Follow hunting and ethical rules and treat non-hunters with courtesy

Two hunters with snowshoe hares and with a U.P. black bear

All people are bound by the laws of man to live by a code of ethics, but sportsmen have additional values to be considered if we are to be judged by what we believe are ethical actions.

Hunter ethics are more far reaching than many believe. They include a feeling and a deep appreciation for the animals and birds we hunt, the outdoor environment we and wildlife need and share, and the deep inner stimulation we feel when pursuing our pastime in an ethical, legal and well regulated manner.

This personal ethics policy hinges on those deeply-seated feelings sportsmen must have for the well being and continued health, welfare and habitat improvement of game animals and birds, as well as non-game animals and birds. Hunters must care deeply about what happens to all wildlife, and not just those species for which there is an open or closed hunting season.

Everything in nature serves at least two masters

The habitat that the small Kirtland’s warblers call home is every bit as important to everyone as that used by ducks, geese, pheasants, ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and woodcock.

But hunting ethics go far beyond this simple, yet personal, concept that govern our actions. Michigan laws place additional ethical demands on hunters, making our special-interest outdoor group the most regulated in the state.

Young, beginning hunters no longer can pick up a firearm and head for the woods, fields or marshes without lengthy and well supervised Hunter Education training and parental or other adult supervision. The same rules apply to anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 1960. Any first-time hunter born on or after that date must possess a hunter education certificate to purchase their first hunting license.

They must take a certified Hunter Safety Program, pass a rigorous examination and satisfy qualified instructors on their capability to practice hunting safely without endangering others, themselves and the property of landowners. They must understand the laws that govern their conduct while hunting, and people should be signing up for such classes as soon as they become available prior to next fall. The DNR can provide information on classes.

These training classes teach students how to handle bows and firearms safely, give explanations of wildlife management, teach game laws, and make certain that students understand the laws of safe hunting. These rules are common-sense thoughts that can help keep everyone safe.
All are necessary to obtain an in-depth knowledge of hunter safety, but ethics -- personal ethics -- are almost spiritual inner feelings, something that must come from deep within each individual. They are as much a part of hunting as carrying a firearm or hunting from a tree stand with a bow.

Hunting, and the freedom to hunt, is a part of our American heritage that should be as rich and deep as love of our family and this great country. The American Constitution guarantees us the right to keep and bear arms, but those arms must be used in a civilized and lawful manner.

This constitutional guarantee obligates sportsmen to abide by local, state and federal fish and game laws, and to have respect for themselves, the lives and property of others, and obviously, for the wildlife they pursue.

Recreational hunting is a sound game management policy designed to keep wildlife around in desirable numbers for the enjoyment of future generations of hunters and those who have no desire to hunt but enjoy the recreational value of viewing deer, elk and other game.

No longer is there room for slob hunters and deadbeats in our woods

Hunting satisfies a deep personal need for many people, and it can be a deeply moving experience. But it is as individual as our fingerprints. Each of us who hunts has a different viewpoint on how we should view our days afield.

Ethics, and the feelings hunters have for their sport and the wildlife we hunt, is an emotional package so deeply seated and meaningful that it's difficult to put into words so non-hunters or anti-hunters would understand.

We, as hunters, must develop our own personal code of ethics which goes beyond those laws and rules established by any sporting agency or group. Our sport will be judged by its personal and collective ethics, and the public actions of its many individuals.

Hunting actions and needs require a code of personal ethics to survive ... not only now but well into the future. How hunters behave now will determine whether we will have hunting in the not-so-distant future.

The public acceptance of  hunting and hunters by the public at large is critical  to continuation of our legal hunting pursuits. Act like a slob around non-hunters, and you may find yourself facing rules that shouldn’t be necessary. Idiots don’t deserve the right to hunt or to ruin others chances to spend time outdoors in a legal environment.

Make outdoor ethics count

Kay landed two big brook trout  but stopped fishing then. She'd had enough.
Outdoor ethics are like dipping snuff. It doesn't agree with everyone, and for some, it leaves them feeling cold and sneezzy. Ethics, often unlike laws, are rules that rule our pitdppr conduct.

Ethics are more easily understood when explained in this manner. Ethics are those things you wouldn't do if you knew a conservation officer was watching from a distance.

They are those hard-to-explain things that keep sportsmen from breaking fish or game laws if we knew an officer was in the area. For most of us, ethics and knowledge of our fish and game laws run hand-in-hand. We won't break the law under any situation.

Ethics keep honest people honest in the woods and on the water.

That's fine, as far as it goes, but it's a gross oversimplification of a very complex personal outdoor issue that all sportsmen must think about. And, frankly, these issues baffle many sportsmen.

Outdoor ethics are those complex but unquestionable rules that sportsmen must adhere to whether other people are watching or not. They are those things we must endorse if fishing and hunting is to survive this century.

Want a few examples? Chew on these on these little tidbits:

• I had six chances to arrow a big 10-point two years ago. He always showed up from two to five minutes after legal shooting time had ended. No one was within a half-mile of me, and no one would have known if I had cheated by shooting that buck a few minutes late.

No one, that is, except me. It would have ate at my guts like a malignant tumor until the taking of that big 10-point buck would have been reduced to a humiliating experience. It would have ruined my hunt as well as my perception of myself as a law abiding sportsman.

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

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

I wouldn't have been able to eat a tenderloin steak if  I'd shot late.

• A big problem with outdoor ethics is they are impossible to legislate and difficult for many people to understand. Only one person – you or me – can deal with these ethical situations whenever a potential problem arises.
• For instance: we shoot a rooster pheasant and it drifts across a fence on set wings and falls onto posted land. Does shooting that bird give us the legal right to pursue it without landowner permission? Nope! The ethical sportsman would determine who owned the property, and make every attempt to gain permission to cross the property line.

What happens when it's virtually impossible to track down the absentee landowner? No one wants to see the game go to waste. The next decision would be to contact the closest conservation officer. If he says you can't cross the line without permission, it still remains an ethical and legal question. Cross without permission means breaking the law. Do you go or stay? Laws and ethics. Right or wrong. It always pays to do the right thing.

• We're fishing flies-only water for native brown trout and a stiff breeze puts down the mayfly hatch. Is it ethical to fish worms here? The answer, both ethically and legally, is no.
• Or, as I mentioned earlier about the 10-point buck, could I have cheated in that instance and shot? Sure, but I would have had to deal with my emotions and my personal sense of right or wrong and any resulting guilt.
• Mallards pinwheel down on a freshening breeze to spill into the bobbing decoys. It's a perfect morning, and it's five minutes before legal shooting time. Hunters in a nearby blind shoot and drop two hen mallards. Does that make it legal for me to shoot early?

We all know the obvious answer is “No” but some sportsmen would shoot any way, and be ticketed by a conservation officer. If they are not caught, they must still deal with their conscience as well as state and federal laws.

Ethics prevent us from doing illegal or quasi-illegal acts. Hunters don't shoot ducks on the water or grouse on the ground or off tree limbs. We don't snag fish, and we don't keep undersized fish or fish over our legal limit. We don't ignore slot limits wherever they exist. Such things are just not done. 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 grant us an opportunity to fish or hunt during the legal season. It offers sportsmen nothing more and nothing less than the opportunity to participate in these pastimes.

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 sports are built.

We are judged by our conduct, in and out of the field bu others, and those who wink at fish or game law violations or encourage any breach of ethical conduct, do themselves and others a great disservice.

If we can't fish or hunt ethically, and within the confines of the laws that pertain to these pastimes, we should not be considered sportsmen. If we have to worry about being caught by a conservation officer and ticketed, it may be necessary for some people to re-examine the reasons they fish or hunt.

Firearm rut-hunting tips & Sidebar

It’s roughly 11 hours and a wake-up until the 2010 firearm deer season opens. Some rutting activity is still in progress, and hunters are urged to be alert. Some rain today will have softened up the leaves, but if it frosts tonight, it may be possible to hear deer walking in the woods.

Firearm openers are calendar dates but the rut runs when does are in estrus. One of the hardest things to do is to predict the actions of a rutting whitetail buck. They are very intense, somewhat erratic and flighty, and trying to predict what they will do is like flipping a coin.

Heads or tails? Forward or backward? Right or left? A buck can move in any of these directions but the bottom line is a buck is going to head for where the does are. That's it! That's what hunters must remember!

Bucks in rut are very unpredictable.

If that doe is in estrus, and she shows herself to the buck, hunters know the buck will head her way. The next question is: at what speed? Will he move fast, slow or in the stop-go-stop, herky-jerky manner of rutting bucks?

Shooting a rutting buck is a bit different than a buck at other times of the season. Young bucks are more predictable than an older animal, and it's not uncommon for a young buck to stand motionless and get himself shot.

Rutting bucks, even when still, always seem to be in motion. Their body is moving, the head is up and then down or sideways, and they often move when they first spot a doe. Hunters, especially when in a tree stand, may spot the doe before the buck and get ready for a shot.

Guessing a buck's actions opens a hunter up to making errors. I once watched a buck dogging a doe across a field to a hole in a fence. She jumped right through without stopping. I thought he'd do the same and made my release when his nose entered the hole.

The buck stopped instead of coming through and the arrow sliced harmlessly through the air and stuck in the ground. The buck then jumped through the hole, sniffed the arrow and took off after the doe. No big deal for him but a complete miss for me. So much for trying to second-guess a rutting buck.

Don’t be too eager to shoot. Hunters usually more time to aim than they think.

Some bucks act somewhat predictably and others do not. Study the buck, and it helps to be at full draw when the buck comes into sight or, if rifle hunting, watching it with binoculars. If the buck takes two or three steps and then stops, shoot the instant he stops if it offers a high percentage killing shot. Running the clip dry on a running buck is usually a waste of time.

Sometimes a buck will head into the brush on a doe's trail, and stop before committing himself to the move. Be ready if he hesitates, but this isn't something a hunter can count on a buck doing.

A buck tending an estrus doe will often grunt as he trails along behind. Once the grunt is within bow or rifle range, come to full draw and be ready to shoot once he steps out. Often, a buck will stop just inside a clearing or wide spot in the trail to look around, and that may offer an opportunity for a clear shot.

Hunters who hunt near food sources may find an estrus doe will stop to feed, and the buck may approach as she feeds. I've seen bucks stop near standing corn fields or food plots, but it's not something a hunter can always count on.

Try mouth grunting to stop a buck. It may works, and at other times it won’t.

The one thing that decades of deer hunting has taught me is to always be prepared. Rutting bucks can approach quietly or with noise. A hunter who sits with his bow or rifle hanging off a tree branch usually doesn't have enough time to pick it up, come to full draw, aim and shoot.

All too often a buck moves past a motionless hunter without stopping. Or, if he stops, it is just for an instant and then is off again.

One trick that works on occasion is to wait until the buck is in a perfect spot, and then grunt loud and guttural. A harsh grunt may stop a buck for an instant, but it fails as often as it works. Of course, the hunter can't grunt, raise the bow and shoot. He must be at  full draw when he grunts to stop the animal. A gutteral “eehhh” or “uuhhhh” eliminates the need to hold a grunt call.

The Boy Scouts of America have always had a motto: Be Prepared. It works for BSA members, and it certainly will pay off when bow or rifle hunting rutting bucks. Hunters who are not prepared, both mentally and physically, often miss their golden opportunity.

The only thing deer hunters can count on is the buck’s unpredictability.

Some firearm tips to remember tomorrow.

*Be afield and in your stand at least 45 minutes before sun-up.

*Plan on an all-day hunting, if necessary. Know when shooting times begin and end.

*Pack a lunch in soft cloth towels and bring along something to drink. (Not beer or booze).

*Deer are most likely to move at dawn, between 10 a.m.-2 p.m., and just before dark although if hunters are moving, the deer may move sporadically throughout the day.

*If hunting in the open rather than from a coop, be alert to wind direction and where deer move.

*Fast-paced shots seldom produce when shooting at a running deer moving through heavy cover. After two shots, the barrel heats up and shots begin to wander. It’s far better to watch the animal, and when it offers a standing broadside or quartering-away shot, that’s when to shoot.

*Positively identify your target as a deer. Scan the terrain behind the deer to learn if it is safe to shoot. Observe the 450-foot “safety zone” around houses, cattle, barns, etc.

*Remain as motionless as possible, and keep any sound to an absolute minimum.

*If hunting from an elevated stand, do not load a firearm until after is has been raised into the stand. Use extreme caution when walking into and out of a stand. Use a light in darkness.

*Wear Blaze Orange or Hunter Orange clothing.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Doing the right thing

Sometimes all we see is a glimpse of a big buck. It has to be enough.

Ever have a hunch? Or a premonition? Or a gut check? How about a lucky guess while bow hunting whitetail deer?

My hunch or whatever it was almost made me vibrate in my elevated stand. I was all a'jangle, and only one thought bounced around in my head.

Here it comes. I thought. Tonight is the night.

I could feel the buck behind me. I don’t know how but I knew he was there.

I sat as still as possible, was downwind of where the deer travel, and was in my tree well before 4 p.m. Everything was set up, and only a faint breeze blew.

The longer I sat, the stronger this feeling became. It was so strong that my neck hairs were lifting up. Jolt after jolt of adrenaline was coursing through my body, and even though I felt jumpy, there was no motion or noise. I learned many years ago how to control those feelings.

The minutes passed with all the speed of a moving glacier. Time dragged by on tired legs, and soon it was 5:45 and I had yet to see a deer. As the minutes passed with dragged-out slowness, the feeling seemed to intensify.

Shooting time ended where I was hunting near Cadillac at 5:59 p.m., and that gave whatever was coming just 13 minutes to get on the stick and come down the trail.

I heard a twig snap behind me in a tag alder run. Deer? Perhaps some large animal? A buck?

Possibilities seemed endless, and yet the feeling persisted. There was something behind me, but what?

It was one of those situation where I had to wait for the buck to move.

With two minutes to go I checked my watch again, noted the shortness of remaining shooting time, and still nothing moved. There seemed to be a hush, and had I been bear hunting it would have meant a bruin was up and moving nearby.

But this location isn't noted for bears. I've learned to believe in these feelings, hunches or whatever they are. Such thoughts have kept me alive when trouble was brewing in some bad areas over the years, and it has alerted me to approaching bears. My eyes kept flitting to the trail, and then the magic minutes and hours combined to force me to remove the arrow from my bow.

I stowed my bow, put the arrow in the quiver, and waited for my ride to pick me up. I didn't want to move from my stand until I was picked up, and was content to let the vehicle spook the deer rather than me.

Five minutes after legal shooting time ended, the vibes grew even stronger, and out walked a nice buck. His antlers were outside of his ears on both sides, and although the brow tines were short, the main beams were heavy and each points was nearly 10 inches long.

I didn’t move, and never did poaching this buck occur to me. I play by the rules.

This beautiful 8-point was the first buck I'd seen in several days, and what continues to amaze me, was that I could feel the animal's presense  nearby. My body, for whatever the reason, is attuned to such things, for which I've been very happpy.

The same feelings occur when bear hunting, and this buck had established his presence on me two hours earlier. It just took him until dark to make his move down the trail.

My binoculars focused on that magnificent rack, and I studied him with a calmness that even surprised me. You see, I knew I couldn't shoot and so I did the next best thing. I studied him.

His body was long and thick between the  backbone and belly, and his neck was rut-swollen, and he had tufts of hair missing here and there. He had fought some rutting wars, and was very alert.

He didn't move fast at all. One or two steps, stop, lift his head, and with the binoculars I could see his ears swiveling back and forth for any strange sound. I could hear that buck sniffing the breeze, and there I sat in my Scent-Lok suit being treated to one of the greatest shows on earth.

He eventually moved on down the trail and was out of sight when my ride showed up. I loaded my gear into the vehicle, jumped in, eased the door shut with an almost inaudible click, and away we went

I muttered: "What a buck!" He asked about what I;d seen, and listened to my story, and I'd been blessed tonight. No arrows were shot as rain threatened all night, but I saw the buck that would have made my day or that of any other bow hunter.

I could have cheated and shot that buck, but that is not me. I told the story to another hunter, and he said he would have shot in a heartbeat. Who would have known?

Only me, I said. I would have known that by taking a shot that I was no better than a common poacher, and whenever I would look at that buck, I would have known that I cheated and broken the rules.

Seeing that big buck was good enough for me. And tomorrow, when I look in the morning mirror, I'll know I did the right thing. That is the most important thing to me.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors