"Fair Chase" Definition

[Ticks N Tines]

What is your personal definition of "Fair Chase" Hunting?

There are several posts on long range shots, trail cameras, pics with 20 people surronding animals, and other methods of hunting game. But what is fair to the animal? What constitutes a "Fair Chase" hunt in your personal opinion?

Just curious.

 

[Ticks N Tines]

Here's the term defined by the Boone and Crockett Club:

FAIR CHASE STATEMENT
FAIR CHASE, as defined by the Boone and Crockett Club, is the ethical, sportsmanlike, and lawful pursuit and taking of any free-ranging wild, native North American big game animal in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper advantage over such animals.

HUNTER ETHICS
Fundamental to all hunting is the concept of conservation of natural resources. Hunting in today's world involves the regulated harvest of individual animals in a manner that conserves, protects, and perpetuates the hunted population. The hunter engages in a one-to-one relationship with the quarry and his or her hunting should be guided by a hierarchy of ethics related to hunting, which includes the following tenets:

1. Obey all applicable laws and regulations.

2. Respect the customs of the locale where the hunting occurs.

3. Exercise a personal code of behavior that reflects favorably on your abilities and sensibilities as a hunter.

4. Attain and maintain the skills necessary to make the kill as certain and quick as possible.

5. Behave in a way that will bring no dishonor to either the hunter, the hunted, or the environment.

6. Recognize that these tenets are intended to enhance the hunter's experience of the relationship between predator and prey, which is one of the most fundamental relationships of humans and their environment.

 

[Ropinfool]

vague and highly influenced by money id say!

 

[Tristate]

This could be a good thread.

 

[YELUM]

I don't think its possible to have all hunters inside the same ethics circle. Outside of the laws, everyones ethics is a personal view.

A hunter sits on a ridge, while 2+ friends push through the brush or patch of trees to drive an animal out. Fair chase, or not?

10 scouters go out to look for a trophy animal, and notify the hunter when one is found. Fair chase, or not?

A hunter takes a 100 yard bow show, or 1000 yard rifle shot. Fair chase or not?

You could list a hundred question, and get lots of responses.

I decide what my ethics is, and shake my head at another guy personal ethics. I'm not wrong, and neither is the other in his mind.

I just try to make sound decisions in my hunting that wouldn't leave any other hunter, shaking his/her head.

Yelum

YBU

 

[trophyhunter]

Well said Yelum

))))------->
I always considered it me and my game when hunting 1 on 1 no fences, your point about guys going out looking for game for the big money guy with that special tag.....makes me think IMO that's not such a good thing.

 

[trophymuley]

LAST EDITED ON Oct-18-14 AT 03:53AM (MST)[p]Fair chase is simply stated as two basic factors. one being the animal has a chance to escape and two, that the animal is harvested legally. Any other definitions beyond that become personal preference. By definition, even a tame city deer that would eat apples out of your hand and let you pet it is considered fair chase as long as it is killed legally. That is the best part about hunting, There are no set ways on how it is done. To each their own. Trail cameras, long distance shots, and paid guides never are a guarantee that you will kill a specific animal, thus making them fair chase. I personally prefer hunting animals based off the hard work I put in myself. Others prefer to pay someone to do the work for them. Some want it easy, others want it hard. The list goes on and on. Find your preferred method and respect the methods others choose. As long as it is legal there is no reason to discredit, slander, or cast aspersions towards others methods.

 

[elkfromabove]

>LAST EDITED ON Oct-18-14
>AT 03:53?AM (MST)
>
>Fair chase is simply stated as
>two basic factors. one being
>the animal has a chance
>to escape and two, that
>the animal is harvested legally.
>Any other definitions beyond that
>become personal preference. By definition,
>even a tame city deer
>that would eat apples out
>of your hand and let
>you pet it is considered
>fair chase as long as
>it is killed legally. That
>is the best part about
>hunting, There are no set
>ways on how it is
>done. To each their own.
>Trail cameras, long distance shots,
>and paid guides never are
>a guarantee that you will
>kill a specific animal, thus
>making them fair chase.
>I personally prefer hunting animals
>based off the hard work
>I put in myself.
>Others prefer to pay someone
>to do the work for
>them. Some want it easy,
>others want it hard.
>The list goes on and
>on. Find your preferred method
>and respect the methods others
>choose. As long as it
>is legal there is no
>reason to discredit, slander, or
>cast aspersions towards others methods.
>

YES! And I would add one more "as long as". As long as you don't try to manipulate the system to your advantage at the expense of other hunters who don't hunt like you.

 

[Trammer]

Even the Boone and Crockett Clubs definition of Fair Chase and Ethics is somewhat nebulous. For example, its first tenet of Hunter Ethics is: Obey all applicable Laws and Regulations.

The problem being that, the Boone and Crockett Club is also the primary advocate of The North American Model of Wildlife Conservation and one of its tenets is to discourage the hodgepodging of Conservation Laws from State to State or even Country to Country.

So as Sportsmen are we to believe that a deer taken in northern Utah with the use of radios for example is ethical and fair chase simply because it is Legal and that the same deer if it were taken in Wyoming using radios would be unethical and not Fair Chase because Wyoming has criminalized the use of radios for hunting?

Boone and Crockett also does not allow trophys taken with the use of radios to be entered into its record books because the club considers radios to be unethical. Bottom line is that whats Legal can be unethical.
Even worse is when what is Ethical is Illegal. For example: Utah criminalized virtually all Big Game hunts when in 1972 it passed 23-20-8 "A person may not waste a part of protected wildlife".

"A part" is the broadest wildlife salvage definition in the world. A Part, includes everything. Most States limit wildlife salvage to "meat" or "muscle" or even define it as"edible portions". Others states define exactly what cuts of meat or muscle are to be salvaged.

Utah sportsmen would have visit a slaughterhouse to even be aware of what"parts"have beneficial use.If they did they would find that gut piles are blown clean with a high powered hose so that sausage casings can be removed and proteins can be rendered. In slaughterhouses bones are tossed into grinders and processed into products like bone meal.

I am not sure if any Big Game animal has been legally taken in Utah since 1972 because I dont know anyone who packs out the gut pile and skeleton of their Game, like Utah Law requires.The bottom line is that the Law has uncoupled from ethics and fair chase and can no longer be used as a guide post for either.

 

[elkfromabove]

Even the "applicable" game laws are difficult to understand and obey as evidenced by the myriad of questions we see on this and other forums. And some "applicable" laws go beyond game laws. For instance, there's a Salt Lake City law that requires hunters who hunt the city watershed (Wasatch Front) to bury the gut pile and any other big game parts left behind. And I'm sure there are lots of other city and county laws regarding firearms, city/county boundaries, etc. that are routinely broken or ignored. In fact, I had to smile when the DWR did us a big favor by including a seemingly large portion of the east side of the Wasatch Mountains around Park City into the Archery Extended Area. But because of Park City laws regarding archery equipment and the city boundaries, plus the requirement to obtain permission to hunt on private property, hunters have a total of 1 1/2 square miles (960 acres) of public land we can legally hunt on and we have to cross private land to get to most of it.

So how many of you B&C/P&Y hunters have unethically entered your animal in the books? Or are you afraid to check it out?

 

[flatdead]

Fair chase is hard, and different for everyone. Is it fair that some places have 90 days (cwmu) to hunt with a rifle and I'm hunting public ground 1/4 mile away with a bow? To some its ok but that makes me ask fair chase for them. Imo no, But I shoot farther than some think is fair. I think that question is impossible to get a definition on. I guess foe each his own.

 

[one_dryboot]

I killed a buck in Wyoming @510 yards. Better shot than some can do at 100. Some here would say that's not fair chase. I would say lick my sack.

 

[flatdead]

>I killed a buck in Wyoming
>@510 yards. Better shot than
>some can do at 100.
> Some here would
>say that's not fair chase.
> I would say
>lick my sack.

NO WAY you must have made a bad shot, blew off a leg, nose, or gut shot it on the 9th shot. 510 yard shot can not be made......
HA ha. I AGREE

 

[southslope82]

I run into this Subject quite often with a lot of the people I work with. Our opinions are all very different from each others. not going to say any are wrong just different I guess. I have been looking into a few bison hunts.
I just cant bring myself to do a high fence type of a hunt. That's just not my style but on the other hand me realistically drawing or buying a tag in a wild, free ranging, Fair chase type hunt is very unlikely that it will happen especially any time in at least a 20 year future. Would really love to take one, If I could find a ranch big enough that meant some different circumstances I could maybe lower my standards enough to go hunt one. I just don't know if I can gut a canned hunt its not fair chase to me, its not what I was taught. Cant gut the thought of never hunting one in my life either though. So I will go back to the drawing board.

 

[O_S_O_K]

Southslope,

So then I guess your question becomes why do you want to "take one"? Is it for the true experience of hunting a wild Bison, or is it so you can say that you have taken one and want the meat in the freezer? If it's for the first then you probably will never be happy with a "canned hunt". If it's for the later then book it and fill the freezer

As to the OPs original question, there really is no easy answer here is there.

Yellum probably said it best and I really like his attitude of trying to make decisions that wouldn't keep other Sportsmen shaking their heads.

If all of us were thinking in those terms when we make decisions then I think we would all be better for it.

For me, even if it's legal, if it gives me what I think is an unfair advantage against the animal then I will try and avoid that behavior.

I am obviously making wise decisions as I have not killed a ton of animals in my lifetime (or I am just a crappy hunter, which is probably more likely the case)

Still, in the end, it's definitely a personal choice. But remember, it's a choice that can have an impact on how others view what we do.


>I run into this Subject quite
>often with a lot of
>the people I work with.
> Our opinions are all
>very different from each others.
>not going to say any
>are wrong just different I
>guess.
>
> I
>have been looking into a
>few bison hunts.
> I just cant bring myself
>to do a high fence
>type of a hunt.
>That's just not my style
>but on the other hand
>me realistically drawing or buying
>a tag in a wild,
>free ranging, Fair chase type
>hunt is very unlikely that
>it will happen especially any
>time in at least a
>20 year future.
>Would really love to take
>one, If
>I could find a ranch
>big enough that meant some
>different circumstances I could maybe
>lower my standards enough to
>go hunt one.
> I just don't know
>if I can gut a
>canned hunt its not fair
>chase to me, its not
>what I was taught. Cant
>gut the thought of never
>hunting one in my life
>either though. So I
>will go back to the
>drawing board.


"The problem with quotes on Internet Forums is that it is often difficult to verify their authenticity." - Abraham Lincoln

 

[HorseCreek]

As long as it's legal....

Traditional >>>------->

 

[DW]

Horsecreek I'm stealin that, brother!