Etheical Or Not???
 

I think hunting "penned deer" or deer on a ranch is a little unethical. I mean what chance do they have? really, They are feed from feeders and scouted all year long almost hourly. You see the big guns like bill jordan huntng some big bucks but I think he already knows he's gonna take a huge buck and he knows exactly which one before the hunt even starts. He knoes the feeding area and bedding area, the buck is on the wall. The best part of ranches is that it great for video footage, but other than that I don't really like them. What do you guys think?
</img>
Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

It all depends on what you are calling a &quot;pen!&quot;
A high fenced ranch that has thousands of acres is not exactly a feeder pen! There are several square miles of land under these fences, so the deer are just as wild there as any other place!

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

I don't have a problem with hunting in a &quot;penned&quot; area (AKA: petting zoo), if the hunter outly admits that he/she's just going to &quot;kill/butcher&quot; game for meat or the trophy etc...AND admits that there was no &quot;hunting&quot; skill required.

I've &quot;shot&quot; (not hunted) some feral hogs and some exotic goats on a private ranch out here in CA. I never considered it a &quot;hunt&quot;, just a fun day out shooting at a live animal. I specifically went out just to get some meat for the freezer. I thought, why let a butcher do that for me, when I can go buy shopping for some meat (feral hogs), and get to target shoot my gun all at the same time. Although it's a bit more expensive if I don't go to the local butcher shop to buy the processed stuff.

So, as long as I look at it in that perspective, I have no problem with it. I agree with you regarding Bill Jordan. I'd say that 90% of his hunting is probably already pre-planned on where and when a &quot;big buck&quot; is going to come running under his tree stand for him. But that's &quot;show-biz&quot;.

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

For me, shooting a deer in a small pen would be unethical and unthinkable. If I just want the meat, I would fix a chute to run them in and just cut their throat, so as not to ruin any meat. Anybody that calls this hunting has a warped sense of ethics. It is legal however.

I do not hesitate to hunt on a ranch that is surrounded by a deer proof fence. They are generally as wild as any deer and I consider it fair chase hunting, if it has more than 1000 acres.

As far as hunting over a feeder, I have personally done it to take does for meat. It is a grey area as to whether you should call it hunting. I personally feel I am simply harvesting. I never see big bucks at them anyway. You have to get out and really &quot;hunt&quot; for them.

My best &quot;trophy memories&quot; involve extensive scouting and usually still hunting to out think an animal. Doesn't nessarily have to have big antlers either to be part of those best memories. Right up there at the top of my list is a cow elk I took as my first elk with a muzzleloader.

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

Hunting a high fenced ranch stocked with huge deer , No I wouldn't be interested but if thats your thing ,well its kind of up to you . You won't have to ask if most of us respect you or not right . Your big problem will be if you respect yourself .IMO

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

DEPENDS ON HOW THE FENCE IS, IF ITS A VERY SMALL AREA, THEN NO, I WOULDNT THINK TWICE. A LARGE AREA WITH A LOW FENCE, HECK YEA. IM ALL OVRE IT, BUT IN ALOT OF VIDEOS IVE SEEN BILL JORDON MISS THEM BIG BUCKS AS WELL.. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

In one of his books, Charles Alsheimer tells a story about a three and a half year-old buck that had a radio collar on it, and how he had been asked by a New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation deer biologist to help look for it, after the season had closed. There were six men total, all of them experienced (and successful) deer hunters. They surrounded a plot that was somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple of acres, where the radio collar's receiver had indicated that the buck was hiding. They lined up a road, and drove towards the road . . . and none of them saw the buck cross the road. From what the recever was saying, the buck had easily outwitted them and had gone right between two of them.

Now, you may be asking, That's fine, Muddy, but just what the deuce are you driving at? My point, in a long-written way, is that deer can evade humans in a very small enclosure. Continuously.

Having written all that, I'd say that 1000 acres would be the absolute minimum.

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

You guys make a strong point and I'm glad I'm not against you on the Anti's side. I guess if you look at both sides, the pro's and the con's, it all comes down to how you feel about it. Thanx for your input. :)
</img>
Hunting leaves tracks on my heart and imprints memories in my head.

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

The part that gets my goat in those videos is the amount of really big bucks they let walk because they say they are too small to shoot. Most of us would love to take those 18 or 20 inch babies.

RE: Etheical Or Not???
 

ITS NOT MY THING AND I WOULD NOT LOOK DOWN ON ANOTHER HUNTER BECUASE THEY CHOOSE THAT WAY TO HARVEST A ANIMAL