legally. Another 13% involves at least one or more game infractions.

Due to past high fuel prices and the cost of travel in our poor economic times, poaching has declined slightly.

Personal ethics are just that. And everybodys is goona have different ones. Comparing them is just goona turn into an argument on a forum like this.

I wouldnt have a problem with it. Wouldnt have a problem if somebody else I was with took the shot either. I'm not a road hunter and I know that, But I'm also not goona look at a decent buck and say "no, its within 1 mile of the road, I'll pass..."

About the only thing that I see that I disagree with is your question on who shoots. If you really have to ask that question, then you got way to many folks with you IMO.

Things like this ussually sort themselfes out quickly when the opportunity takes place.

What if I were walking down the road? Well, I thought about that too, and I think the point I made above stands--if you're walking down the road any big game animal is a lot less likely to hang around and wait for you to take a shot. So, using a vehicle to get close to game is easier than walking up on game most of the time. Is it "unethical?" I can't answer that one. If it's legal, that depends on your individual ethics.

If I were on my own property, and I wanted a deer for the freezer, I'd probably take the shot. It's not what I'd call hunting though, and the result (a dead animal on the ground) isn't necessarily why I hunt.

On your second point, I'd agree with the poster above who said the driver makes the call. I'd turn your statement around and say, if I was driving, and some butt hole jumped out of my truck and took the shot without asking, that sumbitch would be walking back to town.

Does the meat taste diferent either way?

there is ethic's and there is anal, why wouldnt you shoot? thats what you came for aint it?

I dont think the buck/bull is gonna care if you rolled up in your truck or if you hiked all day, all the same to them.

Nope, but then again, it tastes the same if you hit it with the truck, shoot it after dark with a spotlight, or shoot it over a pile of corn.

If all I want is meat, I can go to the grocery store. If all I want is deer meat, I can go to a game farm. Saves a lot of hard work, walking around, trying to sneak up on the wild animals, that ain't no picnic I'll tell ya.

Why, come to think of it, if I get my meat at a game farm, I can drive up, kill my animal, and be back home in time for the football game on TV, wouldn't have to waste a week up in the mountains, wouldn't have to drag out all that damn camping gear, sleep on the ground, get up before dawn and all that other worthless stuff. Wouldn't have to walk all over the damn mountain and waste all that time looking for the stupid deer or elk, that is a muthah, I'm here to tell ya.

Wouldn't have to cut firewood and then sit around the damn campfire with a bunch of guys who can't even get their stories right half the time anyways. And I just hate the thought of drinking a cold one with those idiots, to tell the truth, I don't even like the guys I hunt with.

Yup, I think you're right, from here on out, if the meat tastes the same that's all that matters, I'm going to the game ranch!!!!!

Hunting, to me, means searching for a desired quarry, and making an effort to kill, and make use of (meat, clothing, etc), said quarry.

As soon as I get into a legal hunting zone or area, I'm hunting, whether in the truck or on foot.

I've I lived in one of those [bleep] up states that only allows me to take one buck, I'd say no as I'd want the season to not end.

Otherwise, I'd butt stroke my pards in the ribs and take out the deer.

As long as you abide by the laws I don't see any thing wrong with it.
One of the nicest mulely's my dad ever shot was bedded 60 yrds off the road and I just happen to see a glimmer of antler as I blew by at 50 mph. He had been bedding there for a number of Days from all the old beds that were in the area.
Dad would have shot me If I didn't let him shoot that buck.

I don't like road hunters much but if you see a legal animal and can hop out and shoot it legally why not. We did that one year driving back to the hotel to pack up and go home from deerhunting. I didn't even pick up my gun but my son and nephew pealed out and got one each.

That's not a bad way to decide who gets to shoot, I like it. The real question though is, when hunting from the truck, do you have a round in the chamber? And don't forget the other real question--what's the best cartridge for hunting from the truck? Also, I've always wondered if the Accubond is a good choice for hunting from the truck. Anybody have experience with that?