How honest are we?
I visit another site regularly and will post there at times as well. That site is a little less moderated than here so some different points of view tend to surface there that wouldn't be allowed here. (Not saying that is a bad thing) Overall the folks who post there seem to be a good group of hunters. Recently there was a "hypothetical" question asked, as well as a poll. It was a situation where you are allowed one deer per day, you kill a buck 2 miles away from your vehicle, and on your way to get your vehicle to load the deer up you spot the "buck of a lifetime" for an easy shot, would you shoot.(remember, you've already shot one 2 miles away, and your only allowed one per day) Well the guys who took time to write a comment, 90% of them said they would have to let the buck of a lifetime go and hunt him the next day. But, and here is the kicker, on the poll which lets you remain anonymous, barely half that answered said they would not shoot the "monster buck". Granted, only 30 something people have answered the poll which isn't a great # to base any true percentages on. But it still blew my mind. I always thought the overwhelming majority of hunters were legal, but maybe I am totally wrong. It just got me to thinking about how that same poll would come out with the guys/gals on this site. Of course it would almost have to be done anonymously because anyone who has visited this site for longer than a couple months knows there are a lot of true die-hards here etc, and they would never answer honestly if their nickname appeared beside their answer.
Their were some guys that answered honestly with their words and nicknames, and their justification for doing it surprised the he!! out of me. Maybe I just think different than most hunters or I am truly ignorant of the real number of hunters who aren't totally honest in how they take game, I don't know. I just take hunting, and the future of hunting very serious. I don't think there are degrees of poaching, and there is no justification whether it is a buck of a lifetime, or a yearling doe. Just made me wonder what the results would be if the same thing was asked here. I'm not asking anyone to answer the question, just venting a little bit. If a person wants to poach (which is what that hypothetical situation was asking) then there probably isn't much I can do about it other than make the proper phone calls if I know of it. I just have no tolerance for people that poach. Doesn't matter to me if they are spotlighting with a rifle, or shooting 2 deer when they should only take one. To me, it's all the same.
--Man who fish in other man's well often catch crabs--