Thursday, February 7, 2008 9:19 PM CST
What makes for an ethical sportsman?
By DAVE SHADOW, Hunting and Fishing columnist
It seems that a good portion of our “outdoor sports” population is engrossed in establishing just what an ethical sportsman consists of.
It’s not just the hunting or fishing sportsmen, it’s all aspects of the population who individually enjoy their respective sports.
It seems as though many of them get as much enjoyment out of degrading others as they get out of the sport that they profess to love.
The owners of large pleasure boats express displeasure at the smaller, faster craft, and especially bass boaters, while sailboaters dislike most all powered boaters, and everyone hates jet-skiers.
Catfishermen stand alone in their sport looking down on crappie anglers, while bass anglers seem to think they’re superior and deserve some special treatment. On top of all of that, dedicated fly fishermen think any other type of angling is crass and uncouth.
On the hunting side of the issue, almost every TV show professes to accomplish its goals while practicing the ethics of “fair chase” or any of a dozen other recently coined terms. Some profess to only hunt “open range” or “public ground,” making it seem like anyone who deviates from that course is a bit dirty. In some of these shows, fences and other man-made facilities are visible in the background to those who wish to look a bit closer. Is that being hypocritical, or are they just hunting a species that has simply adapted to human existence so well that it prefers those areas.
Our outdoor world has shrunk to the point that there are very few hunters with the time and money to travel to a place that is truly an unspoiled wilderness area. Who is right in these controversies?
There are many other hunters who choose to hunt dedicated hunting ranches where animals of myriad species live in relative comfort and are guaranteed adequate food and water for an abundant life and great reproduction possibilities. Most of these hunters don’t have the resources for an African safari or the time from work and other duties to go.
Bird hunters choose to visit hunting preserves where pen-raised birds are “planted” in the fields for their dogs to find, point and retrieve after being shot. If it were not for these facilities, most bird dogs would die of boredom before they found enough birds in the wild to catch their interest and preserve their abilities. I think it’s not a matter of right versus wrong. It’s just the way it is in our present society. Conversely, we have improved our wild habitat and the populations of many wildlife species through the efforts of sportsmen and hunters.
The open range versus high-fence controversy is probably one of the hottest debates. There are many ranches in the West that were bordering on bankruptcy when the owners discovered that hunters would pay them to allow hunting on their properties. Some of these were ranches consisting of thousands of acres with no fences or boundaries in sight.
Others are smaller, fenced facilities, and many have imported exotic species or strive to contain species such as Russian boar on their properties. They must contain them to keep peace with the neighboring ranchers. The wild hogs create considerable havoc on the cattle ranches and croplands, but these fenced facilities make a living off of that which was despised by the neighbors. In some areas the ranchers trap the hogs and transport them to the hunting ranches where they prosper until harvested. Besides, they taste great!
A lot of this “fence” controversy dwells with the misconception that hunting success on a fenced facility is easier than open-range hunting.
I have hunted both, and while it may vary with the species selected, I suspect that the big hogs are harder to find and harvest on the fenced facilities than on the open range. This is simply because they adapt to their environment, become nocturnal or are simply cagey enough to avoid man.
Having said this, let me make myself clear: I’m not talking about some farmer who “slops the hogs” out behind the barn and charges you to walk to the barn door and shoot one. The size of a satisfactory fenced facility may vary with the species, the geographical area or simply with the hunter himself, but there is a place for both in our hunting sports industry if we will simply keep an open mind.
All the variables of these controversies go on forever.
In many areas it’s an accepted practice to hunt over bait and to feed most species. This is always controversial. The same hunter who professes not to hunt bears over bait will travel to an area with a stream containing salmon or ponds with beavers to look for a trophy bear. Both of these tasty morsels are among the bears’ favorite meals. Is it different that nature “baited” the area rather than if they had done it? I don’t see the difference.
Some hunters and some areas show displeasure at the use of elevated stands while they feel perfectly logical in a ground blind. Go figure!
Shooting from a boat is prohibited in some areas and permitted in others. Some areas permit it if the boat is not powered. Simply shut off the engine and raise it out of the water and you’re legal (in some places).
Purist hunters may feel that using a longbow is the only proper way to harvest their quarry while others feel perfectly all right with a recurved, compound bow or a crossbow. Each has its drawbacks and advantages. It’s just personal preference. The dedicated and ethical bow hunter may do more for the true concept of the sport and make more clean kills than any other group. Conversely, a poor quality bow hunter may undo a lot of that image that good hunters strive to preserve and promote.
The same concept holds true with firearm hunters. Black powder hunters vary from primitive guns with iron sights to modern in-line models with vari-power scopes. Rifle hunters feel that shotgun slug hunters are prehistoric and that they may injure deer that the rifle would have harvested cleanly.
In summary, remember that the hunters and fishermen were the first and vastly most successful conservationists. They, with the help and cooperation of millions of farmers and ranchers who love our outdoor resources have built our lands back to where they are today.
The element that we need to concentrate on now is some harmony within our ranks. Be tolerant of other ideas and examine the possibilities that we may not always be right.
It’s faith, family and fishin’.
Dave Shadow is the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier’s hunting and fishing columnist.
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