Hunting from a blind, ethical? ??

[Erick]

I want to hear from you guys what do see as ethical hunting??? I hunt with my bow from a blind, simply because I do not have the skill to walk and stalk. I start practicing a month before the hunt to make sure that I can make a shot at 40m. Now for me, ethical hunting is making a good clean kill, not letting the animal suffer. The whole story of beating the animal in its own terrain, I guess I get that but YOU HAVE A GUN how will that ever be fair? Now if you agree with me on the good clean kill part, how is caged hunting unethical? The lion/impala what ever is very very close, so your chances of missing that animal is greatly reduced, hence the changes of it suffering as well? If they have to reduce the numbers of antelope on a farm, the guys go out at night with spotlights and shoot, how is thay different from a caged hunt/kill?

[ravingDIODE]

Of I can sit plain openly and hide due to 3d camo clothes or hide in a bush, I see no difference than hiding in a blind. However shooting from a blind with a rifle is boring.

As for caged hunting, I won't ever do that. In the field an animal can smell you and run or charge. Not while it is in a cage..

[ravingDIODE]

Also shooting at night with spotlights to cull is different than a guy shooting an animal in a cage. Two totally different acts and reasons. One is for touring hunters, but they don't hunt they shoot if in a cage.

Culling is a task and not a hunt..

[JouDoring]

it's a tough one calling any style of hunting un ethical, like you said "you have a gun". Making the good clean kill is very much the ethical part, agree.

What you will find, as mentioned above, there are more rewarding and exciting hunting styles. If you do decide to one day venture out and stalk your quarry, even without success, it is much more rewarding.

I'll tell you luckily I've never been disappointed with one of my hunts but my to most rewarding styles are first walk and stalk and then "voorsit". I think voorsit is comparable but not quite the same as sitting in a blind.

So ja, hunting from a blind is ethical in my logic, but do try a walk and stalk for some really rewarding experience.

[mtoich]

I tried the bow hunting thing from a blind once. I agree that logically it is arguably ethical but for me it was too easy and boring... Just my opinion. The blind I hunted from also had Lucerne and a salt lick 7m from the blind. I don't know if this is normal practice but didn't like it. My friends here in the Eastern Cape hunt walk and stalk with their bows and perhaps this is something that I could enjoy as it entails a bit of walking and seeking out.
Personally I prefer to seek out my quarry and to get some physical exercise during a hunt. So, i got no problem with the style but it just ain't for me.

[Yeti]

Firstly let me state that I believe that most commercially available game animals (bred or bought) for the hunting community are in a sense "Caged" as all game farms have perimeter game fencing, its simply the size of the cage that differs. These animals may elude the first hunter, the 2nd and possibly the 3rd, but the chances of it dying from old age or predation are highly unlikely. They have commercial value, just like any other sought after commodity.
They have been bred, put there for a reason, sustainable herds are maintained through the cash generated by their being hunted.
Not very different from beef farming.

Now "ethical hunting" ie how you conduct yourself and the hunt is a personal thing and very different (sometimes emotive subject) from one person to the other. How you were taught, what you read, what you believe, your own ability / fitness and that of your gear, the terrain and the type of animal being hunted, the list goes on.

Personally I really dont care "how people hunt", what I do care about and what is non negotiable is the ETHICAL KILL !

Lets face it, not matter how you conduct / pursue your hunt, the second you squeeze off that shot or release that arrow / bolt, the "hunt" is over, all that matters now is a quick and as stress free / painless death to your quarry.

I have harvested more game with bow from a hide of sorts than all other means put together. Personally, shooting from the hide is far less appealing and less satisfying than walk and stalk, and I refer to it as "shooting animals for the pot"

I have found that shooting my bow from a hide, far more productive (time restraints) and Im far more sure of an "ethical kill" from a hide.

But I have also forced a shot during a walk and stalk that resulted in the animal suffering far more that I will ever forgive myself for !

I would rather someone of lessor fitness, ability or due to a physical handicap, shoot from a hide at 5 m and ensure a clean kill than take his chances of wounding an animal in the traditional sense of the hunt.

To those who are able, understand animal behavior and their tools of choice, who hunt walk and stalk or sight and stalk, and can do so effectively, this must be the most thrilling way to do so.

If you shoot from a vehicle, so be it, thats your choice, but kill cleanly !

[krieger]

In Texas, it is the most common method of hunting deer. However, baiting or salt licks are off limits.

I hate hunting from a box. I prefer the open air so I use my ghille suit covered with strips of multi colored burlap to stalk or sit hunt.

[Maroelas]

Erick, you ever hear of this thing called the fair chase principle?

[killzone]

My interpretation of Ethical hunting is not the same as the hunter next to me, or the one next to him. Jou Doring and Yeti's post are spot on ! You'll have to pay money to get better opinions mentioned in this thread . Some hunters are under the perception that hunting from a blind is easy and quick. I have sometimes sat days in blinds where I didn't let one arrow fly. Walk and stalk hunting with a Bow is very rewarding, even if you don't have an opportunity for a shot. I would recommend a new Bowhunter hunt from a Blind the first few times. That is just my opinion. If you have enough confidence and previous experience with a rifle on foot, by all means go for a W & S Hunt. Like mentioned before. The difference between Ethical Hunting and Ethical killing must be understood. The latter is the easy one that most hunters agree upon. If you kill a hand-raised Impala in the backyard with a shot to the vitals it was ethically killed, not ethically hunted.

[Andrew Leigh]

In light of the "fair chase" as practiced by most rifle HUNTERS, many would consider any form of ambush to be off colour. This would include shooting from a blind, shooting over water and feed, shooting from or off a vehicle and then shooting at night. Some consider a silencer to be unethical as it masks the true origin of the shot and does not scare the animals into flight, one of the reasons farmers are staring to insist on them as it does not scare the game as much for the next batch of hunters.

The problem is that you will NOT get people to agree on hunting ethics and if this thread goes the way of other "ethics" threads expect it to be closed by the mods.

The context of my above comments is in the light of rifle hunting rather than shooting for meat or culling. Let the concept of "fair chase" guide your decisions on what you consider ethical hunting to be. I have often considered hunting from a blind with a bow to be OK as the bow's range is considerably less than a rifle, as I do not bow hunt I have not given it much thought. It is easy to say no blind when you are 250m away from the animal. So you see ethics is a difficult subject.