Ethics in Hunting and in Life!

[Girls Shoot Better]

While out glassing for "deer" with Game & Fish Officer, Gabe Paz...he shared a story about ethics in hunting and how they carry over into our lives. Gabe, I apologize if I mess up your story a little, but I have thought about your story a lot. Gabe was telling us about catching people who poach and listening to their reasons why they are "right". He tells several versions...depending on his audience. One example is...if two people are hunting. They are out scouting the day before the season starts. They see a trophy animal and have a perfect shot! One hunter tells the other one, "Take the shot!". The second hunter says, "No! The season doesn't start until tomorrow." The first hunter argues, "Who will know?". The second hunter says, "I do!". This carries over to regular, every day life. A husband could easily tell his wife that he is going to a required conference for his job. Wife believes him and wishes him a good trip. The husband could go to Vegas, gamble and drink, all weekend. He gets home, and his wife knows nothing about his misdeeds. Does it make it right?

 

 

Aldo Leopold clarified these ideas when he wrote: "A peculiar virtue in wildlife ethics is that the hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts, they are dictated by his own conscience, rather than by a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exaggerate the importance of this fact." A Sand County Almanac

 

What we do out in the field and in our daily lives shape who we are. Ethics don't just define what we do...they define who we are! Gabe, thanks for sharing the stories about the importance of personal ethics!

[azslim]

When we cover ethics in our Hunter Ed classes is tell kids there is an easy way to decide if something is ethical or not - would you be proud to tell your Grandmother the story, if not you probably shouldn't do it.

[tjhunt2]

Sounds like your time in the field with Gabe was very rewarding. Thanks for sharing that with us. Bill has a good point there and for me it's not just knowing the difference between right and wrong but how you conduct yourself in the field and in your daily life that shapes you as one with good ethics.

 

TJ

[SunDevil]

Great post Laurie. Not exactly sure how the quote goes but it is something like this:

 

"An ethical person does what is right even when no one else is looking."

[Coues 'n' Sheep]

So very true... to bad more folks can't live their lives by those words. The world would be a much better place....

[dalbo413]

That's funny, I had the same story of the two hunters play out almost verbatum last year on a elk hunt. My friend was asking my if I would shoot a bull the day before the season opened. He was messing with me to see what I would say.

 

I'm glad to see a discussion about ethics on here. It seems like alot of hunting sites, magazines, shows, ect. focus too much on killing huge animals and spend little if any time on ethics. Not that big bucks/bulls aren't cool. It seems that the outdoor marketing blitz of bigger, faster, more may push some folks over to the dark side.