Hunting Ethics

S

Super-Dave

New member
Is it unethical and immoral to hunt game for sport and not for the use of the carcass?

I have always been taught that hunting is fine as long as you eat the kill or if you desperately need the skin to survive the cold. The only other legitimate reasons would be to protect your self from an animal or to kill it to put it out of its missery.

Is this stupid to have been taught this and believe this?

My dilema is my friend wants us to go hunting for sport. He does not want the carcuss nor does he plan on eating it. I too am not going to be using the carcuss.

Now normaly I would never go on such a hunt because to me it is immoral.

The problem is that it is a hunt for ferral hogs, which in my state is classified as a nussance animal and there are basically very little if any restrictions on killing hogs. I have gone hog hunting before but I actually sliced and diced the carcus and put it in my freezer. I no longer have a freezer.

Where we are going, hunting is on foot in a vast area that might take 5 hours to get back to our cars. I know ferral hog will spoil after 3 hours so dragging it back to the car and throwing it in a cooler won't work.


Being that this game is a "nussance animal" Is it ok for me to hunt for sport and leave the carcus for the buzzards?
 
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Everybody has a different view of what is moral and ethical, you need to do what you feel is right. I personally would not kill the hog and leave it lay. I would probably try to hunt closer to the car or find a way to cool the carcas for the trip back to the car. With that said if it is legal in your state to leave the animal and you are ok with doing so then go ahaed and have your fun. If it really troubles you to leave the animal lay go on the trip anyway but arm yourself with a good camera instead.
 
If I'm not going to eat it, I don't shoot it...just the way I was raised.

Being attacked is a different story, I will shoot to avoid injury or death. I've seen too many animals in the woods that were just shot and left there, just because someone wanted to kill something...to me a total waste:barf:

I agree, if you want to go on the trip, take a camera and try to get some good wildlife shots.:cool:
 
Feral hogs? Think of yourself as an EOD guy dealing with four-legged IEDs. You're merely disarming a destructive device.

And recycling by feeding coyotes and buzzards.

Feral hogs are about the only edible animal of the US about which I have no real positive ethical view. They are destructive pests. They tear up pastures and destroy crops. As omnivores, they're known to kill and eat lambs and kids--as well as quail nests.

I could work myself into a real rant about the danged things, but I'll quit now.
 
We frequently shoot large boars with no intention of eating them. Depending on how much testosterone has been flowing through that boar, the meat can range from mildly unpleasant to downright nasty smelling. However, filling the freezer is not the intent here - getting rid of the problem is the intention.

That being said, small boars (generally less than about 100lbs) and any sows are always carved up for the freezer. We won't waste good meat. Not having a freezer would mean that I would try to find someone else who needed the meat.

In the case you are mentioning, I personally would want to find some way of getting any "edible" pig out of the woods but wouldn't feel bad at all for leaving a boar for the buzzards. Have you thought about one of the game hauler carts? We have a home-made one that works great.
 
I have a real hard time shooting something for sport only. What I shoot, I eat. Hogs however are a destructive, quick breeding pest. If I'm not mistaken, in a lot of states with those critters have an open season year round. Their population certainly needs controlled.

While I ethically don't have an issue if you shot hogs and leave them for eco-system to eat, I'm not sure that I could do it myself.
 
I don't think people eat the coyotes they shoot :barf:

So there are other things that you can hunt and not eat, without feeling guilty.

Pigs are way more destructive than coyotes and don't have any redeeming qualities. But they are fun to hunt :D

I would try and think of a solution to getting some meat out of the deal, but that is me. If a friend had a serious hog problem and my freezer was full, I would help them out. Not an issue here in Oregon, yet...
 
This is a moral dilema for me.

Just the other day I caught a rat in my house and could have let it go, but instead I whacked him with a shovel 3 times and he died. Now I did not release the rat because I know he would return and continue to breed and bring in other rats. So I whacked him.

Now I had no guilt what so ever about whacking this rat for the mere fact that he exists and was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Now if I take it up to a larger species of animal and whacked something bigger, like a dog or cat. I would feel remose. I would not shot and kill a dog that constantly dug through my garbage. I would shoot him with rubber buck shot from a shotgun and scare him away for good.


Now suppose I am hunting for hog, rabbit, bambi or even a panda bear. If I hunt it and kill it for sport and leave the carcus is it any different than killing the rat in my house for the mere fact that he exists and was in the wrong spot?

.
 
I don't think people eat the coyotes they shoot
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True, that's why I don't hunt them either, but if they're tearing up your land or killing livestock, I have no problem with people who want to hunt them...I just prefer not to.

Know some farmers who shoot a deer and leave it in the soybean field( it's legal) to keep other deer from ruining half their crop. It does seem to have a deterrent factor for the other deer...guess I would think twice about getting some goodies from a garden, if there was a dead body already there too. :eek:
 
Now suppose I am hunting for hog, rabbit, bambi or even a panda bear. If I hunt it and kill it for sport and leave the carcus is it any different than killing the rat in my house for the mere fact that he exists and was in the wrong spot?
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Personally, I think so...a rat is just a disease carrying thing in your house, the others aren't inside your home. JMHO
 
Now I do completely believe it is immoral to hunt and kill an animal just for a trophy. That is to kill it to have it stuffed or to skin it and hang the skin on the wall.

Now, to kill an animal and leave the carcass so the buzzards can eat it is a different situation and makes me question if this is ethical or not.
 
I did pest control as a career for many years. I killed everything vile from A to Z as long as it was smaller than a rat...
Than I became a "Nuisance Wildlife Trapper" in Florida so I could garner better hunting grounds for hogs. You would be amazed at some of the details...
Some of what I could hunt was... hogs, non venomous snakes, possums, armadillo, coons (if damaging structure), squirrel (also if damaging structure), muscovy duck, mallard duck, ferral domestic cats, ring neck doves and a few other critters. Gators and yotes fell under different permits. I can toss a cat in the trash and not even bat an eye lash... But dang I sure tried hard to find someone needing the pork before I went to empty a trap. A few times they had to go to waste but not from lack of trying. Than they fed gators, yotes and buzzards so I reckon they were not fully "wasted"...
Brent
 
Whether you hunt or not, everyone has his personal hunting code of ethics. Even the "Bunny-Huggers" have a personal hunting code. The first rule should be to follow all hunting laws. In this case, you are actually performing a conservation effort. My hunting code dictates that I not only eat what I shoot, but retrieve, clean, cook and store it properly. There are hunters and killers and you have to make the sort. Some states dictate that you shoot a ferral hog. I personally have a problem when I can't find a deer I've shot but have no problem leaving a coyote or hog lay. It will not go to waste like the old meat we throw away out of our freezers. I salute you for asking and having these concerns. Remember that real hunters want to make good clean kills and limit unneeded suffering. Nature makes no such distinction as to how clean or fast. I teach Hunter Safety and one thing that I teach is that it's okay not to kill an anmial but if you do, you have a resonsibility to do the right thing.

"Do your best, in your own best ways" ;)
 
"Buzzards got to eat, same as worms" Outlaw Josey Wales:D Naw, I'm just kidding. We don't have feral hogs around here that I know of but our DNR passed a regulation putting them in the same category as woodchucks, racoons and other non-game species that may be taken at any time. I don't hunt woodchucks but will shoot every coon that I can. They are a menace to bird eggs and they raise h*ll with my farmer neighbors corn. Each of us has our own level comfort level with what we choose to kill and I don't pass judgement on others decisions, and I don't want to hear anything from them on my decisions.;)
 
Super-Dave said:
.....Is it unethical and immoral to hunt game for sport and not for the use of the carcass?...
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You're mixing two different issues......ethics and law.

If it's a "game" animal where the state sells a license for harvest, it's not an ethics issue but a legal one. Many states have laws against wanton waste of game animals....in those cases it's illegal.

If the animal does not require a license to harvest, the wanton waste laws would not be applicable. Be mindful of the most recent laws that deal with animal cruelty....what you see as rodent control could be interpreted by an over active prosecutor as animal cruelty. People have been charged with dispatching of feral cats and other critters.

Ethics are the moral choices hunters make that are not regulated by game laws.
 
yes and no. if its a pest like a rat ,mouse ,coyote,groundhog. and it/they were destroying property/livestock i would have no problem. shooting a deer/bear/elk/ moose ,etc just to shoot it and leave it for the critters. is wrong. why bother wasting a bullet on it. unless of course you can tell and or see its not acting right.

but i have yet to see a deer that walking funny with all four legs and foaming at the mouth. but if i did and got a clear shot at it during season i would take it. last thing i need to eat is a rabid animal. i don't know if a critter that eats it will get it or not. hopefully not.

yes if i thought my killed animal will spoil before i get it to my vehicle and cooled off. i wouldn't bother shooting it. why waste a bullet,make a loud noise, only to walk 2 hours back to my truck with a rotting animal that i hoped to eat. its crazy the way it used to happen. people shooting buffalo from slow moving trains and leaving them lay out in the fields for the buzzards to pick at. or shooting them and skinning them just for the hides. why? i think it was done to PO the native americans.
 
I only shoot what I eat unless its a varmint thats inedible(some are edible). I have been raised to hunt ethically and only take what you or someone in need can use. I harvest alot of game for myself and family members that cant hunt anymore and a few oldtimers that "need" the meat because they cant afford to buy alot of meat because of their low income. I have never been a horn or trophy hunter and never will be. The way i was brought up is you dont kill something that you can eat just for the sake of killing it. Yes, I do kill varmints and coyotes because we own an active goat and chicken farm and if I didnt we would be out of business. I know theres different circumstances behind different things but If I went on a hunting trip like that I would try to stay within the limit of getting my game out so it dont go bad. We dont have hogs up north so im not aware of the damage they do. From what I have heard is their pretty destructive. And if you shoot and leave it then you are feeding the coyotes and other varmints that do more damage than the pig. Bring a camera and paintball gun and have a blast(and your rifle). LOL:D We shoot the problem deer in our gardens with a paintball gun and its funny as hell to see them a couple days later with pink and orange splatters all over them. And they learn pretty quick to stay out. Good luck with whatever you choose and post pictures of your hunt.
 
Wild hogs threaten the health of humans, farm animals and native animals. They carry brucellosis, plague and many varieties of parasites. They destroy plants, soil, ground nesting birds, and mice/voles.

Buzzards have to eat just like everybody else and eating a hog in the woods is a lot safer than eating road kill.

But if you have to eat what you shoot you could just bring an ice chest and harvest the hams from every hog you remove. ;)
 
Is it ethical to shoot an animal that you don't plan to eat if it's a non-native species that is a threat to native animals? Seems pretty clear cut to me. Who among us wouldn't jump at the chance to hunt pythons and monitor lizards in the everglades with shotguns and bird shot?

Hey... did I just invent something really cool?
 
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