This is a long one, but I feel all hunters need to take this short amount of time in your life to read this. I'm positive it will change the way you think about the unnecessary word, "ethical."


I've yet to see a customer enter a bank with a sign hanging around his neck that states, "Have No Fear, I'm Not A Bank Robber." Businessmen, childcare, emplyees, priests, welders, bakers, auto mechanics, teachers, cops, volunteers, and everyone in between also do not belabor the point that they are ethical people. We expect them to be ethical, and of course the vast majority of them are. No call for warnings, apologies or excuse-making necessary, thank you.

Granted, there are unethical scumbagsin every proffessional and recreational pursuit, but they are the extreme lunatic fringe minority. For any group of people to constantly focus on promoting their ethical standards is, in my opinion, cause for suspicion and scrutiny. This is exactly the reason why the hunting community should tone down the ethical message that is so often trumpted on hunting television shows and in articles.

I don't know an unethical hunter. Never met one, and I've hunted with and/or guided thousands of hunters over the past fifty or so years. Of course I've heard of them from the Dan Rather, culture-war mongrels in the media who live to expose the most egregious conduct each hunting season. That being said, everywhere I travel, I am approached by people and families of imaginable description, smiling and excitedly expressing enjoyment of my hardcore Spirit of the Wild hunting TV show, my prohunting and progun books, articles and interviews across the land. I travel constantly and have never had a negative comment. And I'm an absolutist. You'll never hear an apology from me for my hunting lifestyle.
The overtly cautious and oftentimes apologetic tone that so many in the hunting community and industry have adopted sickens me. It's almost as if the contest to see which host or writer can claim to be the world's most ethical hunter, which does nothing but cast a dark cloud over the entire hunting community as if "ethical" is a rarity and must be emphasized. My radar is on full alert when I hear someone proclaiming to be ethical--even if the person is ethical. Ethical behavior is still expected where I live, work and play. There is no need to claim on it.

The reason some in the hunting community have adopted this wrong-headed approach of constantly talking about hunting ethics is that they believe it will take some of the sting out of the anit-hunting numbnut's morally and ethically bankrupt ideological vacuity. These fellow hunters couldn't be more wrong in their approach to portraying hunting. Their very well intentioned approach puts hunters on the defensive.

Non-hunters expect and believe hunters to be responsible and ethical folks just as they don't expect the local cop to take bribes. Non-hunters know that hunters don't intentionally inflict undue pain and suffering on critters.
Only a sick and twisted demonic monster would do such a thing. They are not average hunters.

So why bring undue and unwarranted suspicion to an honorable community that has nothing to hide? It literally baffles me. If the guys who consistently talk about hunting ethics believe for a second that uplifting the image of hunting and attracting new hunters, they are dead wrong.
I'm not falling into this ethical hunting morass. The more we talk about it, the more we become bogged down in the murky mud of suspicion. It immediately puts hunters on the defensive when we have nothing to be defensive about. Instead of constantly worrying if our halo is polished bright enough to please everyone, the path we need to take is to constantly promote how much fun hunting is and how exciting hunting can be. This is why my award winning Spirit of the Wild television program focuses on the fun factor. Have you noticed that?

If the subject turns to ethics by non-hunters, I first tell them hunters are ethical for the simple reason that they buy a hunting license. I choose to educate them that it was hunters who demanded an end to the wholesale market slaughter of game. I tell them that hunters dollars are used to sustain both game and non-game alike, including songbirds. I then tell them that it would be highly unethical for us not to hunt, as game would quickly overpopulate and create any number of environmental disasters for both fauna and flora. Clearly, it is this hands-on conservation connection with the good earth through hunting, fishing and trapping that brings balance each year and is integral to sustaining realworld biodiversity. These are the standard ethics of everyone I hunt with and know. None of us bother mentioning it. We simply live it and exude it.

America's sporters must refocus our message on the fun factor of hunting. It is the ultimate extreme sport. Skateboarding, windsurfing and skiing will never compare with outwitting a mature whitetail buck, calling in an omniscient wild turkey, or blasting dive-bombing, supersonic ducks out of the sky. There is no other sport or recreational pursuit that can compare with the goosebump thrillride of an up close and personal hunting adventure. Stare a black bear in the eyes and tell me thats not heart-pounding excitement. I couldn't be more convinced this message is the missing link in promoting hunting.

Of course hunters are ethical. There is no reason whatsoever to even discuss such a simple truism. No amount of yammering about hunting ethics is going to attract new people to the hunting fold or convince poeple to the hunting fold or convince people that hunters are better than anti-hunters. Speaking about hunting ethics to the non-hunting community does more harm than good. Nobodys asking.
No one would be attracted to NASCAR if the drivers constantly spoke about ethical racing habits. People watch NASCAR because it is fun to watch cars speed around the track at 200 mph. Just as people watch NASCAR because racing is exciting, people watch hunting shows to witness exciting hunting adventures, not to get a lesson on how ethical hunters are when there is absolutely no need to discuss it.
Hunters are the good guys. We don't need to walk around with figurative signs around our necks that say, "I'm an ethical hunter." Thats the wrong approach. My sign says hunting is a ball of exciting fun. Please join me in my crusade to spread that good word. No apologies.
Hunting Illustrated, June/July 2005
By Ted Nugent

I agree with Ted's MAIN ARGUEMENT.Do you? Everyone feelfree to voice your opinion.
*edited because I said I agree with mr.nugent 100%. I have caught about three or four things that I disagree with.