Ethical Hunting - Every Hunters Resposibility

I found this article over at the Seminole Brass and Bullet blog

Ethical Hunting – Every Hunters Responsibility
Author: Bob Darrah
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

As I look at my hunting equipment a couple of things occur to me. First, My goodness I am spoiled! I have rifles, scopes, rangefinders, binoculars, shooting sleds and a bunch of other equipment to numerous to mention. Second, at one point or another I felt I absolutely needed every one of these items to become a better hunter. Do I really? Probably not, but it sure does make me feel better when I use them to fill my tags.

As a young boy growing up in the Midwest I can still remember getting my first gun and the responsibility lessons that came along with it. Most of it made sense but some of it I had to figure out. My first gun was at age 7 and it was a BB gun. I was only allowed to shoot at cans, flowers, pieces of wood, or any other non-living things that I could find that did not require too much clean up. I begged my father to let me shoot coots on one of our ponds so I could have the feeling of shooting something that reacted. I was always told no because the BB gun would not kill the bird, it would only be inflicting pain and besides that we could not eat it if I were to kill it. Well, being 7 I knew I was much smarter than my father so I snuck down to the pond one day and lined up a coot in my sites. After checking to make sure nobody was around I let him have it. That bird flew away, after squawking, flailing and making enough noise for everyone to hear within a mile radius. Of course, my Dad was only about an eighth of a mile away. Needless to say I understood what he meant about the inflicting pain part for a few days after that.

read more

Ballistics Calculator

I recommend visiting this new site and plugging in your favorite loads. We all strive for one shot kills - this calculator can help and it is way cheaper than figuring out bullet drop and wind drift on your own. Enjoy...

Winchester Ballistics Calculator

Winchesters' award winning ballistics calculator is considered the most advanced one on the market, using cutting-edge technology to provide ballistics information for shooters and hunters.

The Winchester Ballistics Calculator allows users to choose their type of ammunition and compare bullet types with easy to read and high-tech ballistic charts and graphs. Enter specific conditions like wind speed and outside temperature, adjust zero marks for sighting in, and then view the ballistics of your favorite load.

Profile of a responsible hunter

We've all seen slob hunters - similar to the description of pornography by one of our Supreme Court Justices - "you know it when you see it". That is one extreme, but what criteria needs to be met to be a responsible hunter? We all think we are one, but are we?

Here is my opinion of the criteria that needs to be met:

1) Safe - bottom line is you must follow the safety rules for gun handling and hunting. If you endanger yourself, others or property you are not a responsible hunter.

2) Lawful - Game laws can be complicated and tempting to bend or break. But they have a vital purpose and must be followed to the letter and spirit.

3) Clean Kill - Responsible hunters only shoot at game they know they can kill, not to see if they can hit it. Stuff happens, but we do everything we can to make one-shot kills. Excuses like I didn't have time to sight in, or practice or check my pattern don't make it. Taking shots byond your ability to hit the vital area, moving shots if you are proficient at them and high risk angle shots are other no-no's. Among the worst are the "bowhunters" who brag about sticking deer - ahhhh - a great way to lose hunting.

4) Full Utilization - If you kill it; you (or someone else) eat it. If you don't like mergansers and don't know anyone who does - don't shoot them. For game like moose, it takes planning ahead to be sure you can get it out of the woods and cool it down before it spoils, not as easy as you might think. The exception to this rule is damage shooting. But that is different than hunting and I still think the critter should be used if at all possible, even if it is just cleaning the coyote skull for the local Boy Scout troop.

5) Practice Fair Chase - If it is a 100% guaranteed kill or the animal can't get away, it is not an ethical hunt. The outcome of the hunt must be in doubt up to the instant the trigger is pulled. Anything else is just shooting or slaughtering. Within this definition is lots of room and it will vary between hunters and even for the same hunter at different times of their lives.

There is inherent conflict between fair chase and clean kill. If you erect to high a barrier to harvest, say using a homemade stick bow, you could without a lot of discipline, set your self up for wounding animals because your skill level is not high enough to be successful under reasonable conditions. More on fair chase and hunter preference in future posts!

6) Support Conservation – This applies primarily to more experienced hunters. I don’t think you can call yourself a responsible hunter unless you are actively supporting wildlife conservation beyond buying licenses and paying tax on equipment and ammo. We need to be in the arena supporting scientific management and environmentally sound policies both politically, physically and monetarily.

I also don’t think paying dues to a hunting club or conservation organization is enough. It is a great start but not enough. We need to be actively engaged with that club, doing habitat work on the ground and making those phone calls to legislators. It also means building support for conservation and hunting, like taking a kid hunting and showing the neighbor kids how to read sign.

As you can see, I think there is more to being a responsible hunter than what happens at the instant you touch the trigger. All of this together is what makes hunting such an engaging and ever new and challenging activity.

I’d love to hear your thoughts ….