Sportsmanship vs. Ethics

[Upland Idaho]

I just got in a discussion with some fellas about how what is often done in the name of being "sporting" or because it's sportsmanship behavior doesn't always equal what would be the most ethical thing to do in a given situation.

One example I'll give from the conversation was shooting a Blue grouse from a limb vs. always having to shoot on the wing. Sportmanship would/has demanded that you only shoot birds in flight vs. the ethic of always making the cleanest quickest kill you can. Somehow the ethic of always making/taking the cleanest quickest kill gets applied to big game but not upland birds.

I was wondering what others think about this and if they can identify any other actions that are deemed being a sportsman that might not be the most ethical way of doing it? I think the examples would be few and the other issues that came up in the discussion tended to be people saying something they did was "sportsmanship" when no one I was talking to would claim it as a sporting action and we were all avid hunters.

[Selmer]

This is a topic that troubles me greatly sometimes, especially when "sportsmanship" is defined by legislators.  My most blatant example would not be in upland hunting, but rather in deer hunting.  When you hunt West River prairie mule deer in SD, you need to cover miles of ground in order to find deer.  Our game plan is to slowly drive cricks looking for sign or deer in the distance, or just to get to good drainages that we then walk out.  However, once in a while we pop over a ridge and there are the deer we're looking for at anywhere from 50-300yds. out.  Sportsmanship would say get out of the vehicle, stand or kneel (prone is usually out) and shoot.  However, as an ethical sportsmen, in this situation, I will use the vehicle as a rest, 100% of the time.  It provides a more stable shooting platform for a quicker, cleaner kill than any offhand shot.  We obviously exit the vehicle, shooting from inside would qualify it as unethical.  Using the vehicle as a rest for big game hunting in SD used to be legal as long as two feet were on the ground.  It has been deemed illegal in the past 10 years in the name of "sportsmanship"  I'd hate to know how many deer have been wounded by law-abiding hunters.  I guess I'm an outlaw, but as a seminarian and theologian (with a retired pastor father that is a better theologian than I am...), any CO that tickets us for this violation will be read the riot act from a theological point of view of stewardship and that having dominion over all creatures does not mean killing them in any manner possible, but in the most ethical manner that is most respectful to God's creation.
Selmer

[Graybeard]

If I'm toting a shotgun and hunting birds I'm doing it as much or more for the sport of wingshooting as for the food value of the bird once in hand. So unless it's flying I have no interest in shooting. Now if all I was after was food and I had a handgun or .22LR rifle and could pop it in the head while on a limb sure I might but never with a shotgun as for me that's for wingshooting not potting birds on a limb. That's me and my personal preference however.

[moxgrove]

it would be easy to pick off turkeys i a field or geese on a lake with a rifle at 100 yards. yes it would be a clean kill or a clean miss. But that isn't sport. That's pure slaughter for the pot. Nothing wrong if you need the food, but it's just not for me.

[dukkillr]

I can't speak for all states but in Kansas only turkeys can be shot on the ground.  Shooting a waterfowl with a rifle is illegal everywhere, but I don't know about upland birds in other states.  As for ethics, ask 100 people you'll get 100 answers.  Some people idiotically believe that anything that's legal is ethical, some adhere to traditional methods with draconian strictness... most thinking people draw a line somewhere in between.  Ultimately it's up to the individual, the landowner, the state, and the hunting party to decide what they will do.

[Don Fischer]

I think weather it's ethical to shoot that bird out of the tree depends on how hungry you are. Not real sporting but will put something in a hollow belly.

The topic of ethics has come up here many times and it is my understanding that there are none other then what an individual imposes on himself or that the law imposes on us.  In many states hunting grouse with a rifle is legal. Therefor depending on who's dirt your standing on, ethical.

[Dave Weiss]

Good question, I like to think of myself as an ethical sportsman and shoot most of my birds on the fly, but I don't feel the least bit guilty about occasionally knocking one out of a tree. My hunting partner and I have developed our own rating system, birds taken in the air are honorable, out of trees is a little less than honorable, ground sluicing is dishonorable and we don't do that... we can always get them to fly.
Though not the most important thing, I still like to come home with some birds in the bag.   

>>>===> Dave 

[Selmer]

Hmm, hadn't thought about the goose thing with a rifle before...  I shot one with a .243 Win. once, one of my finer rifle shots.  Now before you all go ballistic, here's the scenario, and for me, it falls under ethical.  We've got dekes in a field next to a small pot hole.  A single honker comes in low a silent from the north.  We tried to call it in with no success, it lands on the pothole.  Unfortunately, it kind of half-crash landed on the pothole and then couldn't swim real well and had it's head down.  We figured it was a wounded bird so we went after it.  We couldn't get close enough to finish it because it was still swimming faster than we could walk.  I went home, got the .243 with my pet 55 gr. varmint load.  We'd left it alone for a little while and when we pulled up with the Suburban it had it's head up, swimming perpendicular to me at around 200 yds.  I put a little lead on it, aiming for the head, and squeezed.  Down went the goose, we picked it up on the north shore.  I'd shot it just below the head in the neck, clean kill.  We started plucking it, found one wound channel.  We breasted it out to investigate, someone had tried to kill it with a .22LR by shooting it in the breast, we recovered the bullet.  Legal?  No.  Ethical?  I believe so.  We would NOT have done it if we weren't totally convinced the bird was wounded.
Selmer

[Idaho Ron]

OK we teach kids not to shoot at big game on the ridge line. But here in Idaho a lot of guys shoot Blue grouse from a tree with a big game rifle.  It is a double standard. We want them to know what is beyond a deer or a elk but not a bird?
For years I have felt that if your hunting birds, use a bird gun. If you are hunting big game, use a big game gun.
BTW, I let kids shoot all the birds off limbs and even on the ground. If that is what it takes to get a kid fired up about hunting I don't care where they shoot them. They can decide for them selves later about wing shooting.  Ron

[Upland Idaho]

IdahoRon...yep...kids bring a whole different perspective to the hunting issue.  If it's safe get them fired up as you said.  As the population in the West grows proportionally fewer people are hunting.  We need to keep the young people excited about hunting and fishing.

[Idaho Ron]

For a while my Son was called captain slucer.  After he got a little more size and could swing a shotgun he started to see the fun in wing shooting. Most kids move on on their own. I have never said one way or the other. If he wants a tree shot I won't say a word. At least he is hunting and not playing Nintendo. He is now 13 and excited for the up and coming season. My 10 year old daughter is another story. I am not sure what she will do yet I am just going to let her decide. She has a license and saws she is ready.  Ron