Again, I know that we've over-worked, and wore-out the word ethics lately, so lets look at the word "honest!"
Don't fool yourself! Freely admitting to breaking the law, DOES NOT make you HONEST!
Obeying the law, when no ones looking, makes you HONEST!

Agreed! Good point.

Don't know where this is coming from but I am in full agreement. I guide hunts on a private lease and it would be very easy to break game laws but I don't and definitely do not let my clients. I tell them up front that I will report any breaches of the law. I do this with all seriousness in my voice and body talk then I tell them let's hunt and have a good time. I do them same thing when I am guiding fishing trips.

Just because you don't get caught does not make it right.

Jag, prbably accicently hit the wrong forum. Got it in the Guns forum.

You couldn't be more wrong.

Doing the right thing when nobody is looking is being ethical.

Obeying the law when noone is looking is only being honest with the government, nobody else.

Doing the right thing and obeying the law are not always the same thing.

Yep! I accidently posted it here! Longggg night!
Briman, I agree with you that doing the right thing, IS being ethical! ethics, and legal are sometimes two different things!
What stirred this thread was some peoplesview of "admitting" to blatantly illegal actions, was being "honest!" Which, could not be any further from the truth!
Also, using the excuse that "we all do it," is an assumption, thatdrags all of us into the same boat, to soothe a guilty conscience!
Along with this, some folks believe they deserve a pat on the back for being legal and/or ethical! Why? We've only done that which we were SUPPOSED to do in the first place!

As Cougar Mag said in his post. And as we have seen. Many young hunters read these posts and setting a good example for them well may define where sport hunting goes from here. Its up to this generation of hunters to shine a good light on hunting for those who follow us. The idea that huntig bans can't happen here regardless of what we do it just not true as we have seen in other countries who thought the same thing. Good hunting to all and Have a safe and great Xmas.

JagMagMan- I was pretty sure that with your first post you had the right idea and just worded it in a questionable way

If youngsters are taught right from wrong, they will more than likely do the right thing.

I missed the thread about the ethics or people claiming to have done things illeagally in their past, but I can think of at least one situation where a hunter could be on the wrong side of the law but in the white ethically.

Example: a doe runs onto your property with its lower jaw blown off because some slob on the neighboring land tried a headshot. You don't have a tag for a doe. The law says that you cannot shoot this deer, and the way the law is enforced, you will be prosecuted for doing so (believe me, in my state, this is not an exaggeration). A law hunter who operates strictly inside the law would have to let this deer go, to starve to death in great pain. An ethical hunter could shoot the deer to put it out of its misery ( I think that an ethical hunter is obligated to do this whether or not the law allows it) and quietly take it back to the barn and cut it up for consumption. Either way, the deer is going to die regardless of whether or not anyone has a tag for it.

In the above example, there is a big difference in doing the right thing and doing what the law requires.


As human beings, we have no obligation to follow laws if they are immoral or unethical, in fact we have a duty to not abide by those rules.