Hunting Ethics & Myths From the Horses Mouth

I have taken care to include whole quotes as I find them. Accordingly, if you pay attention you may find a sentence that if removed would have made the statement far more demeaning to certain people and to the activity of hunting in general. Because I believe in keeping things in relative context though, I have avoided this entirely. Therefore, these statements are as issued.
(14 Quotations)

• A Hunter (Fair Chase) - "Hogs in a large fenced area are sometimes meaner than hog running in the wild. They’re less afraid of man and they have that trapped mentality. The other exciting thing is that they taste great... People who think your just going to get in a pen and pick out your boar, well!! You are wrong. Boars are smart unpredictable animals and run very fast. (sic) [64]"
  [A pig can run away, but only to another place within the pen, she can never truly escape. Oh yeah, both the author and her husband were able to kill their “trophy boars.”]

• A Hunter (Conservation/Ethics) - "Argentina isn’t what it used to be when considering the number of waterfowl available. Several years of drought have taken their toll. Add to this fact the heavy hunting the ducks and geese have stood up to during the last ten years and she ain’t what she once was. [63]"
  [Keep in mind that during this same article the author mentions that they killed 36 Magellan geese and 6 Ash Head geese in just two days. I guess he means for the people of Argentina to curb their hunting so that tourists can come and kill with abandon.]

• A Hunter (Fair Chase) - "Dove hunting – which should properly read dove shooting – is hardly a strenuous sport. There’s none of that lung pounding climbing of hills or even the exercise of walking through thick grass following a bird dog. It’s a stand-and-wait deal, or even sit-and-wait. The difficulty in dove shooting is hitting those artful dodgers of the shot pattern. [61]"

• A Hunter (Fair Chase) - "A few years ago, my hunting partner only hit two doves out of 19 shots, but he noticed many doves were landing in a nearby dead tree and then flying into the field. He moved under the tree, blasted eight straight as they fluttered to set on the branches, moved back to the field for more sporty action and killed five birds with seven shots. [61]"

• A Hunter (Ethics) - "When I go hunting I have many objectives in mind – not the least of which is to actually kill something. I am proud of my role in the natural cycle of life and I am not about to hide behind some facade of politically correct horse dung by calling my sport “animal-friendly”. If you want “animal-friendly” buy a dog and play with it in the back yard. . . . The real pros aren’t ashamed of the fact that we kill animals. [60]"

• A Hunter (Food) - "The year is 2004 and I do not know of a single person who has to duck hunt in order to put food on the table. Myself, I enjoy duck and game meat, but if I have none, I won’t starve. So if you can’t afford groceries, you sure as heck can’t afford to go duck hunting. [52]"

• A Hunter (Ethics) - "I wonder, at times, if sportsmen comprehend the fact that ‘slob hunters’ are no longer the odd men out. They have become a well-established and significant portion of our population. Unfortunately, the community remains relatively silent and our Code of Ethics appears to be deteriorating quickly. . . . Fair chase and ethics are two words that seem to go hand-in-hand. Both seem to be suffering. [21]"

• A Hunter (Fair Chase) - "We know the animal does not have a gun and is not on equal terms with a human." [16]
  [This was actually posted in reply to a hunter who stated hunting was not equal, nor did it involve "fair chase."]

• A Hunter (Fair Chase) - "There are many hunters who would not consider hunting rabbits without the assistance of one or more dogs. [13] "

• A Hunter (Fair Chase) - ". . . I look at hunting as what it is a conscious decision to harvest a animal that unnless we run the animal down on foot a kill it with our bear hands hunting is not fair, or on equal terms. [6] (sic)" (This hunter counters one of the myths of hunting)

• Brian Murphy (Conservation) - (Executive Director: Quality Deer Management Association) - "This . . . [book] . . . is testament to the dedicated hunters and biologists that brought whitetails back from the brink of extinction to become the most popular and abundant big game animal in America. [11]" [Alas, if hunters only cared about animals, nearly extinct, that they can’t shoot.]

• Conservation Officer (Fair Chase) - "We confiscate scores of ‘two-ways’ every season. Most hunters pose no problems, but there are a growing number who ignore the ‘fair chase’ concept. It is illegal and unethical . . . and there are safety concerns. [12] (emphasis added)"

• Conservation Officer (Fair Chase) - "[Radio use] is a problem that continues to grow. . . . It’s simply a fair chase rule. In today’s world, hunters have the ability to overwhelm wildlife with technology and that’s what we’re trying to avoid. [21]"

• Wildlife Biologist (Conservation) – "Most state wildlife agencies have developed along a business model, with hunters and fishers their primary 'clients,' . . . [w]ildlife agencies provide a product for which hunters pay." (As quoted in An Introduction to Animal Rights: Your Child or the Dog? By Gary L. Francione)