Killer_Primate

I spoke to a good friend and hunting partner the other day about planning a trip. We’d reflected on what we’d learnedlast year and had fun telling each other some hunting stories. We started talking about a new hot spot we found last year that we’re both excited about and how it is hard to get in there without spooking the deer. He then passed along a tip that another friend had told him about. We both feel that this is borderline cheating and I thought I’d get your opinion.

Apparently, this other friend has a pretty good trick for not spooking deer when traveling through their territory in the early morning hours. He brings a standard one-watt LED flashlight in the woods and scans the area before and while traveling through. If he sees eyes glowing, he keeps the flashlight pointed into the eyes of the deer. He went as far as to say, he’d once gottenreallyclose since they were near his stand and they (the deer) stuck around so long that he had to keep the light in their eyes until he was on the stand and settled in. He then turned off the light and waited for daylight. Shortly after, guess what… no real surprise, he shot a deer with his bow.

How does this make you guys feel?

There are rules about using lights, but they vary and are very vague from what I’ve seen. Further, most safety courses tell you that you should carry a flash light in the dark so that you can be identified as a human. But all rules aside for a moment. What do you think; is this cheating?

Red Lion

I wouldn't say what you described was "cheating" at all.

GMMAT

I would "think".....in MY area of the state.....what you're describing would be extremely illegal.

Austin/WI

Though I don't agree with it, I guess as long as its legal its ok. This sounds like another ethics question to me. I don't find "blinding" a deer just so you can get into your stand ethical. Whatever happened to just walking slowly and silently anyhow? Two years ago I walked through some canary grass to my ground blind and 10 minutes later I saw two does stand up, one on each side of the little trail I followed through it. Everyone does his own thing in the woods. I you really have that hard of a time getting to a stand without spooking deer, there are probably a few adjustments that can be made to your setup and methods to make it work. Just my .02. This will be an interesting discussion I think.

gutshot

I don't beleive that it's illegal in WV to spotlight a deer as long as you don't shoot it. So I don't think what you describe is cheating.

Wheatley

I don't think that a 1 watt flashlight counts as a spotlight either. If the deer were going to run I think they would run either way. Never tried it so I don't know though.

Red Lion

I guess that I don't like to term things as "cheating" when it comes to hunting, as it makes it sound like a game. I would more likely use terms like ethical/unethical and legal/illegal. What you described does not sound illegal and ethics in a case like that is up to the individual. It still ended a case of fair chase.

Killer_Primate

Well, I agree that it isn’t a game to most, but since it has rules that are to be followed, and not following them would mean something very close to “cheating” I’m going to keep the word, but I know what you’re saying. I guess I’m just having trouble getting my feelings into text.
When I first heard this story I was offended by it. In VA the regs are simple, but probably not written around this situation. The more I thought about it, the less offensive it became to me, but I would call it synthetic, for lack of a better term, and I think it would depend on why one was hunting. For instance, if you didn’t have any money and needed to put some food on the table, I don’t’ think this is that big a deal. It’s not like he shot him while the light was in his eyes. According to the hunter, the flashlight was put away for more than an hour before he shot the animal that he did.
But I’m not in the position to justify needing the meat. To me, I like to use hunting to test myself, see how good I am, while keeping it pretty natural. I don’t use decoys or bait (Food anyway). I try to keep it simple and beat them at their own “game” for lack of a getter term, let them screw up if you will, and the game has rules. If you don’t follow the rules it means you’re not good at the game. I like to feel like I could get dropped off just about anywhere with limited supply and be a successful hunter and survive. Prove I’m worthy as a descendant of my ancestors I guess.

So my opinion is – it’s not as bad as I originally thought, but it is synthetic. Since I changed my opinion a few times on this matter, I thought I’d see what you thought, or how you thought/think…

Red Lion

I agree to your labeling it as synthetic in a way, as the light source was used to escape and evade detection for better choice of words. I guess I personally find the end result of a deer being taken a hour later to be acceptable, as the hunter still had to show some skill in remaining undetected for the time while in stand. With that said, I am not likely ever to want to use a light in this fashion.

hardcorehunter

IMO a deer isn't just going to hang out because it has been hit with a light in the eyes. I have spooked many a deer when walking through the woods in the AM and even though you have a light in their eyes they aren't going to stick around long with crunching leaves from you walking footsteps. I think it was a freak deal or he is blowing smoke up your butt with his story.