Ethics Test by the Hunting Gods

[KEC]

Has anyone felt their hunting ethics were tested by the hunting gods?
Mine were tested twice this year:
The first one was 3 weeks ago while hunting a specific buck on our property. Two bucks were full out fighting behind my stand 15 minutes before sundown, 75 yards over the line on my neighbor's property. They broke up after their fight to go in separate directions; the larger one (the one I had been after) headed towards my property only to stop 35-40 yds still off my line. I had my safety off, and a clear broadside shot but did not shoot because I had not met my new neighbor and don't have an agreement with him regarding matters similar to this. I lowered my rifle, the buck hung out for a short time and wandered back into the brush- Test #1 Pass!

The second test was 2 evenings ago. I was starting to prepare our dinner when I caught movement in our back yard from the kitchen window. I was shocked to see walking through my yard, in the wide open most likely one of the largest bucks I had ever seen! He wandered through the yard and up to a spot where I had dumped our pumpkins from Halloween and started to paw, kick and eat at them for 10 minutes just 45 yds from the back door. At that point while he was busy with his business I would have had plenty of time for an easy shot from my back door but instead opted to watch him instead, it just didn't seem right for him to go this way. I might be a fool, but we will call it -Test #2 Pass!

Does anyone else have an incident that could be an "Ethics Test" that makes you proud of the hunter you are??

 

[jcs271]

I was floating a large river here in Northwest Montana in my drift boat. The general hunting season was on and I had tags and guns with me. As I came around a curve in the river I saw something swimming. As I got closer I saw that it was a very large black bear. We were on a collision path and it was 100% legal to take him in that area and under those conditions from my non motorized boat. So even though I rowed a little closer just to get a good look at him, my conscience would not ever let me shoot a game animal that was somewhat trapped due to circumstances. The bear got a cheap thrill, I had a great experience, and we both managed to survive one more day.

 

[dhoover]

The buck on the neighbors, the swimming bear, I could easily pass but the backyard buck.... I don't know. It's been a long season with a lot of tag soup.

 

[mdwest]

I dont see the backyard buck as an ethics test... I see that as a gift from the Almighty... ''

Never test or question the wisdom of the Almighty....

I'd be eating backstrap for dinner that night

 

[Flbt]

Has anyone felt their hunting ethics were tested by the hunting gods?
Mine were tested twice this year:
The first one was 3 weeks ago while hunting a specific buck on our property. Two bucks were full out fighting behind my stand 15 minutes before sundown, 75 yards over the line on my neighbor's property. They broke up after their fight to go in separate directions; the larger one (the one I had been after) headed towards my property only to stop 35-40 yds still off my line. I had my safety off, and a clear broadside shot but did not shoot because I had not met my new neighbor and don't have an agreement with him regarding matters similar to this. I lowered my rifle, the buck hung out for a short time and wandered back into the brush- Test #1 Pass!

The second test was 2 evenings ago. I was starting to prepare our dinner when I caught movement in our back yard from the kitchen window. I was shocked to see walking through my yard, in the wide open most likely one of the largest bucks I had ever seen! He wandered through the yard and up to a spot where I had dumped our pumpkins from Halloween and started to paw, kick and eat at them for 10 minutes just 45 yds from the back door. At that point while he was busy with his business I would have had plenty of time for an easy shot from my back door but instead opted to watch him instead, it just didn't seem right for him to go this way. I might be a fool, but we will call it -Test #2 Pass!

Does anyone else have an incident that could be an "Ethics Test" that makes you proud of the hunter you are??

I would never consider shooting on the other property.

The one on the back yard. I don’t see a problem with.
But I have all ways lived where I hunted so that might be a difference.

 

[Arty0802]

Has anyone felt their hunting ethics were tested by the hunting gods?
Mine were tested twice this year:
The first one was 3 weeks ago while hunting a specific buck on our property. Two bucks were full out fighting behind my stand 15 minutes before sundown, 75 yards over the line on my neighbor's property. They broke up after their fight to go in separate directions; the larger one (the one I had been after) headed towards my property only to stop 35-40 yds still off my line. I had my safety off, and a clear broadside shot but did not shoot because I had not met my new neighbor and don't have an agreement with him regarding matters similar to this. I lowered my rifle, the buck hung out for a short time and wandered back into the brush- Test #1 Pass!

The second test was 2 evenings ago. I was starting to prepare our dinner when I caught movement in our back yard from the kitchen window. I was shocked to see walking through my yard, in the wide open most likely one of the largest bucks I had ever seen! He wandered through the yard and up to a spot where I had dumped our pumpkins from Halloween and started to paw, kick and eat at them for 10 minutes just 45 yds from the back door. At that point while he was busy with his business I would have had plenty of time for an easy shot from my back door but instead opted to watch him instead, it just didn't seem right for him to go this way. I might be a fool, but we will call it -Test #2 Pass!

Does anyone else have an incident that could be an "Ethics Test" that makes you proud of the hunter you are??

As long as it was legal to do so, I see no ethical issue with taking a shot at the buck in your backyard. I probably wouldn't shoot him while holding the backdoor open with one foot in the kitchen, but if I was able to sneak around the corner of the house or at least fully step outside....? Yeah, go for it. I've legally taken deer (just does, nothing exciting) from my driveway after seeing them through the window under similar circumstances as you've described. I don't personally see any issue with it. I obviously don't/wouldn't claim it as "hunting". More like "harvesting a target of opportunity". Just my two cents.

 

[farmer_john]

Has anyone felt their hunting ethics were tested by the hunting gods?
Mine were tested twice this year:
The first one was 3 weeks ago while hunting a specific buck on our property. Two bucks were full out fighting behind my stand 15 minutes before sundown, 75 yards over the line on my neighbor's property. They broke up after their fight to go in separate directions; the larger one (the one I had been after) headed towards my property only to stop 35-40 yds still off my line. I had my safety off, and a clear broadside shot but did not shoot because I had not met my new neighbor and don't have an agreement with him regarding matters similar to this. I lowered my rifle, the buck hung out for a short time and wandered back into the brush- Test #1 Pass!

The second test was 2 evenings ago. I was starting to prepare our dinner when I caught movement in our back yard from the kitchen window. I was shocked to see walking through my yard, in the wide open most likely one of the largest bucks I had ever seen! He wandered through the yard and up to a spot where I had dumped our pumpkins from Halloween and started to paw, kick and eat at them for 10 minutes just 45 yds from the back door. At that point while he was busy with his business I would have had plenty of time for an easy shot from my back door but instead opted to watch him instead, it just didn't seem right for him to go this way. I might be a fool, but we will call it -Test #2 Pass!

Does anyone else have an incident that could be an "Ethics Test" that makes you proud of the hunter you are??

Whats the difference between a kitchen window and a blind?

 

[Arac]

Oh man....yes, yes I have been tested.

I was involved in a bad accident many years ago and have been confined to a wheelchair since. My father passed away 2 months before that, when my kid brother was only 14. After a few years of rehab I started taking my brother out on various hunting excursions, trying my best to mentor and teach him.

We decided to head up to a stretch of the Fraser River (British Columbia) that in those days still held really good populations of California Bighorn sheep, so there was a general open season on 3/4 curl or larger rams. We made a plan and I dropped him off at the side of a logging road where he started hiking up the hillside towards a spot we had figured looked good on a map. I watched him work his way up the hillside for a bit.

I started driving back to camp and, not 500 yards from the spot where I left him and came up to a fenced field at the base of the hillside. And what do I see on the hillside on the other side of the field - well onto public land? A beautiful full curl ram. He was somewhere around 350 yards or so away from me.

Now, why would a guy in a wheelchair buy a sheep tag? So I rip back to the spot I dropped my brother off and see him just crest the ridge in the distance - I whistle and call out, but to no avail. I head back to where the ram was and....there he is. Posing.

I took out my rifle and aimed at him. Perfect, solid rest. He is facing me, motionless. The crosshair is on the spot it needs to be. I have no tag. I know will never get a chance to shoot a ram in my life if I don't take this opportunity. I should do it, the ram will drop, nobody will know, I'll drive off and wait for my brother to return and he can cut his tag.

BUT. What kind of example would I be setting? What kind of predicament would I be putting my brother in, who would do anything for me? What if he shoots one too?

I never thought I would have this chance, and I know it is now or never. But I passed.

I'd be lying to you all if I said that in the 30 years since I hadn't fantasized, many times, that maybe I should have just done it. But every time I do, I recognize that I did the right thing. And that came from inside me. I did the right thing when nobody was watching. And believe me, in the long run that is the better way to be.

So my advice, for anyone who cares to listen - just do the right thing. In your heart you will know what that is and it doesn't matter what anyone else says or thinks.

 

[Keelebilly]

I passed on the biggest buck that I’ve ever seen on my farm in a similar situation. Saw him cruising across my pasture while I sat at my kitchen table. It just felt like I would be cheapening the experience. That buck just wouldn’t mean anything to me. It would be just killing to kill instead of having an experience that I would be proud of

 

[KEC]

Whats the difference between a kitchen window and a blind?

I guess not much difference except with the blind a person in actively hunting, shooting from a house window seems more like killing and would not be a testament of woodsmanship or stealth and does not (in my mind) seem like the way I would want to claim this class animal. The "hunt" is more special than putting horns on the wall.

 

[KEC]

I dont see the backyard buck as an ethics test... I see that as a gift from the Almighty... ''

Never test or question the wisdom of the Almighty....

I'd be eating backstrap for dinner that night

That did cross my mind. Maybe buck#1 was the test and #2 was the reward.
I hope I wasn't looking a gift horse in the mouth, forgive me Hunt God...

 

[Flbt]

I guess not much difference except with the blind a person in actively hunting, shooting from a house window seems more like killing and would not be a testament of woodsmanship or stealth and does not (in my mind) seem like the way I would want to claim this class animal. The "hunt" is more special than putting horns on the wall.

See here one of the ethnic things again why I don’t really like ethnic’s.

I was raised that the reason for a kill was food
Not a trophy or testament to anything but the meat.
Or if a animal was doing damage to something.

Then again I don’t hunt for horns.

 

[Muskox]

The second test was 2 evenings ago. I was starting to prepare our dinner when I caught movement in our back yard from the kitchen window. I was shocked to see walking through my yard, in the wide open most likely one of the largest bucks I had ever seen! He wandered through the yard and up to a spot where I had dumped our pumpkins from Halloween and started to paw, kick and eat at them for 10 minutes just 45 yds from the back door. At that point while he was busy with his business I would have had plenty of time for an easy shot from my back door but instead opted to watch him instead, it just didn't seem right for him to go this way. I might be a fool, but we will call it -Test #2 Pass!

Does anyone else have an incident that could be an "Ethics Test" that makes you proud of the hunter you are??

Both would be illegal in my state.

1. Not my property.

2. Baiting deer.

 

[Bearbait1]

I once shot a caribou 50 yds away through the zipper opening of my tent. It didn’t bother me a bit. I had a friend that shot a moose in his garden with a bow through a cracked open door. I doubt he had any ethical qualms while he was packing the moose 50 yds to the garage.

 

[KEC]

I once shot a caribou 50 yds away through the zipper opening of my tent. It didn’t bother me a bit. I had a friend that shot a moose in his garden with a bow through a cracked open door. I doubt he had any ethical qualms while he was packing the moose 50 yds to the garage.

Agreed, I've packed several moose and would shoot one IN the garage if possible.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I have a camera set up on my back fence and a floodlight that illuminates a large oak tree behind my property. I throw some corn out and nearly every day I see some sort of wildlife. I am in the city limits, therefore can't shoot anything. Lots of temptation though.

 

[Bearbait1]

A friend of mine was moose hunting along the Yukon river and in the middle of the night he heard something moving outside his tent. Figuring it was a bear he grabbed his rifle and slowly unzipped the tent. 20’ away was a good bull moose which was clearly visible in the full moon light. He shot it and it ran 50yds and fell dead. In Alaska there are no shooting hour limitations, You just cant use any artificial light.

 

[farmer_john]

I guess not much difference except with the blind a person in actively hunting, shooting from a house window seems more like killing and would not be a testament of woodsmanship or stealth and does not (in my mind) seem like the way I would want to claim this class animal. The "hunt" is more special than putting horns on the wall.

Maybe im just ignorant on the intricasies but
I dont see how a blind = woodsmanship or stealth? A blind is a pre positioned box. (Kinda like a house ) designed to give the hunter greater comfort and advantage in the field.
And for clarity of deffinition im assuming some kind of comercial style blind.

And i never mentioned antlers buck or doe the process is the same

 

[zephyr]

Couple of years ago I had three Bucks in my pasture, sizes small medium and large. They were seen almost daily browsing right up to the fence line maybe 25 yards away from a small porch which I could step onto and watch them feed.. They were there during Archery, Rifle and Muzzle Loading seasons...

*** For "me" shooting one of them would have been just that shooting.. not hunting....

 

[Hunt anything]

I’ve shot bucks from my backyard that were in my cornfield, 2 last year on back to back days. Didn’t bother me a bit, we watch way more wildlife than we take off of our property but on occasion a deer or two has to pay the taxes for the rest of the herd.

Years ago I was on my very first guided big game hunt In Wyoming. I had tags for pronghorn and mule deer. On the first day I shot my pronghorn and the second I killed my mule deer. We caped them and I shipped the Hyde’s to my taxidermist because I didn’t have anyway to keep them frozen for the rest of our trip, I kept the antlers and horns with us. One night while in the library I was glancing at a Wyoming Fish & Game Regs book and I saw that to ship hides you had to have a special tag to accompany the hides. The harvest tags stayed with me. Lying there in bed that night my mind got to wondering about a possible Lacey Act violation. So the next morning my wife and I talked it over and decided to head down to WF&G headquarters in Cheyenne. I asked to see a LE officer, I was nervous as hell when I explained it to him what I had done out of ignorance. He sat there with a stern look on his face and finally broke out in a huge smile. He asked where the hides were and told him probably at the taxidermy shop at home and he handed over 2 tags and sent me on my way with a couple of WF&G hats.

I guess that’s a story of ethics getting in the way of a good nights sleep and if you try to do the correct thing it should turn out okay.