Ethics Question - Animal by Camp

I try to trust my gut, if it doesn’t feel right at the moment, it’s not the right thing to do.

In my experience, that feeling doesn’t go away even years later. I made a choice to shoot in a similar situation back in 2011, and I still get the sting of that bad ethical decision every time I see that set of horns on the wall. Always a reminder to me that I should trust my gut.

In my opinion, if you have to ask yourself if it’s ok, it’s most likely not.
 
Ethically i dont have a problem, but is it legal. Not sure what Wyomings safety zone laws are, but in PA you have to be 150 yards from any building or camp.
 
For myself, the thought in my head at the moment was "hahaha this is crazy, these people are working so hard to hunt elsewhere and all they have to do is sit at camp. Thank you very much for not being around". It was a story I told buddies about with a smile and chuckle. It wasn't until well after the hunt that the ethics of the situation sort of set in.
 
I don't particularly want to hunt near other peoples' camps anyway, but having an angry & armed person come out of the tent I thought was empty insisting I "shot up their camp" is a situation I especially don't want to deal with.
 
For Part II of the question, did you unload your rifle before it was pointed in the general direction of their camp during the pic?
I never walk with a shell chambered and I'm pretty disciplined about that. I hunt the majority of my time side by side with my wife so always having a person near you means you have to be religious about that rule.
 
Happened to a friend of mine. They were napping in their mule deer camp during archery season and a couple guys came sneaking through their camp making a move on a buck up behind their camp. The stalk failed but they gave the guys each a beer and filled up their water bottles.
 
I don't particularly want to hunt near other peoples' camps anyway, but having an angry & armed person come out of the tent I thought was empty insisting I "shot up their camp" is a situation I especially don't want to deal with.

This is what would concern me the most. I don't know that it's necessarily an ethics question, though. If it's legal and safe and you want the animal go for it. Reading the description, it doesn't sound like something I would prefer to do, but my preferences are known to change based on circumstances. For me, the fact that sometimes I would, sometimes I wouldn't means it's not an ethical dilemna.
 
My guess is that you didn't see the camp before walking up to take a look or why even go look. I think i would of shot as well
 
Had a cabin on FS for 15 yrs and would walk out the door & start hunting from there. I knew who was closed up for the year and occupied. Most cabins winterized & campgrounds closed for winter.
Warden bud & I had a rookie with us one year and he asked the warden what he would do if he saw one right behind the cabin. Glenn grinned & said "bang"....the cabin is now un-occupied & we're at least 150yrds away from any one else and can see clearly field of view behind.
I would go to a nearby trailhead behind a campground(closed for winter) and park. If there where other trucks @ trailhead & folks went up before I would wait til 1st light in my truck and then hunt from there below the trail. Filled 2 buck tags within drag distance to my truck at that spot & another up @ 10k'. I would hunt below the trail guys & use them as bird dogs.
If I see more than a couple trucks at a trailhead now,I go elsewhere....& wait.
 
I would pass...wouldnt be too psyched to freak someone out inside the tent or leave a gutpile nearby.
 
The first year a friend of mine ever went bow hunting he had his camp set up in a popular hunting area. He was solo but got to know the guys who were camping a couple of hundred yards up the road. Then one evening he was walking up the road to get to where he was planning on hunting. When he got to the neighboring camp everyone was gone out hunting but there was a nice three point buck standing there eating their soap. So he shot it. Everyone got a good laugh and it tasted just as good as any other deer.
 
The first year a friend of mine ever went bow hunting he had his camp set up in a popular hunting area. He was solo but got to know the guys who were camping a couple of hundred yards up the road. Then one evening he was walking up the road to get to where he was planning on hunting. When he got to the neighboring camp everyone was gone out hunting but there was a nice three point buck standing there eating their soap. So he shot it. Everyone got a good laugh and it tasted just as good as any other deer.
That's funny.
 
I would be reluctant to shoot it. There are too many unknowns. Things like where is the bullet going and who else is in the brush and where. I'm not usually inclined to shoot until I get a half mile from the truck - sometimes farther if there is a lot of people. I'm not desperate enough to start a nice day with a pissing contest.
 
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