Tx, your a wise gentleman and an experienced hunter, I respect you, I understand your logic and agree with you to some degree. Shooting a "pet" is not like hunting and shooting a wild animal.
My point, to Brain, was intended to be the same point I believe Homer was making. That is, I think, sometimes, in the wild, wild animals do strange things, counter to what we consider, typical behavior. Not every animal we ever encounter bolts at the sight of a human, sometimes we work our butts off and when we get back to camp, there's a shooter feeding next to the back of the tent. Sometimes, driving down a road, a shooter animal, on private property jumps the fence, runs across the road, barely missing our vehicle, jumps the fence onto public property and stops. Then stands there broadside, until you kill it. Sometimes, you're 3 miles from the trail head, setting on a ridge and a shooter animal wanders with easy shooting range of what ever weapon you're hunting with.
Most of us, but I guess not all, thank the stars for their good fortune, take home their trophy, and share their unusual good luck with their friends. If some of us walk away under these kinds of circumstances, more power to them them, but I find it a little hard to believe there are more like Founder than there are like Homer.
I've driven up on Willard peek a lot of times, I've seen the goats there, they aren't pets, I've applied for many years for a Mt. Goat tag there, my sons have killed Mt. Goats there and help friends kill Mt. Goats there, so I've had a few trips to the rodeo, on that hunt. The goats on Willard are no more pets than Henries bucks, Fish Lake bull elk, La Sal bears, or Parket Mt. antelope, that see heavy human presence year round and on occasion a hunter will kill an animal on these units, that run right up next to them and shot. Never seen anyone whip out a camera, snap a few pictures, then walk away, but I guess some folks do, according to the comments herein. Far be it from me to holler whoa at a horse race.
As are as I'm concerned, deer shot over food plots are more like farm pets than the Mt Goats on Willard peek. But........we all see the world through the lens of our personal experiences and I should not have been so cavalier, I do apologize for my condescension.
All the best tx, you're a good man.
DC
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