on ethics and fair chase

[Doc]

Hunting is for population control not sport. Fair chase is silly, hunting is either a sport or it is for population control. Ethics and legality are not the same. I think you should be able to kill a set nimber of deer and the way you do it should be up to you.

Hunting is a time honored activity that has historical roots in our heritage and culture that go back centuries. And yes, it has been considered a sport long before man ever had a need for animal population control.

Doc

[Randy]

I guarantee you, 99.9 percent of the deer I have killed at 200+ yards never new the gig was up until 150 grains of mushroomed copper and lead passed through their vitals... They couldn't see me, (in my elevated box blind) the wiind was more than likely in my favor, and a few of them never heard the bang of the 270 WSM... Not ethical???

[redkneck]

I guarantee you, 99.9 percent of the deer I have killed at 200+ yards never new the gig was up until 150 grains of mushroomed copper and lead passed through their vitals... They couldn't see me, (in my elevated box blind) the wiind was more than likely in my favor, and a few of them never heard the bang of the 270 WSM... Not ethical???

Randy I am deeply ashamed of you. You should let me come up there and hunt it and let me see if I think it is unethical. :gun2:

[sskybnd]

I guarantee you, 99.9 percent of the deer I have killed at 200+ yards never new the gig was up until 150 grains of mushroomed copper and lead passed through their vitals... They couldn't see me, (in my elevated box blind) the wiind was more than likely in my favor, and a few of them never heard the bang of the 270 WSM... Not ethical???

Randy i can relate to what your saying here, the last deer i shot with my rem 270 was running up a draw chasing a doe, he never heard the shot and rolled head over heels, at that monemt i lost the desire to hunt any more couse i felt like i was just killing and the deer never had a chance, and that was over 10 years ago if not longer, i will use my muzzle loader a time or 2 during the year, but have found that i'l still shoot them with in 30 to 40 yards, so i have found that my challange is with my bow hunting i dont need to use a gun to harvest a deer, and i feel im giving the deer the best chance to give me my run for the money.

[elkoholic]

I guarantee you, 99.9 percent of the deer I have killed at 200+ yards never new the gig was up until 150 grains of mushroomed copper and lead passed through their vitals... They couldn't see me, (in my elevated box blind) the wiind was more than likely in my favor, and a few of them never heard the bang of the 270 WSM... Not ethical???

You never took away their ability to see (maybe a movement in the window of the box blind), or smell (sometimes the wind is fickle), or hear (bumped the side of the blind while getting in position). One thing is certain, long range, anything past 100 yards, sure does limit the quarry's ability to detect the hunter, but, it does not remove their ability to do so.

I could kill a respectable buck every year from my house, but then I like to hunt too much. I guess it depends on if you look forward to hunting season as a stretch of time to legally kill something or as a time to go hunting, with a kill just a part of the hunting experience. In my world, the means is more important than the end. Every hunt should be an adventure and although a kill may happen, just being out there with the possibility is often all I need. And, yes, I do like the good eating at the end of my season, but even that venison steak seems to taste a little better when I'm also savoring the memories of a good hunt.

[Doc]

That's an interesting point. If hunting was as easy as stepping out on your back porch and blowing a deer flat at a few hundred yards, and poof, fill out your tag, and your hunting was done for the season, I wonder how many people would think that was a good hunt? I'll bet even those who think there should be no ethical limits on hunting might eventually develop a negative view of hunting that was that easy. So, I think we all want some kinds of limits and handicaps on our hunting whether we want to admit it or not.

Doc