More ethical/fair chase still hunting or stand?

Then there's that part about is it ethical to watch a water hole. If that were questionable, then it'd be equally questionable to watch a known travel corridor between bedding areas, food sources, and water. But it's not questionable... it's hunting smarter. If you don't hunt where the deer are, how do you expect to eat venison.

It's good to think things through, but if you overthink it, you can ruin it for yourself.

Shot my deer from a stand this yr, on the run.
Took one 3 yrs ago still hunting, he was standing still.

Which method is more ethical?

Are we to factor in who/what kicked up the deer 2 farms over and put him into your hunting spot?
Maybe the guy hunting two farms over drinks domestic swill type beer.
If so then I'd call it unethical

CRB357 said:

Yeah, just like what’s the difference between setting up on a watering hole or over feeder. I don’t know, that is what I’m trying to resolve in my own head. I know nobody can tell me what to do, I will figure it out myself.

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To me, sitting out over a corn field/ plot of farming land or "watering hole" waiting for the possibility of whitetail to come along and graze, as they would in nature, seems a lot more natural to shoot.

Feeders seem more like artificial hunting. Just replace the feeder with a deadfall and collect the next day. Idk. Either way is a good way to skip the supermarket and enjoy the outdoors.

LOL, some people call spooking deer "still hunting".

Yeah, you can screw up and spook deer. But you pick your shots.
Nothing wrong with taking movers, from stand or ground. Just depends on how good a shot you are and how well you read the situation.
You don't just throw lead at a deer and hope you hit it.
Some folks do.
You shoot knowing you're going to kill it, or you don't shoot.

People process and handle info differently.
Add to that the various levels of shooting ability.
Then there's hunting skill.

Lots of people kick the sticks and see white flags bounding away and call it hunting LOL.

Some folks think rifle hunting gives an unfair advantage.
You could try bowhunting, maybe even recurve/longbow.
That, from the ground (still hunting/spot and stalk)........yeah, you'll be getting to know your local grocery butcher on a first name basis

Any way is more ethical than buying beef that came from a slaughterhouse.
But I do that too so...............

Arkansas Paul said:

Any way is more ethical than buying beef that came from a slaughterhouse.
But I do that too so...............

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Thats EXACTLY how I feel when we select and shoot Bulls in the Fall for meats from the boat.

Methinks "ethical" is hunting with a conventional sidelock muzzleloader: No sabots, no scopes or fire sights.

BTW: It's hard to play spot and stalk in a section of green winter wheat. i like stands overlooking game trails, game plots and water sources. Yep, wheat fields too.

i run feeders to supplement the diet of female whitetail deer but don't shoot deer near feeders. Wild hogs are an invasive species. i shoot them under feeders or wherever.

CRB357 said:

Moving targets, low visibility, wounding/losing deer etc all make still hunting difficult.

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It also makes ethical hunting more difficult as an ethical hunter won’t pull the trigger in low visibility, thick brush, and on moving (running) animals.

Sonofagun! My uncle, my father and I are all unethical hunters, since we shot running deer? They tasted okay, though. And we had no wounded "got away" lost deer...



Probably should only shoot doves or quail when they're sitting still...

It is illegal for us to hunt over bait for deer , but it is legal and a tradition for some people in other states , so I have no problem with it .

We hunt deer with dogs and shotguns in my county . That is also a tradition here , some don't like it , but it is how we hunt . I don't have a problem with that either .

My favorite way and time to hunt though is muzzleloader season from a treestand . You cannot use dogs then and the deer are in the rut , so they are moving around searching for does . Yes , I use an inline .

I think the most important thing is to not kill anything that you are not going to eat or is causing harm and to know your abilities with the tool that you are using . Don't take 100 yards shots with a shotgun and don't take 500 yard shots at deer if you have not practiced at that range .

Crocodiles wait in the river where they can ambush wildebeest and zebra with ease. Lions drive hunt and ambush game in their grazing fields. I don’t suppose lions or crocs concern themselves too much with fairness in chasing game. I expect they would take any advantage they could get.

To start off here, I’m asking a question I really want to get answers to, I’m not being a smart s$$. How is hunting over a feeder unethical but over an acorn crop under a white oak, in a bean field or corn field, or a scrape line ok? Every one of those situations is bringing a deer/hog/bear to specific location to be shot. And to those who says it ok to shoot hogs over bait but not deer, why is that?

How do the guys who think sitting over anything is unethical hunt the thickets where you’re unable to walk through let alone get more than a 5 yard shot.

Unless someone is hunting on my property, how they hunt is none of my business. So called "ethics" often pits hunters against each other.
I've been around gun hunters that bash bow hunters claiming they cripple more deer than they kill. Many of those same gun hunters couldn't keep three shots on a feed sack at 25 yards. Tell them about leading a moving target and they respond with blank stares.
I know some purist bow hunters that consider themselves above any gun hunter. Some are truly dedicated to the sport. Others became purists only after a felony drunk driving or drug conviction.
Deer drives are a common practice in Iowa. Many hunters that sit in stands or blinds bash deer drives as being unethical. Those same hunters are the first to complain when nobody is out moving the deer around.
Hunt the way you like, know your equipment, respect the landowners, other hunters and your quarry.
If hunting was truly "Fair Chase" would only 50% of hunters return from the field?

Iffin one is hunting legally, within the confines of the law, what their ethics are is really a moot point. Some states/regions outlaw hunting deer with dogs or any use of bait. Next state over it is legal. Now I have no desire to hunt deer or other game animal over placed bait, not do I have desire to hunt deer with dogs....but where it is done legally, I know others enjoy it. Kinda like ground swatting waterfowl and upland birds. Growing up as a kid, it was considered unsporting, and I still follow the ethics implanted in me by my mentors, many years ago. Wild Turkeys are considered upland game and it is considered unethical by most, to shoot them outta the air. Hunters are funny. My favorite type of deer hunting is still hunting in nasty weather. Have shot some of my best bucks that way and gotten a lot of satisfaction doing it. Still, when it came to bow hunting and now gun hunting for deer in my second half century of hunting, using a tree stand or blind is very effective....and gives very ethical shots. Killing a deer quickly and humanely is always what we should strive for......what difference is there if they don't know what hit them while lying in their bed, or while nibbling cow peas on a food plot?

Folks need to hunt within their ethics and the boundaries of the law. The first is subjective, the latter not at all. Big difference from the days when we had to kill wild game to survive than there is now when it is the sport and the challenge of the hunt that takes us afield, with the meat just an added bonus. The days where I had to come home with my bag limit in order to define the day as a success are gone for me. Now, just getting out and getting back is a good day. Nowadays, the sight of a Tom gobbling in front of me at 20 yards or a basket buck making a scrape at 30, doesn't necessarily mean I pull the trigger, like it used to. Sometimes, the desire to have more than one opportunity a year trumps having blood in the back of the truck that day.

So to the OP....do what you are comfortable with, confident in and proficient at. Do what is most favorable in the conditions and habitat you are hunting and is within the parameters of the law. Hunt the way that gives you the most satisfaction at the end of the day, regardless of what your friends or peers say......or random folks on internet gun forums. That is what is most ethical.

An ethical hunter won't shoot a moving deer?
Thank goodness nobody ever wounds deer standing still


I guess I better wait for all my doves to land in a dead tree, or my geese to set down in the pasture.
The last two deer I've shot, have been moving. One a fast walk, the other running. Both around 50 yards.
One was perpendicular, wooded setting......I picked an open spot and shot him when he came through it.
Double lunged.

The other was in thick stuff, but I had a sliver of an opening, as he ran away from me. 25 ft up in a stand I was.
Dropped him. Admit I hit a little lower than wanted (tried for base of neck, got backbone). He dropped and I picked a different hole and hit him in the lung/heart when he tried to get up.

I never shoot bounders, they have to be flat line travel............and pretty close.

I've made multiple good hits on a couple too. But usually its one shot, through the heart/lungs.

I knew both of those deer were dead before I pulled the trigger.
That's why I shot em.
I've killed about a dozen movers.
Wounded? Zero.
Missed? One, w bow yrs ago.

Passed on a 145" buck standing still, because I thought he too nervy for a recurve shot.
Even though I won 3D stuff that summer, shooting from compound stakes, and also nailed a coyote at 42 yards.
Buck was 35 and I didn't even draw.

Of course I saw him in gun season, watched him for 45 mins in the rain, through a Leupold. Max D was 150 and I had a rifled 870.
I wanted him w bow so didn't pop him.

And................never saw that deer again LOL

IMO the game laws dictate what is ethical. Many hunters feel the need to cheat, and some say if you aren't cheating you aren't trying. I like it when they get caught. Too bad it doesn't happen more often.

Personally, I've hunted both ways. I get bored sitting in the same stand, hour upon hour, day after day. The people who taught me to hunt were walkers and I carry on the tradition. Still hunting and two man drives. My most memorable deer kills happened that way.

My buddy won't shoot movers.
We are of different thinking and skill set.
He is methodical, slow, and deliberate. But broader thinking.
I am faster, reflexive and finer tuned.

Kinda hard to explain it but here goes.....

When folks are having a tough time hitting singles on doves, it doesn't compute that you blast doubles regularly and are out there to get a triple.
Not three in a row, nope............three in one pass.

Live for the triple.

cheygriz said:

I've never used a stand or blind, but I have no ethical problem with them.

OTOH, to me any kind of feeder is way beyond what I would consider ethical. But that's my values. You have to decide for yourself what you can live with.

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Yet animals are shot over food sources (or water sources) in the “wild.” This discussion is probably going to be split down the middle between eastern and western hunters.

The part about the quick most humane kill possible... I remember one time Dr. Red Duke was hunting pronghorn... he said "you don't want to hurt 'em; you want to kill 'em." No, you don't wish the animal to suffer in any event. But, after that, consider that adrenaline don't taste good. The way the deer is handled from the moment you light it up to the completion of processing, and the way it's cooked... every bit makes a difference in the quality of the meat as you perceive it at dinner.

Oh, and it's better if the deer didn't know you were there... maybe calmer that way.

MaxP said:

Yet animals are shot over food sources (or water sources) in the “wild.” This discussion is probably going to be split down the middle between eastern and western hunters.

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Then there's Texas... DFW area, where the east ends and the west begins... the state allows hunting from elevated platforms on pickup trucks. Right across in New Mexico, from what I've heard, they hate them Texas war wagons. They're both a good ways west of me.