Sometimes I just get so confused. I always hunt within the rules set by the DFW and the state but am always confronted by "grey" areas.

It's legal but is there anything wrong with shooting a fawn with spots...
It's not legal but should youput a fatally MV injured deer out of it's misery..It's legal but is it ethical to run deer with dogs..

It's a very long list of self imposed standards that as a forum group elevates most of us above what the law requires but that doesnt' mean everyone who doesn't is not a sportsman.

Releasing an arrow at a deer at 150 yards is legal but is it ethical?You're on public ground andshoot a deer running by that another hunter hasjustshot. You run up and put your tag on it. It'slegal but is it ethical? Sometimes their are no grey areas on what's ethical!

whats not ethical in my eyes might be ethical in anothers.

no way we will ever all agree on ethics...

if it's illegal, it's illegal, if it's not, it's subjective ....

The legality of some things does not always make it morally correct or ethical.

Morals are what you are raised with, ethics are a system of moral values (usually associated with a profession). My set of morals may be totally different than yours due to the different environments we were both raised in. As a professional soldier is is unethical for me to use a 30MM anti aircraft weapon to shoot at infantry soldiers. HOWEVER, if I was out of ammo for my individual fighting weapon and the enemy was coming on strong and there happened to be a 30MM sitting there, I might be encouraged to use that weapon for self preservation.

In reference to your statements:

1. It is legal to shoot a fawn with spots. This may be true, and in a life or death situation where the doe was alerted and the fawn was left behind, I might take that fawn for the food. If it simply a choice between the fawn and tag soup, soup it is.
2. It's not legal but should youput a fatally MV injured deer out of it's misery. If I hit a deer with a MV and it is mortally wounded, I am going to call law enforcement and if there is going to be a long wait before an officer can respond, I would notify them that I was going to finish the job that my truck started but would stand by until the officer arrived if needed. I have done this in the past on one occasion. The dispatcher informed me to standby until an officer arrived. I was fortunate enough to have witnesses that saw that the deers legs were broken and could not have continued to survive. When the officer arrived and heard the statements all was fine.
3. Its legal but is it ethical to run deer with dogs. In Europe it is common practice to run stags with dogs until they are too tired to run any futher and then to come in and kill the stags with lances. It is accepted practice there to do so, but I find it morally wrong and therefore would not participate in that type of a hunt.

In each case one has to decide whether or not they can live with what they have done and whether or not it is worth the penalties if they break the law.

Legal is one thing, those laws are the bare minimum put in place to keep the completely witless from encroaching on regular people. Morals and ethics are what you do when no one is watching. They are also what keep you from or help you sleep at night.

Laws are what we follow so that we can live with everyone else. Ethics are what we follow so that we can live with ourselves .

Why are you confused? Legal is what the law says you must do or not do. Morals are what your heart tells you. WE are all never going to agree on what is moral but if we all follow our hearts and respect others, things will work out. I will respectfully disagree with your statement that people that arent ethical are sportsmen.

As long as you can live with yourself.

A fawn with spots may be a first hunters dream....anything that is done...that is legal....shot result in an animal that does not suffer....