Josh_E

ive never shot a deer with my bow either.. but I have heard of many horror stories of neck with bow.. so on others wise advice.. I would not take it.. learn from other peoples mistakes.. well what about Acorns?? thats a NATURAL food plot?? is that unethical to hunt because you hunt a natural food source??? The intended use is also the same?? whats the difference?? NOTHING... if you hunt over a crop of plowed corn, beans, peanuts that was used for farmers.. that is ALSO a natural food source.. that was not put there for them to eat but rather us.. deer live upon what is there for the moment.. i think that planting a food plot has NOTHING to do with ethics... it has been a part of deer hunting for a LONG time.. even when population was not at its highest.. is that still unethical?? you decide.. I could care less.. as long as Im not breaking any laws and Im making a swift and HUMANE kill then I believe that it is ethical.. intentionally shooting a deer in the neck with a bow??? is that HUMANE?? is that SWIFT?? try it one time... you' ll think differently next time...then you decide

WiGutPile

Josh_E, no offense but if you live your life based on others peoples experiences, are you really living your life? How do you know what is truth from myth? By looks of the person telling you, maybe the cadence the person uses when speaking to you? Obviously not, your much smarter than that based on your own experience.

Do I consider food plots unethical? No I do not. Matter of fact we have one, and plan to add yet another. Food plots were likened to farmers crops, a trees mast, and food grown for human consumption. Whats the difference? Food plots are planted for the sole purpose of attracting and holding deer. Period. Then we hunt on the fringes of these plots, much the same way some hunt over a dumped pile of corn or fruit.

Ethics is a word tossed out loosely all to often,usually to gain attention to a subject. More often it is used by outsiders looking to infringe on others chosen activities. In thinking about ethical hunting many aspects must be considered.

The reason I bring up food plots is this. Why are hunters planting food plots when the population of deer is criticaly high in a lot of areas? Why are we trying to concentrate deer artifically in a smaller area?

With CWD spreading with reckless abandon are we in fact helping the spread by concentrating deer like this? Has the need to shoot a trophy buck gotten so important that we no longer are willing to learn the needed skills to hunt them one on one?
I think there is enough doubt that it at least warrants some discussion.

For now plots are legal, and I believe an effective way to hunt. But the question of ethics has been raised and a fellow hunter was castigated for his beliefs. What makes artifical feeding areas more ethical than ones decision to kill an animal in a manner different than your used to seeing?

Bowhuntrey

I have also heard the controversy of food plots. Many people feel it is just simply shooting and hardly hunting. For a long time, I agreed with this, and still do to some extent. I enjoy being in a deer' s element, not in a nice cleared open spot waiting for one to show up...maybe its the suspense and the fact that I never know where a deer will show up. Without a doubt, when I focus on one spot, a deer shows up at my back.

This summer I actually decided to plant a small food plot...maybe 10 yards by 10 yards? It was by far the hardest work i had done in a long time...100° and 90% humididy...nearly passed out clearing the area (all was done by hand, no tillers or 4 wheelers or anyting). I had no intention of hunting on it...maybe a couple hundred yards away. I actually put it on a part of our land that never has deer, just to see the impact it would have. I guess what I' m getting at is that not all food plots are planted solely to shoot an " easy" deer (I will also be the first to say that no deer is an easy deer). Maybe no one else wonders about things like I do about deer and the different approaches to hunting?

As to the ethics, I am strictly a bowhunter, I dont take my gun out any more. Why? Two reasons:

1. I dont like shooting at a deer that is 150-200 yards away that has no way of knowing if I am there. Where is the sport? (That is an opinion, I dont look down on gun hunters)

2. I dont feel comfortable shooting a gun to be honest. I am not consistent enough, but that is caused by a lack of practice. it is simply easier for me to sit in my back yard and shoot my bow.

So how I feel about ethics? To each his own. We all think differently, and some people dont like the way others hunt. However, we are all in it for the same thing. Seeing how many posts most people make on this board lets me know that there are many others who are as enthralled by the sport as I am. With all of the anti-hunting sentiments out there today, the last thing we need is to be fighting amongst ourselves about whose method of hunting is the most righteous.

GVDocHoliday

Spine shots are anything but quick and clean. They cause more suffering than any other shot except a non fatal neck shot, which is typical of neck shots with a bow, and usually require another arrow through the lungs to finish it off. I still cannot comprehend how some people can even justify taking such a risky shot with a bow. What' s the purpose. When I think ethics I think causing the deer as little pain as possible. That' s only possible with a bow boy putting an arrow through the lungs...Drops then in under 10 seconds with minimal pain. Double lung shots are about 99% effective...compared to neck shots which are a little less than 50/50. I sure as heck would hope that someone who encourages neck shots would be chastised. It causes uncessesary suffering in a majority of cases. Why put an animal through that, why give the anti' s ammo? I just don' t get it. Sure, a nice place shot with a rifle to the neck will cause a quick kill, but were not talking about the shockwave generated by an expanding bullet.

Now food plots are in nowhere able to be compared to baiting. Your trying to compare two things on opposite ends of the periodic table as the same element. Bait piles are responsble for the spread of bovine TB here in Michigan, and most likely responsible for the spread of CWD. This is because lost of food in a very very small area(pile) encourages mouth to mouth contact of deer and the passing of saliva. Food plots act as a natural food source substituted which allow deer to maintain natural habits. A bait pile draws deer into a certain spot in which someone can shoot them like fish in a barrel. Like stated, it acts as a farmers field or orchard. The area of a foodplot to me, is equivalent to a white oak grove which if you ask me, is where nearly all deer found within a square mile generally congregate when there is a productful year.

In closing, it is true, to each hunter his own. I guess all I can do is whine about it...but if you ask me we all have to look at the bigger picture. How do we want to be portrayed to the non hunting public, the voters who we have to convince to help us get our rights as hunters? How do you think some old urbanite couple would feel if they saw a deer with an arrow sticking in its neck in their backyard? They would tell all their neighbors and the next time an anti-hunting bill was proposed you can guarandarn-tee that they' ll be voting against us. There' s some food for thought. But what do I know, I' m just a rambling 20 year old.


Thought I' d add this link for some of you all to gander at. I felt pretty darn good about the question at the end.
http://users.adelphia.net/~geffert/hunting_ethics.htm

BOWFANATIC

I believe Josh_E is living his life by learning from other peoples mistakes. Sounds like a pretty good path to take!


In this case , what would others have to gain by telling their hunting misfortunes? Call me gullable , but if I hear 6 out of 10 people say that peeing on a live fence is painful , I' m not gonna pee on the fence to find out for myself!

Big Country

WGP, I am a little bit confused as to what exactly you are looking for here?

Do you mean to tell me that the small kill area that a neck shot provides is not a valid point in discussing that particular shot?

Why would you wantto compare food plots with neck shots? Allow me to state that I don`t hunt over food plots. I have no problem with them though. In fact, I understand that it has been common hunting practicefor decades in many parts of the country.

There is, at least in my mind, a substantial difference between trying to hunt over crops planted for the purpose of attracting wildlife, and the actual act of taking said wildlife.

I`ll make a deal with you.......you take all the neck shots with a bow that you want to, I won`t say a word to you.

You don`t try to ever compare your hunting knowledge, knowledge of a deers anatomy with me. And don`t call me to help chase your animal.

What the heck food plots have to do with ethics is beyond me.

I hunt primarily out of treestands for whitetails. Is that unethical? I mean, I am hiding in a tree, well over their head. Is that fair?

What if I use rattling horns? A grunt call? A doe in heat bleat can? Camo? Compound bow?


WGP says...

Why is it less ethical to take a neck shot than it is to artificaly draw deer to a given area so we lazy hunters can score better?


You are joking, right?

Simply drawing a deer in, is not the same as attempting to take its life. With a shot that EVERY seasoned bowhunter realizes is a much lower percentage shot than is a double lung shot.

If it sounds like I am hollering here, I am not. I look forward to hearing your rational reply.

Forgive me if I am somehow missing the connection between the two.

Rickmur

Well since It looks like I still have mod powers and the other neck shot thread was locked I think I will lock this one before it goes any further. Please refrain from starting another of it' s likeing as it always ends this way.