All this has piqued my interest,Just what exactly IS considered ETHICAL?Fair chase? the boone and crockett club has pages on their website devoted to the very question.these are from their website on the subject.
visit their message board,seems not every one disagrees with me, see the one about "should texas issue a killing license instead of a hunting license."
be sure to take the survey on the b&c mainpage.

http://www.boone-crockett.org/index.asp

http://www.huntfairchase.com/index.php/fuseaction/ethics.why

http://www.huntfairchase.com/images/why%20a%20web%20site%20document.pdf

http://www.boone-crockett.org/huntingEthics/ethics_cann...p?area=huntingEthics


<A HREF="http://www.huntfairchase.com/msgboard/list.php?1%5B/URL%5D" TARGET=_blank>http://www.huntfairchase.com/msgboard/list.php?1</A>

I await their opinion of the videos in question

B&C has shot itself in the foot over this one. All it does is pit hunters against hunters and an organization chartered to protect hunting in America has screwed the pooch here. TR created "fair chase" over the snared bear cub he was taken to shoot and refused. What's next for these bimbo's: end dog hunting for deer, end shooting bears over bait. Every trophy taken in Africa today is shot in a high fenced concession. The LAST thing hunters need is a bunch of hoity toity snobs deciding who has ethics that meet their standards. When you have to depend on a crew like B&C to tell you what's proper, we all lose. Remember the definition of ethics? It's what we do when no one is looking. I don't need B&C to tell me how to act. I already know.

I don't feel like B&C tells anyone how to hunt, they just set standards of Fair Chase on animals that are listed in the record books so someone can't go into a place like the Sanctuary and pop a domestic buck and compare it on equal grounds with a buck killed in the thickets of Saskachewan. I think that's reasonable. As hunters, some of our more questionable practices are the ones that will end our sport.

JIM

quote:

Originally posted by george roof:
Every trophy taken in Africa today is shot in a high fenced concession.

Actually, this statement is incorrect and in many ways illustrates why we need B&C and a fair chase statement. Your unfortunate perception of African hunting mirrors the way many have come to see North American hunting in the years since people started pimping out wildlife in "hunting preserves" or what I like to call "shooting zoos". In short, we had better keep an eye on our own ethics or we damn sure won't like the way others do it!

JMHO,

eightbore

there is really no such thing as fair chase.every animal is held captive by an invincible fence.The love for hunting will gaurantee the existance of hunting animals.just try to let them live a long life before shooting them.i should be the president of boone and crocket.i'll set everything straight mr.roof and you could hunt in peace!

Guys as I cautioned on another thread this is a slippery slope use caution when judging the "ethics" of someone else's practices.

That said there are some things most can agree on, things we'd ordinarily call "poaching." Back in the 70's there was a fight over hound hunting being more or less ethical than trapping. Eventually they realized both were being attacked by the anti's and they were each helping do it. It may be uneasy in some places but a general truce exists today. The arguments between hound hunting, archery hunting, perserve hunting, bait hunting, etc., etc... is no different. Sure we need to police our own ranks but just because YOU don't enjoy the methods someone else does DOES NOT give you moral high ground. Every public argument that this or that isn't as "ethical" as what I do is one more chunk chipped from the cornerstone of hunting in general. PLEASE choose your argumants carefully!

Thank you Shootaway for "getting it". And thanks Oupa for the caution, but I'm adamant that B&C has shown the ultimate snobbery with this bullshit commercial of theirs. Everyone wants to talk about the Sanctuary or some of the pick-a-pet zoos in the northeast without considering they're painting the thousands of acres in Texas with the same broad brush.

B&C with their silly assed commercial with the Drury brothers is a great example. THEY have a lot of heart telling me about "fair chase" when they get preferential treatment every where they show up.

Some years back, I was on an outfitted hunt in the Selway-Bitterroot. We were seeing no elk at all. One afternoon, on a ledge, I glassed a small park about 3 miles away COVERED IN ELK. I told the guide that I wanted to be there before daybreak the next morning. "Oh, we can't hunt over there" he said. "For my $5,000 why the hell CAN'T we hunt there?" I asked. Then he told me he had (a famous "outdoorsman") coming in with a film crew next week who was highlighting his outfitting and he was "saving" that area for them. I demanded a partial refund and reported him to the Idaho Outfitters Association and he's out of business now. Still, I know the Bill Jordan, Jackie Bushman, Bob Foulkrod and dozens of other "celebrity hunters" get that same treatment though it's covered up better than my Bitterroot adventure. And then to have them preach to me about Fair Chase!!!!!

It's no wonder hunting takes such a bum rap. Traditional archers rap compound users who both rap crossbow users. Traditional black powder guys rap in-line guys. The list is endless. Hunters are hunting's worst enemy in most cases and this B&C bullshit is just another example.

Last month I hunted on a National Wifdlife Refuge for Elk. It has a high fence around it. Do you consider this a FAIR Chase hunt or a Canned hunt?

George, I have to agree with you on all accounts.

I have distanced myself from all them holier than thou hunters. Sometime I think they should remove there heads from there asses and see how the real world is. Fair chase is an over used term as well as ethics.

George Roof, I am in concert with what I believe is your view. There are certainly a lot of definitions out there, and it is certainly a good axiom that what is ethical is what we would do if we know no one is looking. As far as the 'book clubs' making standards for what goes in their record books, I guess that's up to them, I support their freedom to do so, but I don't like a line that seperates one hunter from another as you mention.

Folks no what fair chase is in their heart of hearts in my opinion, and that can occur inside of a fenced area, or elsewhere. There are tracts of land that don't need a fence that hold game moreso than other tracts that do have a fence. I have a friend that has a tree farm near a world famous seed growers plantation (that they don't grow seed on) and except for a few areas which had succulent plants that deer really like when they are sprouting new growth, the deer would stay on the plantation property before coming onto his tree farm. Since he high fenced the area's (to keep deer out) with plant material the deer preferred, there are hardly any deer on his tract, and no trophy ones, but the deer abound on the neighboring property, and there are no fences at all to keep them there......