#1976652 - 06/29/10 07:35 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: BigCam50]
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Winchester
Non-Typical
Registered: 12/05/03
Posts: 25229
Loc: TN
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If you have practiced and know that you are proficient with any shot that presents itself, then go for it. Thats what hunting is, practicing and becoming proficient, and then using what you have accomplished to seal the deal. This will be different for most all people, to each his own! Im only familiar with what my rifle will do out to about 350 yards, so i keep my shots well inside that, but if it was 600 yards that would be fine too, like I said, to each his own. Some people wont shoot over 20 yards with a bow, some will kill all day at 60, you know the answer!
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#1976665 - 06/29/10 07:44 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: Beekeeper]
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BlackBelt
10 Point
Registered: 08/09/08
Posts: 2614
Loc: SouthWest TN
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Hypothetical:
It is the last day you can hunt this season. You have seen very few deer all season and none of them were what you considered a shooter. You are in a shooting house with a good field of view, a rifle you have confidence in and a 130+ buck that is at least 3.5 years old standing still at 300 yards.
Do you take the shot?
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For me, no. I don't take that shot. I KNOW I can hit the kill zone at that distance. But "hunting" to me now has a different meaning than back when I took that 305 yard shot years ago.
But I can understand folks that don't feel that way, and don't bash them in any way for their choices. Just for me I set a standard and that doesn't include those longer shots when I know I have developed the hunting skill to creep right inside a deers territory, or set up along his travel corridor and make close shots.
BTW, this all relative to the Tennessee geography. If we were hunting antelope out in the midwest on the plains, where longer shots are the norm, then a 300+ yard shot would be in my playbook.
But for the terrain where I hunt in the gentle rolling foothills here in TN, a 300+ yard shot is unnecessary.
But I'm not bashing those that do make those shots. I totally understand, and it's a personal decision on each hunters part.
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#1976666 - 06/29/10 07:45 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: mr.big]
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DWM
8 Point
Registered: 12/08/06
Posts: 1766
Loc: TN
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,,I can easly set up at 75 yards on this same plot,,,
,,would it be unethical to intentionally set up 500 yards from where you know deer will be just to be able to say you killed a doe at 500 yards??
If you can make a clean kill nothing wrong with it. If you are doing it just so you can say you did just ask yourself are you doing it to impress others or to satisfy yourself. Your answer will help you decide how ethical it is. Either way enjoy the hunt.
_________________________
Team Witness
Witness in the Woods
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#1976670 - 06/29/10 07:46 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: Winchester]
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102
10 Point
Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 3650
Loc: Tennessee
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Why not just try this...make a plywood life size target of a deer and set it by the salt lick. Then, shoot it at 500 yards. See if you can hit it in the boiler room for a perfect shot.
That will let you know if it is ethical or not.
Heck, if you practice enough at ANY distance, it is ethical.
102
_________________________
God, Family, Job, Bowhunting
Luck is where Opportunity and Preparation MEET!
When in doubt...back out!
SCAPAS.stay calm and pick a spot.
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#1976673 - 06/29/10 07:51 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: BlackBelt]
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Beekeeper
Good ol' Boys "Team Buckcreek"
16 Point
Registered: 08/26/09
Posts: 10939
Loc: McMinn Co. Tennessee
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Hypothetical:
It is the last day you can hunt this season. You have seen very few deer all season and none of them were what you considered a shooter. You are in a shooting house with a good field of view, a rifle you have confidence in and a 130+ buck that is at least 3.5 years old standing still at 300 yards.
Do you take the shot?
----------------------------------------------------------- For me, no. I don't take that shot. I KNOW I can hit the kill zone at that distance. But "hunting" to me now has a different meaning than back when I took that 305 yard shot years ago. But I can understand folks that don't feel that way, and don't bash them in any way for their choices. Just for me I set a standard and that doesn't include those longer shots when I know I have developed the hunting skill to creep right inside a deers territory, or set up along his travel corridor and make close shots. BTW, this all relative to the Tennessee geography. If we were hunting antelope out in the midwest on the plains, where longer shots are the norm, then a 300+ yard shot would be in my playbook. But for the terrain where I hunt in the gentle rolling foothills here in TN, a 300+ yard shot is unnecessary. But I'm not bashing those that do make those shots. I totally understand, and it's a personal decision on each hunters part.  
Edited by Beekeeper (06/29/10 07:52 AM)
_________________________
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
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#1976680 - 06/29/10 08:04 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: 102]
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Bottom Hunter
16 Point
Registered: 12/29/06
Posts: 15480
Loc: Hatchie Bottoms
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Hitting a TARGET at 500 yards is one thing. Practice is fun and there is no reason to rush the shot. Humanely killing a deer at that range is another thing.
What some people don't understand is that "minor" things are magnified at that distance. Pulling off very little is ALOT at 500 yards. A deer taking half a step may cause you to shoot too far back or just miss the vitals all together. Wind is a major factor at that distance and I'm sure it's very difficult to see weeds or any foliage at that distance as well....
Wouldn't you be just as GOOD of a shot if you hit a milk jug at 500 yards...or a plywood cutout like some suggested?
A deer should not be considered a target, right?
But, I guess that if you are willing to risk wounding a deer or several deer just to be able to brag that you shot one at 500 yards, then go for it.
Isn't that why you are considering this anyway, to stroke your own ego?
Not being an ars here, just wondering what your motive really is.....
good luck with whatever you decide to do.
_________________________
There are some people who always seem angry and continuously look for conflict.
Walk away; the battle they are fighting is not with you, but with themselves.
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#1976730 - 06/29/10 08:35 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: BlackBelt]
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tndrbstr
16 Point
Registered: 10/06/05
Posts: 12157
Loc: knox co tn
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Just for me I set a standard and that doesn't include those longer shots when I know I have developed the hunting skill to creep right inside a deers territory, or set up along his travel corridor and make close shots.
Thats the way I feel at times when the situation permits it...but sometimes that is not the best option, imo, particularly in the thick dense vegataion of the mountains I hunt in. with a bow I may not have a choice, but with a gun I do...
at those times, it is good to know that I have developed the hunting and shooting skills that allow me sit on a lead on one side of a big drainage and actually hunt the side of the ridge on the other side of the drainage using my binoculars. In the mountains I am often glassing for a presenting shot in the 150 to 250 yard range....beleive me,..its no peice of cake...its alot differant than trying to find a deer or hog standing in the middle of feild..
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#1976947 - 06/29/10 11:57 AM
Re: ethics question
[Re: MUP]
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102
10 Point
Registered: 08/01/02
Posts: 3650
Loc: Tennessee
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Right on BH,
EGO...I bow hunt, limit my shots, and myself, for MY OWN PERSONAL satisfaction because...in the end, NOBODY else really is impressed that I killed a 125, 150, or EVEN a 170 inch deer with my bow, or rifle. At 10 yards, or 500. But I KNOW what it has taken for me to achieve my OWN personal goals.
The truth is...he would not have asked, if he did not already know the answer!!! i.e.-nobody is asking about the 100 yard rifle shot!
102
_________________________
God, Family, Job, Bowhunting
Luck is where Opportunity and Preparation MEET!
When in doubt...back out!
SCAPAS.stay calm and pick a spot.
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