Hunting Ethics

[Elkhunter]

Are ethics in hunting becomming less and less? Everytime you pick up a hunting magazine, a newspaper or brouse the Net,there are more articles about poachers or about someone doing something stupid that gives responsable hunters a bad name. It just makes me sick that these people are making it harder and harder for the rest of us. It seems that there are a lot that are turned into the authorities but yet is continues. What are your opinions, and what can we do to stop unethical hunters?

 

[Delw]

we will never be able to stop bad hunters and poachers....UNTIL america gets off there lazy ass and starts taking responsiblity for there actions instead of blaming it on someone else, or looking for the easy way out.
Delw

 

[Sport240]

Here in Quebec, the government has taken action with serious provincial legislation enforcing our natural heritage. Just to give you an example, if you get caught on a first offence, drinking and driving you can expect a 600.00$ fine, breaking and entering 500.00$, bank or mail fraud 250.00$, car theft 500.00$, simple possession of narcotics 125.00$ etc...

On the other hand poaching a whitetail will set you back 1875.00$ plus confiscation of all your gear, including rifle, 4X4, trailer and a whole lot more. You also get your hunting licence suspended for 2 years and must necessarily take the course over again after that, at a cost of 90.00$ and a whole weekend sitting in a stuffy gymnasium. For a poached moose the fine is almost double that. If you are caught spotting a prairy at night, well that'll be 800.00$ sir, notwithstanding the fact that you are armed or not. Possession of a dead animal without a permit or during a closed season 1275.00$ Brook trout over the limit you ask?, well that will cost you 125.00$ plus 25.00$ per additionnal trout. If someone goes out with a payloader and deviates a brook to irrigate his land, or takes silt out of a country brook to use as landfill, that'll put him back 1800.00$ for destroying spawning habitats.

With all this we still get thousands of poachers a year, either some are very stupid or dont deserve to be called hunters.

Sport240

 

[GilaMonster]

You know guys, it's all up to us. Every year we loose ground. Every year we become more unpopular. When people have no hunting ethics, it makes all of us look bad. Good news isn't news, and doesn't sell. The only thing that the non-hunting public knows is the actions by people displaying nonsportsmanlike behavior. If we want to continue enjoying our sport, we need to make sure that we do everything in our power to see that these people are punnished for their actions. If we hear of someone poaching, it should be our duty to see that they are prosecuted. Although these people are not hunters, "I never called them hunters, because they are not", these are the type of people that the nonhunting community believes us all to be. These people are our worst enemy. They steal from us, "that's what poaching is", and they give the antihunters ammunition to attempt to take our rights away. If it wasn't for the news media, "which is also the hunter's enemy", the nonhunting community might listen to reason, but when people are force-fed partial information on a continual basis, they tend to believe it. We've all got'a do our part to help clean it up.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 16 September 2001 15:09: Message edited by: GilaMonster ]</font>

 

[JimmyD]

I think the biggest problem is just society in general.... Thieves get slapped in the hand these days..... These guys are thieves, but in the worse king of way!!!!! I don't think we'll ever be able to catch everyone, but catching them only corrects something bad that has already happened. We need to teach the new hunters what is ethical and what is not!!!!!!

 

[GilaMonster]

JimmyD; I agree with you 100% on teaching the youth of America. I was taught and apparently you were too. A lot of these people that commit these crimes against all of us, were also taught. Unfortunately, it doesn't always take! A lot of criminals know the difference, but break the law anyway. I'm just trying to make the point that everyone of us needs to make every attempt to see that the guilty are prosecuted to the full extent of the law! That means turning them in and being willing to testify in court. We also need to make our voices heard to the various local and state agencies that we want stiffer penalties for these people. In New Mexico, we have eztremely stiff penalties for poaching but the judges seldom impose the maximum penalty when the parties are found guilty. The maximum would be: (1) Loose your hunting priveliges for up to three years. (2) Confiscation of the vehicle used in the crime. (3) Confiscation of the firearm used in the crime. (4) A large fine, depending upon the particular species poached.

Many hunters appear to be afraid to turn a poacher in for prosecution, and others feel that it does little good if the courts turn the poacher loose with a slap on the back of the hand. We need to do whatever we can to see that these people are arrested and prosecuted. Maybe, just maybe, if people were honestly afraid to get caught, many would have second thoughts. We need to turn 'em in and pressure the courts to prosecute them to the full extent of the law, if found guilty.

 

[hntrjohn]

A poacher will always make a headline before some ordinary man getting a cow elk with a 30-06 after 5 days in the hills.

John

 

[sambar]

Guys from as long as deer have been in Australia to about three months ago any lowdog with a spotlight could go out at night and shoot deer without real fear of prosecution--generally Sambar Stags are their target as they are so hard to hunt successfully in daylight.Of course these guys kid themselves that they are great hunters when they shoot a big trophy stag with artificial light and it is only just recently that the authorities have decided to apply penaltys to dissuade these poaching bastards from doing it.There is a minority group of people that still flaunt the law and continue to kill stags in this manner,yet some people only look at the trophys on the wall gained by these ****heads and unfortunately dont give a moments thought to the genuine ethical hunter that works hard for his game.Shiit its not hard to go out with a battery light and shoot deer and of course this would apply to your deer in the US as well do you guys have the same problems with spotlighters?

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 21 September 2001 21:35: Message edited by: sambar ]</font>

 

[GilaMonster]

MJFOP - Yes mate, we do have those same problems where I live with the Elk. Those people ARE NOT hunters. People like you are!