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Subsistance, sport and meat hunting and ethics
Posted by qbalaska on Dec 21 2005
I believe this topic is one that could be argued in many ways for many years. I believe a person can both hunt for meat and still hunt for sport.
I know a few people who refuse to shoot any animal that doesn't meet their criteria...I myself hunt black bear and have only shot one with my gun, but many with a camera while taking my kids hunting for them as well. I am looking for a color phase bear and having already taken a six and a half foot interior black, I am waiting...am I a trophy hunter? With that question then comes the follow on for me, do I eat what I kill? In my case I always have.
I have always bought and carried afield a grizzly tag and although many opportunities have been presented to me to shoot one of these animals, yet because I don't eat grizzly I haven't shot one. Does that mean I won't? I think given the right circumstances with an exceptional bear, I probably would, but I haven't yet.
I don't fault people who don't eat their game animals as long as they don't let them go to waste and they follow the laws in taking them.
As to subsistance hunting; I am somewhat torn in this area because it's hard for me to drive by people in thier $100,000 motor homes and brand new four wheelers or snowmachines and watch them hunt for caribou on subsistance tags when I can't afford those costly toys. The same type of argument applies to hunting in the pipeline corridor and seeing people; non natives who because they choose to live where they do, can hunt with a rifle right off the road while the rest of us either walk five miles off the road or use archery equipment to pursue caribou and or other game animals.
And last, lest I be told I'm on a soap box, the ethics issue. I believe this issue is one that needs more work for us as hunters than any other. I have completely changed my hunting tactics and the times/places I go hunting because of problems with other hunters. Mike talked about disrupting the migration of caribou for local hunters and that's a good point but it goes beyond just local hunters. There have been many times I have been up the haul road sitting in an ambush as caribou were coming towards me and had people driving down the road see the caribou, see me, park their truck right behind mine and try to get the caribou before they got to me. There have been many times when people have put their tree stand in the tree right behind mine; walked into my bear bait to see if it was getting hit (captured that one on film and the bears stopped coming in for 3 weeks); or drove an airboat right trough our camp and flipped us off as they did it.
There have been many other times that true ethical hunters have turned their airboats around when they saw our camp and hunted another area, or saw me sitting in ambush and drove down the road setting up in hopes the caribou may go their way either after I shot or because they changed their course as caribou often do.
Thanks Mike for a great topic and to all of you for your responses. Keep them coming.
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