Ethics: Rules to live by

Television personality Jerry McKinnis with a river salmon
photo courtesy Dave Richey Outdoors ©2012

Outdoor ethics are a bit like marriage vows. They are those hard-to-explain things that keep sportsmen from breaking fish or game laws if we think someone might be watching us.

That's fine, as far as it goes, but it's a gross oversimplification of a very complex issue. And, these issues baffle many sportsmen.

Stated another way, if you must look over your shoulder or around you before doing something, chances are you will be breaking a fish or game law. Perhaps, if you find yourself doing this bit of odd behavior, you might wish to rethink the situation.

Be aware of some ethical acts and those that are not

Outdoor ethics are those complex but unquestionable rules that sportsmen must follow whether others are watching or not. They are rules we must endorse if fishing and hunting will survive this century.

Want a few examples; Consider these

I had six chances to arrow a big 10-point a few years ago this October. He always showed up five minutes after shooting time ended. No one was within 500 yards of me, and no one would have known if I cheated and taken a late shot at that buck.

No one, that is, except me. It would have chewed at my guts like a malignant cancer until the taking of that big 10-point would have been reduced to a humiliating experience. It would have ruined my hunt.

One night last fall I climbed into my bow stand, tried to remove my wallet from my back pocket, and it wasn't there. My bow license was home on the dresser. I had a valid license but it wasn't in my immediate possession so my bow was stowed away in its case.

The evening was spent watching deer through binoculars. It was fun even without a bow in my hands.

A big problem with outdoor ethics is they are impossible to legislate and very hard to enforce. Only one person–you or me–can deal with ethical situations whenever they arise.

For instance: we shoot a rooster pheasant and it glides across a fence and falls on posted property. Does winging this bird give us the right to pursue it without landowner permission? Nope.

We're fishing in flies-only water for trout and a stiff breeze puts down the hatch. Is it ethical to fish worms here? The answer is no.

Or, as I mentioned earlier about the10-point buck, could I have cheated and shot? Sure, but I would have had to deal with my emotions and my personal sense of right, wrong and/or guilt.

It is legal to shoot a grouse on the ground but it's not ethical

Mallards pinwheel down on a freshening breeze to spill into bobbing decoys. It's a perfect morning, and five minutes before legal shooting time. Hunters in a nearby blind have shot and dropped two hen mallards. Does that make it legal for us to shoot early as well?

The answer is an obvious “No” but some hunters would shoot any way, and could be ticketed by a Federal or state conservation officer.

Ethics prevent us from doing illegal or quasi-illegal acts. Hunters don't shoot ducks on the water unless they've been wounded or shoot grouse on the ground. We don't snag fish, and we don't keep undersized fish or fish over our limit.

Know the rules; Read annual fishing-hunting digests

Buying a fishing or hunting license is no guarantee of a full game bag, a trophy buck, a hefty creel or a brace of pheasants. The license only grants us an opportunity to fish or hunt during the legal season. It offers sportsmen nothing more and nothing less.

Ethical behavior is a topic as personal as the color of our morning toothbrush. It also serves as the bare-bones foundation on which our sporting ethics are built. We are judged by our conduct, and those who wink at fish or game law violations or encourage any breach of ethical conduct, do themselves and other sportsmen a real disservice.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors