Thoughts on this example ethics/legality issue?

bobr1

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I just read this article today. Seems like hunters getting elk fever and shooting without thinking about the logistics in a very popular area. I don’t want to start any fights about this please but I’d like to see what people’s thoughts were regardless on this issue and get some dialogue on it. Yes it was legal but was it ethical. As much as I’ve read “it’s legal get over it”, how quickly can a group decide it is not ethical and then make it illegal. I’ve always been told out of sight out of mind.

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news...cle_beb416ef-39ce-5ba1-ae5e-096f08ed5a32.html

This also made national news.
 

TxxAgg

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robtattoo

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I'm not a fan of conversations regarding ethics simply because mine are mine, yours are yours & everyone else's are personal to them. They're not written down, they aren't set in stone & they can't be judged, simply because we can only compare the action of others to our own potential actions in the same situation, hence; judging another person's actions based on ethics alone is always going to lead to controversy.

That said, optics aside, I would personally never shoot a critter I couldn't reach. That's the reason I've never, nor ever would, applied for a sheep or goat tag.
 

ethan

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It’s a black eye for all hunters. like it or nit, agree with it or not, if you think it’s dumb or not, if you hunt you are an ambassador for hunting.
 

GSPHUNTER

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Every situation is different but, I think I would have passed on the shot. It's not like they had a boat with them so what were they thinking. Ah, there be the problem, they weren't thinking.
 

Rich M

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I wasn't there. "just cause it is legal" LOL!

If you travel from out of state, do you know where the locals all go to hang out on the levy? Bunch of perpetually mad and judgmental people out there.

But don't worry - no hunting will be allowed there ever again.

Amazing what is chosen to be in the news and what is left out. Hunting bad. Guns bad. White people bad. Perfect news article.
 

Marbles

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It should be illegal for wastage. Location and being publicly seen does not matter. Once they realized they could not retrieve the animals they should have been hiring an outfitter, not standing around like incompetent children waiting for mom to rescue them.

As for hunting off of trails or in popular locations, people should use tact, but there is nothing wrong with doing it. Though in a country with free speech an individual must be willing to accept blowback.

I reject ethical relativism and society that does not discuss ethics effectively has none. So I appreciate this being brought up. Hunting in a state where game wastage is taken seriously, I'm surprised to find people who don't care if meat spoils in the field.
 
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bobr1

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Thanks for showing me this, I should check the other forums more. But to be honest, like a child, I haven’t checked the elk forum this fall much as I haven’t been able to hunt at all this fall and I am jealous.
 

Rich M

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It should be illegal for wastage. Location and being publicly seen does not matter. Once they realized they could not retrieve the animals they should have been hiring an outfitter, not standing around like incompetent children waiting for mom to rescue them.

As for hunting off of trails or in popular locations, people should use tact, but there is nothing wrong with doing it. Though in a country with free speech an individual must be willing to accept blowback.

I reject ethical relativism and society that does not discuss ethics effectively has none. So I appreciate this being brought up. Hunting in a state where game wastage is taken seriously, I'm surprised to find people who don't care if meat spoils in the field.

You bring up a great point about "just getting the animals". They shoulda made a few calls and got it done or went and bought a boat.

One other factor that folks aren't gonna bring up is that no-one (except for the GW guy) offered to help these old dudes but were willing to berate them.

If you browse the internet, you see folks getting thrown in front of trains and NO-ONE does anything to the person who did the throwing (just saw one of these yesterday) or to help the victim. Similar thing here - the hunter guy complaining in the article was mad but he could have helped and gotten the elk off the island faster - presenting a better image of hunters. But no - he'd rather bitch and moan about the other hunters and the poor image. LOL!

Society has created a bunch of morons and they are dying to stand up and roast someone when all they need to do is simply help folks. Instead of finding the media to talk to, he coulda gone to the old guys, said let's help you get this figured out... But nope.
 

Jethro

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Would have thought the game warden could have been more helpful than getting them access to a canoe and a wheelbarrow.
 

sneaky

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You bring up a great point about "just getting the animals". They shoulda made a few calls and got it done or went and bought a boat.

One other factor that folks aren't gonna bring up is that no-one (except for the GW guy) offered to help these old dudes but were willing to berate them.

If you browse the internet, you see folks getting thrown in front of trains and NO-ONE does anything to the person who did the throwing (just saw one of these yesterday) or to help the victim. Similar thing here - the hunter guy complaining in the article was mad but he could have helped and gotten the elk off the island faster - presenting a better image of hunters. But no - he'd rather bitch and moan about the other hunters and the poor image. LOL!

Society has created a bunch of morons and they are dying to stand up and roast someone when all they need to do is simply help folks. Instead of finding the media to talk to, he coulda gone to the old guys, said let's help you get this figured out... But nope.
Unless you were there and heard the entire conversation, you're just making a bunch of wild ass suppositions. Exactly like the people you're bitching about.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 

Rich M

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Unless you were there and heard the entire conversation, you're just making a bunch of wild ass suppositions. Exactly like the people you're bitching about.

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LOL! You totally prove my point. I wasn't bitching, just pointing out that most folks will do exactly nothing with extreme examples.

Think about it - If someone had helped early on, the mass hysteria would not have happened. And that areas would still be open to hunting next year. How many acres just got lost?

The local hunter guy who was whining to the media coulda called a couple of his local buddies and said, Y'all aint gonna believe what these dumbasses did - you got time to load up that riverboat of yours and come and help these old dudes get the elk outta sight before church lets out and this place is crawling with tree huggers? If that happened, no nationwide news article. Wow! But we know what he did - you read it.

The article said there were some folks who got real nasty. The article also did say that of all the folks who were there - 1 guy actually did something positive and constructive and helped get the elk.

We often just shake our heads and walk away. But what if we didn't? What if we shook our heads, went over and said - hey, I can help you out. Here's what we need to do - are you up for this?

And what if someone came over and offered to help you/me/us with something embarrassing or stupid? And we just said - you know - thanks. I didn't know what to do, let's give it a go. Aint gonna get any worse. Oh, by the way, I'm Larry...

What a great world it would be. All we gotta do is step out and help instead of bitching or doing nothing.

Yeah, I wasn't there. Suppositions, suppositions.
 

Erict

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Like almost everything nowadays, the media twists or omits facts to get the most "clicks" out of their story or further their agenda, and too many readers believe everything they read on the internet. I'd guess that only a few people really know the whole story.
 

Squincher

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I just read this article today. Seems like hunters getting elk fever and shooting without thinking about the logistics in a very popular area. I don’t want to start any fights about this please but I’d like to see what people’s thoughts were regardless on this issue and get some dialogue on it. Yes it was legal but was it ethical. As much as I’ve read “it’s legal get over it”, how quickly can a group decide it is not ethical and then make it illegal. I’ve always been told out of sight out of mind.

https://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news...cle_beb416ef-39ce-5ba1-ae5e-096f08ed5a32.html

This also made national news.

Do we really need "dialogue" regarding whether or not to shoot animals we can't get to or do we just want to bask in our own superiority?
 
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