David Ortley
11-13-2008, 12:28 AM
After thinking about an experience I had late yesterday afternoon I decided to post this thread and share my thoughts on a topic we, as sport hunters, need to occasionally reflect upon. My purpose is to have the reader pause for a moment and reflect upon how important ethics are to the sport of hunting and its future.
Late yesterday afternoon I took my boat up the river to test a newly rebuilt carburetor. The weather had been overcast for several days with drizzle and low clouds settling in. When I left the boat ramp there was one other truck and trailer in the parking lot. As I approached one of my favorite spots the sky filled with Mallards that quickly dispappeared. With only forty five minutes of legal shooting light I threw out a couple dozen dekes and stashed the boat. My dog and I huddled at the edge of the cattails with a strong wind directly from our left. The time passed quickly and I missed a shot on a drake that came in to take a look. Sunset was at 5:06 and we are required to stop at sunset. I noticed more flocks in the air and decided to wait right until the end. While I saw some distant flocks sunset came without another chance. As I went to retrieve the boat the sky once again filled with Mallards returning from the fields. At 5:15 I had birds in and around the edges of my spread. There was plenty of light and the green heads and orange legs were obvious. By 5:30 I had seen upwards of one hundred Mallards come in fully cupped and committed. Some landed and others took refuge in the safety of the shoreline. My dog ran through the water not knowing which birds to chase first. It was plain amazing!! I admit I thought about shooting. I was the only person on the water in that area (that I knew of) and could have easily filled my seven bird limit with big fat notherns in no time. While my shooting would have given the birds a sporting chance it would have nonetheless been a slaughter.
As I headed back to the boat ramp in the dark I noticed all the lights of the houses that have sprung up along the river. I thought about what I had experienced and why it was that we had to stop shooting at sunset. Was it the light or the fact that birds are vulnerable as they seek a roost for the night? In the end it didn't matter- the regs said stop at sunset.
Had I taken birds after hours the shots would have been heard. Perhaps no one would know who it was but I would. If I had been able to take seven greenheads I would not have been able to relish in my success nor tell my sons of the hunt with a clean conscience. Lord knows what the people who make their home along the river would have thought of "those duck hunters."
In the book Beyond Fair Chase author Jim Posewitz offers the following quote from Aldo Leopold-the father of American game management:
"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 a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exagerate the importance of this fact."
As we all strive to protect and ensure the tradition and future of sport hunting it is difficult indeed to exagerate the importance of our individual and collective ethics. Good hunting to you!
Late yesterday afternoon I took my boat up the river to test a newly rebuilt carburetor. The weather had been overcast for several days with drizzle and low clouds settling in. When I left the boat ramp there was one other truck and trailer in the parking lot. As I approached one of my favorite spots the sky filled with Mallards that quickly dispappeared. With only forty five minutes of legal shooting light I threw out a couple dozen dekes and stashed the boat. My dog and I huddled at the edge of the cattails with a strong wind directly from our left. The time passed quickly and I missed a shot on a drake that came in to take a look. Sunset was at 5:06 and we are required to stop at sunset. I noticed more flocks in the air and decided to wait right until the end. While I saw some distant flocks sunset came without another chance. As I went to retrieve the boat the sky once again filled with Mallards returning from the fields. At 5:15 I had birds in and around the edges of my spread. There was plenty of light and the green heads and orange legs were obvious. By 5:30 I had seen upwards of one hundred Mallards come in fully cupped and committed. Some landed and others took refuge in the safety of the shoreline. My dog ran through the water not knowing which birds to chase first. It was plain amazing!! I admit I thought about shooting. I was the only person on the water in that area (that I knew of) and could have easily filled my seven bird limit with big fat notherns in no time. While my shooting would have given the birds a sporting chance it would have nonetheless been a slaughter.
As I headed back to the boat ramp in the dark I noticed all the lights of the houses that have sprung up along the river. I thought about what I had experienced and why it was that we had to stop shooting at sunset. Was it the light or the fact that birds are vulnerable as they seek a roost for the night? In the end it didn't matter- the regs said stop at sunset.
Had I taken birds after hours the shots would have been heard. Perhaps no one would know who it was but I would. If I had been able to take seven greenheads I would not have been able to relish in my success nor tell my sons of the hunt with a clean conscience. Lord knows what the people who make their home along the river would have thought of "those duck hunters."
In the book Beyond Fair Chase author Jim Posewitz offers the following quote from Aldo Leopold-the father of American game management:
"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 a mob of onlookers. It is difficult to exagerate the importance of this fact."
As we all strive to protect and ensure the tradition and future of sport hunting it is difficult indeed to exagerate the importance of our individual and collective ethics. Good hunting to you!