Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Zaks post got me thinking.

What has determined your ethics? Why do you follow the ones you do?
Legality dictated? That's how you were raised? Arbitrary decision about something you've never experienced? Other people's influence? Years of experience that has led you to follow a certain path? I think this is just as curious a question as actually knowing what your ethics are. It's interesting to know HOW you arrived at those ethics.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

How I was raised is a big part of it. But stiff penalties and the possibility of going to jail gives a lot of people their ethics. I would love to hunt trophy bucks into February but of course its illegal so I don’t. I have had two really nice ones come out on me while hog hunting in February. I wanted to shoot them badly but I did not. My ethics came from the game laws on those two occasions.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

KINDERGARTEN Everything important that you need to know in life, you learn in K:eek:

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

I have to agree with MB that how I was raised is a big part of it. My ethics have developed past what I was taught and mostly it's out of respect for the animals I hunt. Hunting to me isn't just killing animals. It's about trying to outsmart one of the wittiest creatures to walk our earth.

Without the deer I hunt I am not a bow hunter, I am little more then an archer.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

When I was younger it was a fear of legal retribution. Then it was influenced by those I hunted with. Now I realize that what I do is a reflection on not only my character, but that of other hunters as well. So, I do what I believe to be right so hunting and hunters aren't put into a negative light. If someday, God forbid, hunting is outlawed I want to be able to say it's not because of anything I did or didn't do.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

I think that upbringing plays a large part in what we will and won't do. Another is experience. If I see something done and I don't know if it is quite right. I am not likely to do it. Some is those I associate with. My friends, family and I discuss issues and we may arrive at different conclusions but it forms how I will respond to a given situation. There is no short and simple answer to this question. Good thread!

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

BINGO.......... My ethics are much stronger today than they were 15 years ago.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Ethics are learned, discovered, taught, theorized ......... lots can effect ethics, and ethics can change. Ethics and legal are NOT the same thing either.

Each person developes (or should) their ethics as they grow older. Its an ever changing, evolving thing.

I can say my personal ethics are structured in such a way that I dont ever want to have to look back and feel bad for doing something.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Datamax, whats that bird thing?

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

QTompkins2005

i got no idea .......... I try to change my sign avatar every day or two, found that one and added it

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

[&:]

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Well since I started this I'll post mine.

Like most others my ethics are based on what I was taught. Some of those principles I still follows, others I have long abandoned. Experience has definitely shaped my views on things. I think many people encompass ethics to cover more areas than what is really meant. I have also learned to not pass ethical judgements on a legal hunting style that I have not personally done.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

My ethics come from my father. He always demanded that I be fair to the game being pursued. Of course, over the years I have come to decide for myself what being fair meant. I think the high expectations my father had for me, resulted in myself setting those expectations even higher.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

MNRut - thats a lie, I would expect you to edit that away

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

What does that have to do with ethics? Sh!t happens, even in ethical situations.......

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

It's an out and out lie from every thing I've every seen Data post also.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Because its the law.No seariously,my grandfather,and dad taught me how to respect wildlife and the land a long time ago.I dont do anything illegially because I dont want the regreat years down the road.I know I wont get any satisfaction out of taking a live animal illegially,just for bragging rights or whatever.I want to harvest the animal by outwitting him.I want to walk in the woods and see the clean land today as I do years down the road with my kids.
Without good,clean,ethics,what do you have---nothing---thats why I am teaching my young guy about the outdoors and doing things legal,by the book.
Hunter(my little guy) asked me a while ago,he said ---Dad,why do people shoot deer at night--I said,Because these people have no ethics and are not afraid of the law.Maybe thats the only way they know how to hunt.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

very well said Adams.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

I agree, very well said.

I have a question for everyone. Lets say in the future hunting is outlawed. . . Would you break the law and continue to hunt or would you stop hunting all together? I know I would continue to hunt, hunting has impacted my life in a way that it's a reflection of who I am. I don't think I'd ever stop hunting if it was outlawed.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Booney160 - Legal is not Ethical

I would still hunt , and break the law doing it

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

I also argree with Data's outlook (<cant believe I just said that) on ethics.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

That is no lie!!! That is what you said back on one of the posts that got locked. You said that was your record with your recurve.

If you cannot remember what you say maybe you lie!

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Have you met my wife? :D:D:D

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Thats what my experience has been with a recurve/longbow only. The way he typed it makes it appear that I always miss/wound 3/4 deer for every deer I kill - which is very much untrue. I think I went the past 6 hunting seasons with my compound without missing anything I shot at - which was my whole point on how much more difficult trad shooting is.

He used one snippet as a character attack. Attack away at me and it normally doesn't bother me. However I'm very proud of my hunting ethics and take those pot shots personally.

Again, that statement is 100% FALSE - I know for a fact I'm not batting 3 misses and 1 wound to every kill.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

My ethics are in the form of respect. From respecting the animal you hunt to the woods you hunt in. Also respecting the laws the protect both.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

I follow the ethics I follow not because they are right, but because I would feel bad if I didn't. I don't want to look back and remember horrible memories about my hunt.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

My father has shaped a great deal of my values.....I have spun off in one direction or the other on my own as I mature through life but have rarely strayed too far from that foundation......what he taught me was right so there is no need to stray.

I had no option as a child (which is the way it should be).........I did things right, or I didn't get to do them. If I could not shoot accurately, I did not get to hunt. If I didn't know the hunting laws, I did not get to hunt. If I didn't practice proper gun safety I got my ass kicked......and then I didn't get to shoot or hunt. When doe permits were scarce you didn't pull the trigger on a small deer........and if you shoot at a deer you can be sure that your shot placement would be critiqued by everyone back at the truck. You shoot it, you dress it, and you drag it (with help of course) An animal was NEVER disrespected.....NEVER!!!!

Now there are certain things that are personal and no one can help but you. For example, I am more effected by the death of an animal then my dad. I just can't help but feel a twinge of sadness when I kneel down beside a deer I have killed.........I don't think it effects my dad in that way at all........and a lot of other guys........just my personal feelings. I have never hesitated to pull the trigger even for a second but when I kneel down I get a wave of empathy for the life I just took. I make my peace with the animal and that feeling quickly gets washed away by excitement, satisfaction and the fact that my work has just begun. It may fade quickly........but it's there every time.

I guess that isn't really an ethics thing but it's just what came to mind.


Just like the old saying goes.........your ethics are what you do when no one is looking.

Ethics speak to what kind of person you REALLY are.........not an act that you pretend to be because you know someone is judging you.

Ethics are the right thing to do.

Everyone knows the right thing to do...........it's just a matter of if you talk the talk.......or walk the walk.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

[&:]

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Datamax, I am amused that you are lecturing others about personal attacks and ethics.
Ironic?:eek:

"He used one snippet as a character attack. Attack away at me and it normally doesn't bother me. However I'm very proud of my hunting ethics and take those pot shots personally."

I think "pot shots" with the recurve is what earned you this one.... lol

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

LOL

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

hmmmmmm, you mean Zak's post ? I didn't think I was that critical, Zak didn't think so either I guess nor anyone else. Curious of his choice of words, and what he thinks ethics can be defined as but critical ? I don't think I was. I did line item respond however.

Hound me for my shot with a longbow because it has validity, thats factual and up for debate for sure. Overall, in 20+ years of deer hunting, I aint lost many though and am pretty proud overall of my hunting ethics.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

:D

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

i'm going to delete my posts as to not start an argument . . . . Back to ethics.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

MNRut - if you want me to edit mine let me know.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

I agree 100%. I believe that someone who hunts with a weapon that is so hard for him to be accurate with has Very poor ethics.

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Define accurate ?

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

You knew you had this coming:


ac·cu·rate (ăk'yÉ™r-Ä*t)
adj.
Conforming exactly to fact; errorless.
Deviating only slightly or within acceptable limits from a standard.
Capable of providing a correct reading or measurement: an accurate scale.
Acting or performing with care and precision; meticulous: an accurate proofreader.
[Latin accūr�tus, done with care, past participle of accūr�re, to do with care : ad-, ad- + cūr�re, to care for (from cūra, care; see cure).]

:D

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Zak - then no one should ever hunt because of the errors that happen in hunting.

A person can shoot 499 shots out of 500 into a 2" ring at 30 yards and miss/wound deer, can't they ?

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

Yes, but why did you bring that up?

RE: Why do you follow the ethics you do?
 

ac·cu·rate (ăk'yÉ™r-Ä*t)
adj.
Conforming exactly to fact; errorless.
Deviating only slightly or within acceptable limits from a standard.
Capable of providing a correct reading or measurement: an accurate scale.
Acting or performing with care and precision; meticulous: an accurate proofreader.
[Latin accūr�tus, done with care, past participle of accūr�re, to do with care : ad-, ad- + cūr�re, to care for (from cūra, care; see cure).]


I think this is the one that applies here, don't you? It is the responsibility of every hunter to minimize their deviation.

The equipment you hunt with, where you hunt, how you hunt, your levels of proficiency and preparedness. etc....You know this stuff, datamax. You're just being difficult.