To me, "ethics" in hunting focusses on whether or not the animal is free-ranging, for one thing. That is, he's not forced to go past a hunter to get to food or water. The hunter might be clever enough to know a likely path, but it's not like a fenced-in road. Or, if he smells/sees a hunter he can escape. Another factor in the kill itself is that it be as clean and quick as the hunter's skill allows.
SFAIK, these ideas fit in with generations of hunters who have written of their hunts and have earned the respect of the hunting fraternity. Russell Annabel, Elmer Keith and Robert Ruark come to mind. I include in this the people of whom they have written, such as Ruark's guide, Harry Selby.
Old Timer's disease just hit me, so I forget the name of the Spanish philosopher who wrote "On Hunting" or "Meditations on Hunting"...Recommended by Jeff Cooper, another well-respected hunter. Anyhow, a fairly well-known comment from the book is, "One does hunt in order to kill. One kills in order to have hunted."
Anyhow, when you get past free-range and clean kill, you've gone beyond "ethics", pretty much. You're getting into the realm of purely personal opinion.
Now, it takes more skill to play sneaky-snake and find Bambi in dense cover than it does to sit in a tree stand and wait for Ol' Bucky to wander past. I don't see any particular difference in ethics, having seen country that hunting from a stand is the only physically possible method for success. Some brush is just too thick to snake around in. BTDT.
I live in cougar country. You're not gonna play sneaky-snake on a cougar. Forget that childish nonsense. You want a cougar, and you're not gonna use dogs, you're gonna sit over bait. You can sometimes find success by adding a wounded rabbit squaller, but that will more likely bring in coyotes, bobcats, hawks and owls. So: If you want a cougar
on purpose and not by accident, it's not at all unethical to sit over bait.
The same deal holds on leopards in Africa. You're not gonna sneaky-snake a leopard and shoot him. He's gonna hear you and/or see you and you won't see him until he's becoming intimate with large portions of your anatomy--and he's likely gonna win. You want a leopard? You hunt in the way that generations of hunters have found to be the only practical means to success.
Success, that is, if everything goes righteously. You don't move while in your blind. You don't scratch itches, or pay attention to ant bites. You essentially make of yourself a rock for two or three hours. And you don't whine if the wind changes, or stray people/cattle come by. Or, the leopard just doesn't feel like coming to the bait, or shows up after shooting light has gone away. Lotsa fun, hon'; too bad, how sad, come back tomorrow and try again. You have all night to scratch bug bites.
Funny about this ethics stuff. I've had people get on my case about my use of a scope on my rifle: "But that's not right! That makes it too easy!" They've never hunted, of course, or they'd know better.
But lots of people talk about stuff while having little or no knowledge of the subject...
, Art