Kids Outdoor Outpost – November 2021

Ethical Conundrum

Last month I taught one of my annual fall Georgia Hunter Education classes to a great group interested in firearm safety and being safe in the field. 

One of the topics covered was a “Shoot, Don’t Shoot” section. On the screen was a group of six bucks approaching at different angles. Clearly the broadside shot was the best shot to hit the deer’s vital organs. A buck quartering away could also make for a good shot, depending on the point of entry. A deer approaching straight on or directly walking away would have made for a poor shot selection, but one I’m sure that has been taken by some hunters. A lethal shot would be very difficult at those angles. 

Part of this section also covers an ethical dilemma that hunters may be posed with. Naturalist and environmentalist Aldo Leopold once stated, “Ethical behavior is doing the right thing when no one else is watching.” 

Hmmm… let’s think about that for a moment.  Might a hunter be presented with this conundrum, or a difficult, tempting decision. 

For example, you’ve been bowhunting a section of your hunting property that’s has some really good deer sign on it. White oak acorns are dropping like crazy and there are several trails crisscrossing through it. You’ve hung a deer cam on one of those oaks, and it shows a huge buck with a drop tine. 

The opening day of firearms brings a cold front that clears out the previous week’s heat. You ease back into your stand for an afternoon sit with the 30-30 lever action that your dad used to take his first buck many years ago. With that, your shooting distance went from 20 to 30 yards to 100 or maybe 125 yards. 

As dusk settles in after sunset, you see that big trophy drop tine walking 50 yards away. You shoulder your 30-30 and train that scope on the walking buck. Your dad has told you a million times to wait until the deer presents the best shot. The buck is just about there, when the view in your scope picks up a bright yellow “No Trespassing—No Hunting” sign. The new property owner next to yours just hung the signs on his line. This neighbor has not hunted this season and you didn’t notice his truck parked at the gate as you came in. The buck is clearly over your property line and on his property. You look around the area and do not spot any hunter orange vests in the trees.

The buck lines up for a shot, but again, he is absolutely no on your property. Shoot or don’t shoot? You might consider Aldo Leopold’s quote I gave earlier.

As I used to tell my kids many years ago on the way to school, “make good choices!”